Santa Cruz pricing, new & used

[gfa]

I'm eyeballing a used Santa Cruz at a shop. Is there a rule of thumb for SC, for both new & used pricing? E.g., X% of mfr's list price?

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

With boutique brands like SCGC, Collings and others, you can expect to pay 60% of the current list/MSRP price (not the street price) if it's a standard model that is still currently available. If the guitar has features no longer available, than the price could be higher.

I should add that the above estimate is for used guitars in excellent to mint condition. New, SCGC sells for 10% off List/MSRP

[sdelsolray]

A couple of small items that effect the price of Santa Cruz guitars:

1) All new ones are Plek'd (for the past year or two). That adds I guess about $250 to the new cost. Older SCGC guitars were not Plek'd when new (although some might have been since then).

2) Most SCGC guitars come with an arguably better Ameritage case compared to the cases that came with older models. That adds a bit to the new price I suspect.

[werkout52]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

With boutique brands like SCGC, Collings and others, you can expect to pay 60% of the current list/MSRP price (not the street price) if it's a standard model that is still currently available. If the guitar has features no longer available, than the price could be higher.

I should add that the above estimate is for used guitars in excellent to mint condition.

I was hearing that new Taylor and Martin are 60% of MSRP and that Santa Cruz, Collings and other smaller makers are 90% of MSRP and possibly another 5%

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

..........

[sully151]

Originally Posted by werkout52

I was hearing that new Taylor and Martin are 60% of MSRP and that Santa Cruz, Collings and other smaller makers are 90% of MSRP and possibly another 5%

Maybe that is for new and Ted was talking used. I am saving for a new guitar and a SAnta Cruz is on my very short list.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

With boutique brands like SCGC, Collings and others, you can expect to pay 60% of the current list/MSRP price (not the street price) if it's a standard model that is still currently available. If the guitar has features no longer available, than the price could be higher.

I should add that the above estimate is for used guitars in excellent to mint condition. New, SCGC sells for 10% off List/MSRP

Just out of curiosity (sorry to hijack), although I'm not selling anytime soon, I have a Braz VJ in excellent condition. I bought it used and emailed SC for insurance purposes for the new price of the guitar a few years ago and it was around $15k (a few years ago). I don't know what it is now, but even at the price a few years ago, I seriously doubt now I can get anything close to $9k for it. I think I could get at most $7k for it... and that's not a standard production model either.

[Alex Matthews]

I bought my Santa Cruz in 1982 for about $1800 with the Brazilian. It's worth about 4500-5000 now. Replacement value two years ago was 15k.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by robj144

Just out of curiosity (sorry to hijack), although I'm not selling anytime soon, I have a Braz VJ in excellent condition. I bought it used and emailed SC for insurance purposes for the new price of the guitar a few years ago and it was around $15k (a few years ago). I don't know what it is now, but even at the price a few years ago, I seriously doubt now I can get anything close to $9k for it. I think I could get at most $7k for it... and that's not a standard production model either.

Brazilian is a bit tricky, but if the wood looks good, sounds good, and the guitar is mint, than we can use our 60% figure as a starting point. So if current list/MSRP is 15K, than street would be $13,5000, 60% of that would be $8100.

Originally Posted by Alex Matthews

I bought my Santa Cruz in 1982 for about $1800 with the Brazilian. It's worth about 4500-5000 now. Replacement value two years ago was 15k.

Alex, unless your guitar has been played hard and put away wet for the last three decades, your guitar is probably worth more than you think.

[tadol]

Brazilian throws the equations way off - the current replacement cost for anything with brw is so insanely high, there are very few who are in that market. you see pretty regularly SCGCs and other small shop or solo built instruments that are advertised with the current retail price or the replacement value that can be from 12 to 25 grand or more, while the guitars originally sold new for ½ or far less of that. Many of these brw instruments, if put up for auction, actually sell for far more reasonable (but still high) prices -

[robj144]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

Brazilian is a bit tricky, but if the wood looks good, sounds good, and the guitar is mint, than we can use our 60% figure as a starting point. So if current list/MSRP is 15K, than street would be $13,5000, 60% of that would be $8100.




Alex, unless your guitar has been played hard and put away wet for the last three decades, your guitar is probably worth more than you think.

Thanks for the reply. It doesn't matter much, but I thought you go by 60% of retail and not the street price though. I'm just curious how you would price it...

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

With boutique brands like SCGC, Collings and others, you can expect to pay 60% of the current list/MSRP price (not the street price) if it's a standard model that is still currently available. If the guitar has features no longer available, than the price could be higher.

I should add that the above estimate is for used guitars in excellent to mint condition. New, SCGC sells for 10% off List/MSRP

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by robj144

Thanks for the reply. It doesn't matter much, but I thought you go by 60% of retail and not the street price though. I'm just curious how you would price it...

I meant because pricing Brazilian can be tricky, we could use 60% of street as a starting point for your VJ. Sorry I didn't make that clear. Fact is, your guitar is worth $9000 to a person who wants a Brazilian VJ, unfortunately this model is more commonly associated with Mahogany back and sides, so it will be tougher to get top dollar on the used market. Certainty tougher than if your Brazilian SCGC was an OM, Dreadnought, or even a 00.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

I meant because pricing Brazilian can be tricky, we could use 60% of street as a starting point for your VJ. Sorry I didn't make that clear. Fact is, your guitar is worth $9000 to a person who wants a Brazilian VJ, unfortunately this model is more commonly associated with Mahogany back and sides, so it will be tougher to get top dollar on the used market. Certainty tougher than if your Brazilian SCGC was an OM, Dreadnought, or even a 00.

Got it... thanks. I'm not selling it soon anyhow.

[werkout52]

Originally Posted by sully151

Maybe that is for new and Ted was talking used. I am saving for a new guitar and a SAnta Cruz is on my very short list.

He asked for new and used prices. Just filling in the blanks.