Advice for Selling Expensive Guitar

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

Haha, fair enough if that is your stance. But calling a message to a seller of a guitar you're otherwise interested in buying a "waste of my time"?
You're posting opinions on a guitar forum (like me); your time can't be THAT valuable...

I didn't say my time was valuable (you said that). I said asking for photos from someone who lists guitar for sale without providing photos is a waste of my time. I did not assign a value to that. I simply said I view it as wasted time.

Clearly, I don't view my interactions here as wasted time, though this back and forth is quickly approaching that point.

[k_russell]

Originally Posted by HFox

I'll be looking forward to the responses with great interest.

Yep, should be interesting.

[k_russell]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

I've decided to sell one of my fairly high-end guitars, by which I mean the market value is closer to $10K than $5K.



I am in no rush, and will not be using Ebay or Reverb, but instead forums where I can have some control over choosing the buyer before doing the deal. So places like craigslist, facebook marketplace, and some other websites.



Basically, I am more concerned with avoiding bad actors than getting a quick sale.



Along those lines, I am debating whether to post photos in my listings, or require buyers to contact me privately to get them.

I don't want my photos available to everyone on the internet, and then see them used by cretins to make scam listings of my guitar.

I know on the Classifieds here there are usually the same group of characters who will post on every listing without photos something along the lines of: "We need to see photos or we won't be interested."

But those characters don't seem to be actual buyers, just looky-loos.



After all, will the onerous task of sending a message to the seller for photos dissuade any actually serious buyer from their interest in a specific high-end guitar? Aren't the complainers just window-shoppers who are frustrated at not getting their visual fix?

Or am I wrong?

I don't blame you for not wanting to post photos. Your reasons seem valid to me.

I found myself in a similar position, a while back. In the end, I contacted a local shop that sells high end guitars and had the shop sell it on consignment. I'm certain that I could have sold the guitar more quickly on my own, through some online listing, but all that I had to do was deliver the guitar and collect the money. The commission to the shop was high, but the aggravation to me was absent.

[Moldstar]

I am not sure of your averseness to posting pics in the OG listing - why not do everything you can to sell it? What is the likelihood a scammer would choose your photos over the hundreds of thousands of guitar photos posted everyday? Why do you think a scammer would even be interested in spoofing your ad? Don't they usually go for less expensive and far more common, Like a D-28 or similar? Spoofing your guitar would make their scam ad a subject of scrutiny right off the bat, wouldn't it? Why make it so hard on yourself?

I don't understand wanting to sell a guitar, but only under specific circumstances, to people meeting certain criteria.

I just sold a nice guitar after one day of listing, because the price was good, it was desirable, the ad had tons of great photos, and I had a well-thought out and expository ad text explaining everything anyone would want to know about the guitar. Everything was bend over backwards congenial towards the buyer, because I would rather assume prima facie that they were a reasonable human like myself than assume they are a scammer. I have sold many, many guitars and I have yet to be taken advantage of by a scammer in any sort of way, I think it's way overstated.imo.

It's your prerogative, and good luck, regardless.

[zoopeda]

I don't really understand the resistance to posting photos in an ad. There's a reason advertisements in guitar shops everywhere include images rather than a "contact me to see." Not to mention, for better or worse, there are a lot of people who don't take a seller seriously if he can't be bothered to post photos. Again, the buyer is taking on much more risk. It's very reassuring to see lots of details and info including photos. Some folks will just move on if they don't see photos, and some of them might be potential buyers. Not to mention, they can be so tempting.

[Bowie]

You will have to be a bit open minded if you're truly interested in the most successful sale possible. Scammers have nearly infinite access to pics and there's nothing about yours that are going to be special or sought after. A scammer can ask for pics. But, they won't because they don't need your pics. However, valid buyers will often skip your ad if you don't ad pics.

Yes, there are regulars on the classifieds who simply enjoy telling people to add specs and such. It is what it is. But, anyone who says they want to buy your high end guitar, and is ok with you being secretive or not posting pics, is probably a scammer. $10k seems like a lot but, in my experience, most people who buy high-end gear are easy to work with and they look to buy from people who are easy to work with. You have to be approachable.

As far as not getting scammed goes, if you don't have a rich history on AGF you'll probably have to make some concessions. It's unlikely people are going to send you a cashier's check or Zelle. They want to be covered so something like PayPal as a "GOODS" sale offers a degree of safety. They can do a chargeback but their bank might not honor it when challenged if you can show your communications. DO NOT accept a friends and family payment. People have been fooled into thinking that's safe but they sender can actually say it wasn't authorized, do a chargeback, and you have no recourse as you "weren't selling anything".

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

Thanks, that's probably a good idea. I've purchased several $10k+ guitars from Elderly over the years. I trust them and should call them up to see if a consignment might make sense for both sides.

One caveat, do your own market research and know what your instrument is realistically worth. The consignment department wanted to list my Lowden for $1500 below what they were currently selling for. I listed at MY estimate and sold it with no problem. If I didn't know the market value it would have been a quick $1500 loss for me.

[nacnac]

Personally, I pass on posts that don't have pictures. You could post 1 or 2 images and then ask them to contact your for more but my suggestion would be to post pics and be transparent about what you want in the listing.

Good luck with your sale.

[FLRon]

Two things are immediate deal breakers for me:
1. The seller insists on using PayPal F&F.

2. No pictures in the listing.

If I were you, I’d embed a watermark in your pics and post away.

[Osage]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

Speaking hypothetically (this isn't the guitar I have, but it's of similar type and value). If you saw a listing for say a Martin D-28 CW w/ Brazilian Rosewood, and you both had the money and real interest in buying it, you wouldn't reach out to the seller to ask for photos? That seems absurd to me.

I would not. I can't imagine anyone in this day and age listing a guitar with no photos. I'd think the seller was either kidding or was very out of touch and I wouldn't want to waste my time with either of those options. Everyone puts photos in listings and has for quite some time. Ebay has required photos on all listings for almost 25 years now. Reverb has always required photos. Most guitar stores stopped email lists with no photos literally a couple decades ago, etc...

[kentotushek]

Good pictures and honest description!

[Bowie]

Originally Posted by Osage

I would not. I can't imagine anyone in this day and age listing a guitar with no photos. I'd think the seller was either kidding or was very out of touch and I wouldn't want to waste my time with either of those options. Everyone puts photos in listings and has for quite some time. Ebay has required photos on all listings for almost 25 years now. Reverb has always required photos. Most guitar stores stopped email lists with no photos literally a couple decades ago, etc...

To add to that, there really aren't a lot of people who are browsing the classifieds daily for one specific model. Maybe on ebay and reverb but classified buyers are often open to a number of different types because we get far fewer listings here. I buy guitars over 5k and if there's no photo, I move on and make a mental note not to click that one again. No photo tells me the seller is not putting in much effort and that's very off-putting. It's a buyer's market. Act accordingly.

[6L6]

I have sold many high end guitars on my local CL (I absolutely will not ship an instrument anywhere).

CASH ONLY!

I do my deals at my local bank where I can reserve a private room. I've also used the local Police Station for security.

Have never had a problem.

[BluesKing777]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

Thanks, that's probably a good idea. I've purchased several $10k+ guitars from Elderly over the years. I trust them and should call them up to see if a consignment might make sense for both sides.

I like the consignment idea - lots of advantages.

Recently, I have sold 4 guitars on consignment, 2 for about $7K, 2 more still listed for sale.

And all I can say is that predicting what is when is a waste of time - who knows the mind of a buyer? My most expensive one which I thought may hang around, nope, went as soon as the shop listing with photos went up online! A cheaper guitar is still for sale. There is on sense in any of it!

For the consignment fee you get:
- a tech check and new strings.
- professional staff masterful at handling difficult customers - there has been 2 or 3 of those. (and a difficult seller! )
- sensational photos on the listing, good description...plus they add one photo to their social media pages as a 'Hey, look what turned up this week'.
- great pack and send skills, tracking, backup, returns etc.
- money paid direct to your account.

Only thing I don't like is driving there with 'special guitars'...parking, and lugging them around...but I really prefer that to sending them. I might try a pickup service if they had one - they don't.

(I think Carters used online have some listings off site, no idea how that works).

BluesKing777.

[The Bard Rocks]

If you worry about someone lifting your photos for nefarious reasons (personally, I wouldn't ever happen to think of that, much less worry about it), you can arrange to have the date signature on a critical portion. Or include your face along with the guitar in the photo. Give an email address so someone wanting more photos can contract you easier.