Marc bought Gary out a year or so before the pandemic. I've sent people in there (I live about fifteen minutes from the store) for setups. One guy was told that his guitar (a vintage Guild) needed a $900 neck reset. After he told me this, I sent him to Matt Arcara who did the set up for him. No neck reset needed. I sent someone else there to consign an instrument (vintage Martin) who was told it needed a ton of work, and ultimately, it ended up at TME, where it sold rather quickly.

Now granted, Marc is not in the store all the time (he has several other businesses) but I don't know anyone, locally who has ever completed a successful transaction there.

Yes, the market is flush with instruments and people need to realize that the pandemic boom on resale is pretty much over for most instruments, even vintage. And I think they will (the market will remind them). But I don't think pre-pandemic Gary's was doing all that well either, and Portsmouth is a pretty pricey place to rent or buy. I can only imagine what his rent costs are.

There are many more guitars people want to sell than people who want to buy them. Stores don't tend to want to buy them outright if they think they can't sell them. Consignments take up space. Even the store we have here called Starving Musician is getting picky, preferring to deal in guitars they can sell for $1000+. Just look at the PRS SE market recently. So many guitars you can buy them for $700 new. For a store to buy a used one, you'd be lucky to get $400.

You need to sell at a price that will tempt the buyer with ten guitars already.

Great excuse to get a Tele.
Until then a have a few Strats that would work, and a Rainsong for when the floods come and I need an impromptu paddle.

Ha, have a supply of toilet paper and food. Won’t last forever but if I need wood for a fire…………..sad……..

Jeremy Sheppard...along the same lines.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O9sUjASOeA&t=1572s

I'm starting to think that these guys are suffering from the "chicken little" syndrome.

Prices rise and fall. In 6 to 8 months, things will have leveled out, overall. Maybe not for some, but for most.

What about new guitars?

Martin, Gibson, Taylor and the Chinese guitar companies are still cranking them out. Martin and Gibson have been raising prices every year. I don't know about the others. Are new guitars selling?

Price them right and they sell. I just sold two, and got the prices I wanted. Did they sell quickly? No. They sat for a few months before they found homes, but they did sell.

I went by Gary's Guitars and he has more pedals in the store than I have seen anywhere. I think his issue is that he overbought. As for Jeremy, I have seen some of his pricing on his "for sale" ads. Overly optimistic? Very. People were gouging and they got used to being able to sell things overnight. That process is in the wind, but if you price things attractively they sell- but not overnight.

Just don't forget to double tap!

Just sold my j-45 for a very fair price locally. Had some interest in a few others that are less in demand. The markets not dead for in demand classic guitars , but for mid range Chinese stuff yeah you may be out of luck.

I have not noticed too much of a shift in prices. I have no idea what sales are looking like for dealers, or individuals trying to sell. I’m not a dealer and have not sold a guitar in a couple of years.

I do not wish to see the economy take a nose dive, but trying to remain the optimist, the time to have cash and be ready to buy could be just around the corner, if not already here. Again, I have not noticed this big change. Local pawn shops, guitar stores and individuals(marketplace, CL, etc) are still asking around the same prices for used guitars of all makes. It may be, somewhat, a regional thing for now.

I will be watching the used guitar market very closely this year.

Dealers have overstocked (projecting that the demand would just increase) and are now faced with reality (the market has ebbed) and the fact that companies like Fender are also selling direct, and at a discount to boot. The Fender.com website is always running a "sale." Some of their sales cannot be matched by the average retailer. I bought a case that was and still is $119 on everyone's site (Sweetwater, MF, etc.) for $50 plus free shipping.

I work with small business owners almost every day and I am constantly reminding them that too much inventory is as bad as not enough. Start a sale trend and everyone expects it, every day.

From an earlier post: "CL listings are hanging around for months sometimes"

There is a high percentage of posts on CL (and probably on FB Mktplace) that are never deleted once they are sold or no longer for sale. There seems to be no incentive to do so and people are too lazy/inconsiderate/forgetful or whatever.

Phil McKnight is always my go-to for understanding the overall guitar market. This video starts at the relevant point.

Guitars are still selling but the used market has softened. The mid-range area is where most of the hurt is (according to him).

If the market is soft that should mean it will be a good buyer’s market. That’s good for me since I am not selling.

The same listings are renewed over and over again. I sell and buy enough to know how old the listings are.