GUITAR CENTER Scheme's

[cbassman55]

They understand selling used equipment. Sadly probably more than you. Also, you were emotionally attached to your equipment and proud of it-- which in your mind increased the value. And your pride was hurt when they made what you considered a lowball offer.

Advertise on CL. Go to local music stores and see if they're interested in consigning it for you. Also, 95% of bass players are dumping heavy "roadworthy" gear as fast as the plague. What took a 129 pound cabinet 20 years ago can now be done with a 5 pound micro head and a 40 pound cab. And that's for loud shows! Good luck on selling your cab.

Very true! But it was the call I made and asked them to give me a ball park quote after I sent them nice clear photos and the working condition of my cab! Also letting him know that it was a beast to load! And he insisted he had to see it! I believe he already knew the most they would pay! I was going to go any how but knowing I could have made a decision to sell it or not, to load or not to load the beast? But I still can use my cab with no regrets for outdoor gigs! I never was one to complain about loading in and out equipment. It is to heavy to lift by one person but it is easy with a ramp and dolly! I'm not getting rid of it! To much quality to let go for pennies on the dollar!
But I said my peace! I just hope someone reading this will know what to expect in the future. Have a good day sir!

 

[cbassman55]

one lame sales rep isn't proof that all of guitar center sucks. my husband and i have gotten fair value on everything we've ever brought in to hollywood or west l.a. guitar center to sell. in fact, my husband recently got more than we asked for on a CL ad for one of his guitars from the manager at west l.a. GC.

i never expect a GC rep to be knowledgable about gear nor to admit it, and for what they get paid, i wouldn't expect anyone really experienced to work at any kind of retail store, although at times i've been happily surprised by some of them, but more often not. i'm sorry you had such a long drive for nothing

All good! Lesson learned! A simple ball park quote over the phone could have saved me abunch of grief!

 

[cbassman55]

Sorry, but that is the market now for a cab like that.
You can not give them away sometimes.

I wish the GC rep would have told me the same what you posted!!!! Would have saved me all the grief! But I I know they want customers to go. All good but I know I won't be going back!

 

[cbassman55]

But to clarify I will contact a top dog with GC and ask if there sales reps can't give quotes with photos and working condition of equipment?
Enjoy!

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Very true! But it was the call I made and asked them to give me a ball park quote after I sent them nice clear photos and the working condition of my cab! Also letting him know that it was a beast to load! And he insisted he had to see it! I believe he already knew the most they would pay! I was going to go any how but knowing I could have made a decision to sell it or not, to load or not to load the beast? But I still can use my cab with no regrets for outdoor gigs! I never was one to complain about loading in and out equipment. It is to heavy to lift by one person but it is easy with a ramp and dolly! I'm not getting rid of it! To much quality to let go for pennies on the dollar!
But I said my peace! I just hope someone reading this will know what to expect in the future. Have a good day sir!

I'll bet there are a lot of those old beasts still shaking walls out there. Since it really doesn't have a lot of monetary value (which is sad to me) good idea to keep it and rock the house with it. A good Mesa head or a GK RB1001 tube head would really sound heavenly through those speakers.

 

[Michedelic]

But to clarify I will contact a top dog with GC and ask if there sales reps can't give quotes with photos and working condition of equipment?
Enjoy!

No employee of a retail establishment that deals with used/traded in products is going to give you a quote over the phone. That’s inviting all sorts of grief along “but you told me when I called” lines. This is related to the policy here of no “how much is this worth?” inquiries. Sending photos(and who would you be sending them to, the manager?)is futile, because there’s so many ways anyone could misrepresent an item in a cel phone pic. They have to have the actual item in front of them to make a judgement call. Did you bother to go to the GC website to see if they had that cab for sale used in any of their stores? While there can be variations in pricing due to location, it would still give you a ballpark idea of the relative value, at least as far as they’re concerned. Have you ever traded any music gear in before, anywhere?

 

[alaskaleftybass]

No employee of a retail establishment that deals with used/traded in products is going to give you a quote over the phone. That’s inviting all sorts of grief along “but you told me when I called” lines. This is related to the policy here of no “how much is this worth?” inquiries. Sending photos(and who would you be sending them to, the manager?)is futile, because there’s so many ways anyone could misrepresent an item in a cel phone pic. They have to have the actual item in front of them to make a judgement call. Did you bother to go to the GC website to see if they had that cab for sale used in any of their stores? While there can be variations in pricing due to location, it would still give you a ballpark idea of the relative value, at least as far as they’re concerned. Have you ever traded any music gear in before, anywhere?

You brought up a bunch of great points I failed to consider.

 

[Element Zero]

But to clarify I will contact a top dog with GC and ask if there sales reps can't give quotes with photos and working condition of equipment?
Enjoy!

As a previous employee of a decade, no we were not under any circumstances to give a “quote” over the phone. The stuff had to be seen in person and tried out.

 

[Fight4Bottom]

I just hope someone reading this will know what to expect in the future.

Oh, don't worry. They will!

 

[Lizooki]

My local GC looks used stuff up on Ebay and buys according to sold prices.

 

[Taustin Powers]

A very tense race between "Discussion" and "Replies", and a surprise multipost return of the OP, now a trained master of copy and paste! This thread truly delivers!

 

[FugaziBomb]

Yep totally agree!! But I wanted to send them good quality pics and get a ball park offer, I was more pissed that I drove all the way over there for nothing! They could have easily said we won't pay more than $x amount! If I had an idea of the max they would pay, I could have made my decision before going! I would have most likely still would have went to purchase an amp!

Yep totally agree!! But I wanted to send them good quality pics and get a ball park offer, I was more pissed that I drove all the way over there for nothing! They could have easily said we won't pay more than $x amount! If I had an idea of the max they would pay, I could have made my decision before going! I would have most likely still would have went to purchase an amp

Yep totally agree!! But I wanted to send them good quality pics and get a ball park offer, I was more pissed that I drove all the way over there for nothing! They could have easily said we won't pay more than $x amount! If I had an idea of the max they would pay, I could have made my decision before going! I would have most likely still would have went to purchase an amp. But I don't like to make decisions buying equipment when I'm not in a good frame of mind! I just felt like they could have easily given me a ball park quote.

Yep totally agree!! But I wanted to send them good quality pics and get a ball park offer, I was more pissed that I drove all the way over there for nothing! They could have easily said we won't pay more than $x amount! If I had an idea of the max they would pay, I could have made my decision before going! I would have most likely still would have went to purchase an amp

Yep totally agree!! But I wanted to send them good quality pics and let them give me a ball park quote before I loaded everything and drive that far. I was more pissed that I drove all the way over there for nothing! They could have easily said we won't pay more than $x amount! If I had an idea of the max they would pay, I could have made my decision before going! I would have most likely still would have went to purchase an amp! I'm sure they don't make much but maybe the employees are only following directions to get customers to go there!

Oh good, you're back. Can you explain the poll? I voted "Replies" but than changed it to "Discussion" because I always back an underdog.

Also, your account of the failed transaction seems pretty hyperbolic. I know GC isn't the greatest and you were probably emotional, but try not to trash people just for the sake of trashing them. GC wasn't out of line on this one.

There's no way they can even begin to give you a quote over the phone. You've got to do a little leg work on your own to see what things are really selling for (that's not the list price on Reverb or Ebay, but the actual "sold as" price). I stand by my assessment that you probably hassled two under-minimum-wage employees for an hour and totally wasted THEIR time. On top of that, you've really got no one to blame for your drive time and gas expense but yourself. The employees aren't trying to lure you in and I doubt anyone was trying to rip you off. Those are serious allegations and should not be brandished lightly.

 

[Joelc73]

I don’t know why but this thread just draws you in!

 

[Allegrus]

All good! Lesson learned! A simple ball park quote over the phone could have saved me abunch of grief!

Or save it yourself with a simple google check ... the funny part is that they even told you they couldn't provide that quote. You weren't schemed against and your cab isn't worth much. I think it's a tragedy this thread hasn't been closed; it's a shameful display to vilify GC because you didn't do your due diligence. It's YOUR cab and it's your interest to sell it; it's YOUR job to figure out what it's worth in the market.

 

[SgtHulka]

One of the reasons which I haven't seen mentioned yet why they can't give you an even close estimate is because of customer fraud. There might be somebody selling an amplifier, where part of it works and where another Channel doesn't. Or a cab with a speaker that breaks up only at a certain volume...etc. there could be any number of ways that people are trying to take advantage of Guitar Center and get more for something with undisclosed defects. This is why the always say to you, you have to bring it in, I need to take a look at it, excetera.

In the OPs case it was more of a hassle because the cab was very big that is not usually the case.

 

[Roland GR 88]

But to clarify I will contact a top dog with GC and ask if there sales reps can't give quotes with photos and working condition of equipment?
Enjoy!

Save your time.....you'll get the same answer you've received here.
Gear needs to be tested before it's taken. Quotes can't be given until the gear is tested. This isn't a scheme just proper business practice. Try sending a pawn shop a picture of a watch ......
If you really need a ballpark guess then go on-line, find the same cab and look at that price.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

The deal is this, you can get a ballpark quote, just do it yourself. Given everything is in good working order, cosmetically alright, look on the EBay/Reverb/GC website for the going rate of the used item. If you can get 50% of the used selling point, then a $750 cab will net you $325. The guy basically did give you a ballpark figure, you just had to figure it out yourself.

But, I don’t think it is good practice to go off the used price alone. They have to consider employee time, warehouse space, floor space, potential for an unsellable product. That $325 could be knocked down due to demand. When something is in low demand, the price tanks in order to move the product. That may explain the flexibility in their offer. I would imagine they have that discretion.

 

[buldog5151bass]

But to clarify I will contact a top dog with GC and ask if there sales reps can't give quotes with photos and working condition of equipment?
Enjoy!

Would you make a firm, non-returnable off r to buy a used amp from a random stranger based on a photo and a description?

 

[gln1955]

I tried to make a similar deal at GC last week...

 

[Fight4Bottom]

Good thing I bought the Costco-sized popcorn.