When is a guitar technically considered used?

[DarkHorseJ27]

Is it when a private individual first buys it?

 

Say I buy a guitar, keep it for a year and never play it, would it technically be considered used?

 

And if I didn't buy that same guitar, and stays at the guitar shop for a year, getting played about once a week, then would it still technically be new?

 

Just wondering because I would like to know what one can call new and used on eBay and other sites.

[larry50]

As soon as the owner of a new guitar walks out of the shop, it's used, whether or not he or she plays it. The only possible exception is the 30 day return policy some stores have, like Musicians Friend etc., but in a subsquent sale to anyone else, it's used.

[DarkHorseJ27]

 

As soon as the owner of a new guitar walks out of the shop, it's used, whether or not he or she plays it. The only possible exception is the 30 day return policy some stores have, like Musicians Friend etc.

 

 

That's what I thought. I've seen private sellers say the bought the guitar new and say it is new because it hasn't been used (much), but I didn't think it worked that way.

 

Plus I don't want to falsely advertise myself, intentional or not.

[larry50]

Once you buy a new guitar, it's automatically worth 30%-50% or more less, depending on the brand. For example, I recently sold a Martin D-35, which I bought new for $2,000 for $1,500, so I did pretty good. OTOH, I've seen Guild GAD-50's, a MIC version of Guild's D-50, which go new for $799 for less than $400.

[gitnoob]

There are degrees of newness.

 

Still in the factory carton and sold by an authorized dealer with full warranty is the most "new."

 

Usually, the warranty isn't transferable, so when you resell a new git, you can represent it as "like new" or "mint" or even "new, unused, with no warranty."

 

BTW, I've seen gits sell for more on ebay when represented as "good condition" than those that were misrepresented as "new" when they were basically both the same condition. I think buyers are suspicious of non-dealers selling "new" guitars.

[DarkHorseJ27]

 

Once you buy a new guitar, it's automatically worth 30%-50% or more less, depending on the brand. For example, I recently sold a Martin D-35, which I bought new for $2,000 for $1,500, so I did pretty good. OTOH, I've seen Guild GAD-50's, a MIC version of Guild's D-50, which go new for $799 for less than $400.

 

 

Tell me about it. A local guitar shop salesman lied to me, and I paid $800 for a guitar worth $600 (kind of my fault too for not doing my homework). The neck warps and it gets replaced under warranty. I sell the replacement on eBay as used, but also saying it only had an hour of playing time on it total (which is the truth). The guitar only went for $330.

[Fred Fartboski]

When is a guitar technically considered used?

 

After it's spent a couple of days hanging on the wall in a GC.

[larry50]

 

Tell me about it. A local guitar shop salesman lied to me, and I paid $800 for a guitar worth $600 (kind of my fault too for not doing my homework). The neck warps and it gets replaced under warranty. I sell the replacement on eBay as used, but also saying it only had an hour of playing time on it total (which is the truth). The guitar only went for $330.

 

 

You were lucky to sell it at all. It's a real buyers market out there right now.

[Krash]

I believe that under NYS consumer protection law, it is considered fraud to sell as new any item that's been previously sold and unpacked. The vendor can't repack a return and sell it as new. It can be sold as a second, or blem, or B-stock, but not new. There was a situation many years ago where computer manufacturers were supplying vendors with new factory boxes, packing, and tape, so they could repack the many returns and sell them as new. The state ordered them to discontinue this common practice, and issued some hefty fines. The law applies to all products sold at retail.

[SkippyX]

After it's spent a couple of days hanging on the wall in a GC.

 

I'd have to say at that point it's been abused.

[gitnoob]

 

I believe that under NYS consumer protection law, it is considered fraud to sell as new any item that's been previously sold and unpacked.

 

There must be something in there about it being sold to an "end user." Consider a local restaurant selling bottled water that they took out of a package from Costco. B-stock water?

[seagullplayer77]

I don't do much buying/selling on eBay, so I'm definitely not an authority, but I'd imagine they might have something on this particular topic on their FAQ page, or one of their other guide-type pages.

 

As long as something's still in the original packaging and hasn't been opened, it still qualifies as new, IMO. If you get a guitar in the mail and never open the package, it's still new as far as I'm concerned. If you open the box and never play it, you could probably sell it as "like new" or something like that, but it wouldn't technically qualify as new anymore. Though I suppose if you sold it as "new" and put a disclaimer in the description that said you opened the box but never played it, there wouldn't be any foul.

[Fred Fartboski]

I believe that under NYS consumer protection law, it is considered fraud to sell as new any item that's been previously sold and unpacked. The vendor can't repack a return and sell it as new. It can be sold as a second, or blem, or B-stock, but not new. There was a situation many years ago where computer manufacturers were supplying vendors with new factory boxes, packing, and tape, so they could repack the many returns and sell them as new. The state ordered them to discontinue this common practice, and issued some hefty fines. The law applies to all products sold at retail.

[Krash]

 

There must be something in there about it being sold to an "end user." Consider a local restaurant selling bottled water that they took out of a package from Costco. B-stock water?

 

 

Retail = sales to end users

 

Wholesale = sales to resellers

[gitnoob]

Retail = sales to end users Wholesale = sales to resellers

So the moral of the story is: get a resale permit, and then you can sell gits on eBay as "new."

[triestobeat]

if you never played it, it's still new. you can sell it on ebay or craigslist as new, they'll never know that you had it for a year if you don't tell them. maybe from the code though. usually when you buy an acoustic from the store, they order you a new one and you just get to borrow the floor model until they get your order in. at least that's what they did with my j-45, so you can't really compare the two situations.

[Clif Schlicher]

May I suggest "previously owned" per the car dealerships?

[RogueGnome]

if you never played it, it's still new. you can sell it on ebay or craigslist as new, they'll never know that you had it for a year if you don't tell them. maybe from the code though. usually when you buy an acoustic from the store, they order you a new one and you just get to borrow the floor model until they get your order in. at least that's what they did with my j-45, so you can't really compare the two situations.

Not so.

The warranty goes to the first consumer who has a legit receipt from the dealer.

is there an echo in here?

hello hello hello

[Clif Schlicher]

 

usually when you buy an acoustic from the store, they order you a new one and you just get to borrow the floor model until they get your order in. at least that's what they did with my j-45, so you can't really compare the two situations.

 

 

You mean you don't get to keep the one you played and liked in the store. What kind of bait and switch (i.e. BS)is that, especially considering all that we have heard here about inconsistent production from Gibson?

 

I wouldn't buy from a store that deals like that. Nor do I consider that "usual".

 

Clif

[triestobeat]

Not so. The warranty goes to the first consumer who has a legit receipt from the dealer. :poke: Not so. The warranty goes to the first consumer who has a legit receipt from the dealer. is there an echo in here? hello hello hello

 

that's true, but you could probably sell it in "mint condition", and just explain to the person that you've never used it. you might not be able to get full price, but you can get close enough to it. you'd just be losing money in the end, so i don't see why you'd buy a guitar, not use it, then sell it for cheaper in the first place. bad business move.

[Galabar]

In order for the warranty to be honored, you need to purchase the instrument from an authorized dealer. This is the only definition of "new" that matters.

[DarkHorseJ27]

 

that's true, but you could probably sell it in "mint condition", and just explain to the person that you've never used it. you might not be able to get full price, but you can get close enough to it. you'd just be losing money in the end, so i don't see why you'd buy a guitar, not use it, then sell it for cheaper in the first place. bad business move.

 

 

I never said I would do that, it just was a hypothetical situation made to understand the technicalities of what is considered new and used.

[Jon Chappell]

In order for the warranty to be honored, you need to purchase the instrument from an authorized dealer. This is the only definition of "new" that matters.

 

^ ^ ^ ^

This.

 

The word "new" carries a connotation that has nothing to do with the "condition of the instrument." It's just that if you buy a "new" guitar, it's generally in the best shape possible. (Though certainly a new display guitar on the floor of a retail outlet might have more wear than one that was sealed in a box.)

 

But to say "new" means expressly that it's an instrument that has never been previously owned and is sold by an authorized retailer, and with the warranty from the manufacturer. "Like new," "mint," "pristine," "unplayed except once in 1991 in a hermetically sealed chamber with gloves made of day-old kids (the baby goat kind)" are all code words to tell you the condition of the guitar, but not that you're getting the guitar directly from the manufacturer (well, as directly as the wholesale/retail distribution chain allows) with a warranty intact.

 

The question is a good one, theoretically speaking, because a "new" display guitar can have more dings and wear than a guitar bought in the box, never taken out, and resold. But this is really in the realm of the theoretical, and as triestobeat points out, flies in the face of common sense (although it could happen).

 

But you cannot sell a pre-owned guitar as "new." And a less-than-careful/honest seller might not word it that way in an ad. So it's up to the buyer to beware. Caveat emptor, and all that.

[SDshirtman]

If its ever had a receipt, its used.