Members Chordchunker Posted March 23, 2011 Members Share Posted March 23, 2011 I`m liquidating as I`m moving (again) where in your opinion is the easiest place and best value to sell used guitars? Craig`s List? Ebay? HC? Telecaster.com? etc? I find the biggest pain with selling online is shipping (duh) but I usually seem to get low-balled on Craig`s..If the price is decent it`s probably worth the hassle of finding a box, packing, shipping.. Yes I`m indecisive by nature..lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 23, 2011 Members Share Posted March 23, 2011 eBay's fees have become outrageous, but if you need to sell quickly, eBay has the largest audience by far. Stuff on CL can sell quickly if priced right, but CL seems to be a flake-magnet. I've had good experience with AGF's classifieds and UMGF's classifieds. You'll get low-ballers at all of them. Just add a fudge factor to your asking price so they can haggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 23, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2011 eBay's fees have become outrageous, but if you need to sell quickly, eBay has the largest audience by far.Stuff on CL can sell quickly if priced right, but CL seems to be a flake-magnet.I've had good experience with AGF's classifieds and UMGF's classifieds.You'll get low-ballers at all of them. Just add a fudge factor to your asking price so they can haggle. CL has the weirdest spam I`ve ever seen.. It`s pretty easy to spot, but dang. Ebay used to be great, but there is so much crap on there, and like you said their fees (including paypal) have gone way up.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 23, 2011 Members Share Posted March 23, 2011 Yeah, free listing services attract spam and scams. There's no disincentive for the scammer. I miss the old eBay -- more fraud, but more interesting stuff, and lower fees. Guitars can move slowly. Some dealers have the same guitars sitting there for years. If it were me and I were moving, I'd price them low to sell them fast. Not worth the wait for top dollar, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Guitars can move slowly. Some dealers have the same guitars sitting there for years. If it were me and I were moving, I'd price them low to sell them fast. Not worth the wait for top dollar, IMO. I agree.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Ebay's fees aren't bad. I've been on Ebay since 2005 and haven't noticed any large increase in fees. You will get more for guitars on Ebay than on Craigslist. You reach a much larger market. You don't have to pay shipping - you can make the buyer pay it. You have protection as a seller and as a buyer. It's much safer than Craigslist (no chance of being robbed at gun point). 340 transactions - more as a seller than a buyer. I highly recommend Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 If you were selling a $500 guitar, in 2009 the fee would have been $19. In 2010, they raised that to $45. Starting in April, their final value fee will be levied on whatever you charge for shipping as well. Of course, paypal fees and shipping costs are on top of that. Shipping has become expensive as well, and buyers price that in when they bid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bridgepin Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Chordchunker, I just moved from the East Coast to the West coast just 3 months ago and it's not fun, but why would you have to sell your guitars, I had 12 shipped and they all got here in perfect condision and the cost was peanuts compared to the rest of the move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Chordchunker, I just moved from the East Coast to the West coast just 3 months ago and it's not fun, but why would you have to sell your guitars, I had 12 shipped and they all got here in perfect condision and the cost was peanuts compared to the rest of the move. Well I don`t have to sell all of them..lol.. Just the ones I never play. I have too much stuff and I`m getting weary of hauling it around, plus I`m po`. If they don`t sell I`ll put them in storage until I feel like where I land is permanent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Sold an old Roland bass amp on CL that I listed about 2-3 hours ago.. I think I`m going to try CL first before I go on Flea-bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluzboy Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Sold an old Roland bass amp on CL that I listed about 2-3 hours ago.. I think I`m going to try CL first before I go on Flea-bay. That would have been my advice. One thing I've done, which I highly recommend doing if you haven't done so already, is to create an email address specifically for CL. It's good insurance against having my primary email inbox filled up with spam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flatline Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 As much as I hate the fees, ebay is usually the fastest and easiest. CL is slow in my area. Sometimes gear can take several months to move on CL. I've also had great success selling gear on various forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 If you were selling a $500 guitar, in 2009 the fee would have been $19. In 2010, they raised that to $45. Starting in April, their final value fee will be levied on whatever you charge for shipping as well.Of course, paypal fees and shipping costs are on top of that. Shipping has become expensive as well, and buyers price that in when they bid. It depends on the type of auction you run. If you sell a $500 guitar with a fixed listing (Buy it Now) your final fee would be 8% on the first $50 and %5 on the $450 balance. Your final value fee would be $26.50. Ebay listing fees would put it a little under $30.00 total. The 5% rate goes up to $1000 - it is reduced to 2% on the balance over $1000. A $1500 guitar would have a final value fee of $61.50. Auction listings are 9% and are capped at $50.00. It makes the best sense to sell guitars under $1000 in fixed listings and guitars over $1000 in auction listings. You will still come out further ahead with Ebay because there is a bigger market for your guitar. Your final selling price will be greater than any other method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 That would have been my advice. One thing I've done, which I highly recommend doing if you haven't done so already, is to create an email address specifically for CL. It's good insurance against having my primary email inbox filled up with spam. That`s a good idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 As much as I hate the fees, ebay is usually the fastest and easiest. CL is slow in my area. Sometimes gear can take several months to move on CL. I've also had great success selling gear on various forums. I had pretty good luck on Telecaster.com as they have a huge member list, haven`t had that good of luck on HC, lots of nibbles usually.. Finding a guitar box is a real pita around here, but there are tons of musicians since I live in a college town. Plus I`m having minor car issues.. One thing after another..I`m sure ya`ll can relate. I have a bunch of other non-musical crap I`ll probably put on ebay, but the last couple of times I shipped out a large item (guitar, big amp) it was a giant hassle for me. I had a guy get pissed because I didn`t ship it out the very moment the auction was over though I clearly stated 3-5 days.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 You will still come out further ahead with Ebay because there is a bigger market for your guitar. Your final selling price will be greater than any other method. I joined ebay in 1996 I think (when they first started) and I do agree with you to a point. I`m not selling my guitars that are over a grand the most will probably be a little under that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 If you sell a $500 guitar with a fixed listing (Buy it Now) your final fee would be 8% on the first $50 and %5 on the $450 balance. Yeah, it does look like BIN is a better format for guitars, but am I misreading this:http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html 12.0% of the initial $50.00, plus 6.0% of the remaining final sale price balance ($50.01 to $1,000.00) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Yeah, it does look like BIN is a better format for guitars, but am I misreading this:http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html12.0% of the initial $50.00, plus 6.0% of the remaining final sale price balance ($50.01 to $1,000.00) I thought it was the same rate as electronics - but I could be wrong. Either way, I sold a bunch of guitars on Ebay since 2005 and I never noticed a big increase in the cost of selling them because it seems like it's easier to sell them now and the selling price is higher. Ebay used to be the best place to buy a used guitar, now it's the best place to sell them. It's almost too easy to sell them. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 I thought it was the same rate as electronics - but I could be wrong.Either way, I sold a bunch of guitars on Ebay since 2005 and I never noticed a big increase in the cost of selling them because it seems like it's easier to sell them now and the selling price is higher. Ebay used to be the best place to buy a used guitar, now it's the best place to sell them. It's almost too easy to sell them. LOL. Hmmm. You are making me rethink this a bit. I thought it was more of a buyer`s market, but maybe it has changed. I`ll put up my pacrim GJ guitar and see how it does as a tester.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Hmmm. You are making me rethink this a bit. I thought it was more of a buyer`s market, but maybe it has changed. I`ll put up my pacrim GJ guitar and see how it does as a tester.. There is a lot of competition between buyers. I used to find killer deals on a regular basis. Not anymore. Every time I think I have a great deal on the line people drive the price up at the end and beat me (it seems most rely on sniper programs). My advice is to research the completed listings. Take a hard look at the high price completed listings that sold and the high price listings that did not sell. This will give you the formula to use and mistakes to avoid. I found that good pictures make the biggest impact. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 There is a lot of competition between buyers. I used to find killer deals on a regular basis. Not anymore. Every time I think I have a great deal on the line people drive the price up at the end and beat me (it seems most rely on sniper programs). My advice is to research the completed listings. Take a hard look at the high price completed listings that sold and the high price listings that did not sell. This will give you the formula to use and mistakes to avoid. I found that good pictures make the biggest impact. Good luck! I check out the completed listings, but my problem is I always find something I want on ebay..lol. Like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Lark-Morning-Harp-Guitar-original-Dyer-Harp-Copy-/200590119145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb41a50e9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimmy Chaos Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 Ebay's fees aren't bad. I've been on Ebay since 2005 and haven't noticed any large increase in fees.You will get more for guitars on Ebay than on Craigslist. You reach a much larger market. You don't have to pay shipping - you can make the buyer pay it. You have protection as a seller and as a buyer. It's much safer than Craigslist (no chance of being robbed at gun point). 340 transactions - more as a seller than a buyer. I highly recommend Ebay. I totally agree. I have sold more than I've bought from eBay. But I've had good experience buying too. Yamaha DWX 7C - A brilliant live guitar with a quality blend pickup and a 7 year old Taylor 110e that was in mint condtion. Oh and that Blue beater I bought a couple of months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nightwatchman9270 Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 I have sold a lot of things on bay and cl. In my opinion, the added money you get with selling on eBay is mostly offset by fees, postage, driving to the post office, time wasted. Plus there is more risk, I think when it's not an in person/cash deal. I have been ripped off on eBay through a complex scam with the buyer saying he never received the item bs. eBay usually sides with the buyer in disputes. Read the eBay forums. There are many many ways to get ripped off on eBay. Not worth the extra 20 or 30 bucks, ESP with something fragile and expensive like a guitar. I won't sell anything worth more than a hundred bucks on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tartanlad Posted March 24, 2011 Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 I didnt stay any amount of time on Ebay i sold a Authentic Dutch cruiser bicycle which you pedal backwards for to brake as the gears are in the back hub..Guy came from England bought it from me.. But since not long after i packed EBay in because they tke to much money from you.. ive found also best with Gumtree ive bought and sold items from using the Gumtree site which is also free of Charge and a hard-case from as had them all delivered to ma door Ye id say Gumtree so thats like USAs Craiglist even if i never got these guitars brought to ma house id have met somewhere and then made a decision if to buy the items or walk away without You get to see or try the items out 1stly which is better..plus no hassle as you can get from Evil-bay.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordchunker Posted March 24, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2011 I have sold a lot of things on bay and cl. In my opinion, the added money you get with selling on eBay is mostly offset by fees, postage, driving to the post office, time wasted. Plus there is more risk, I think when it's not an in person/cash deal. I have been ripped off on eBay through a complex scam with the buyer saying he never received the item bs. eBay usually sides with the buyer in disputes. Read the eBay forums. There are many many ways to get ripped off on eBay. Not worth the extra 20 or 30 bucks, ESP with something fragile and expensive like a guitar.I won't sell anything worth more than a hundred bucks on ebay. This has been my experience the last few ebay transactions too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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