Current Prices for Squier Classic Vibes

[jmattbassplaya]

I was perusing the Sweetwater ads and came across the current prices for Squier Classic Vibe basses, and I think they've lost their minds. These were $300 for the longest time and only started to creep up to the $350 mark not that long ago. I must have fallen asleep because I don't know how they're going for nearly $500 now.

 

[jd56hawk]

Still better than some MIM prices.
$1,000 plus?
I can do better.
I did do better...much, much better.

The thing is, I don't think the current Squiers are as good as the older Squiers. I'm not saying anything's wrong with them, but I'd rather pay $500 plus for an Inca Silver or James Johnston CV Jazz bass.

Other than that, why do they use the interesting colors for the Affinity line?

Most of the new CV colors do absolutely nothing for me.

 

[superblues]

They jumped from $399 to $429 a few months ago, then went up to $479 about a week ago.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

They jumped from $399 to $429 a few months ago, then went up to $479 about a week ago.

Crazy. Don't get me wrong - I think the CV line is great; I just can't believe how expensive they are now.

 

[EagleMoon]

I agree. If the quality was still on par with the older CV's then maybe the price increase would make sense.

 

[Thornton Davis]

They're now $599.99 Cdn in Canada. 12 mths ago they were $459.00 CDN.

TD

 

[sloppy_phil]

They're now $599.99 Cdn in Canada. 12 mths ago they were $459.00 CDN.

$609.99 when I just checked this evening! Not sure if it's a coincidence that there's a price bump; they're all out of stock in CV basses (nearly) across Canada at our major retailer (L&M). An absolute boat load of the new Affinity basses, though, coming in between $300-350.

 

[user362432]

Fender is making huge mistake. They will lose.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Crazy. Don't get me wrong - I think the CV line is great; I just can't believe how expensive they are now.

Just wait till you go fill up your car at the gas station...

 

[P Cheen]

Just wait till you go fill up your car at the gas station...

Yep. My Prius went from $29 for a full tank to $45.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Yep. My Prius went from $29 for a full tank to $45.

Voilà...

 

[Tommy V]

one word: COVID.

 

[MOTORHEADBANGER]

Fender is making huge mistake. They will lose.

According to the past year and a half, no they won't. Every major retailer has guitars flying off the shelves. Guitars are selling out before they hit the racks and places like Sweetwater are having their best years ever. The past 18 months have been like a never ending christmas rush for them, sales wise.

 

[P Cheen]

All I'm gonna say is this: watch out for the new Affinity line up. These basses look solid. If the rest of them are like my Affinity Jaguar H, then you'd really want to check them out especially since they're $279 a pop.
$299 for the Jazz 5'er.
I've even seen one go for the old $229 price tag, but the photos indicate they are the new 2021 model.

 

[Kukulkan61]

Everything has gone up in price not just music gear, it's called inflation..

 

[user362432]

According to the past year and a half, no they won't. Every major retailer has guitars flying off the shelves. Guitars are selling out before they hit the racks and places like Sweetwater are having their best years ever. The past 18 months have been like a never ending christmas rush for them, sales wise.

TMFM (too much free money). It is going to stop soon.

 

[JW56789]

If you think of where they're made and shipped from, I'd be willing to bet my chips that costs at the manufacturing point have changed little, but there is a gigantic backup / shortage / availability of containerships to move things across the oceans, and that's going to drive prices up: Back-ordering until who knows when means you've got to make a steady margin on what you have on hand, as you don't know when a 'normal' restocking cycle will ever resume. High Demand meets Low Availability always drives up prices.

Your back-ordered Squier could very well be sitting in a container on a waiting ship that can't even come into port yet, much less get to Sweetwater or on the wall at the local GC. It's bad enough that some are trying to get containers lashed to a deck and sent out on non-container vessels. And of course, port workers and ship crews the world over are dealing with COVID issues which throws more gas on this fire.

Congestion Takes Hold Again with Supply Chain Delays Spread Across the United States (gcaptain.com)

This is where all this offshore / low labor cost manufacturing can run off the rails, and is troublesome if most of your catalog of products ain't made here or Mexico or Canada.

 

[7dollarbologna]

Add a few more hundred to set it up correctly and replace all below standard parts buy some kind case

 

[GreyBeard]

Supply and demand. And the supply is much lower than the demand.

 

[JW56789]

Add a few more hundred to set it up correctly and replace all below standard parts buy some kind case

I've got three different recent Squiers, and believe me, I've been around, know my axes and what it takes for one to work, and I've had to replace nothing. Any of them would gig right now with no problem, they're exceptional values for the money.

I make no silly claims they're better than their as good as basses costing multiples of their MSRP, but I can tell you absolutely the difference in quality and performance is nowhere near the difference in price would make you think.

They work great BTW, in Fender FB60 padded gig bags, around $50. Be kinda silly to buy a $200 or better case for a $400 bass.

 

[rylie]

This may fall into "off-topic" but I'll say it here anyway:
Hang on to ALL your gear. Yes, some gear is more valuable/useful than other gear. Hang onto it all.
As the new gear rises in price, value/quality may not follow. Something old may be more valuable than the same new. This can apply to almost anything $$$ in a inflationary cycle.