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 Post subject: Used Guitars
PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:09 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
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Location: Magnolia DE
First name: Brian
Last Name: Howard
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Car dealers have blue books, antique dealers have pricing guides, so what type of resources are you using to determine the value of a used guitar? And if a guitar has a street value of say $1000 what percentage of that would you give someone as a trade? or an outright buy?

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 Post subject: Re: Used Guitars
PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:30 pm 
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First name: Brian
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General rule for newish used guitars is 50% of MSRP. The vintage guitar magazine used buyers guide thing is generally pretty good.


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 Post subject: Re: Used Guitars
PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:46 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

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Depends on how much I like the guitar or what I think I could sell it for.
Car dealers use " black" and "blue" books as a guide to the value of an automobile (and to beat up the trade in value ), but also take into consideration their local market and how likely they are to sell it.
For guitars name recognition seems to count for a lot with most buyers. A Martin or Gibson will sell quicker and for more than a comparable Guild or Taylor. I have traded better instruments for worse when the name on the peghead was more desirable and easier to sell. Sad but true.


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 Post subject: Re: Used Guitars
PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:58 pm 
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Quote:
General rule for newish used guitars is 50% of MSRP. The vintage guitar magazine used buyers guide thing is generally pretty good.


Pretty close. Better to price them at half of what they can be bought when new (and when Guitar Center is dumping them at 40% off, then the real value is half of that figure.

Also - on solidbodies, doesn't matter what's been bolted onto it since it was new (Floyd Rose, new Duncans, etc.), it's still worth half of the market value. Accessories don't count for much.

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 Post subject: Re: Used Guitars
PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:08 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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What I have done for items like amplifiers and such,
is find it on e-bay, watch it,
and see what it sells for.
I do that for guitars too,
but get depressed when I see what handmade guitars sell for.
It takes a while,
but I think it pretty much shows what stuff is worth.


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 Post subject: Re: Used Guitars
PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:54 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

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I rely on the Blue Book of guitars. I found this resource as good as what is out there . You can buy the book or join and work online .
I agree with the 50% rule on trades for the most part . If I am dealing in a higher end martin I will work on a lower %.

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 Post subject: Re: Used Guitars
PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:01 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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I think there's a huge difference between selling to an enthusiast/collector vs to a dealer - as the dealer has to make money on the re-sell.... The dealer can't pay Blue book if they want to sell at blue book... They gotta pay 30-50% under blue book to pay for the shop... Just like a consignment - you gotta pay your consignment fee to the shop....

So... Are you a dealer who is buying an instrument to re-sell? Are you a Luthier who is looking at taking an instrument in lieu of payment... or do you just want to go buy a cool old guitar to add to your collection? If the first - then think real hard about what you can really sell it for and how long it will sit around before it sells.... A valuable guitar may sit around for a year waiting for a buyer... Can you float that cash for a full year? Probably not - so you better get it cheap....

Thanks


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 Post subject: Re: Used Guitars
PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 11:22 am 
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+1 for John comment

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