Has Guitar Center Marts dropped the value of guitars?

[CoolCat]

I have been on Craigslist and the internet a lot lately, watching and seeing prices of guitars, and reading of "deals" people get. Add in a few friends who recently bought or sold a guitar too.

Looking at Fender US strats mainly, it seems they have dropped in resale value.

Data:
Many offering $500 +/- $200, for the US strat in good playing shape.

My personal exp. is a mint 5yr old US STrat Guitar Center offered $531.
My friends sold 89 Mint Ultra, Guitar Center offered $350.
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My brother and I just bought used US strats and the Guitar Center dropped the sticker to $600 and the other $675 Mint with case.
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On Craigslist recently, I see people ask for $900 but everyone knows its only worth $500-$600 in really good shape, $900 for a used one is ridiculous it seems. I asked for $850 then $825, now $800 no calls at all?

So really, has the quantity of Guitar Center and abundance of these guitars caused a drop in value to where the going price is $500 for a Mint Used, US Strat? Maybe $600 with case.

seems to be.

Sure you can pay $1100 at Guitar Center for a new one, but they'll drop the price if you ask to 10% and 15% if you try a little harder. $900 brand new, $850 maybe.

Resale after 30days $500. Loss of $350-$400.

However the real Fullerton Factory Strats seem to have skyrocketed some "collectors" interest. There seems to be some line the collectors stop showing interest, I guess around the 1980 mark. (maybe a collector will chime in?)

I thought I got a great deal at $675, but maybe not? Maybe I should have haggled em down to $575? Guitar Center uses the "blue book" , well how does that work? Who is the Blue Book, are they Financial experts or Guitar Mart executives setting the price?

Seems cheaper deals are here a "real deal" US Strat with OHSC. $500-$600.

not a bad thing..cheers

 

[Lt. Bob]

of course it has ....... when you can get cheapo gits that play and sound similar to big money gits, the need to spend lots of money just disappears for many people.

I also think that in the next 10-20 years we're gonna see a big drop in the prices of those ridiculously overpriced collector guitars like old Pauls and such. The reason being that younger players came up wanting to play newer models of gits they saw their heroes play like Van Halens frankenstrat and as they get older and become wealthier, they're gonna be running up the prices on those gits and the older ones will be less in demand.

 

[LDS]

The price of some instruments is way out of line with their actual value to a player. Folks at Gibson will flat tell you that the current top of the line Gibsons aren't priced or made for players, but as "trophies" for the well to do. And honestly, some of the Epiphones are every bit as good as a lot of the Gibsons.

To me, a good Strat is worth about $350 and a Les Paul maybe $500.

It's just ridiculous. This past weekend I saw a an original Musicmaster Bass in a music store for $850, and it didn't play as well as the one I paid $125 for several years back at a pawn shop in Dallas.

So yeah, a "market correction" in price would be the best thing that could happen for working musicians.

 

[Lt. Bob]

The price of some instruments is way out of line with their actual value to a player. Folks at Gibson will flat tell you that the current top of the line Gibsons aren't priced or made for players, but as "trophies" for the well to do. And honestly, some of the Epiphones are every bit as good as a lot of the Gibsons.

To me, a good Strat is worth about $350 and a Les Paul maybe $500.

It's just ridiculous. This past weekend I saw a an original Musicmaster Bass in a music store for $850, and it didn't play as well as the one I paid $125 for several years back at a pawn shop in Dallas.

So yeah, a "market correction" in price would be the best thing that could happen for working musicians.

yep .... they charge what the market will bear.

Something I find VERY interesting:
A friend of mine just gave me a bunch of Guitar Player magazines from the last 30 years or so.
The funny thing is ..... amps and gits are around the same prices or even cheaper than they were 20 years ago.
I see a LOT of boutiqe type amps going for over 3 grand. That's right in line with what they cost now without even adjusting for inflation.
And pedals and such, even the good ones .... cost more than they generally do today.
Wierd.

 

[theD1CKENS]

that's good news, I guess. $1300 is still a LOT for the SG I really want

 

[bassbrad]

I don't ever see import brands becoming the value that vintage instruments have and Im am not sure those vintage instruments are going to loose value. There is a growing disparity between value and worth especially in the Fender line. Fender has the panache of a designer brand but they are in some ways running too fast and far with some of the lines and the value they deliver and in some cases the quality and value of their baby brand Squier is better.

 

[buzzard bass]

Dead on bro, last year I got an MIM Precision Standard, it was 600 bucks and the quality is very disappointing. Last week I got a Squier Tele, 170 bucks, nicer than the P bass.

 

[Guitargodgt]

Fender is trying to do the Gibson thing:

For only $4800 you to can own one of these ugly shits.

 

[stevieb]

Yeah, that's ugly. But forget that crap- in fact, forget ALL mega-dollar "guitars." Even Gibson admits they are not for musicians. I mean, ignore that portion of the market entirely- buy what you can afford/what plays and sounds good to you. I mean, I got lucky and scored a USA lefty Strat at a price I could afford at a time I could afford it, and I am pleased to own it. Although it does, indeed, play and sound a bit better than the Squire standard Strat I owned prior (and still own,) the rest of that story is the Squire played damned good, and with Texas Specials in it, sounded damned good, too. If I had not found the USA Strat, I would have been happy with the Squire for years. I am equally pleased with my Epi Standard Les Paul, now that I lucked into and installed some top of the line Gibson pups in it- and I will probably never replace it with a "real" LP. What's that have to do with the subject, you ask? Just this: the three guitars- the cheap Fender and up-scale fender having darn near the same feel and sound, and the Epi that now makes even players sit up and listen- taught me that I don't need the "right" label on the headstock for my ear- only for my ego. And I can get over that in a big hurry, when getting over it means I have a good guitar and money in my pocket.

So, I don't really care all that much where the price of USA Strats, or "real" Gibsons, or any other brand of possibly over-priced guitars goes. Up or down, I don't mind. I've got what I need to play, and the guitars I have make me about as happy as a guitar can, so I'm set. I turn a good profit on the gear I buy and sell (I figured it up- I have a whole music room, filled with some cool gear, and my net outlay is either right at zero, or maybe I am a few hundred dollars ahead,) I get some great sounds out of what I have, I have some wicked fun, and if I need some cash, I could turn much of it into somewhere around $3,000 or more, and still have good stuff to play.

But, for those who are having a bit more trouble getting all zen with the crazy prices that stupid stuff is bringing these days, I offer this- the Stevie B Theory of Yuppie Economics:

Yuppies are, almost by definition, people with more money than they need or deserve. It is therefore a moral imperative that the rest of us do whatever we can, within moral and legal (any maybe even illegal!) means to separate them from as much of that excess cash as we can. Therefore, if one can come up with a scheme or method to get them to spend money on obscenely expensive stuff, one has God and Alan Greenspan on your side.

See? Gibson is fighting the good fight!

 

[CoolCat]

then it seems reading all this, its only the materials that will keep the cost at some cost "hard limit".

With automation and factorys always improving, quality of the cheaper lines closes the gap.

I dont build guitars, I guess mainly wood is the most costly of the guitar.
other materials cost. pups, frets, tuning pegs, plastic.pickguards, would be less.
And the wood is probably the main difference of US Strats and the Squiers. Grades of wood even, but mainly Poplar or Basswood versus Alder and Ash.

The quality of playability, as many mentioned above, is always increasing on the cheaper lines, and with automation less defects will be seen on the cheaper brands increasing output which drives prices down.

Usually, the lower the prices the more you'll sell in quantity.

as for the Guitar Center "Blue Book"..... who owns this? who do they get their data from?

from my experience, on CL and GC....its GC who have told everyone what the guitars are worth. So I find this suspicious...

 

[CoolCat]

Craigs List and Guitar Center...the real street value?

Not a bite at $800. Several seem to be at $750-$700 worse condition. One US at $450 but something funny looking about it....

Maybe $799.99 will work better?

I already know GC will offer about $500-$550. w/case...

Anyone else doing any GC selling and trading lately, or CL?

 

[CoolCat]

Well....I'm going to drop the price a little more.

Three reasons:
1) its not moving (the guitar has had zero interest from buyers)
2) its not moving (the guitar tends to go unplayed week after week...not the guitars fault, but..)
3) its not moving (my other guitar feels better, plays better....yea its not a pedigree'd logo but thats another thread)

$750.... US Mint Strat with case candy...

 

[CoolCat]

Fender is trying to do the Gibson thing:

For only $4800 you to can own one of these ugly shits.

it seems upside down, the access to the higher frets is usually needed on the lower side of the neck...but on this the access is the opposite....
the pickguard is like backwards?

$4800 they must be laughing all the way to the bank, probably cost them $100 to make it.

I wonder if their testing the market in case "the trend" goes away from the STrat and Les Paul path for awhile?

Good news for them is no one will copy it.

 

[jimistone]

Prices sound about normal to me. Used guitars should bring 50% of what it retailed for (or somewhere in the ballpark). I wouldn't pay more than $500 for a used USA strat.

I think having the intetnet on cell phone has impackted prices more than guitar centet. Being able to instantly see what a used guitar retailed for and what other ones like it are bringing on ebay is way cool.
The days of selling a used non collectable guitar for 80% of retail are over with.
By the same token the days of getting screwed out of a highly collectable guitar...because you didn't know what you had...are over with as well.

 

[CoolCat]

thanks for the data point. $500 seems to be the going price on these.

my son sold a original Danelectro for $450 the other day, I dont know much about those, but then again it was a discontinued model or something. He bought it used for $450 too though...pretty cool kept its value. Its a great sounding guitar, but he like his MIM better and needed cash, out of work.

geeez I'm starting to think I paid too much at $675 with case, for a Mint condition American Series...wow?

start offering people $300 for a US Strat on CL? is this the trend?
My buddies mint 1989 US Strat was blue booked at $350 by Guitar center mart. So I will correlate that a dinged up US STrat with some road wear is worth around $350?
From what? 1980 to 2011? Are these the mass produced years?

But here is where I dont believe the bottom end, because I never see a US Strat commonly sell for $350, right?

wow...times have changed on these. Do Gibson Les Pauls hold their value used, or do they drop 50% too?

 

[stevieb]

...Do Gibson Les Pauls hold their value used, or do they drop 50% too?

It's been my observation, and now my guideline, that almost ALL gear drops to 50% of it's new-price (not MSRP) around 30-120 days after it was sold, new. It pretty much stays there until the piece of gear has been around long enough to either become vintage (so the prices goes up,) or just get old (so the price drops.) this is not to say that all old stuff is vintage, only that once it gets quite old, and a sizable group of people get misty-eyed nostalgic for it, the price can go up.

From my casual observations, original designs start climbing in value when the people who were young- teens and early 20's- reach their peak earning years and start to pine for gear they had but sold/lost, or lusted after but could not afford. Boomers dig vintage Strats, Gen-X'ers lust after shreader guitars from the 80's, and Millennials will probably want guitars with handles cut into their bodies. As example from my own collection: I have noticed the Westones I paid $70 and $110 for, in the late 90's, are bringing around $300 or more on fleaBay, now.

So, faithful reproductions of 60's strats made in the 90's or 00's will probably never go up in value, much, because the collectors who appreciate that design are spending big bucks on real 60's Strats, whereas the future collectors of guitars won't want to collect 60's Strat copies.

But, that means that players can get good used guitars at reasonable prices, without collectors driving up the price. Seems like a good thing, to me.

 

[CoolCat]

interesting too, the shreader comment....
they'll want classic shreader guitars, not some 60's tool...yea thats right, and its already proven logic like Frank Sinatra guitars and Bing Crosby guitars dont even get shelf space anymore.

How many XGen want a Buddy Holly model Strat?

I think it could go two ways.

A) The Used Guitar prices could go up as the new prices go up, inflation. (still 50% of new)

or

B) Due to the abundance of guitars, another 10years of guitars on the street means the supply is out of whack and the prices continue to drop because there's so many used ones available.


For musicians and players, buyers market... I agree its all good.

I havent gotten even one email for $750 btw.

 

[stevieb]

I was just using "shreder guitars" as an example of what Gen X-ers (or Boomer Echo'ers) might want...

And yeah, inflation might affect the unadjusted price, but when adjusted for inflation, the price will probably be pretty darn constant.

 

[CoolCat]

well I noticed several people re-posting old unsold US Strats this week, listing to $750. But I dont see any interest at $750 used on CL.

...do I drop it another $25? $725....hmmm? I doubt it will do anything.

Yes, $500...$550...$600 buyers get a bit more excited for a "deal". 50% OFF..

According to the few inputs on this thread,

oh well... bad resale, but a great price for a "real deal" , the same tool the legends jammed on.. the ol' US Fender Stratocaster

 

[CoolCat]

to end this post....the Fender sold today for $685

It didnt get one call at $700 or above. For weeks, to over a month, no offers.

At $685 an offer in minutes, for $650...I said nah..
and then the full offer for $685 from buyer #2, within 20 minutes. So this is really a price point.

Its what GC sells them for if you haggle a little. They offer $500 and sell for $650. No huge surprise.

I think it was a beautiful guitar, gorgeous actually, and the extra dealer catalog made me think it was a cool-touch for a collector. But for me, this git just sat in its case over in a corner in mint condition.

$685...sold!