Used Sellers Market graveyard

[jaan]

I haven't been able to sell much of anything of late, but I have had great success in consigning guitars. I'm in the Denver area and have been listing my stuff at Old Town Pickin Parlor in Arvada.
https://www.picknparlor.com/
Kit's a great guy who's really knowledgeable and gets great foot traffic. He's also at only 15% commission, which when you start adding up Reverb fees / paypal isn't that far off considering you don't have to deal with the public.

[Br1ck]

Some economic things to realize. First is inflation we have is the envy of most developed nations, and seems more rock bottom low to the third world. As we deglobalize, we will pay a price for bringing more manufacturing back to the US. Startup costs for those new chip plants, and rebuilding infrastructure so we can survive the future is costly. The impact of global warming on food production in low yield areas will suck up a lot of US farm production. A starving nation will have to pay through the nose, and we will too as agribusiness will sell to the highest bidder. Likewise with oil.

Just remember, demographics are in our favor and we are likely to suffer less than most. Part of that suffering is going to be having less stuff. But how much suffering will I experience by repairing a car I like? No new TV? I'd rather eat well. Those companies that have done very well catering to the wealthy will feel a pinch, be they trying to sell someone their sixth Rolex or their sixth fine guitar. As long as you can avoid pairing acquiring with happiness, you will do fine. And far, far better in the long run than the many countries who are beyond being able to repopulate.

Look at truck sales. They have run out of people to sell $70,000 trucks to. Ford has a small affordable truck, but chose not to build many of them. The market is clamoring for cheaper cars. The market will make auto builders change. Learn to adapt to change is my advise. I'd say I'm a pretty average boomer.
I don't need the four pretty fine guitars I have, and I need none of the cheaper fill the niche guitars either. I remember when folks were happy to have one good Martin. Economics may have us heading in that direction in the future.

Read an article this morning that the wine market was declining. Prices have exceeded ability to pay, plus younger people are more and more treating alcohol as a poison. I love a $90 bottle of cabernet. Once or twice a year. They won't survive on me, and if younger folks don't jump on the premium wine bandwagon they will be hurting. That will have next to no impact on my well being. Neither will, alas, half the builders of nice guitars going out of business.

[Gromitspapa]

I think the asking prices of used guitars are often too high- maybe 50-60% of MAP is where they belong. For example, a $1,000 Martin can be bought for $800-850 generally and a lot of online sellers offer 6-12 months of 0% financing without affecting the price, or longer terms that do affect the price. How much less is a used one worth? What's the value of a lifetime warranty (especially on a Martin with known binding issues, for example)? What's the value in avoiding problems? What's the value in having a return policy?

[Moldstar]

I have seen a lot of people trying to get unrealistic prices on used stuff for a long time, and I see this as a long-needed market adjustment back towards normal.

[Moldstar]

Originally Posted by Gromitspapa

I think the asking prices of used guitars are often too high- maybe 50-60% of MAP is where they belong. For example, a $1,000 Martin can be bought for $800-850 generally and a lot of online sellers offer 6-12 months of 0% financing without affecting the price, or longer terms that do affect the price. How much less is a used one worth? What's the value of a lifetime warranty (especially on a Martin with known binding issues, for example)? What's the value in avoiding problems? What's the value in having a return policy?

Right on. I see this constantly, I even see used stuff for sale by clueless owners at the same price as a new version of that instrument, and then when you factor in the GC 15 or 10% off, new is often selling less than a lot of used items. People have got to get it in their head that 50 and 60% of MSRP is reasonable for their instrument they are selling, and I guess it is finally happening. If you are goign to sell me your used guitar for 20% off msrp, I would much rather buy new, like Gromit said you get warranty, you get return policy, you get possibly free set ups for x period of time, etc, etc. People continually think their guitars are worth more far more than they actually are, imo.

[Osage]

In the past 8 months, I've sold off over half of my fairly large guitar collection. I wouldn't say it has been that difficult honestly. I price things at what I think is realistic to actually make a sale. Many of them were vintage guitars by well known brands (Martin, Gibson, Fender, Epiphone etc...) and they were the easiest to sell. Smaller brands have taken longer but have been selling. I've sold on FB Marketplace, Local FB gear buy/sell groups, Reverb and Ebay and have had good luck with all of them. I haven't bothered with Craigslist in years.

[Mandobart]

Reminiscent of this recent discussion.

[tinnitus]

Always looking for new used gear, I'll be checking Craigslist every day.

[Hogs150]

I had a year old Martin that I bought for a bargain Put it on FB and CL. I was selling at even a better bargain a grand off the retail price and had no offers except one from a dealer I know who offered 500 less (no thanks). had it on for a month crickets.

[Dr356]

Lately here in Tucson, its very slow. Had a couple guitars on CL but didn't get any response. Local shop here will not take consignments either.

[Hexcore]

Ditto up here in Downeast Maine. The bottom hasn't fallen out, but the relatively few genuinely good guitars hitting Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace are now very reasonably priced. On the rare occasions when a boutique or truly costly instrument appears, these often go unsold even when the price is excellent. We did have one guy who posted an epic, all-Koa Lowden for $1200, but that was a scam (as a Google image search instantly proved) and not a deal.

[A Green Peon]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I have feared this for some time.
When thinking about the more expensive instruments - Collings, Santa Cruz, Bourgeois, and the higher end Martins, maybe Gibsons and Taylors - who has bought them ?

It's us baby boomers!

We are now of an age when many are thinking about "liquidating our stock."

I'm not convinced that the Gen X and millennials are so interested in high quality, vintage and boutique stuff.

Back in 2017/8 when confronted with my mortality,
I had soft agreements made with a number of good dealers about the disposal of my stuff, and partly due to Brexit (which severely limited access to the Continental market) and a change in the times have both had a negative effect.

Gen X and millenials are probably interested, but having to pay way more relative to their income for schooling/housing and don't have the same sort of discretionary income for goods.

[YamahaGuy]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Reminiscent of this recent discussion.

Sorry I missed out on that one. But yeah. For sure.

[Hexcore]

Ditto up here in Downeast Maine. The bottom hasn't fallen out, but the relatively few genuinely good guitars hitting Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace are now very reasonably priced. On the rare occasions when a boutique or truly costly instrument appears, these often go unsold even when the price is excellent. We did have one guy who posted an epic, all-Koa Lowden for $1200, but that was a scam (as a Google image search instantly proved) and not a deal.

[RP]

Originally Posted by A Green Peon

Gen X and millenials are probably interested, but having to pay way more relative to their income for schooling/housing and don't have the same sort of discretionary income for goods.

Good point. Several have mentioned sellers who overprice their used guitars for sale. I think that this often occurs when an inexperienced buyer pays full asking price for a new guitar and then tries to sell it assuming that everybody pays full asking price. They then do a bit of research and set what seems to be a high price for a used guitar not realizing that many of us bought the same guitar when new for a lower price. Case in point, I just saw a used Martin D18 like mine that was advertised on Facebook Marketplace by an individual at a price about $500 more than what I paid not too long ago...