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I am about to finish my ninth steel string acoustic and my first electric, a tele thinline style. I have not sold any guitars at this point. I'd like to get an estimate of the value or an appraisal of my builds. ...either for insurance purposes or perhaps to determine how much I should sell them for, in case someone wanted to buy one. I've thought about taking one into a guitar shop, but I'm just not sure that I could get an accurate appraisal that way. Any suggestions on how to determine the value of my builds?
Thanks,
Steve

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

This is a tough question to answer. What is your time worth? What is the wood worth? How much will it cost you to replace the wood alone? Since I build as a hobby, my time spent building is my free time in the evenings. I enjoy building tremendously, so I would not call it "work" to build a guitar, but if I had to rebuild a guitar because it was stolen or destroyed, I would think my time is worth something. Less than I make in my day job, but certainly not free. Now, I am sure there are a few people here who could appraice your work and say it is worth a few bucks. But, the insurance company underwriting the policy is probably going to ask for an expert opinion on the value. Unless you have a website stating prices, and receipts showing you were paid that price for a guitar, and an appraisal from two experts, you may have a hard time getting the insurance company to pay up on any claimed value.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

You can measure the value of your wood or your time, but there's only one measure that really matters. Your guitars are worth what someone is willing to pay for them. Try selling a couple and see what happens. That will also establish a baseline for insurance purposes if that's an issue.

Steve

My rule of thumb through all my years of repairing and building...

When they suck in their breath, and say "I didn't think it would be that much!"...

BINGO.

If they say "I thought it would be more" - that's called A CLUE.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

10,000 dollars to those who have no intention of buying the guitar.

25 cents to those who wants to buy it.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Find a reputable high end guitar store in your area or another high end builder that sells, and take it to them. Ask them to scrutinize your work as they would there own or other high end builders. I am sure they can help you.(this does require thick skin) Don't expect to get the same price as a well known builder/brand even if the quality is equal. This is not so easy to accept.

Chuck

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I agree with Chuck. A knowledgeable retailer saying "I would expect to get about $____ for this" is your best bet.

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Dave
Milton, ON

The way I went about when I first started was to come up with a reasonable hourly wage for my area and then add on top of that materials and some overhead. The first guitar I sold was my tenth guitar and that was about 18 years ago. I really can't remember how much i sold it for but it was to a local guitar teacher and he got a deal on it as a promotional thing which actually worked for me over a few years. My hourly wage has gone up and the amount of hours to build a guitar has gone down. It takes me about 60 hours to build a basic guitar.

I don't think that a retailer will help you much in trying to find out value. You have to set that. Whether you think your time is worth ten dollars an hour or fifty is up to you. If you are trying to put food on the table then you have no choice but to price your guitars appropriately. Even if you are doing this as a hobby your time is still worth what it's worth.

I use random numbers when talking about what people are looking at till I start getting the "I'd pay that" response , then I raise it $200.00 .LOL

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Unfortunately - value is determined by Market.... not by what you want to be paid or your idea of an hourly wage....

Here's what worked for me.....
Take it to a Mom and Pop's music store you trust and have done business with for a while.
Make sure it's the sort of place that routinely MOVES more expensive guitars... If a Martin HD-28s and top end Taylors move - it's a good sort of place where you will have a chance....
Ask them to honestly give you an idea of a good consignment price on it.

Then... Put one on consignment for that price and see what happens....

If it sells in 1 day - your price is too low...
If it doesn't sell in 3 months - your price is too high....

Unfortunately, with new builders - the price is usually below what we would hope it was.... but that's just reality... We are unknowns - and there is no assurance that the guitar won't do something crazy.... and there's no assurance that we will be able to support the customer after the sale....

Thanks