guitar sale phenomena of weirdness

CoolCat

CoolCat

Well-known member
I grabbed a US Fender bass to flip it. I did no homework....$350 for near mint JP90, with hardcase...

Its been weeks or more than a month. Not one offer at $575, 550, 525, 450, 400...nothing...???
:wtf:

I put a black pickguard on it, gorgeous black on black, neck is mint, fret is mint, Fender Made in USA, JP90...stock with P-bass pups and Jazz of that 1990 US etc....just a cool cool bass.

But not one offer really. Homework shows them being asked /selling for $500 but not flying off the shelf.
American ELite are $1900!!! US $1200 P-Bass...MIM $650 Jazz....Squiers are $350-$450....no hardshell case

This is vintage coolness and nothing, people offer $325 GC offers $279? :wtf:

$279 for a Fender USA Jazz/P Bass with mint neck and hardcase?

Whats going on?
 
What year is the JP90? I would imagine that has *some* bearing on its resale. If you insure the bass for shipping, it might be worth trying to sell it online.

But yeah, resale on instruments has always been risky unless dealing with the absolute best years/models ('collectors' items). It sounds like I got my current set of guitars at the right time, about 6 years ago. They were well made and I was still able to resell what I had (lesser quality) to offset the cost of the newer, better models. I've also needed fewer instruments over the years once I stopped gigging. They just last longer sitting on the stand at home.

I've had mixed experiences selling instruments in the past, it really does depend a lot of local economics. Around where I live, acoustic instruments are big as there's something of a decent folk scene (coffee shops, various small festivals) and demand for quality made acoustic instruments is high. Bars and venues that offer live music have largely vanished, so rock and metal not as much in demand and thus electric basses, guitars, and drums sell for much less than their supposed book value. Let's not even discuss music electronics - rack gear, pedals, effects boards... you'd be lucky to get 25% what you paid last week in resale [with few exceptions]. Home production equipment like interfaces, decent keyboards, other specialty items seem to be holding their value on eBay. That community is active, live music not as much.
 
Last edited:
1990...it was a short run of Fender, it didnt sell, people want the same old with Jazz and P-Bass...everything else is a smaller group for "odd designs".

but!! still its worth only the same price as a Squier? lol wow... I would keep it but I dont need 2 bass's.
 
CoolCat said:
1990...it was a short run of Fender, it didnt sell, people want the same old with Jazz and P-Bass...everything else is a smaller group for "odd designs".

but!! still its worth only the same price as a Squier? lol wow... I would keep it but I dont need 2 bass's.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. I googled the model before my last reply but didn't realize the short duration of the model.

Appears the issue is more lack of demand than anything else. The model didn't attract buyers then, or now.
 
Last edited:
Pinky said:
Ah, I see. I googled the model before my last reply but didn't realize the short duration of the model.

Appears the issue is more lack of demand than anything else. The model didn't attract buyers then, or now.
Click to expand...

yeah neck issues...seemed to be posted.

the one I have doesnt have them but not good for sales. like ART gear....the repair posts and threads doomed them for entry-sketchy gear, even though the good ones sound great and might last 10yrs+....

a lot of people didnt like the pickguard at all on the JP90, I admit other than the Black on Black, the red and white with black oddball pickguards look like crap.
 
I read that the neck issues were on the later 92-93 models, your earlier model should be fine. Unfortunately, as you say, it's already a tarnished model regardless.
 
unless someone likes that off-the-beaten path stuff.

I had a old Gibson from that era which was oddball and it never brought in the money either. It was US, mint, hard case too...but the book value never went up.

But really?? Isnt it still worth more than Squier?

Its like the $100 to $500 range is congested with crap to really good!

And Im not paying $2000 for anything that cant pass a blindfold test, so the $1000 limit is for decals and woods maybe.... I dont know. 500 to 1000 for what?
Theres only like 900 million P-bass's and Jazz basses out there, so yeah there might be a 5% market for Oddball American Fenders or Gibsons.
 
Oddball stuff takes time and you have to get it out there so the people looking will find it, hence my eBay suggestion. Trying to sell locally greatly limits the number of buyers which is already inherently limited.

Does your local Guitar center do consignment? I think used instruments show up in online searches on guitar center's website.
 
Gigging bass players need, at most, 2 basses - most get by with 1. Unlike guitarists, who always need '1 more'.
 
mjbphotos said:
Gigging bass players need, at most, 2 basses - most get by with 1. Unlike guitarists, who always need '1 more'.
Click to expand...

lol truth

I've been a bassist more than guitarist in past bands/projects, and I've never owned more than one bass at a time (despite always owning more than one guitar).

Currently own 1 bass, 1 acoustic guitar, 1 electric guitar. This has been true for most of the last 20 years. Your formula is solid.
 
Funny about the bass. I am not a guitar player really, but to the other posts. I have three electrics, three acoustics, one bass.

I couldn't tell you why, but only validate the statement.
 
Pinky said:
lol truth

I've been a bassist more than guitarist in past bands/projects, and I've never owned more than one bass at a time (despite always owning more than one guitar).

Currently own 1 bass, 1 acoustic guitar, 1 electric guitar. This has been true for most of the last 20 years. Your formula is solid.
Click to expand...
I was playing bass for almost half the songs in my band that just broke up - I had 1 bass and 2 guitars at gigs. Would have brought more guitars if there had been room!
 
Had to google that. And while I'm fairly knowledgeable on instruments, I gotta admit, never heard of it or saw one.
Seems people are asking in the 4 to 500 range for them, but that's a wierd bass!
Might be great for recording, but a tough one to sell.
Certainly not an easy flip.
Keep it or good luck!
 
I tried a test.....put the price down to $360. Two days no bites.
Cheaper than others, very strange. Im wondering if its just not shopping season?
$360 for a Fender near mint 1990 US bass with Rosewood, mint frets and a hardcase? lol....wow
Maybe its just meant to stay here?
Im putting the price back up to a realistic value....although I havent tried $1200 yet...hmm?

per Reverb and Fleabay and GC....$500-$550 for this is going price this one. $50 for the case, $550.
CL people often expect less because theres no return policy (at least I expect CL to be ultimate cheapest)

maybe its just the Fish arent biting?:confused:


EDIT: scratch that.....I just got on CL and someone posted I didnt have a contact method selected.
:facepalm:

2EDIT: now i have 2 offers at $360....lol :rolleyes:
 

Attachments

  • JP90 CL used.png
    JP90 CL used.png
    91.8 KB · Views: 33
Last edited:
I just sold a guitar for $300 w/HSC...I was asking $325. It was probably worth at least $400, but I tried a few times before the holidays, and lots of looks, but no bites.
So I figured this is the other good time to sell, early spring, right after the tax deadline, so anyone with money coming will see it as "found money" (even though it's not) and be more eager to drop some coin on toys.

I have a couple more up for sale, an amp head, cab, some speakers...speakers always move easy. That amp head was also listed back in the fall a few times....lots of looks, no buy. I bought it for about $500...spent another $150 to replace the tranny, and now I'm trying to sell it for less than $400.

I think AFA guitars go...sell them while you can, there are WAY too many used guitars up for sale, so every buyer is fickle, unless they are looking for something very specific that they are after.
 
lol...I appreciate the honesty! Miroslav!

yeah a lot of my sales I joke are losses, sometimes if I get something super cheap it shows profit, but if I put math to it probably 80% time its a buy, play, compare, and sell at a loss. breaking even is totally fine with me.
I think this thing will be sold by tomorrow now that I have a "contact available"..geez.
And I have it marked down to $360 now...thats about $150-$200 cheaper than GC.
 
I don't mind "losing" 10-20% of what I originally paid...I see it as the cost of using it and learning about it, if I wanted it or not...etc.

The other thing to consider...if you have gear that's not getting much use (regardless what you paid for it)...then just holding on to it is a 100% loss (unless you're expecting it will appreciate over time, usually not).

So regardless of what you paid for it or what you think it's worth, if it's just sitting in a pile...by selling your other unused gear at 25-30%, sometimes even over 40% less than your cost, you're still clearing out the unused gear and turning it into actual cash $$$...which you can then use to buy something else.

Nothing more depressing then staring at gear you don't want...but you won't sell. :D

I use to think that holding on to everything no matter what, was better than "giving" it away, considering how much some audio gear depreciates (and very fast , too).
I got past that logic, and now...the goal is to unload it if it's of not much use to me...even at crazy low prices, whatever the market sets for it...and just accept it, it's better than clinging to it.
 
in my mind the guitar would sit in the $700-800 price range.
but the reality is $500 retail...which is cheaper than a mim and at my selling price below Squiers...

yet its all top line stuff with hardcase, and some might see 1990 as a vintage collectible....its not making sense.

GC offered $279-$300 for a made in us Fender wiht hardcase? while they have malaysia made infinity squiers sitting 20ft away on the wall for $350?

whats going?
 
New car syndrome. The minute you drive it off the lot it deprecates by 30%
That squire will end up on CL for a hundred to two hundred bucks.
As far as GC, they've always been cheap bastards, buying used gear for pennies on the dollar. But in their defense, they're only going to get what you would be selling it for on the private market. They have to buy cheap to make a profit.

Selling to GC is kind of like the last chance texaco on 500 miles of empty highway.
When your sales options have run out they get the deal.
 
Yup...^^^ I agree.

Music stores give you less than you can sell it for privately, or even on eBay or Reverb, and of course, less then CL, because there you don't have to pay any fees.

I just don't fuck with CL...I don't want to meet anyone, or deal with any BS. I go eBay, bite my lip, and pay them their fees...and of course, 3% to PayPal...and I'm done.
But...I've been on eBay for almost 20 years, and about the same with PayPal...so I have 100% feedback, and I know how to "read" the buyers and the sellers, and I've not had a single bad transaction, that I couldn't work out....and only a handful of those over the years. Most every sale and purchase on eBay has been pretty easy and without issue. 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.

I hope I didn't just jinx myself...seeing how I have a bunch of stuff up for sale. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top