How lucky (or unlucky) have you been with online purchases

[CharlieBman]

I've purchased 4 online; HD-28, HD12-28, J-45, and a Taylor AD27. All bought new. Only issue was cracked brace on the HD-28, but Martin covered the cost of repair. While I don't feel particularly lucky, overall I am confident buying online. But then again I typically buy new.

[rmp]

Pretty lucky here

only a few issues where a replacement had to be swapped out.

But both of those occurrences were very easily resolved due to the great return policies of the online merchants. In both cases it was a swap out for another one in stock.

A disappointment at first, but all's well that ends well.

[PassingThru]

I've had great luck with my online guitar purchases. Not a loser in the bunch. All purchased on Reverb. My last two acoustics purchased from Guitar Center.

[PapaLobo]

I've been very fortunate , I've picked up 18 instruments online and no disappointments , several masterpieces.

[ghostnote]

No issues over many years. I’ve had to return a couple of mics, but that wasn’t the vendor’s fault.

[musicman1951]

I've purchased one guitar I didn't play first. It was from a respected forum member and it was a mint Martin 000-42 Marquis. It's one of 155 and I've never heard of a bad one, so the combination of the quality member and quality guitar gave me confidence - along with the fact that I didn't want to travel from NY to Texas to pick it up.

Love the guitar, but I'm not sure I'd buy another one without playing first. But given the same circumstances I might.

[Gasworker]

Both of my Halcyons were bought directly online. Ed Bond had done a podcast with the Jason at the Fretboard journal and I ordered my AJ right after listening. If I remember correctly I bought a TRIC case and had it delivered to him. There no trouble what so ever.

[Justbrandon]

I’ve purchase all but a few guitars online and I’ve never had an issue. Most of my purchases have been from reputable shops with a solid trial periods, but I’ve never had to return a guitar for any reason. I’ve also purchased a few from reverb and in those transactions I tend to ask a lot more questions and I think that has helped me avoid any issues

[Ralph124C41]

My experiences have been all over the place. Two of my listed guitars were bought used online and two others were bought new online. No problems with any of them. I would even say the two used guitars were in better condition than listed.


But ... in the past I've gotten

1) An acoustic in "excellent" condition which was that ... except for a lifting bridge.

2) A guitar listed in "fair" condition because of a worn spot in the finish on the top. I asked if it had any structural problems such as a crack. "No, sir. Not a one," I was told. The salesman was right. In fact it had five cracks.

3) Maybe a minor point but I bought a used guitar only to find it had marked as being a "second." I just thought that should have been listed.

[Seb_274]

I have bought 2 acoustic and 1 electric online over the last 4 years. The three guitars from 3 diffetent retailers: Gear4music, Thomann and a local shop here in Spain. No problems, with all stores having 14/30 day return policy

[Monty Christo]

All of my guitars were either bought from a builder, an online store, or an individual on the Internet. All are keepers, so I guess I'm batting a thousand!

[mbrewer]

Took a flyer on a Collings D2H on Facebook Marketplace which was priced about $1k less than where the market was. Was super nervous but took a big risk and scored a great deal.

[Rosette]

I’ve purchased several guitars online and the only real issue, which is a risk with every online purchase, is not liking the guitar as much as hoped. Still I could sell the ones that didn’t meet expectations, so it was not a big deal.

The only “not as advertised” problem I’ve had was a Strat bought off eBay where the buyer misrepresented the condition and agreed to refund part of the price to cover the work needed. So even that worked out for me.

[rllink]

I bought my first guitar when I got back into it on Reverb from The Fret Shop in Huntsville. A new Mahogany GS Mini. At the time they were few and far between. No problems, good communication
and it came quickly. It appeared to have been out on the floor for a while and the strings were somewhat corroded. But over time it has become my most prized guitar, so all's well.

During the darkness I bought an Epiphone Les Paul from Sweetwater. It came quick with the bag containing five pieces of stale candy. It was a pretty good guitar. My friend had a Gibson Les Paul and we thought the Epiphone was every bit as well made and sounded as good as the Gibson. My interests in music went off in another direction and traded it at a local guitar store for a used Gretsch hollowbody.

Recently I bought a Morgan Monroe 5 string banjo from Banjo Ben's. No complaints about the setup or the shipping. The banjo is fine, but it will probably get traded eventually. It was a learning experience. I wrote about it a little more detailed in the Other Musical Instruments sub forum. I don't think I would have been better off buying one locally.

That's the totality of my experience buying instruments online.

[acoustic567]

Depends on what you mean by a "good experience." If I buy a guitar online from a retailer or individual who has a clear approval period, and I return the guitar without issue because the guitar just doesn't work for me, I consider that a good experience. The system is working the way it's supposed to work.

If I take a chance on something (no approval period) and it just isn't what I'd hoped, but there's been no misrepresentations, I don't consider that a bad experience. I paid my money and I took my chances. The system is working the way it's supposed to work.

The only bad experience is when the instrument doesn't live up to the seller's claims, or s/he doesn't follow through, etc. I've never had that happen with a guitar, just with a couple of effects pedals.

If you're asking what my batting average is with online-purchased guitars that can't be returned, I guess I'd say it's about .800. A few disappointments, but you live and learn.

The advent of online purchasing, with all its potholes, has given us access to so many instruments that in the past we'd see only on the off chance that a local retailer stocked it or bought it.