Where do you buy/sell your used Guitars?

[kleydj13]

I've recently had a bit of a desire to trade off some of my guitars in an effort to get some new slabs of wood. I'm wondering where you all go to buy/sell/trade used guitars? Is it eBay, craigslist, local guitar shops... I live in Minneapolis so any of you fine fellow Minnesotans can feel free to recommend some hot spots.

 

[EricPeterson]

Craigslist has worked wonders for me.

 

[TaylorPlayer]

I also live in the Minneapolis area. I don't like ebay when it comes to getting new/used gear. I like to get my hands on and play what I am looking at. I have had the best luck with Craigslist. Just be ready to monitor it closely. Typically I prefer to trade rather than buy/sell. I have found that it is eaiser and if done right can benifit you really well. I have only had a couple of trades I would consider to have been bad, but I have had many, many good successful trades and have been able to increase my gear considerably due to them. Our Craigslist is very active and you should bump your ad every 48 hours or whatever the rule is. Do it more and you risk getting your ad flagged which makes it even more difficult to repost in the near future.

PM me if you want more advice on the best way to trade on CL (I think I have it down to a science but unfortunatly, I have been so good at it, I have nothing left to trade and I am very happy with my collection of guitars and gear.) I have been trading on Craigslist for about 3 years now and have to say it was the way to go for me.

 

[saltydogg]

If your pedals are worth more than $300 each, your guitars $1,800 each, and your amps $2,500 a piece then the TGP emporium is the schnizzle. This is where you will typically find better-educated buyers and sellers.

If not, hit CL and meet some unusual people. Cash is king on CL.

Last resort, get your wallet out and surf it to Fee-bay.

 

[GA20T]

Kijiji

 

[hank]

TGP - it's quite obvious to me.

 

[Travst]

I'm stuck with Ebay and their high fees and no-touch environment. My local craigslist seems to be limited to bottom feeders. I've old one low-end bass on craigslist in about 30 listings, while Ebay listings sell about every time. Craigslist results in lowball offers and spam email exclusively.

TGP works very well for certain items.

 

[acoustic0804]

Craigslist all the way.

ive sold quite a bit on craigslist. and very rarely get one or two spams. but theyre obvious, so you delete and move on.

just gotta know how tod eal to avoid lowballers and people that just waste your time.

my rules:
1) NEVER sell out of my house. EVER. always meet if possible.
2) If they are that interested, they will provide a phone number. if not. ask. otherwise theyre prob going to waste your time.
3) CASH ONLY.
4) lastly, if you dont feel good about the deal, or the person/place youre meeting... scratch it. theyre will be other buyers.

best of all. FREE postings almost as often as you want.

just my opinion

 

[hippiebob]

I'm done with Ebay. I just tried to sell my bass, and got a buyer that wanted to lowball me on shipping. I quoted $40, and he wanted to go $15. I sent a request to cancel the transaction and will no longer be selling on Ebay.

 

[Member 995]

TGP, eBay, or consigned at a local shop.

 

[kleydj13]

Thanks, I'm glad to hear some positive things about Craigslist. I've used it a few times. Usually the offers are a little bit lower than I'd like on sales and the spam can be annoying, but I have had some really great trades where I get a higher value item in return.

 

[hippiebob]

Craigslist really depends on where you live. My local CL has nothing. We might get a nice guitar once every 6 months.

 

[Caretaker]

I post them here for a week or two, then off to ebay.

 

[XKnight]

TGP Emporium.

 

[musicofanatic5]

"hit CL and meet some unusual people"

Ha! Actually they are now pretty much the usual people! My experience with CL is with mostly idiots, insulting lowballers, folks who never got past 3rd grade grammar, and tirekickers who never follow through. I have had some success though.

My latest selling experience: I had an old Kay bass that wouldn't sell on either CL (Boston; a big market) or this emporium, at a giveaway price, even after repeated listings. I had pretty much quit selling on ebay in the past year or so, but decided to get back on the horse. Listed it on a 10 day auction and it went for well beyond my best hopes! Imagine my delight!

My latest buying experience: right here on the emporium and the guy was a complete and utter douche. Inaccurately represented the gtr and denied all sorts of obvious problems with the gtr, acted like I was an idiot. Resolution was difficult and painful.

So, ya never know! Best of luck. My favorite method is good ol' word of mouth. If you know lots of musicians get the word out.

 

[auratnik]

TGP or Ebay

 

[shark_bite]

Can't really go to TT/Willie's/AGB and expect to come out very far ahead, although they might take your gear off your hands. And GC, well. Forget about it.

CL isn't terrible in the cities, but I've actually done multiple deals with the same people that way, which tells me all I need to know: there are a handful of people with whom buying/selling/trading might work, and the rest are for the most part useless.

Ebay more or less guarantees a sale and usually at fair market value if you're not a complete nimrod when you list your item, but once you factor in all the fees between the listing, the final value fee, and the paypal, you come to find you're getting quite the rape job from Meg W and company. Ebay can be a great place to buy, but I'd rather not sell there unless there's simply no interest here or on CL and I'm really hell bent on getting rid of something. Possible exception: pedals. Buyers on ebay are surprisingly stupid. Example: you can buy Zendrives all day with no wait from Alf and flip them for profit on ebay to the people who haven't yet figured out that there's no wait when you buy direct anymore. The other advantage of ebay is if you're willing to ship overseas there are lots of buyers willing to spend good money on your stuff. But have fun with that.

I've done a bazillion deals here on TGP and I like this best. Buying selling AND trading. Fortunately there's a good constituency of Mpls TGPers and so you might even be able to score a local (or at least semi-local) deal. I've driven to IA and Madison among other places to buy or sell stuff without having to deal with shipping. Plus most of the people here are the coolest. They know what they're looking at, they know what questions to ask, and if you're honest and upfront on both sides of the sale, things usually go pretty smoothly. One of these days I should calculate out the number of deals I've done here and perhaps make a list of the people with whom I've done business... it'd be a lot of stuff for sure, but I haven't had a single bad transaction yet.

 

[Blanket Jackson]

whattaya got?

 

[small axe]

ebay for me....its not the best but it works

 

[kleydj13]

whattaya got?

I put up my stuff about two weeks ago just to see what was out there. I am trying to save up for a PRS CE24 that is also up on C-list. Here is my list:

- a pretty beat up 1995 MIM strat HSS with upgraded pups
- a Warmoth/Allparts strat, alder natural finish rear route, maple neck, tex mex pups
- a parts tele
- a Fender Blues Junior NOS

I sold the 95 strat for $200 which was a little lower than I had hoped but it was pretty beat up. I traded the parts tele for a Schecter Synyster Custom that I have no plans on keeping. I put it up on C-list again this morning. The kid bought it a year ago for $1000 and its in pretty good shape. I paid $400 for the parts for the tele, so hopefully I can turn it around for a little profit. The Warmoth strat is still available, but I have an offer pending for $650. I originally got that for $600. The Blues Junior is still available and I have only received 1 nibble for $200 and I won't part for less than $400. I like the BJ a fair amount and just wanted to see what would come in.

I've just been a little annoyed at the spam that I seem to get immediately after I post something. I also don't feel like I always get as good of value as I would like.

I would love to jump into TGP emporium, but I don't really understand much of how it works? Sorry if this is a really noob question, but any information or advice about the emporium would be great.

Is it just an add where someone pays through paypal? As for me selling on TGP I don't have a clue about how to package and ship a guitar of mine. I also have not always been super successful finding what I want with TGP's search function.