Thank you to the guy at the old guitar shop in Murfreesboro TN in 2005 for not buying all my guitars. I needed rent money and was in a tough spot. He turned me away and said I’d regret it for the rest of my life. He was right. I figured out the rent, and I still have them. One of them is even worth a little money these days!
It is crazy how many people do not understand basic economics. The retail store is not a collector or even a player. They don't WANT your guitar. They NEED to make money or die.
yea well there's a middle ground. they don't need to gouge folks for 80% profit either. music stores and car dealerships making more money of selling used stuff than new.
@@sqlb3rn While it may seem greedy to those on the outside, you don't know their overhead. Where I worked we would only pay 30% to 50% depending on what it was for various reasons that were considered.. That was the market there. Nobody forces them to sell it. It's a offer. If they don' like it they can refuse.
@@TribalGuitars yea, it's a shit offer. which is why people refuse, and get upset and rant online. making a profit is one thing, but I'm not trying to pay your utility bill for the month. there ain't much over head in hanging a guitar on an empty hanger on the wall. less over head than selling new gear which you don't mark up 80% profit.
did the same, brought in a recorder worth 10 bucks, they gave me $15 for and i got 15% off a BOSS ME-80. literally only thing other then strings i ever bought at a GC
GC employees can get guitars for cost +10%, which is about 1/2 the sticker price. If you have a friend working there, they won't be able to score you that deal, but every month they get a 20% off for Friends and Family. Musician's Friend Gear Advisor's have a bit of wiggle room when you call and work with them directly as well.
If you don’t like the offer, remember this.. you’re the one who brought the guitar in saying, “I don’t have the time or knowledge to sell this on my own, can you please make my life easier.”
I hope you think that when you trade in your car cause that’s not an accurate assessment of why I trade or sell equipment back to a guitar center or for my car.
I don't use Guitar Center unless I absolutely have to. Where I live, there's a family owned store who's bread and butter is band rentals and worship sound installs. Their guitar rooms are well stocked with a variety of things to drool over. Fender, PRS, Gretsch, Vox and Mesa. They're a block away from my work and I have a full hour for lunch. I'm often there. They let me roam around and play things off their walls. If it has an "Ask for Assistance before Playing" card on it, I don't mess with it, but mostly they let me play everything else. They're good people and take the time to know you by name. The number one rule I follow is on every visit, I put some money in their till. Even it's picks or a pack of strings. I figure if I show a little love, they'll return it. And they have
I lived near a guitar center that was mostly staffed by people who knew nothing about anything. I would only trade my stuff to them because they gave me more than anyone else. They were awful at research and always came to the conclusion that my gear was amazing, lol.
I only purchase rare, collectible, or FSR models for everything, down to pedals. Well, I do have some standard models, however, those are workhorses. Those go out to play shows. I have gear that's never gonna suffer this, like early 90's Fender Custom Shop. The best is this Tuxedo Tele, wonder if Casino would help out with a price that a store would offer on one of those... cause you're not getting one under $10,000 otherwise.
I brought a first act hello kitty guitar to guitar center to sell. they gave me $20 to leave with the guitar and never come back. I made out pretty well....
Always check what stuff is selling for on eBay and reverb. So you’re prepared with what you will probably be offered. On a guitar, take out any custom pickups you may have installed/upgraded it with and put the old ones back in. For example an old Epiphone Les Paul you upgraded with Bare Knuckles. You won’t get any more for your guitar because it has pickup upgrades. Sell the pickups later on ebay or use them later for another project. Take advantage of GC and the 15% trade in offers/promos they run. Maximize your options. Try not to trade stuff in general unless you bought the guitar so low you aren’t losing money (or that much money.) Keep all your gear and amass a collection so your friends and family think you’re a hoarder. It’s awesome.
If you go to GC and trade in your gear to buy something new they will give you an additional 15% off the new item. Take advantage of this when trading in and it usually works out to your advantage. This works on crappy things too. Have a cheap pedal, trade it in to GC for 10 to 15 dollars plus 15% off. Buying a $1000 guitar thats an additional $150 they just gave you for the pedal.
The only GC I have to go off is the one up from me and they only give ten percent now but the thing is they'll give you ten percent off even if you don't have anything to trade in if you ask for it.
@@srh361 Cool man. Must depend on the employees. The ones by me never budge on price when I ask. I think they dropped it from 15% to 10% recently. I know you still can get 15% during certain events. Usually like once every month or two they'll give you 15%
@@Epiphoneplayah The GC where I live doesn't do 15% on trade in or trade up anymore, it's 10% and that's it. It may be that way where you live but not where I live.
@@paul38501 this is why all my guitars are the same color. 😂 wife: did you get another guitar? Me: um.. you mean the blue one? (Points in a general direction towards a blue guitar… one of many) I’ve also learned years ago you need a collection so vast she has no idea if another item was added. Learn the barter system to stay off the radar! Think about this guys… if you only have 1 guitar and you add another… busted. But if you have 50… what’s 51? 🤔 Obtain so much gear that you need a large room and a few closets to keep things in. Keep it disorganized looking. She will eventually give up asking and tell you to “just keep the area clean”… that statement she just made is Nirvana, you have reached paradise. Enjoy!
Yep. Every place gave me $500 for custom shops strats turned around and sold them more than twice that. Started selling them myself.. This was years ago. The strats we’re cheaper 10 plus yrs ago. Sold an Ibanez destroyer it was smaller sparkle wiine red $85? Then sold it for $300. Japanese fender $280 I think they got $500. A fender champ amp $100 I think selling for $300. I’m not sure it was $100. Pedals even worse.
GC offered me $250 to sell or $275 trade for a near mint Washburn Dimebolt. They got their price from past sales on EBay that were either totally trashed or husks going for $600 Put it on Reverb and sold it for $1200 4days later.
@@anthonymarshall2653 reverb is getting difficult to deal with lately. Etsy bought it so it’s not a 5% fee it’s 7.7% now. Taxed twice if used. Shipping is usually on me. I’m not a store. I’ve yet to make a penny profit and the clientele has changed. I don’t trust people like I used to. Not that I ever really did 100%. And a certain utuber ripped me off and nobody protected me. I’d love to say who it is. He’s bald and doesn’t live in this country.
Actually traded some gear into GC and was surprised what they gave me for it. The gear was in great shape and they gave me 70% of the going asking price - when the salesperson looked it up online he just checked what people were asking for it, not what it was selling for. He said "we're not going to get that for it but it's in great shape so I'll go 70%" My one good, and only, experience with GC in the last 5 years....
This is the truth. Hell, I run a thrift store, and that's basically what I do for anything worth researching the price. People need to understand that the reason you sell to a store rather than doing it yourself is for convenience. You want the money, but you don't want to have to ship it, or you don't want to have to make time to have people come to your house to look at it and then not buy it. And those custom guitars. Everybody walks in and wants a Fender, a Gibson, a Gretsch etc, because those are the guitars that are heavily marketed. People want something that they feel is safe. That awesome custom guitar has to be exactly what the person walking into the store wants, or they're not buying it.
With reverb and eBay, it's usually a pretty easy process to sell a guitar. I wouldn't go through a store unless I get an interesting trade-in deal for something I really want.
You can sell for 40-50% more online BUT you also have to deal with tax, shipping cost, waiting time, and the 10% that's taken in fees. Your $1k guitar now costs $1250 to an online buyer and is less attractive and harder to sell
I want to sell my Taylor 324ce almost brand new. I have never done this on reverb. Sweetwater even has their own buy sell page. My fear is not the price but the shipping. What if I ship to a phony person or what if it gets damaged in shipping from being dropped or weather etc. That’s my only fear in not selling it in person. I even have all the original boxing still too. Thoughts. Thanks
In my town guitar center and pawn shops WANT to pay you 40% of what they can sell it for. They will all go as high as 60% easily. The key is to know what it’s worth. I have enjoyed buying, selling and trading for over 30 years.
I was in a real bind about 10 years ago. I took my totally gorgeous 5-string Alembic bass to my local shop where I had been a frequent customer for years. They did some research and we agreed on a price to sell it on consignment. It hung on their wall for a month or two. Someone offered 25% less than my asking price. The shop owner said he would eat their commission because he knew my situation.
I have a story. I went to this Well Known music store to sell one of my late 80s made Japanese made Charvel Model 4s (I have two more from the era, bought all of them as new). The peculiar thing with this one was that I had earlier experimented with it by removing the original (and genuinely crappy) JT-6 bridge and replaced it with a surface mounted Shift 2001 (black with gold rollers) with a spacer plate which I machined myself out of 6061 aluminium, which I furthermore anodized in glossy black (I am a musical machinist :). I made this modification early 90s, maybe 1991 (yes, I am an 80s kid). The original factory made spacer plates coming with Shift 2001 for arch tops (read Gibson) indeed didn't really always fit with every superstrat design in the wild. If you want to make one then you really have to measure (and estimate) the spacer plate thickness based on 1) neck tilt angle and 2) fretboard radius. Because you want to have the maximum range of adjustability for every tailpiece. Ok, Shift 2001 didn't deliver at all what the factory promised. There was this expectation that I could dive with a strummed chord for at least two full steps (like with a slide guitar) and the chord wouldn't break down. Didn't happen at all even remotely at any setting of the bridge or sting gauge. I ended up removing the Shift 2001 assembly and re-installing the original JT-6. And now there were those two nasty screw holes decorating the top right behind of the JT-6. Small but ugly holes especially on a neon yellow flat top. I placed the guitar in a generic guitar case and packed with it the Shift 2001, it's accessories and the spacer plate I made for it, and forgot the whole thing. Might have been 1992. I found the guitar again a few months ago. 80s Japanese made American gear had seen a rise in appreciation and I thought that ok, why not. Maybe I could swap this one for a couple of decent inspirational modern foot pedals. I went to this aforementioned Well Known music store, opened the case on the counter and explained it's contents. And suddenly the staff and other people started swarming around it. I was completely ignored, until one of the staff said that yeah, there's an offer. I got $2200 for a late 80s neon yellow Japanese made Charvel Model 4 I myself bought back then as new, with screwholes in it, including a Shift 2001 trem bridge with full accessories including a spacer plate I made early 90s which fits with the holes. In a generic guitar case. I still have absolutely no idea which part of the set brought that money in. They never explained it.
The things one has to remember about selling a guitar to a store: 1. You will get a better offer if you bring your guitar in clean, well-set-up, and with any major wear-parts (eg strings) being pretty much new. All of those are things the store would have to do to sell it to someone else. 2. Modifications will *not* help you sell the guitar for more. That new set of pickups, you're eating the cost because the store won't get anything more for selling your guitar with them on. In fact, any woodwork that you've had done - say, routing a Floyd Rose into a normally-hardtailed guitar - drastically lowers how much you'll get for it. 3. You will always get a better deal trading for gear than you will trading for money.
I don't get people complaining about the trade in price they're offered at a guitar store. It's not like you're being forced to sell to them. If you think you can get more for it, sell it yourself. Seems fairly straightforward to me.
GC does all that but over the last 18 months offer you only 45%. If you bring a guitar with a case that you bought because the guitar didn't come with one originally, just take the case home because you will get nothing for it. They will not give you anything extra for updating pickups, etc. If you want cash sell it yourself. You do make out better if you are trading. Independent shops are better than GC or Sam Ash
GC typically pays 50-60%, based on condition, and what it is. It does vary a little too, depending on the store and manager. They’ll be up front with you what they’re gonna charge for it. Some mgrs wanna move stuff quick so they’ll buy low to sell cheap and move it faster. All that said. When you consider selling on your own, sure; you’ll get more money, but you’ll still have to pay reverb/eBay fees, shipping, and deal with potential problems or customer service. Depending on the item too, you’ll often struggle to get the same price GC does, cause the buyers still have to pay tax, shipping - and if they don’t like it, or it’s blemished or damaged - they can always return it. Overall, it’s a fair trade off. You’re paying for the convenience, and speed of receiving money.
I think it depends on the store. The guitar center here used to pay 40% to 50%. Our local mom and pop place is closer to 60-70%. And sometimes if I’m trading a guitar for a different guitar. If what he can sell mine for used is the same as the one I’m trading for, he’ll just trade me straight across
I also had an experience where I took a major hit on a trade in, because there was this toohpaste logo silver sparkle Charvel that I had to have. No regrets on that one either cause that guitar is freakin' awesome!
I find it boils down to patience. If you are patient enough to sell it on reverb, you will get top dollar. We lose patience and I am guilty of this in the past and trade it in for less to get that sweet guitar in the shop. So now I just buy what I want and then list the one I was going to trade afterwards. Having the capital to do this is king!
My experiences have been good - particularly in trading guitars. Living in Madison, Wisconsin I often travel to Dave's Guitar Shop in LaCrosse. I've traded numerous guitars there and have the following experience. I'd get the trade-in price, obtain the new gear, then look at their website to see what the new asking price is. I have to say it was pretty consistently at about 20% more than what I received. I think that's really fair given overhead etc. - all the things you mentioned. The only problem with it all is I wish I had those guitars back!
My local music store will sell my guitars on consignment! This is a great help for me, because I change my mind about whitch guitars that I want to keep.
I've had great luck with Music-Go-Round in St. Louis. I do a lot of Ebay/Reverb sales, but sometimes I'd rather have someone else deal with the selling and me not having to worry about shipping, returns, etc. If I do my homework I can generally come almost to the dollar what they'll offer me. If it's big ticket, I'll sell it myself. If it's small or I'm selling something for church and want to get the money back to them quickly - then off to Music Go Round I go!
I work at a popular tech shop, basically if there's a item we don't need or there isn't a need for, we pay 1/3 of what we sell it for, that's because we're taking a gamble on the product it could be stolen, it might break or be broken , that costs to repair so we could still make 1/3 profit on it in that event, it let's us be able to discount it further if its unsellable, and it also account for the general price drops that happens for old products over time
Honestly I always liked my guitar stores price strategy. If your trading in, You get 70% of what it’s worth new provided it’s in decent condition & works. major dings and you’ll get 60%. So essentially if I came in with a Gibson Les Paul that’s worth $2500 new, they’re giving me $1,750 no questions asked. That $1,750 comes out of the sticker price of a new guitar. So if I buy a Fender Stratocaster worth $2,500 I only pay tax on $750 instead of the full amount which saves me 13% on $1,750 that’s about $227 saved. If your guitar is Older and a recent MSRP can’t be found/isn’t accurate. They give you 80% of the average reverb price history, Which sometimes you can play to your advantage since you know how they work.
He left IN the awkward moment 😂 "YOU STOLE MY THUNDER!" 👌🤣 Trade-ins have worked out nicely for me at times. I think the shops like it too because it helps change out inventory. When I was first learning to play, my local shop at the time (Roll Over Beethoven Music Store, Hesperia, CA) would often allow me close to retail value on a trade and discount retail a bit on the item I would trade for. They truly valued regular customer relationships. Nothing but love for those guys
The store manager at GC I go to said that on import guitars they offer half of what they're going for, $250 for a $500 guitar and so on, and they'll offer up to 60% on USA made guitars that are in really good condition. Pretty much the same as a pawn shop will offer you.
I have sold several things to you guys and also on consignment. It was a good experience every time and I was always happy with the price. Heck you sold 1 guitar for me for almost double what I thought it bring! It is worth the cost to let you guys do all the work & selling. I'll do it again if I thin the herd later.
Thanks a ton art and yes, sometimes we can do really well for you! We try to get you maximum dollar for your gear so again, thanks for sharing Art and we’ll see you soon!
I sold a pretty flame top MIM Strat to a shop locally one time. They were honest and upfront and gave me about what you stated. I still kick myself in the ass for it though. I should have kept it in the long run, but hey.. you live and you learn.
When I worked at GC back in 2001, there was no readily available interner resource, and the offer was half of what the store hierarchy thought they could resell it for. It was up to the salesperson (me) to sell on the tax benefits (in NY), massage the price on the item that they were buying (if it was a trade-in), and then worry about if it was stolen. I am so happy that I left the music retail business.
Realizing this show is two years old, I have never been to a Guitar Canter. I did, however used to frequent a Music-Go-Round in Louisville KY. They always treated me fairly. If I remember correctly it was 50 or 60% value if the bought it, 60 or 70% if you traded it or 70 or 80% if you put it on consignment. Whichever % the "buy-it" price was, just go up 10% for each response. ( it's been almost 16 years since I moved, so I kinda' forget.) Simple economics, if the store can't make money, they probably won't last long....
I bought an amazing tele from casino guitars. It is a super nice custom shop. Its been a year and i still absolutly love it. Sorry i wont sell it back! Lol
Went to GC with a mint 2019 LP Studio and 2020 MIM Tele trying to get close on a LP Trad Pro. Only offered me $850 total, leaving me $1,000 short. Decided to sell both on Reverb, then bought a mint 2021 Classic used for what I sold the others for.
Hey, I only recently discovered your channel and I love it. As somebody that's been on both sides of this dilemma over the years, I feel it in my bones. Keep up the good work, fellas!
Phone the store in advance to find out when the best time to come in is. You’ve just made a friend by not bringing gear in that you might want to sell on a busy Saturday morning or wasted your time by turning up when the boss is on holiday!
Most of the time with pawn shops they will give you about a 1/4 of the retail price if that is available. Because they will usually list it for about half of the retail price and give you half of what they will list it for. So sometimes you pretty much know that if the guitar sells new for $400 that they will probably give you about $100.
If the store sells a new version of your guitar remember they can (under normal times) readily buy wholesale from the maker. That sets a ceiling on the value.
I worked at a 2nd-hand store for almost 16 years (I was the guitar guy, but not in charge of making the deal) and I would get people complaining to me outside of work. Sometimes it wasn't even the person, it was a friend or relative. I had to explain that: 1) The store wasn't a charity. 2) They had to make so much on the guitar because there's overhead, as we all need to get paid so we can support our families. 3) There are other places they can try to sell it (already rejected by the seller or the place, or deemed too much hassle and too much waiting). 4)That particular store had clientele that are only going to pay so much for certain things. (see Reason #2). 5) No one forced them to sell it.
Yeah, every shop I’ve sold a guitar to has charged me for any repairs to that guitar before the sale happens. It’s always good to have local choices for where to take your guitars. GC is at the bottom of my list unless they have something I want to trade for. I check sold for prices on eBy/rverb before prepping the guitars so that I can have a ballpark amount in mind. Doing that saved me over 1k once. One vintage guitar store owner told me that it was risky that my limited guitar would sell so he only felt comfortable offering lowball since ‘too risky’. I told him I’d take it across state lines to a slightly bigger store, he said fine before offering me a couple hundred more as I was walking out, lol. I took it to the bigger store, they took one look at it and guaranteed that it would sell online in 48 hours at the price that I was looking for. They gave me the check and that guitar was with its new owner by end of that week. When I first started playing guitars, I bought Highway 1 Strats. Then found that they weren’t my style. Had a jet black one that I was willing to part with. The store gave me all of the reasons why it wasn’t worth much and how there probably wouldn’t be much interest in it. Inexperienced me took their low offer. I hadn’t done any research. Came back two days later to check out some pedals, asked about the strat since I didn’t see it on the wall and the same sales guy told me that it sold out of the store before they could even hang it up. They also sold it for way more than they told me they would. Funny thing was that he seemed happy about how it all went down. He then tried to sell me a new guitar. Try to find an honest local store that will tell you the truth. Use recent sold for prices to get an idea of what to expect. It will help you know when to walk away.
In my experience, which isn’t much, you’re better off at GC than the pawn shop. GC has usually offered more than I expected, and they have that deal where if you trade for something you only have to pay sales tax on the difference. Better to sell yourself though
A couple years ago I took a Taylor 714ce in near mint condition into a reputable guitar shop near me (not a chain) to inquire about a trade. I knew what the guitar was worth. When they offered $800, I laughed and walked out. I sold it myself for $1750. I understand profit margin and a shop's need to make money on a transaction, but that seemed ridiculous.
I recently sold a 2016 Gibson ES335 Studio to Guitar Center for $685. While I was disappointed with that price, I had offered it on Facebook Marketplace and only got one offer for less than GC and the guy wanted me to pay shipping. A search of Reverb shows two for 8 months and another one for over a year. GC offered to knock 15% off a Player Series Tele if I sold them the 335 so in the end I was happy with what I got. I didn’t want to wait a year or more to unload a guitar I never played
In 16 I was at G.C. I wanted a Gibson 335. A used one would have set me back $3k with tax. FTN! I bought a Gretsch Streamliner very similar brand new, got a deal on it, and a SKB heavy duty case for around $730. They took advantage of you. I refuse to pay big money for the name on the headstock. It's not worth it. It's all hype. Plenty of other less expensive choices out there.
@@davidkastin4240 I had the 335 for about 4 years. It was a 335 Studio. I just never bonded with it. I know that 2016 isn’t a very desirable year for Gibson’s, but I was shocked at how little interest there was. Could have I gotten more than GC gave me? Sure. Did I want to wait 6 months for more to get it? No. I’ve had the Tele around 4 months and play it every day, I didn’t with the 335
8:13 speaking of UAE, I get a lot of customers out of there and notice they probably came from my little guitar videos because the analytics show UAE watching them
Very interesting.. Hi there, my mom has a hawk 6 string guitar.. She bought it on the 70s.. It's hardly used, unfortunately she wasn't every good.. How do I go about selling it and what could it be worth today?
Well done video guys .love to trade with pawnshops ,they really don't like to trade , but when they have a guitar with damage they will pretty well trade easley especially if the guitar you bring has new strings easy to play no string buzz.and is clean. Things that are easy to fix
On the buying end of this, I will ask for a couple of small things to be included, like strings and el cheapo gig bag, etc instead of haggling, or after getting a sense of their lowest price. The strings are $12 to me, but what, maybe 5 or $6 to them. I've saved $30 they've conceed, $12. It's a small concession to them, but allows for a sense of dealing for me.
My experience is the Guitar Center offers half of what they’ll sell it for based upon on stock model. Any “upgrades” are not considered and any damage is deducted. If there are issues, they’ll mark it down. Had an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, paid $350 for it, put in Gibson BB Pro pickups, bone nut, strap locks, and a hard shell case. $130 was their offer. $260 is what they’d sell it for regardless of how “upgraded” it is. They’d offer 60% if I was trading in….
Long story short- wife bought me a guitar she thought I wanted for birthday. She had it hidden from me past the return policy. It was not the guitar I was looking for...took it back totally un-played with all plastics, etc. GC, the store it was purchased in, offered 50%. 🤷♀️ Otherwise I don't mind getting back 50-60%, but this was annoying.
Bought a Les Paul Classic from GC in January. Went to sell it to them in April still with the stickers on the pick guard. They offered 950, I sold it Privately for 1700 and met a famous artist in the process.
The Best Thing About Guitar Center is they Give You 15% off New Gear ( minus some brands like Friedman and Such ) for a Trade In , and you pay tax on the new items amount minus the trade in and that saves you a few more bucks , and it doesn’t matter what you trade in , you can bring in a guitar effect pedal and still get 15% off a Fender Custom Shop Strat and save like 600 bucks or more . If you are not getting any new gear just sell the gear yourself for possible more money , it just takes longer and there are risks involved
I've used a place in London called The Bass Centre who will sell your bass for a 15% fee. This is really fair for everyone - as the seller YOU get more than you'd probably get selling through eBay/Reverb definitely more than trade-in, the BUYER gets a bass that's gone through a reputable store (they will take it return for refund if the buyer doesn't like it or spots a fault) and it's great for The Bass Gallery as they don't have to take the risk or use money to buy stock. Win-WIn-Win.
Btw, I have seen this happen in book stores, pawn shops, guitar stores....be aware of employees that insultingly low ball you. Their intention is to catch you off guard and actually buy your goods at a price that matches what they personally have in their pocket. Then they take your goods and resell them to the store themselves for a profit or sell your stuff outright to their contacts for a huge profit. Be aware that this is prevalent.
The one they'd always try and pull on me when i was a kid... They'd: Value of your guitar, - from floor price of guitar you wanted. Then they'd bring out the invoice and they'd instead have the list price of the guitar you're getting, and actually deduct the value of yours from that, not the floor price. So in many cases, you'd almost be giving them yours for free.
7:15: "Nobody's going to try and sucker you." I know there's a lot of reputable and honest people but there are DEFINITELY sharks in the business that will strike if they smell blood in the water. There's a local shop near me that's got this great reputation and the proprietor is well known around town. Well I've heard from someone who's known him for decades that if this guy thinks he's got a customer that's uninformed he'll take them for a ride. Like if you walked in there with a 1965 Strat and said, "This was my dad's guitar and I'm not really sure what to do with it..." he would turn around and offer 1000 bucks to take it off your hands.
Love the content of your channel and the real world content. Do you know if GC or shops like yours will pay 'X' when the used guitar comes with a quality case or are you just better off selling the case alone. I'm sure this depends on if its a Gibson or other OHSC, Custom Shop, etc... Thanks!
I don’t know if they’ve changed this policy but when I used to be a GC manager we didn’t pay anything for cases and in fact if someone left them there they went into a pile that we would use to give people free to sweeten deals
Fair market value (FMV) is the amount at which some unrelated third party is willing to pay for what you're selling. However, time is also a component of FMV. How much are you willing to delegate the effort and risk of the sale? If you're delegating all the effort and risk, be ready to receive less than if you were to sale the guitar yourself. A 40% to 50% discount may be the cost of immediate cash.
One of the other potential costs that guitar shops incur with used guitars in any price range, is warranty to THEIR customer. If the dealer’s long time customer buys something and two days later, the neck pickup suddenly goes irrevocably dead, the retailer can’t just say, “Tough luck buddy. This one was sold as-is.” In that instance, the guitar shop just lost a long time customer who will never come back. The retailer, of course, can negotiate for a shared cost of repair if the buyer is willing. But it’s still a cost that can chip away at that 35% markup.
The high-tech robot in LA can't hook up to a phone or answer a question. No oooh Oooo. Baxter gets it moving on a cross country jaunt blowing smoke and sparks and catching corn fields in Illinois on fire. That's why I love you guys. Like my Grandpa used to say. " Richie, you gotta wear pants next time we go to the barber shop.
i never sold to a store/shop. i have offered gear + $ to get something new or when i have run across some gear or guitar i have wanted and found in their inventory. and yeah, it is a business. I think some people get mixed up with the value of any gear in the market vs what it means to them (what they want in $ as well as sentimental value).
I have sold allot of guitars online, and I really never go above what the current selling prices are. I'm not a dealer, but I have bad G.A.S. (giggle), and sometimes they just dont fit for me. I rarely make money on any of them, I'm usually happy if I break even after the shipping and selling costs
When I buy something used, I will the check the used price at Guitar Center, knowing its trade in is worth 60% of that ...is about what I offer. If I want to get out of something I know I can walk into Guitar Center and get my money back. If I sell it myself I will always make money but after a few weeks, I'll take my money back if I don't get a buyer... OR if there is something I want, they will offer 15% off new with a trade it. I've bought stuff super low and used it to upgrade to something I really wanted this way.
I recently took a guitar to GC to try to sell it. They offered me roughly 30-40% of what my guitar sells for on Reverb. Obviously, I passed. I did however thank the staff for their time & efforts. I’m not one of those strokes who’ll say, “well I can get this much if I sell to them”. Because if I can get more elsewhere, I’ll just go there & not waste anyones time. Those people aren’t smart. That being said, y’all should do a video on sellers ethicists & how to be respectful of who the consumer does business with.
Hey Baxter and Jonathan, If a guitar is less than a year old in very good condition and comes with a hard shell case for that model from the same company. Does the case bring any more value to the sale?
I have several guitars that still have the plastic on the pick-ups, the case is in a bag and in a box and the box is in a box, completely mint!!! BUT, they want to price them like guitars that have been played and have wear. SO, they remain with me and my kids get to reap the rewards whenever I get that call to eternity.....
I'm still sore over a bad trade in at a local shop ten years ago. CIJ Jag bass and CIJ Jag Special HH, amp, cases, etc... But I was desperate and now those instruments are twice as much to replace them as when I originally bought them. I really wish I would have just hunkered down.
I traded two guitars cheaply to a local store on the basis that they would sell them to students / kids cheaply. Instead they sold them for four times what they paid me in the trade. Prior to this I spent around $30k in cash over three years or so with this store. I was warned and expected as much - which is why I tested them out with relatively cheap guitars. I guess for some people money is everything.
![[#2024MAMA] ROSÉ (로제), Bruno Mars - APT. | Mnet 241122 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dgGqD28J6aQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you to the guy at the old guitar shop in Murfreesboro TN in 2005 for not buying all my guitars. I needed rent money and was in a tough spot. He turned me away and said I’d regret it for the rest of my life. He was right. I figured out the rent, and I still have them. One of them is even worth a little money these days!
Ive had a simular thing happen to me
Our continuing health crisis has left us instrumentless 😢
Which shop?
Music World?
@@charlesbolton8471 can’t remember the name. It was the one right up from the intersection on broad street. Don’t think it’s there anymore.
Or maybe it was Clark ave ? hahaha. Been a minute
It is crazy how many people do not understand basic economics. The retail store is not a collector or even a player. They don't WANT your guitar. They NEED to make money or die.
Exactly. There's no emotion to business, numbers are numbers.
Amen!
yea well there's a middle ground. they don't need to gouge folks for 80% profit either. music stores and car dealerships making more money of selling used stuff than new.
@@sqlb3rn While it may seem greedy to those on the outside, you don't know their overhead. Where I worked we would only pay 30% to 50% depending on what it was for various reasons that were considered.. That was the market there. Nobody forces them to sell it. It's a offer. If they don' like it they can refuse.
@@TribalGuitars yea, it's a shit offer. which is why people refuse, and get upset and rant online. making a profit is one thing, but I'm not trying to pay your utility bill for the month. there ain't much over head in hanging a guitar on an empty hanger on the wall. less over head than selling new gear which you don't mark up 80% profit.
I once sold a snark tuner to GC to get 15% off a new Les Paul. They bought it for like $6 and then gave me $375 off the Les Paul.
Best trade in ever.
No wonder they are going bankrupt
did the same, brought in a recorder worth 10 bucks, they gave me $15 for and i got 15% off a BOSS ME-80. literally only thing other then strings i ever bought at a GC
GC employees can get guitars for cost +10%, which is about 1/2 the sticker price. If you have a friend working there, they won't be able to score you that deal, but every month they get a 20% off for Friends and Family. Musician's Friend Gear Advisor's have a bit of wiggle room when you call and work with them directly as well.
A trade in is a trade in. I'm sure they were hoping for some better gear in trade but they sold a high end Les Paul, so a sale is a sale.
This might be the best guitar-related TH-cam comment I’ve ever read
If you don’t like the offer, remember this.. you’re the one who brought the guitar in saying, “I don’t have the time or knowledge to sell this on my own, can you please make my life easier.”
I work there, we make a living on people’s laziness
I hope you think that when you trade in your car cause that’s not an accurate assessment of why I trade or sell equipment back to a guitar center or for my car.
I don't use Guitar Center unless I absolutely have to. Where I live, there's a family owned store who's bread and butter is band rentals and worship sound installs. Their guitar rooms are well stocked with a variety of things to drool over. Fender, PRS, Gretsch, Vox and Mesa. They're a block away from my work and I have a full hour for lunch. I'm often there. They let me roam around and play things off their walls. If it has an "Ask for Assistance before Playing" card on it, I don't mess with it, but mostly they let me play everything else. They're good people and take the time to know you by name. The number one rule I follow is on every visit, I put some money in their till. Even it's picks or a pack of strings. I figure if I show a little love, they'll return it. And they have
I lived near a guitar center that was mostly staffed by people who knew nothing about anything. I would only trade my stuff to them because they gave me more than anyone else. They were awful at research and always came to the conclusion that my gear was amazing, lol.
I only purchase rare, collectible, or FSR models for everything, down to pedals. Well, I do have some standard models, however, those are workhorses. Those go out to play shows. I have gear that's never gonna suffer this, like early 90's Fender Custom Shop. The best is this Tuxedo Tele, wonder if Casino would help out with a price that a store would offer on one of those... cause you're not getting one under $10,000 otherwise.
Thanks for the honest info guys. Guitars are made for buying not selling, at least that’s what I tell my wife 😊
That's what I tell her as well
I brought a first act hello kitty guitar to guitar center to sell. they gave me $20 to leave with the guitar and never come back. I made out pretty well....
You shoulda then proceeded to the next guitar shop and tried for the same deal. LOFL!
Always check what stuff is selling for on eBay and reverb. So you’re prepared with what you will probably be offered.
On a guitar, take out any custom pickups you may have installed/upgraded it with and put the old ones back in. For example an old Epiphone Les Paul you upgraded with Bare Knuckles. You won’t get any more for your guitar because it has pickup upgrades. Sell the pickups later on ebay or use them later for another project.
Take advantage of GC and the 15% trade in offers/promos they run. Maximize your options.
Try not to trade stuff in general unless you bought the guitar so low you aren’t losing money (or that much money.) Keep all your gear and amass a collection so your friends and family think you’re a hoarder. It’s awesome.
If you go to GC and trade in your gear to buy something new they will give you an additional 15% off the new item. Take advantage of this when trading in and it usually works out to your advantage.
This works on crappy things too. Have a cheap pedal, trade it in to GC for 10 to 15 dollars plus 15% off. Buying a $1000 guitar thats an additional $150 they just gave you for the pedal.
I totally agree!
The only GC I have to go off is the one up from me and they only give ten percent now but the thing is they'll give you ten percent off even if you don't have anything to trade in if you ask for it.
@@srh361 Cool man. Must depend on the employees. The ones by me never budge on price when I ask.
I think they dropped it from 15% to 10% recently. I know you still can get 15% during certain events. Usually like once every month or two they'll give you 15%
15% is a special promotion for a trade in trade up. Any other time which is the vast majority of the time is 10%.
@@Epiphoneplayah The GC where I live doesn't do 15% on trade in or trade up anymore, it's 10% and that's it. It may be that way where you live but not where I live.
Why would anyone trade in a guitar, that gives you one less guitar?
Because you want to get another, better guitar
So when your wife counts your guitars she doesn't notice a thing.
@@paul38501 😂😂😂
@@paul38501 this is why all my guitars are the same color. 😂 wife: did you get another guitar? Me: um.. you mean the blue one? (Points in a general direction towards a blue guitar… one of many)
I’ve also learned years ago you need a collection so vast she has no idea if another item was added. Learn the barter system to stay off the radar!
Think about this guys… if you only have 1 guitar and you add another… busted. But if you have 50… what’s 51? 🤔 Obtain so much gear that you need a large room and a few closets to keep things in. Keep it disorganized looking.
She will eventually give up asking and tell you to “just keep the area clean”… that statement she just made is Nirvana, you have reached paradise. Enjoy!
@@IAM_Reedy learn my system, keep the guitars, get rid of the wife
Guitar center offered me $50 for a 2015 Fender MIM strat. Lol. They were like “we have a ton”. Ended up selling it for $550
Yep. Every place gave me $500 for custom shops strats
turned around and sold them more than twice that. Started selling them myself.. This was years ago. The strats we’re cheaper 10 plus yrs ago. Sold an Ibanez destroyer it was smaller sparkle wiine red $85? Then sold it for $300. Japanese fender $280 I think they got $500. A fender champ amp $100 I think selling for $300. I’m
not sure it was $100. Pedals even worse.
Holy sh*t!
GC offered me $250 to sell or $275 trade for a near mint Washburn Dimebolt. They got their price from past sales on EBay that were either totally trashed or husks going for $600
Put it on Reverb and sold it for $1200 4days later.
@@anthonymarshall2653 reverb is getting difficult to deal with lately. Etsy bought it so it’s not a 5% fee it’s 7.7% now. Taxed twice if used. Shipping is usually on me. I’m not a store. I’ve yet to make a penny profit and the clientele has changed. I don’t trust people like I used to. Not that I ever really did 100%. And a certain utuber ripped me off and nobody protected me. I’d love to say who it is. He’s bald and doesn’t live in this country.
Guitar Center does have a real robot.
It's the "Happy Birthday Paulie" robot from Rocky IV.
😂😂😂. Cutting edge technology right there!
Lmao
I: think it's EF Hutton - "they make ninety the old fashioned way -- they earn it". Dude from The Paper Chase was the voice. Great show as always
Actually traded some gear into GC and was surprised what they gave me for it. The gear was in great shape and they gave me 70% of the going asking price - when the salesperson looked it up online he just checked what people were asking for it, not what it was selling for. He said "we're not going to get that for it but it's in great shape so I'll go 70%"
My one good, and only, experience with GC in the last 5 years....
This is the truth. Hell, I run a thrift store, and that's basically what I do for anything worth researching the price. People need to understand that the reason you sell to a store rather than doing it yourself is for convenience. You want the money, but you don't want to have to ship it, or you don't want to have to make time to have people come to your house to look at it and then not buy it.
And those custom guitars. Everybody walks in and wants a Fender, a Gibson, a Gretsch etc, because those are the guitars that are heavily marketed. People want something that they feel is safe. That awesome custom guitar has to be exactly what the person walking into the store wants, or they're not buying it.
With reverb and eBay, it's usually a pretty easy process to sell a guitar. I wouldn't go through a store unless I get an interesting trade-in deal for something I really want.
most people sell at music stores because they need money immediately and can get slightly more than a pawn shop offer.
You can sell for 40-50% more online BUT you also have to deal with tax, shipping cost, waiting time, and the 10% that's taken in fees. Your $1k guitar now costs $1250 to an online buyer and is less attractive and harder to sell
Reverb are corporate thieves.
I want to sell my Taylor 324ce almost brand new. I have never done this on reverb. Sweetwater even has their own buy sell page. My fear is not the price but the shipping. What if I ship to a phony person or what if it gets damaged in shipping from being dropped or weather etc. That’s my only fear in not selling it in person. I even have all the original boxing still too. Thoughts. Thanks
In my town guitar center and pawn shops WANT to pay you 40% of what they can sell it for. They will all go as high as 60% easily. The key is to know what it’s worth. I have enjoyed buying, selling and trading for over 30 years.
I was in a real bind about 10 years ago. I took my totally gorgeous 5-string Alembic bass to my local shop where I had been a frequent customer for years. They did some research and we agreed on a price to sell it on consignment. It hung on their wall for a month or two. Someone offered 25% less than my asking price. The shop owner said he would eat their commission because he knew my situation.
damn nice guy.... !
@@kenichi407 probably tasted sweet in this case 😋
“Cows kill more people than sharks”
*Slowly looks out the window to my cow in my backyard pasture*
I love you for that comment!
Cow: slowly looks back. (Also spits out grass tuft.)
The cow is compromised...
I'm thinking that a Cownado is a lot more likely than a Sharknado and that could explain a few things
It's true. Cows do kill more people every year than sharks.
My uncle was killed by a cow.. but to be fair he worked with them for nearly 50 years before one got him.
I have a story. I went to this Well Known music store to sell one of my late 80s made Japanese made Charvel Model 4s (I have two more from the era, bought all of them as new). The peculiar thing with this one was that I had earlier experimented with it by removing the original (and genuinely crappy) JT-6 bridge and replaced it with a surface mounted Shift 2001 (black with gold rollers) with a spacer plate which I machined myself out of 6061 aluminium, which I furthermore anodized in glossy black (I am a musical machinist :). I made this modification early 90s, maybe 1991 (yes, I am an 80s kid).
The original factory made spacer plates coming with Shift 2001 for arch tops (read Gibson) indeed didn't really always fit with every superstrat design in the wild. If you want to make one then you really have to measure (and estimate) the spacer plate thickness based on 1) neck tilt angle and 2) fretboard radius. Because you want to have the maximum range of adjustability for every tailpiece.
Ok, Shift 2001 didn't deliver at all what the factory promised. There was this expectation that I could dive with a strummed chord for at least two full steps (like with a slide guitar) and the chord wouldn't break down. Didn't happen at all even remotely at any setting of the bridge or sting gauge. I ended up removing the Shift 2001 assembly and re-installing the original JT-6. And now there were those two nasty screw holes decorating the top right behind of the JT-6. Small but ugly holes especially on a neon yellow flat top. I placed the guitar in a generic guitar case and packed with it the Shift 2001, it's accessories and the spacer plate I made for it, and forgot the whole thing. Might have been 1992.
I found the guitar again a few months ago. 80s Japanese made American gear had seen a rise in appreciation and I thought that ok, why not. Maybe I could swap this one for a couple of decent inspirational modern foot pedals. I went to this aforementioned Well Known music store, opened the case on the counter and explained it's contents. And suddenly the staff and other people started swarming around it. I was completely ignored, until one of the staff said that yeah, there's an offer.
I got $2200 for a late 80s neon yellow Japanese made Charvel Model 4 I myself bought back then as new, with screwholes in it, including a Shift 2001 trem bridge with full accessories including a spacer plate I made early 90s which fits with the holes. In a generic guitar case. I still have absolutely no idea which part of the set brought that money in. They never explained it.
Sometimes Life just throws you a bone. Congrats!
I'm still baffled adults do not understand these basic economic concepts. Have they not seen Pawn Stars?
The things one has to remember about selling a guitar to a store:
1. You will get a better offer if you bring your guitar in clean, well-set-up, and with any major wear-parts (eg strings) being pretty much new. All of those are things the store would have to do to sell it to someone else.
2. Modifications will *not* help you sell the guitar for more. That new set of pickups, you're eating the cost because the store won't get anything more for selling your guitar with them on. In fact, any woodwork that you've had done - say, routing a Floyd Rose into a normally-hardtailed guitar - drastically lowers how much you'll get for it.
3. You will always get a better deal trading for gear than you will trading for money.
I run our family music store. We buy tons of used gear and also sell on Reverb. You guys are spot on.
Dang, that’s a sick garage jacket!
I don't get people complaining about the trade in price they're offered at a guitar store. It's not like you're being forced to sell to them. If you think you can get more for it, sell it yourself. Seems fairly straightforward to me.
Trades are very different than straight cash.
GC does all that but over the last 18 months offer you only 45%. If you bring a guitar with a case that you bought because the guitar didn't come with one originally, just take the case home because you will get nothing for it. They will not give you anything extra for updating pickups, etc. If you want cash sell it yourself. You do make out better if you are trading. Independent shops are better than GC or Sam Ash
GC typically pays 50-60%, based on condition, and what it is.
It does vary a little too, depending on the store and manager.
They’ll be up front with you what they’re gonna charge for it. Some mgrs wanna move stuff quick so they’ll buy low to sell cheap and move it faster.
All that said.
When you consider selling on your own, sure; you’ll get more money, but you’ll still have to pay reverb/eBay fees, shipping, and deal with potential problems or customer service.
Depending on the item too, you’ll often struggle to get the same price GC does, cause the buyers still have to pay tax, shipping - and if they don’t like it, or it’s blemished or damaged - they can always return it.
Overall, it’s a fair trade off. You’re paying for the convenience, and speed of receiving money.
You touched on a GREAT POINT. BOUTIQUE GEAR and resale value. On to another great video discussion.
I think it depends on the store. The guitar center here used to pay 40% to 50%. Our local mom and pop place is closer to 60-70%. And sometimes if I’m trading a guitar for a different guitar. If what he can sell mine for used is the same as the one I’m trading for, he’ll just trade me straight across
I also had an experience where I took a major hit on a trade in, because there was this toohpaste logo silver sparkle Charvel that I had to have. No regrets on that one either cause that guitar is freakin' awesome!
I find it boils down to patience. If you are patient enough to sell it on reverb, you will get top dollar. We lose patience and I am guilty of this in the past and trade it in for less to get that sweet guitar in the shop. So now I just buy what I want and then list the one I was going to trade afterwards. Having the capital to do this is king!
Very helpful video. I had to scroll back through the older videos to find this one. 👍🏽
My experiences have been good - particularly in trading guitars. Living in Madison, Wisconsin I often travel to Dave's Guitar Shop in LaCrosse. I've traded numerous guitars there and have the following experience. I'd get the trade-in price, obtain the new gear, then look at their website to see what the new asking price is. I have to say it was pretty consistently at about 20% more than what I received. I think that's really fair given overhead etc. - all the things you mentioned. The only problem with it all is I wish I had those guitars back!
My local music store will sell my guitars on consignment!
This is a great help for me, because I change my mind about whitch guitars that I want to keep.
I've had great luck with Music-Go-Round in St. Louis. I do a lot of Ebay/Reverb sales, but sometimes I'd rather have someone else deal with the selling and me not having to worry about shipping, returns, etc. If I do my homework I can generally come almost to the dollar what they'll offer me. If it's big ticket, I'll sell it myself. If it's small or I'm selling something for church and want to get the money back to them quickly - then off to Music Go Round I go!
I work at a popular tech shop, basically if there's a item we don't need or there isn't a need for, we pay 1/3 of what we sell it for, that's because we're taking a gamble on the product it could be stolen, it might break or be broken , that costs to repair so we could still make 1/3 profit on it in that event, it let's us be able to discount it further if its unsellable, and it also account for the general price drops that happens for old products over time
Honestly I always liked my guitar stores price strategy.
If your trading in, You get 70% of what it’s worth new provided it’s in decent condition & works.
major dings and you’ll get 60%.
So essentially if I came in with a Gibson Les Paul that’s worth $2500 new, they’re giving me $1,750 no questions asked.
That $1,750 comes out of the sticker price of a new guitar. So if I buy a Fender Stratocaster worth $2,500 I only pay tax on $750 instead of the full amount which saves me 13% on $1,750 that’s about $227 saved.
If your guitar is Older and a recent MSRP can’t be found/isn’t accurate. They give you 80% of the average reverb price history,
Which sometimes you can play to your advantage since you know how they work.
He left IN the awkward moment 😂
"YOU STOLE MY THUNDER!" 👌🤣
Trade-ins have worked out nicely for me at times. I think the shops like it too because it helps change out inventory. When I was first learning to play, my local shop at the time (Roll Over Beethoven Music Store, Hesperia, CA) would often allow me close to retail value on a trade and discount retail a bit on the item I would trade for. They truly valued regular customer relationships. Nothing but love for those guys
The store manager at GC I go to said that on import guitars they offer half of what they're going for, $250 for a $500 guitar and so on, and they'll offer up to 60% on USA made guitars that are in really good condition. Pretty much the same as a pawn shop will offer you.
That can be the rate at some shops but most we work with get closer to 60%.
Thanks a ton for sharing that!
@@CasinoGuitars In Australia stores rarely offer more than 30% for trades unless you have something like a pre cbs fender.
sounds like a bad shop, more like a pawn shop like you said. those prices at pawn shops make sense because everyone going in is desperate lol
@@alandunn4459 30 percent is the same as the store saying we dont want it lol because im clearly not giving it away
I have sold several things to you guys and also on consignment. It was a good experience every time and I was always happy with the price. Heck you sold 1 guitar for me for almost double what I thought it bring! It is worth the cost to let you guys do all the work & selling. I'll do it again if I thin the herd later.
Thanks a ton art and yes, sometimes we can do really well for you! We try to get you maximum dollar for your gear so again, thanks for sharing Art and we’ll see you soon!
Here in KS. When you trade in you only pay tax on the difference. Like getting more for your trade in!
Same here in CO. It’s a nice little bonus.
I figure if the shop can make double what I am selling to them for, it's all good. This is probably because I'm a small business owner myself :)
This was good information, thank you. I’m always selling my guitars
100% agree on the Walking Dead commentary. Terminus was the high point of the TV series. Great videos guys!
I sold a pretty flame top MIM Strat to a shop locally one time. They were honest and upfront and gave me about what you stated. I still kick myself in the ass for it though. I should have kept it in the long run, but hey.. you live and you learn.
When I worked at GC back in 2001, there was no readily available interner resource, and the offer was half of what the store hierarchy thought they could resell it for. It was up to the salesperson (me) to sell on the tax benefits (in NY), massage the price on the item that they were buying (if it was a trade-in), and then worry about if it was stolen.
I am so happy that I left the music retail business.
Realizing this show is two years old, I have never been to a Guitar Canter. I did, however used to frequent a Music-Go-Round in Louisville KY. They always treated me fairly. If I remember correctly it was 50 or 60% value if the bought it, 60 or 70% if you traded it or 70 or 80% if you put it on consignment. Whichever % the "buy-it" price was, just go up 10% for each response. ( it's been almost 16 years since I moved, so I kinda' forget.) Simple economics, if the store can't make money, they probably won't last long....
I bought an amazing tele from casino guitars. It is a super nice custom shop. Its been a year and i still absolutly love it. Sorry i wont sell it back! Lol
I gave up on the walking dead when the whisperers showed up. I’m surprised I lasted that long.
Went to GC with a mint 2019 LP Studio and 2020 MIM Tele trying to get close on a LP Trad Pro. Only offered me $850 total, leaving me $1,000 short. Decided to sell both on Reverb, then bought a mint 2021 Classic used for what I sold the others for.
Awesome topic!
Hey, Baxter… Here’s a fun fact for you:
The Walking Dead was filmed in Atlanta.
The original name for the city of Atlanta was Terminus.
Now you know…🤠
The Mockingbird SR-71! HILARIOUS! I so love you guys & this channel 👍
Hey, I only recently discovered your channel and I love it. As somebody that's been on both sides of this dilemma over the years, I feel it in my bones. Keep up the good work, fellas!
Phone the store in advance to find out when the best time to come in is. You’ve just made a friend by not bringing gear in that you might want to sell on a busy Saturday morning or wasted your time by turning up when the boss is on holiday!
Most of the time with pawn shops they will give you about a 1/4 of the retail price if that is available. Because they will usually list it for about half of the retail price and give you half of what they will list it for. So sometimes you pretty much know that if the guitar sells new for $400 that they will probably give you about $100.
Depends on how much a bag of dope costs in the area, if you can get a bag for 50 that’s what they’ll offer 😂😂😂😂
Jazz Hands! Love the pink Tele behind you
Cant stop seeing Baxter with those sonic blue strat horns (9.55) on his head.
If the store sells a new version of your guitar remember they can (under normal times) readily buy wholesale from the maker. That sets a ceiling on the value.
I worked at a 2nd-hand store for almost 16 years (I was the guitar guy, but not in charge of making the deal) and I would get people complaining to me outside of work. Sometimes it wasn't even the person, it was a friend or relative.
I had to explain that: 1) The store wasn't a charity. 2) They had to make so much on the guitar because there's overhead, as we all need to get paid so we can support our families. 3) There are other places they can try to sell it (already rejected by the seller or the place, or deemed too much hassle and too much waiting). 4)That particular store had clientele that are only going to pay so much for certain things. (see Reason #2). 5) No one forced them to sell it.
Yeah, every shop I’ve sold a guitar to has charged me for any repairs to that guitar before the sale happens.
It’s always good to have local choices for where to take your guitars. GC is at the bottom of my list unless they have something I want to trade for.
I check sold for prices on eBy/rverb before prepping the guitars so that I can have a ballpark amount in mind. Doing that saved me over 1k once. One vintage guitar store owner told me that it was risky that my limited guitar would sell so he only felt comfortable offering lowball since ‘too risky’. I told him I’d take it across state lines to a slightly bigger store, he said fine before offering me a couple hundred more as I was walking out, lol. I took it to the bigger store, they took one look at it and guaranteed that it would sell online in 48 hours at the price that I was looking for. They gave me the check and that guitar was with its new owner by end of that week.
When I first started playing guitars, I bought Highway 1 Strats. Then found that they weren’t my style. Had a jet black one that I was willing to part with. The store gave me all of the reasons why it wasn’t worth much and how there probably wouldn’t be much interest in it. Inexperienced me took their low offer. I hadn’t done any research. Came back two days later to check out some pedals, asked about the strat since I didn’t see it on the wall and the same sales guy told me that it sold out of the store before they could even hang it up. They also sold it for way more than they told me they would. Funny thing was that he seemed happy about how it all went down. He then tried to sell me a new guitar.
Try to find an honest local store that will tell you the truth. Use recent sold for prices to get an idea of what to expect. It will help you know when to walk away.
In my experience, which isn’t much, you’re better off at GC than the pawn shop. GC has usually offered more than I expected, and they have that deal where if you trade for something you only have to pay sales tax on the difference. Better to sell yourself though
"We make money the old fashioned way. We earn it" Smith Barney commercials.
Spoken by the crusty old law professor from the Paper Chase movie/TV show.
Done by the late John Houseman
A couple years ago I took a Taylor 714ce in near mint condition into a reputable guitar shop near me (not a chain) to inquire about a trade. I knew what the guitar was worth. When they offered $800, I laughed and walked out. I sold it myself for $1750. I understand profit margin and a shop's need to make money on a transaction, but that seemed ridiculous.
I recently sold a 2016 Gibson ES335 Studio to Guitar Center for $685. While I was disappointed with that price, I had offered it on Facebook Marketplace and only got one offer for less than GC and the guy wanted me to pay shipping. A search of Reverb shows two for 8 months and another one for over a year. GC offered to knock 15% off a Player Series Tele if I sold them the 335 so in the end I was happy with what I got. I didn’t want to wait a year or more to unload a guitar I never played
In 16 I was at G.C. I wanted a Gibson 335. A used one would have set me back $3k with tax. FTN! I bought a Gretsch Streamliner very similar brand new, got a deal on it, and a SKB heavy duty case for around $730. They took advantage of you. I refuse to pay big money for the name on the headstock. It's not worth it. It's all hype. Plenty of other less expensive choices out there.
@@davidkastin4240 I had the 335 for about 4 years. It was a 335 Studio. I just never bonded with it. I know that 2016 isn’t a very desirable year for Gibson’s, but I was shocked at how little interest there was. Could have I gotten more than GC gave me? Sure. Did I want to wait 6 months for more to get it? No. I’ve had the Tele around 4 months and play it every day, I didn’t with the 335
8:13 speaking of UAE, I get a lot of customers out of there and notice they probably came from my little guitar videos because the analytics show UAE watching them
Very interesting.. Hi there, my mom has a hawk 6 string guitar.. She bought it on the 70s.. It's hardly used, unfortunately she wasn't every good.. How do I go about selling it and what could it be worth today?
Well done video guys .love to trade with pawnshops ,they really don't like to trade , but when they have a guitar with damage they will pretty well trade easley especially if the guitar you bring has new strings easy to play no string buzz.and is clean. Things that are easy to fix
You guys are great keep it up thanks for entertaining the mail man!
On the buying end of this, I will ask for a couple of small things to be included, like strings and el cheapo gig bag, etc instead of haggling, or after getting a sense of their lowest price. The strings are $12 to me, but what, maybe 5 or $6 to them. I've saved $30 they've conceed, $12. It's a small concession to them, but allows for a sense of dealing for me.
HOW DARE A BUSINESS TRY TO MAKE MONEY OFF ME?!
😂 Jonathan still reppin that magnatone hard huh?
Smith Barney, we make money the old-fashioned way, we earn it!
My experience is the Guitar Center offers half of what they’ll sell it for based upon on stock model. Any “upgrades” are not considered and any damage is deducted. If there are issues, they’ll mark it down. Had an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, paid $350 for it, put in Gibson BB Pro pickups, bone nut, strap locks, and a hard shell case. $130 was their offer. $260 is what they’d sell it for regardless of how “upgraded” it is. They’d offer 60% if I was trading in….
Long story short- wife bought me a guitar she thought I wanted for birthday. She had it hidden from me past the return policy. It was not the guitar I was looking for...took it back totally un-played with all plastics, etc. GC, the store it was purchased in, offered 50%. 🤷♀️ Otherwise I don't mind getting back 50-60%, but this was annoying.
That's normal. You buy a guitar and change your mind before even leaving the store with it it will be considered "used". Same with firearms.
Bought a Les Paul Classic from GC in January. Went to sell it to them in April still with the stickers on the pick guard. They offered 950, I sold it Privately for 1700 and met a famous artist in the process.
Mac How famous?
Nice episode. You should do one explaining guitar’s shop basic economics
The Best Thing About Guitar Center is they Give You 15% off New Gear ( minus some brands like Friedman and Such ) for a Trade In , and you pay tax on the new items amount minus the trade in and that saves you a few more bucks , and it doesn’t matter what you trade in , you can bring in a guitar effect pedal and still get 15% off a Fender Custom Shop Strat and save like 600 bucks or more .
If you are not getting any new gear just sell the gear yourself for possible more money , it just takes longer and there are risks involved
I've used a place in London called The Bass Centre who will sell your bass for a 15% fee. This is really fair for everyone - as the seller YOU get more than you'd probably get selling through eBay/Reverb definitely more than trade-in, the BUYER gets a bass that's gone through a reputable store (they will take it return for refund if the buyer doesn't like it or spots a fault) and it's great for The Bass Gallery as they don't have to take the risk or use money to buy stock. Win-WIn-Win.
Btw, I have seen this happen in book stores, pawn shops, guitar stores....be aware of employees that insultingly low ball you.
Their intention is to catch you off guard and actually buy your goods at a price that matches what they personally have in their pocket. Then they take your goods and resell them to the store themselves for a profit or sell your stuff outright to their contacts for a huge profit. Be aware that this is prevalent.
The one they'd always try and pull on me when i was a kid... They'd: Value of your guitar, - from floor price of guitar you wanted. Then they'd bring out the invoice and they'd instead have the list price of the guitar you're getting, and actually deduct the value of yours from that, not the floor price. So in many cases, you'd almost be giving them yours for free.
7:15: "Nobody's going to try and sucker you." I know there's a lot of reputable and honest people but there are DEFINITELY sharks in the business that will strike if they smell blood in the water. There's a local shop near me that's got this great reputation and the proprietor is well known around town. Well I've heard from someone who's known him for decades that if this guy thinks he's got a customer that's uninformed he'll take them for a ride. Like if you walked in there with a 1965 Strat and said, "This was my dad's guitar and I'm not really sure what to do with it..." he would turn around and offer 1000 bucks to take it off your hands.
😮
The guy was probably happy with that 1k 😂
Love the content of your channel and the real world content. Do you know if GC or shops like yours will pay 'X' when the used guitar comes with a quality case or are you just better off selling the case alone. I'm sure this depends on if its a Gibson or other OHSC, Custom Shop, etc... Thanks!
I don’t know if they’ve changed this policy but when I used to be a GC manager we didn’t pay anything for cases and in fact if someone left them there they went into a pile that we would use to give people free to sweeten deals
One of these days I need to head down to your shop!!!!!
Fair market value (FMV) is the amount at which some unrelated third party is willing to pay for what you're selling. However, time is also a component of FMV. How much are you willing to delegate the effort and risk of the sale? If you're delegating all the effort and risk, be ready to receive less than if you were to sale the guitar yourself. A 40% to 50% discount may be the cost of immediate cash.
I appreciate this video. Very honest!
One of the other potential costs that guitar shops incur with used guitars in any price range, is warranty to THEIR customer. If the dealer’s long time customer buys something and two days later, the neck pickup suddenly goes irrevocably dead, the retailer can’t just say, “Tough luck buddy. This one was sold as-is.” In that instance, the guitar shop just lost a long time customer who will never come back. The retailer, of course, can negotiate for a shared cost of repair if the buyer is willing. But it’s still a cost that can chip away at that 35% markup.
The Kelly Blue Book of guitars would like a word... this book is responsible for the customer seeing dollars, and the shop getting them in the end.
The high-tech robot in LA can't hook up to a phone or answer a question. No oooh Oooo. Baxter gets it moving on a cross country jaunt blowing smoke and sparks and catching corn fields in Illinois on fire. That's why I love you guys. Like my Grandpa used to say. " Richie, you gotta wear pants next time we go to the barber shop.
i never sold to a store/shop. i have offered gear + $ to get something new or when i have run across some gear or guitar i have wanted and found in their inventory. and yeah, it is a business. I think some people get mixed up with the value of any gear in the market vs what it means to them (what they want in $ as well as sentimental value).
I have sold allot of guitars online, and I really never go above what the current selling prices are. I'm not a dealer, but I have bad G.A.S. (giggle), and sometimes they just dont fit for me. I rarely make money on any of them, I'm usually happy if I break even after the shipping and selling costs
When I buy something used, I will the check the used price at Guitar Center, knowing its trade in is worth 60% of that ...is about what I offer. If I want to get out of something I know I can walk into Guitar Center and get my money back. If I sell it myself I will always make money but after a few weeks, I'll take my money back if I don't get a buyer... OR if there is something I want, they will offer 15% off new with a trade it. I've bought stuff super low and used it to upgrade to something I really wanted this way.
I recently took a guitar to GC to try to sell it. They offered me roughly 30-40% of what my guitar sells for on Reverb. Obviously, I passed. I did however thank the staff for their time & efforts. I’m not one of those strokes who’ll say, “well I can get this much if I sell to them”. Because if I can get more elsewhere, I’ll just go there & not waste anyones time. Those people aren’t smart.
That being said, y’all should do a video on sellers ethicists & how to be respectful of who the consumer does business with.
Hey Baxter and Jonathan, If a guitar is less than a year old in very good condition and comes with a hard shell case for that model from the same company. Does the case bring any more value to the sale?
Great video
I have several guitars that still have the plastic on the pick-ups, the case is in a bag and in a box and the box is in a box, completely mint!!! BUT, they want to price them like guitars that have been played and have wear. SO, they remain with me and my kids get to reap the rewards whenever I get that call to eternity.....
Are you guys in the shop Fri? I was going to stop by and say hello on my way up north.
For sure and it's First Friday downtown so a cool street fest with great live music.
@@CasinoGuitars cool deal see you lads around lunch time
@@CasinoGuitars First Friday? Where at? We has too, in Vegas, and it's a live music event with food/beer vendors. Pretty cool.
I'm still sore over a bad trade in at a local shop ten years ago. CIJ Jag bass and CIJ Jag Special HH, amp, cases, etc... But I was desperate and now those instruments are twice as much to replace them as when I originally bought them. I really wish I would have just hunkered down.
Guitar stores get better margin on used stuff. In fact, they probably make more dealing used gear than brand new gear.
I traded two guitars cheaply to a local store on the basis that they would sell them to students / kids cheaply. Instead they sold them for four times what they paid me in the trade.
Prior to this I spent around $30k in cash over three years or so with this store.
I was warned and expected as much - which is why I tested them out with relatively cheap guitars.
I guess for some people money is everything.