guitar sale phenomena of weirdness

I'm not sure how some people always bitch about eBay...I just think they don't really know how to work it or how to read the sellers and buyers.

Same people who bitch about their computers and software and anything else they can't work.
My experience has been like yours.
The one time I could have gotten screwed I had taken a video of the sold item to prove it worked and shown the buyer details in it for date reference. ;)

Up yours, awkward ebay guy! :)
 
Ebay isnt that great with me but its probably more Pro than negative deals....mainly people wanting to complain and then ask for reduced price(scam).
Also buying is easier than selling as they support the buyer more.

CL is just dangerous becuase its obvious.

Reverb has been really good for me as it is musicians and recording gear only and so thats my current fav, but I didnt want to ship a guitar again.

Im meeting at the Police Station for CL deals etc..
 
Reverb has been really good for me as it is musicians and recording gear only and so thats my current fav...

I've bought on Reverb a few times...but I really hate their interface and how they display stuff, with awful personalized settings for that...and that stupid "bump" for items, which always pushes random shit to the top.
I've contacted them about their lousy search options...and they just try to convince me that they are good...and miss/ignore what I'm pointing out could be better.
When I search for items, I want a by-date default...nope, they won't provide that, so every fucking time, for every fucking search, you have to keep changing it from their default "recommended" :facepalm: to "most recent" so I can view the latest listings...and then you still have the stupid item "bump" they do. :rolleyes:
Plus...they only display like a dozen items at a time...so it's an endless process.
Yeah...it's obvious that it's been set up, and is run by, musicians. :laughings:

That's why I just don't bother trying to list there. I know they are a bit lower with fees...but I have eBay wired in, and I don't have to fight with it.
 
I don't understand why people bitch about Craigslist so much. All it is is the traditional classifieds every town used to have. In LA it was the Recycler. You put in an ad and your tel # and dealt with strangers. Now those classifieds are just online via Craigslist, etc.

Just like Reverb, Ebay, etc. You have to know how to read people.
I've never once had a problem with a local CL buyer or seller.
I do however have a policy of engaging in an actual phone call. If I can't get the person to talk to me and all they want to do is text, I walk away. We talk and I'm getting a read on them.

What the fuck is with people who will text but refuse to talk? Never understood that.
 
I've used CL a lot for gear sales, never had an issue. Bought a few cheap things that way too. Just have to delete the scam inquiries.
 
Also buying is easier than selling as they support the buyer more.

I've heard this said a lot but have had nothing but perfect and fair support from eBay, as a seller.
Maybe it's different for new/retail/business sellers compared to me selling my second hand stuff,
but I've found if your listing is accurate and detailed, pictures are good, and you have evidence of working condition, adequate packaging, and shipping, you're bulletproof.

There was only one time when I thought the buyer might win because I made an error of judgement, in hindsight, but after explaining it to ebay they sided with me.
Any other attempt for refund or return from time wasters or whatever has been squashed by eBay in light of the evidence and diplomatic conversation history that I could present.

They do seem to take those conversation logs and any verbal agreements into account, and transparency and professionalism seems to carry weight.


For anyone that's curious that 'one time' that I talked about was a sold acoustic guitar.
A string broke when de-tensioning for shipping, so I elected to remove them all since they were very old and cruddy anyway.
I explained to the buyer and asked if he was planning to replace the strings on arrival anyway. He flipped out. lol.
I backstepped and offered to buy him a new set of strings but that wasn't enough; In his view I'd scammed him by proposing to post an item that can not be proven to work.
He had no intention of changing the strings and talked about it like it was rocket science so, yeah, I made the mistake of assuming and overestimating someone.

Regardless, eBay accepted my explanation and took my word for it that changing strings is common practice and lack thereof shouldn't be considered evidence of anything untoward.

He went on to claim that the replacement strings weren't included in the package. I showed ebay a receipt, which proves nothing relevant, and they were happy with that!?

That all sounds quite bad, but I have a few hundred sales and that's the only story that I can think of.
 
I don't understand why people bitch about Craigslist so much. All it is is the traditional classifieds every town used to have. In LA it was the Recycler. You put in an ad and your tel # and dealt with strangers. Now those classifieds are just online via Craigslist, etc.

Just like Reverb, Ebay, etc. You have to know how to read people.
I've never once had a problem with a local CL buyer or seller.
I do however have a policy of engaging in an actual phone call. If I can't get the person to talk to me and all they want to do is text, I walk away. We talk and I'm getting a read on them.

What the fuck is with people who will text but refuse to talk? Never understood that.

Anytime I sell on Craigslist I meet at the Burger King down the street. Avoiding the chance of a stranger knowing where I live and what I own...

I have had all gear stolen from rehearsal space once. By a musician even. He shall burn in hell. He did spend 2 years in jail and we got most of the gear back tho. Dood left the state after he got out to avoid appropriate flogging.
 
funny strong story.

I dont have count of my ebays, im not a store.
I will admit and agree your comment on the packing was blamed against me(electric guitar price dropped I lost), then another was a joemeekvc3 and the buyer didnt even know what it was and wanted money back so I got it back and deal cancelled. (hassle of returns....listing as no returns means nothing).... then some freako bought a broken cd palyer for parts and somehow got my real name home phone number and started obsessively calling my house to discuss a $10 ebay purchase and it was real creepy, as he was off his rocker in a creepy way constantly calling...i ended up giving the pos to him and paid to block his number.

I think buying Ive had good experiences and when I sold some higher end stuff the deals went well.

Reverb for me has been 100% so far, but Im not a store. Maybe 20 things a year? or less....no big items except a couple rack mount things but those are built well. Except for the shipping costs can be surprising.

Im going to list about 6-8 things on Reverb this weekend, and CL at a reduced price to avoid shipping costs and hassle.
UPS is expensive!! when selling $100 items anyway.

GC is last ditch kind of "i dont care...ram it in my #$@..." deal.

Ive heard it many times. the Formula is 50% of New for Used, then they offer 60% of the 50%.
Or if they can pull up average used price, its 60% of that.

So my $450 avg JP90 Made in USA mint Precision/Jass with hardcase....was an offer of $279 ish so they could sell at $450apprx.

Craigslist recommends making the deal in the Police Station.
Its a high crime rate around here and so people get robbed for cell phone sales etc....the police cant spend time on $300 items.

None of them are perfect, imo.

If GC goes broke there might be a flood of Used gear as we gearheads have never seen before!
I need to save up for the sell off....I recall Mars going bankrupt and brand new US STrats with hardcase for $400 etc..
 
That all sounds quite bad, but I have a few hundred sales and that's the only story that I can think of.

thats a lot of sales imo...

how do you cover shipping? seems so fkn expensive when I go to UPS....like $40 on a $100 rack unit!
 
Anytime I sell on Craigslist I meet at the Burger King down the street. Avoiding the chance of a stranger knowing where I live and what I own...

I have had all gear stolen from rehearsal space once. By a musician even. He shall burn in hell. He did spend 2 years in jail and we got most of the gear back tho. Dood left the state after he got out to avoid appropriate flogging.

I stopped doing the home visits since 1995...had a bum like dewd show up and realized my little kids were put in danger.
Yeah... a lady got shot and killed over a cell phone, in front of her daughter....the dudes just got sentenced this week, murder over a cell phone?
 
thats a lot of sales imo...

how do you cover shipping? seems so fkn expensive when I go to UPS....like $40 on a $100 rack unit!

Over 10-15 years it's not that much.
I tend to sell-to-replace when something starts to show age, rather than letting it die.
I might have sold CPU, Motherboard, Ram and GPU 3-4 times to upgrade/replace, for example.

I tend to bargain hunt quite a lot, too. Quite often I'll have snagged something that needs a minor repair or benefits from a spruce up or clean.
I like picking up gear to get to know it then, if it doesn't get much after a while, I generally make a small profit moving it on.


Shipping is at the cost of the buyer. :)
 
What the fuck is with people who will text but refuse to talk? Never understood that.

I asked that once and someone said texting is more convenient because you can respond when you want.
After a couple texts though it still seems stupid to me... but if they are in a meeting or work texting might work better.

All this stuff is maybe more for older people, we grew up without internet and cell phones....my kids not at all, from K to Adulthood...internet, cell phones, no privacy...
 
I would keep it but I dont need 2 bass's.

Yes you do. Put roundwounds on one, flatwounds on the other. :guitar:

As for the lack of interest, it's an older and unpopular model, and you're competing with the glut of instruments on the used market. I could pick up a late-model, American Standard J or P bass for $600 easy.
 
the JP90 sold at $360 just now, and it was worth $800 imo. Ridiculous low price....with hard case. The guy plugged it in and it played perfect and sounded great, the GC tech had said it played really well too. I didnt plug it in...
as great as it was my 30yr old Jazz Squier I stayed with. Im not live, just hobby stuff...the sons and the band is part of my outlet for GAS...

Anyway it still seems really really odd $360 for this guitar. oh well Im not a store so I didnt want it on the shelf for 3 months...but if that was $360 then the Squiers and MIM should be $100 and $200?
 
I could pick up a late-model, American Standard J or P bass for $600 easy.

yes I see those posted. true...
so the Squiers and MIM wanting $500 probably wont sell. The Squiers then will hit a ceiling used too, like $200?
MIM $300, Japan $400, US $500-$600..........Fender Jazz Elite $1990....aha


edit: so now I wonder....how much is my 30yr old Squier Jazz Korea worth? less than $200? but it plays as good as ...nevermind..:yawn:
 
I'll give you 50 bucks for it. But only with a hard shell case and if you cover shipping.
:D

Seriously, congrats on moving it.
No matter what the percieved value is of something, it's only worth what will move it from your possession to someone else.
Edit :
Looks like you profited 10 bucks. ;)
 
edit: so now I wonder....how much is my 30yr old Squier Jazz Korea worth? less than $200? but it plays as good as ...nevermind..:yawn:

I played a ~25 year old Squire jazz bass for about a year. I really liked it! There's actually a bit of a market for Squire instruments. They were not all made well, but the examples that survive tend to be the best that came out of those factories and are solid instruments. If in the market for something like that I'd definitely consider an older Squire model.
 
Hmmm... I recall having a Squire 6 string electric for a while. It was a POS, which is likely why I've pretty much forgotten about it (my next several electric guitars were Ibanez, which were (and still are) good instruments for typically less $$$). The Squire 6 string was something like Kurt Cobain would smash to pieces on stage. Forgettable and expendable.

I say this somewhat in response to the Gibson bankruptcy thread. Just like with many products on the market, it's foolish to buy on brand name alone. All brands seem to have their lower end or seriously flawed release. The 6 string didn't spoil me to Squire, I knew I paid little to nothing for it new. It takes half a brain to determine what you have in your hands at the price you paid is not indicative of that company's entire lineup. My Gibson guitar is great, but I happily concede that not everything they touch is gold.
 
I played a ~25 year old Squire jazz bass for about a year. I really liked it! There's actually a bit of a market for Squire instruments. They were not all made well, but the examples that survive tend to be the best that came out of those factories and are solid instruments. If in the market for something like that I'd definitely consider an older Squire model.

yes but the market and name brand sets it immediately into a $100 range for used +/-$50 or else theres a brand new one or a MIM used a few bucks away.

in the case of my JP90 the brand name (and usa emblem) apparently had little help in getting a profit going..lol
im leaning more toward saturated market for the low resale. maybe a store could have it on the shelf for 10yrs until the right person came along for $700... it did surprise me how little the interest was in it.

Squiers at times pop up on CL and someone with too much attachment to their axe will want $400 or $350, but thats MIM territory.
Is Squier then doomed to live in the low end forever?
 
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