Cheaper guitars in London?

[thesweetness]

I've been cruising craigslist a lot lately for historic les pauls, and it seems that every one I see listed in london is vastly cheaper than here in the states. I always input their asking price in pounds to a currency exchange calculator (some website) into dollars. After the exchange, the US dollar amount is always nearly half of what I see these guitars go for in the states. There was an R9 for 1600 pounds, which came to about $2500 I think, and a 69 deluxe goldtop p90 that was 900 pounds which came out to something like $1300.


Is this an untapped source right now because of a foreign economy? last year a lot of europeans were buying up guitars here in the states because of the Euro vs. the dollar and they were getting great deals. Anybody else notice this or have any thoughts?

 

[whitehall]

The pound used to trade at about 2 bucks , now it's about $1.50 . Shipping is about $75.00 now from the UK and then there's the 10% fee that fedex charges sometimes. If the guitars are on craigslist they are probably Chinese fakes, since craigslist is the #1 place to sell those. I think a quick look at ebay UK Or any of the big Uk stores (cranes , etc) will show Gibson's are still far cheaper on this side of the pond. However, things like Tokai can now be bought from the uk at decent prices.

 

[Paul Conway]

In my experience, US guitars for sale over here are vastly more expensive than in their homeland.

 

[skeeterbuck]

In my experience, US guitars for sale over here are vastly more expensive than in their homeland.

The last Historic LP I sold here went to a chap in England and even though he got the guitar for a good price, he told me that he could have never bought that guitar over there for what he paid.

 

[Lightningrt]

I was down in London 2 weeks ago and hadn't noticed a tremendous drop in prices. Well worn [possibly un original] 1970s Les Pauls were in the 2-2,500 pounds mark. You certainly wouldn't see a 1969 Goldtop Deluxe for £900. Mind you, that was in Denmark Street.

Teles are where the silly money is being asked - nearly 3 grand for a 1972?