Members Mattface Posted December 22, 2003 Members Share Posted December 22, 2003 So here I am lusting HARD for a Martin 000-15 ever since I played one at Vermont Folk INstrumnets about a year ago... Since then I've played a lot of other nice guitars, but none of them made me want to sell body parts. So I've pretty much decided I will get one as soon as escrow closes on that kidney, but in the meantime, I can't help but browse them on ebay. Which leads me to my question... Why would ANYONE buy one second hand off ebay for $550 and up and then pay shipping when you can buy them from brand new from a reputable dealer for $589 with free shipping, AND get a lifetime warrantee from martin. The Waranty HAS to be worth $12.... Now I'd love to get a good deal on a used one, and I wouldn't mind a few scratches, but only if it was a GOOD deal... I guess P.T. Barnum was right. There's a sucker born every minute. I just hope the suckers won't be looking in the right place one day soon, and I can score a bargain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WilliamF Posted December 22, 2003 Members Share Posted December 22, 2003 My wife bought my Martin D15 on Ebay. At $575 it was a good deal, and the seller paid half the shipping. It was that much more. My local Martin dealer sold out of his D15s and wouldn't get another for months. To travel to the big city to find another is something that I don't have time for right now. So mainly it was convienent. (sp) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LittleBrother Posted December 22, 2003 Members Share Posted December 22, 2003 Matt, Alot of people just dont know what the true street prices are. You assume everyone is a skilled guitar shopper like us. They aren't. I agree that you can almost ALWAYS find a better new Martin from a real dealer than on Ebay. Just realize that ebay is also something people like to do. They feel it is convenient and familiar. I tend to agree with you though. I can call Dave's guitar in Wisconsin and have a brand new one here tommorrow with a return guarantee and a much better deal and hugely lower risk of ripoff. I see people buying used guitars on Ebay all the time for the same price they could get a new one. In fact I have sold many of them within 100.00 what you could buy a new one for. I sold a 1 month old Gibson J-160 to a guy in Sweden for the exact same 1800.00 dollars I paid at musicians friend. Then to beat all he paid a 28% import tax on it. PLUS 200.00 fedex shipping. That's 2600.00+ and he was HAPPY ! Now, it was a flawless guitar but GEEEEEEZ. I was not complaining. Ebay..... A great place to "SELL" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cams Posted December 22, 2003 Members Share Posted December 22, 2003 Originally posted by LittleBrother I sold a 1 month old Gibson J-160 to a guy in Sweden for the exact same 1800.00 dollars I paid at musicians friend. Then to beat all he paid a 28% import tax on it. PLUS 200.00 fedex shipping. That's 2600.00+ and he was HAPPY ! Now, it was a flawless guitar but GEEEEEEZ. I was not complaining. Ebay..... A great place to "SELL" But if you were to see the prices that dealers charge for Gibsons (and Martins and Taylors for that matter) in Europe, you would probably think the Swedish buyer was showing a great deal of savvy. I now wish I'd done the same with my J-150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted December 22, 2003 Members Share Posted December 22, 2003 There's a lot of money to be made selling crap on the internet. People don't realize the potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted December 22, 2003 Members Share Posted December 22, 2003 I thought that Martin had considerably raised the price of the 15 series over the past year, and that they now cost more like $700 new. Am I way off base here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J. Posted December 22, 2003 Members Share Posted December 22, 2003 I've sold stuff at a profit on eBay before. I bought a Gibson SG faded for $499 shipped from EM Shorts back when they first came out. Decided I didn't like the thing that much, even though it was probably the best example of an SG faded I've ever played (the ones in local stores were downright terrible in the fit and finish dept). I put it on eBay, where it took $530. One thing I don't like about guitars on eBay is that people lie about condition. I just bought a Warwick which was advertised as being in 'excellent' condition. I even emailed back and forth with the seller trying to get a gauge on the actually shape of the bass. He said it had one minor needle-sized scratch by the jack, and otherwise it was like new. I got the bass, and it was beat. Dings, depressions, and scratches all over the body. I emailed the seller and the dude was actually surprised that I objected to the condition the bass was in! If I were to gauge it, I'd list it as 'fair.' Far from excellent. Then again, there are really honest people on eBay who are upfront about everything. I've bought guitars before that have been in mint condition as described. Still, with acoustic guitars more than anything, I think it's important to play the actual model you're getting. Low and mid level instruments tend to vary from model to model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Will Posted December 22, 2003 Members Share Posted December 22, 2003 I sometimes wonder what ebayers are thinking. I've had people overbid my own items when identical ones had lower "buy now" costs. A while back, I bought a beautiful PV Classic 30. A year or so later I sold it for more than I paid for it. It worked out that I had free use of a tube amp for over a year. I LOVE ebay! The Preacher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nexialist Posted December 22, 2003 Members Share Posted December 22, 2003 Originally posted by LittleBrother Matt,Ebay..... A great place to "SELL" Amen, little Brother....ebay is a great place to sell. I'll be sellling some guitars around the time people are getting their tax returns. There are lots of people in little towns (like the town I grew up in) far from the big city....and ebay gives them equal access. Conversely, ebay can be a great place to buy but it's getting harder. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LittleBrother Posted December 23, 2003 Members Share Posted December 23, 2003 Originally posted by Cams But if you were to see the prices that dealers charge for Gibsons (and Martins and Taylors for that matter) in Europe, you would probably think the Swedish buyer was showing a great deal of savvy. I now wish I'd done the same with my J-150. Yeah I must admit the guy was really happy and the guitar was utterly mint and one of the best ones I had ever found. So in some ways the guy was lucky. It still retailed for more than he paid for it. You know the smartest buyer I dealt with got me to ship a guitar to a mail boxes business in the USA and he drove over the border from Canada and picked it up and just drove back across. I am sure that was pre-911 though You make a good point Cams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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