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Anyone buy/sell basses for $$ reguarly?

#21
Lublin said:
Oh yea, forgot to mention that eBay used to take a much smaller bite out of your selling price back then.

I think it's 9% now. :eek:
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Doesn't really matter does it, as when they do a Paypal chargeback on you screaming "significantly not as described" you're going to take it in the shorts anyway on the deal.

After getting burned as a seller the last 2 times I sold items on eBay, I will no longer sell there, anything, ever. I'd take the stuff to Goodwill first and get a tax write-off and be money ahead before I'd pay for some shyster on eBay to have it.
 
#22
Doing this was my sole source of income for a couple of years when I was finishing up college. I always made a good profit, rarely sold for less than double my money and never had a bad deal.

Probably used up my luck for the rest of my life.

I never buy anything I can't get out of at a profit, but I'm dead center in the middle of the economic meltdown map, so nobody's buying anything on CL.

Three years back, I could sell stuff the same day I listed, almost always.
 
#24
Lublin said:
Oh yea, forgot to mention that eBay used to take a much smaller bite out of your selling price back then.

I think it's 9% now. :eek:
Click to expand...

It's actually 12% or so.:bawl:

Geez, some of you guys must be rich!! Some of you are talking like $100 profit for doing almost nothing isn't worth it. Geez...that's two full days of work for some people.


I've been flipping guitars/basses/amps for almost two years. Right now, it is about my sole source of income. It started with one 1978 P-bass that I bought for $650 from a pawn shop on ebay and resold for $1000 on ebay two days after receiving it. He claimed there was a piece broken on it (there was a bridge cover on it) but I went on the hunch there was nothing wrong and it turned out all it was was the bridge saddle rattling down there:hiding: (the G string was missing). Anyone looking for a bass for their hands would have avoided that...but for a flipper, ignorance is a boon. That was when I realized the money was there. I have bought roughly 300 guitars and basses in the last two years - mostly on ebay and probably 25 on craigslist.

There are dozens of factors when doing it full-time. I can't even begin to go into detail about it. It takes a long time to learn the ropes in and out. Above all, you need to have the time to do it. The deals pop up and they go fast; any great deals on craigslist can be gone within a matter of an hour and ebay deals go within minutes. I spend lots of hours surfing and checking repeatedly (although...I'd rather waste time doing that then waste time fighting dragons on some online game for 8 hours a day!)

Generally, my sales only generate an average of about $75 each after all applicable deductions. The main way to maximize profit in an ebay setting or even craigslist is parting them out. Just like cars, the parts are worth more than the whole..ESPECIALLY the vintage. I can buy Musicmaster basses that are battered and bruised for $250 and resell the parts for $400-$450. Musicmasters are my favorite because they are cheap but their parts are very valued because it's not easy to find a single part on an old bass. Instruments not described correctly are the next best profit-house. People are scared to buy from pawn shops but I could care less; I just part it out.

I only dabble about exclusively in Fenders because I like them (keen interest is the first way to making a business out of something) and I can part them out. I'll also mess with vintage Fender amps, Ampeg, and Ric. If you get a clean system of how to do it just about anything can make you money. Right now since I'm jobless I have started buying things that will make me less a profit ($50-$60 each guitar) but at the end of the day just one of those is more than the average Wal-Mart employee makes in a day. It's fun, interesting...and I can get my own gear and sweet stuff for my friends too. And I get to try out just about every model of Fender under the sun.
 
#26
Between the paypal fees and shipping costs, I don't see how people make much profit on Ebay. I sold a bass through there recently (just a used Brice, it's true), and barely broke even on it, between the bite Paypal took and the amount the shipping gouged me... LOL

Parting something out might be easier, because at least there you can send just about all of it except the neck and body through the mail with a padded envelope. Probably less chance of the buyer saying it's not as described and asking for a full refund, too.
 
#27
godofthunder59 said:
For the most part my rule of thumb is if I can't get $200.00 out of it it is not worth the effort but in the long run I'll be ok with 100 bucks...I sell maybe 8-12 basses a year, it's a extra source of income and a good way to hide incoming basses I plan to keep ;)
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This. I scour about 10 nearby CLs - checking several times throughout the day, and only stay within my area of knowledge. I can do most minor repairs, and a decent set-up, but stay away from anything that's too jacked up. I wouldn't buy most amps, for example, because most electronics repairs aren't in my range.

I'm not looking for the extra income so much, but I don't like taking money off the supper table to buy more gear. I usually keep a few hundred in "seed money", then when I find decent a MIA Jazz for $400 or whatever, I pounce. Most of the time, I'll play it for awhile before I sell it, to see if it's a keeper...in which case, I'll usually sell whatever the new purchase will be replacing. I keep rolling the proceeds until I have enough scratch to buy my latest GAS. Then I start all over again!

Fortunately, my shift schedule allows me to get to the seller within 45 minutes (2/3 of the time). That's about as long as the really smokin' deals last on CL.
 
#29
michael_atw said:
Geez, some of you guys must be rich!! Some of you are talking like $100 profit for doing almost nothing isn't worth it. Geez...that's two full days of work for some people
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I don't see it as doing almost nothing. Running all over and across town to try to buy stuff that may not be in the condition it is advertised. That is time, gas, car fare etc. Waiting for no-shows or idiots who say they will pay your firm advertised price and then try to lowball you in person. Spending time cleaning and repairing gear. It all sounds like a job to me. I have done it but I have also had plenty of other *hit low paying jobs. I can totally understand why some people would want to make a good profit, especially since there is some risk and hassle involved.

Peace,
S
 
#31
If the idea is to make money, firearms and quality tools are a much better, and by far more stable way to do it. The stringed instrument market is almost as flaky as the fashion industry. With the exception of investment grade pieces, what's hot today could well be not tomorrow. The good news is whatever goes out of style today will eventually come back when the younger generation ?$!!bent on doing whatever it takes to separate themselves from the mainstream "discovers" them, or a guy like Kurt Cobain picks up a jag instead of a strat or LP.
 
#33
TheSuzie said:
I don't see it as doing almost nothing. Running all over and across town to try to buy stuff that may not be in the condition it is advertised. That is time, gas, car fare etc. Waiting for no-shows or idiots who say they will pay your firm advertised price and then try to lowball you in person. Spending time cleaning and repairing gear. It all sounds like a job to me. I have done it but I have also had plenty of other *hit low paying jobs. I can totally understand why some people would want to make a good profit, especially since there is some risk and hassle involved.

Peace,
S
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1. Don't buy on craigslist but on ebay - gets delivered right to you
2. 2 minute polish
3. Don't buy broken gear
4. Don't make the work harder than it should be (i.e. be selective)


If 1-2 hours of work to make $150 is hard for someone, then I am dumbfounded.
 
#34
godofthunder59 said:
For the most part my rule of thumb is if I can't get $200.00 out of it it is not worth the effort but in the long run I'll be ok with 100 bucks. Most basses I make much more. Acouple of examples; '67 Guild Starfire about 5 years ago I paid 200 sold for 1200, last year 80's BC Rich Ironbird paid $149 sold for $800. I sell maybe 8-12 basses a year, it's a extra source of income and a good way to hide incoming basses I plan to keep ;)
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"a good way to hide incoming basses I plan to keep" LMAO that is beautiful!!!
 
#35
I do. I go into the each deal looking to crush the rule of 10%. It's too hard to work within those parameters and really turn a nice profit on each piece. This is something that has been discussed numerous times on here. I'd say I "work" 40+ hours a week, but that's because I enjoy it and am always looking for certain pieces for myself. For the most part I only search two main things: Ampeg and Fender Bass.

I'm 24 and a college student. I love the gear I have and most has been purchased from buying and selling over the 2 years or so. The main part of buying and selling is the art of the deal and being able to decide what to keep and what not to based on what I really love (or my needs) and what I can live without or don't really need at the moment.

My current gear that I use and have kept over the last few years are:
Late 1963/early 1964 Fender P
1971 Fender P
1969 SVT
1978 SVT
1969 B15N

These are pieces I love and will probably keep forever. The Pre CBS P is on its way. I purchased it this morning and am stoked!
 
#36
TheDialog said:
I do. I go into the each deal looking to crush the rule of 10%. It's too hard to work within those parameters and really turn a nice profit on each piece. This is something that has been discussed numerous times on here. I'd say I "work" 40+ hours a week, but that's because I enjoy it and am always looking for certain pieces for myself. For the most part I only search two main things: Ampeg and Fender Bass.

I'm 24 and a college student. I love the gear I have and most has been purchased from buying and selling over the 2 years or so. The main part of buying and selling is the art of the deal and being able to decide what to keep and what not to based on what I really love (or my needs) and what I can live without or don't really need at the moment.

My current gear that I use and have kept over the last few years are:
Late 1963/early 1964 Fender P
1971 Fender P
1969 SVT
1978 SVT
1969 B15N

These are pieces I love and will probably keep forever. The Pre CBS P is on its way. I purchased it this morning and am stoked!
Click to expand...

Awesome. My story is almost identical - 24 year old, been doing it for two years this summer. I search mainly Fender bass, Ampeg, Fender Musicmaster, Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, and Rickenbacker bass. I'm sure at some point we've been hitting the same basses!:bassist:
 
#37
I do this every once in a while if I find a piece of gear that's being sold for way under its going rate. Given the amount of time that flipping gear can consume, I'll only do this if its a piece that interests me.

Being competent with a soldering iron, I've found that items with minor electrical issues will sometimes get sold for fire sale prices. I picked up a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe a few months ago for $220 that needed two resistors replaced. It was a deal, but it mostly sits in my closet, as I don't do much guitar playing these days.

I turned a pretty nice profit an a T-40 that I bought a while ago for about $90. I intended to fix it up, but it was well beyond the point of repair. I parted out the working remainders for $350 or so.
 
#39
A huge no no in here.....whether you are making a profit or not. I was buying basses that guys in here were looking for but couldn't afford and letting them make monthly interest free payments on them and got slammed for it and booted! Be careful.
Jack
 
#40
michael_atw said:
1. Don't buy on craigslist but on ebay - gets delivered right to you
2. 2 minute polish
3. Don't buy broken gear
4. Don't make the work harder than it should be (i.e. be selective)


If 1-2 hours of work to make $150 is hard for someone, then I am dumbfounded.
Click to expand...

If you look at the post that I quoted, he said he was only averaging $75 profit per unit and he thought it was good money. I was saying that I would want to make more than that for the hassle. The $150 you mention is a lot better.

I have done it in the past but I do tend to avoid EBay for purchases. A friend of mine and I did better at local auctions, local Craigslist and standing outside music stores and offering a few bucks more than the nothing that the store offered and/or buying for cash with no hold time on rent day. In the day, I liked EBay more for selling than for buying. Now I just don't like EBay.

Peace,
S
 

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