Is the bass playing economy really that bad?

**davidjbass** · #1 09-07-2009, 12:49 PM

I just don't understand it.

I have had 2 IMHO very nice basses for sale on this site. They IMO have been priced very very low for what they are. And I have gotten very few or no bites on them.

Is it the fact that a lot people don't have the money. Or is it just there is no interest in the basses.
I fiquired by now with them being marked so low that they would be gone. It's really bumming me out.

Please enlighten me. Things are tight here in New England but not that tight. I don't know how the rest of the country is. Are other people having trouble selling stuff on this site because of the economy?

the evil · #2 09-08-2009, 09:40 AM

i went through the same thing with my huge carvin stack.

i had the thing priced super low just cause i didnt have time nor space for it so i figured any money is better than less space. i got nothing but low ballers and people wanting to trade fro inane things. I live in CT and to me there is NOT a huge bass following up here. pretty much ANYONE interested in bass is either really into it and has their stuff already or just knock around goobers who have no need for pricey stuff.

hate to say it but new england is a guitar area. i know people up here who buy guitars on a whim for no reason other than collectibles. i have yet to meet anyone up here who "collects" basses.

got to the point for me where i almost just went to guitar center for anything trade in before i finally got lucky with a sale and still took an extra 50$ whack to get it OUT.

Noonan768 · #3 09-08-2009, 10:09 AM

Patience... It took me almost 2 months to sell my bass on here. Dropped the price a couple times.. no one was buying. Finally sold it last friday. at about 60% off list price... But it's shipping today and I'm feeling a lot better.

stflbn · #4 09-08-2009, 10:14 AM

Just takes the right person to see it when they need it or want it. And the price being priced to realistically sell here vs what they're selling on ebay and craigslist.

rumblethump · #5 09-08-2009, 11:49 AM

It IS the economy. Running from any political discourse.

I've had 2 basses for sale for almost a year on the local Craigslist and had exactly the same results, tire kickers, low ballers, traders, and scammers. I've seen some unbelievably low prices for items selling on eBay. Lots of relists.

jaywa · #6 09-08-2009, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stflbn

And the price being priced to realistically sell here vs what they're selling on ebay and craigslist.

Bingo. These doofuses on CL and eBay with their starter and mid-grade instruments thinking they can get as much or more for that cr*p then what they paid for it... give me a break. eBay in particular is really not much better than your corner pawnshop anymore.

lbanks · #7 09-08-2009, 12:01 PM

Its rough! I've seen a couple of things I was interested in, but the money just ain't there!

LeonD · #8 09-08-2009, 03:17 PM

I had a nice bass. It didn't sell but someone was will to trade a guitar amp for it. I figured the amp would be easier to sell so I did the trade.

$2,600 amp (street price) in brand new condition that I tried to sell for $1,800. Nothing. I put it on eBay for a week starting at $1,500. No bids. I dropped it to $1,400. Auction ends today and still no bids.

This does suck.

LeonD

jaywa · #9 09-08-2009, 03:22 PM

That's the nice thing about the TB Classifieds. By and large the people buying and selling on there are highly informed about the fair market value of the instruments in question and so IN GENERAL you do not have a lot of dinking around and back-and-forth on price. They seem to have a much higher percentage of serious respondents and so while your number of inquiries may not be as high as eBay or CL, the people who do respond are usually ready to do a deal in a pretty short amount of time once you connect with them. Much much lower % of tire-kickers and other flakes.

I think a lot of times it's just a matter of if the instrument you're selling is popular at the moment (Precisions, Jazzes, StingRays and Ricks always seem to have a market, others like Gibsons, Spectors, Laklands and the higher end boutique brands are more hit-and-miss and/or go in cycles)... or if there's something about the bass that makes it less marketable than others of the same type (a particular color, or if it's been heavily modded).

fearceol · #10 09-09-2009, 08:07 AM

It would help everyone a lot, if more people in the USA were prepared to ship to Europe. Dont know how many times I saw a bass I would have bought, only the seller would not ship to Europe. OK, there might be a little more work involved organising shipping, but if it sells the item, is it not worth the effort ?

We are a nice bunch over here..... honostly.

**davidjbass** · #11 09-09-2009, 04:28 PM

Well I help out you foreign bass playing friends today. I sold the Spector I had for sale to a nice guy in Finland. Turns out that it's not so bad to ship the bass after all.
I just go to the Post Office and away it goes. It costs a lot to ship it but he paid for the shipping and he sure help me out by buying it when others could not in the states.
I am probrably going to be more open to selling things overseas now that I have had this pleasant experience.

Johnny Crab · #12 09-09-2009, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidjbass

Is it the fact that a lot people don't have the money? Or is it just there is no interest in the basses?

Are other people having trouble selling stuff on this site because of the economy?

With the economy losing 1/2 a million jobs per month, yes, money for more stuff is gone. eBay reflects both sides of this with both lower SELL prices and TONS of "high dollar two years ago" basses selling for cheap.

This is happening to all basses/makes.

Talkbass is probably following the same trend although the folks here usually KNOW what they want.

hbarcat · #13 09-09-2009, 06:24 PM

The economy is forcing people to sell a lot of stuff they just bought new only a year or two ago. It's not just bass gear, it's everything from electronics to collectibles to pets to jet skis to summer homes to cars and everything in between. Sellers have flooded the market with used merchandise and with relatively few people having the spare cash to buy it, prices have plummeted.

KPAX · #14 09-09-2009, 06:26 PM

How can we possibly answer?
What are you selling and what are you asking?
Ads?
Pics?

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidjbass

I just don't understand it.

I have had 2 IMHO very nice basses for sale on this site. They IMO have been priced very very low for what they are. And I have gotten very few or no bites on them.

Is it the fact that a lot people don't have the money. Or is it just there is no interest in the basses.
I fiquired by now with them being marked so low that they would be gone. It's really bumming me out.

Please enlighten me. Things are tight here in New England but not that tight. I don't know how the rest of the country is. Are other people having trouble selling stuff on this site because of the economy?

LCW · #15 09-09-2009, 06:52 PM

Its real hard man i am selling a jazz here and i think it will go eventually here i add in my exspense of shipping but on craigs i priced it pretty dang low 90$ less then here due to no shipping and no paypal exspense..........all i got was some crap low ball offers .

It took me around 6 months to sell another bass i did not lose money on it but man that was a long time.

GregC · #16 09-09-2009, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidjbass

Are other people having trouble selling stuff on this site because of the economy?

Just scrolling through the Classifieds for a minute yields the answer. From the time I joined TB until about a year ago, going through the first three pages or so of the Basses for Sale forum covered the previous 24 hours' listings. Now, it's typically five or six pages. I'm seeing longer threads on average, too.

JFN · #17 09-09-2009, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidjbass

Well I help out you foreign bass playing friends today. I sold the Spector I had for sale to a nice guy in Finland. Turns out that it's not so bad to ship the bass after all.

Maybe we should have a Sticky or Helpful Tips thread to give us American blokes help on conducting the transaction, receiving/verifying payment, and shipping internationally.

WalterBush · #18 09-09-2009, 07:34 PM

For me, it's the economy, period. I've seen basses for sale here recently that I'd have picked up almost without thinking about it a couple of years ago, had they been available, and had I known better what I wanted.

Work, whether paying gigs or day job, is hard to come by in my neck of the woods currently; buying anything that isn't absolutely necessary is a bad idea for me, period. The only exception I'd make right now is period-looking gear for a tribute band that already had gigs, etc.

abstractart06 · #19 09-09-2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbarcat

The economy is forcing people to sell a lot of stuff they just bought new only a year or two ago. It's not just bass gear, it's everything from electronics to collectibles to pets to jet skis to summer homes to cars and everything in between. Sellers have flooded the market with used merchandise and with relatively few people having the spare cash to buy it, prices have plummeted.

You are right about the market being flooded with used merchandise. Second hand stores are thriving in this economy as people are forced to downsize and sell anything they don't absolutely need.

TheSuzie · #20 09-09-2009, 08:09 PM

Of course it is the economy. I had to sell my house for almost 50% off this spring just to keep from loosing it due to my medical situation. I was competing with foreclosures and other distressed sellers. This was six miles from downtown Boston in a very high demand area.

People I know been bailing out of New England since 2000-2001. Lots of the places I used to work in up there are still vacant buildings after a number of years. Down here in AZ many pawn shops are not loaning or buying much. They are loaded with stuff and on the short side WRT cash.

My friends who are still working have all had coworkers laid off and feel the axe hanging over their heads. Having been homeless myself for several years, I crossed paths with a few other folks who have become homeless. It is amazing how a person becomes instantly invisible to most of the rest of the world. Nobody wants to think that such a thing could ever happen to them.

When I came to TB a few years back, everything was moving. Now I see more expensive instruments hanging around and not so many cheap instruments coming up for sale.

Yup the economy sucks.

Peace,
S