Highly Modified Does Not Equate To Higher Prices

[JRA]

I don’t understand why there’s many people that think upgrading a Squier or any cheap bass means the value of the instrument goes up.

who thinks that? you've got a lot of folks chiming in as if they accept your 'observation' of "many people" as valid/truth/objective....

What people?

per the discussion:
"resale value" is the poorest reason to choose one ax over another...unless you don't know what you really want/need in the first place (e.g., you're "gambling") --- in which case: don't modify the thing (duh!).

A $400 bass with $400 worth of upgrades will never be worth $800.

i agree! but it's also true that a new $800 bass will never be worth $800 (again) after you've played it as your own.

 

[truand85]

I don’t understand why there’s many people that think upgrading a Squier or any cheap bass means the value of the instrument goes up. I believe it’s the opposite and whatever part that gets upgraded should be kept as a value of its own and not added to the instrument.

I’m sure there’s a great counter argument to this topic and would like to hear the peoples opinions on this matter (if one cares to express).

I disagree. If I spend $150 on a cheap bass, then have the frets dressed and hardware/electronics changed, that bass is worth more than $150.

Most upgrades can easily be swapped back to original. If you're providing original parts in your sale, then in my opinion, the price of the bass+parts+fret dressing minus 30% is fair.

 

[Plectrum72]

So, hypothetically & for sake of argument, you’re telling me that if I were to post my very freshly modified Classic Vibe P in the classifieds for $600 (new EMG GZRs + new gold anodized pickguard + new Hipshot Kickass bridge + new DR Sunbeams) you wouldn’t be interested in buying? Absolutely NO ONE would be at all interested?
View attachment 4697642

Couldn't care less about the pickguard and Sunbeams aren't my preferred string, so no bonus points for those. The GZRs and Kickass might get you back to the $500 list price of a new CV, but not $100 more than a new CV because it's still a used instrument. I will never pay more for a used instrument that is available new.

 

[sleddogn]

How about those of us who mod the heck out of a 390 squier, just play the hell out of them, loving every note? Thats me...and no, you can't buy my squier mustang cv thats now better than yours

 

[DWBass]

A $400 bass with $400 worth of upgrades will never be worth $800. Take off all the upgrades , put the bass back to original and sell the stuff separately.

This. Again, I'm not giving away any of my expensive 'upgrades'. All will be removed and bass brought back to stock and I'd probably do that anyway to use them on another instrument. If you want the 'upgrades', you're paying for them.

 

[Zooberwerx]

I disagree. If I spend $150 on a cheap bass, then have the frets dressed and hardware/electronics changed, that bass is worth more than $150.

Most upgrades can easily be swapped back to original. If you're providing original parts in your sale, then in my opinion, the price of the bass+parts+fret dressing minus 30% is fair.

I plugged-in some arbitrary #'s and came up with a second-hand value of ~$230. Look about right?

Riis

 

[Acoop]

The great thing about Fender basses is that you can swap out parts anytime you wish and still have a good working instrument. ... What it's value is, is between you and who you want to sell it to and usually the reason to keep the original parts to put it back together if you do wish to sell it.

 

[BaileyMan]

I don’t understand why there’s many people that think upgrading a Squier or any cheap bass means the value of the instrument goes up. I believe it’s the opposite and whatever part that gets upgraded should be kept as a value of its own and not added to the instrument.

I’m sure there’s a great counter argument to this topic and would like to hear the peoples opinions on this matter (if one cares to express).

I "upgraded" a $20 Squier Craigslist find that needed a few parts, with EMG pickups and preamp. After awhile I sold the pickups/preamp and included the bass for free. I probably got more for it than if I sold the bass at an inflated price and included the pickups.

 

[Pop C]

If you've modified an instrument to YOUR liking, keep it! You'll seldom, if ever, be able to sell it for what you stuck in it.

 

[pie_man_25]

Depends on the mods, tuners I can easily see adding value to a cheap bass or guitar. Pickups too, but those are so subjective that it's hard to really tell, I've got a preference to keeping the old pickups and putting them back on the bass if you want to sell it, and selling them separately, maybe selling as is and offering to bring it back to stock for a different price.

What if I don't care about EMG geezers on your Squier P, and I would rather put on an SD quarter pounder?

And then, of course, there are the fully custom paint jobs of varying quality that some people love or hate - there's not much point asking for a high dollar on that sort of thing unless it's actually well done and you're waiting for the right buyer.

 

[Killing Floor]

There’s NO WAY I’d sell my modded Squier for at least the value of the sum of its parts + any extras (case, bag, shipping, etc.)
Unless I know you & feel like cutting you a deal.. why willingly lose money in a transaction?
If you’re replacing a bent tin bridge with a Badass II that’s inherently worth more, why wouldn’t you add the price of the Badass bridge to the total cost of the instrument? This topic doesn’t make any sense IMO

In general a partscaster is worth about half the sum of its parts. You could dig into the reasons such as no warranty, no assumption that the parts are designed to work together, etc. But really it’s because it starts as a complete product and ends as a depleted product with a bunch of aftermarket add ons. The cost of the add ons is not relevant.
Just like putting $3000 rims on a beater car. It’s still the same car but now it has the wrong wheels.
I mod some of my basses. I love Fralin pickups and shielding and strap locks, for example. But I accept the impact on resale value. I mod for me, not for resale.

 

[friskinator]

You seem to be contradicting your own argument. On the one hand you're claiming that the bass you bought is worth no more than a stock bass (GC's evaluation), then you're bragging that you scored a bargain (You're evaluation).

If you think you got a great deal because it had upgrades for the same price as stock, then (to you) the bass you bought was worth more than stock.

How is it "on the positive side" if the upgrades don't add value (to you)?

They do add value to me, but as a seller/trader to GC, they do not. Nor do they factor them in to used pricing. When I bought the Jazz, it was online with no pics. The upgrades were a nice surprise.

 

[SmokinJoe992]

It’s not just the upgrades but the quality of the workmanship. How do I know the solder joints are good? How do I know that the wiring is routed correctly? If it’s local the seller might let you look under the hood but if it’s long distance, it’s a gamble.

This is my exact issue with purchasing something that has been modified. Unless there is a trustworthy return policy, It is a deal breaker.

 

[truand85]

I plugged-in some arbitrary #'s and came up with a second-hand value of ~$230. Look about right?

Riis

Sure. If you put $150 pickups in there etc, that seems very fair. Ultimately the buyer can part out the bass and sell, I've done it with loaded bodies bought here. This isn't about profit that being said, it's just recouping a small fraction of your original cost.

Say I bought the instrument new for $1000 and upgrades cost me $300, asking $900 is not pushing it, in my opinion.

In the same way, if I bought a beater for $150 and put $150 into it, asking $200 is also not pushing it.

That said in the above scenarios of me selling I would include original parts and/or put the instrument back to stock and include the new parts.

Just my 2c though.

 

[luciens]

The seller calls them upgrades. But the real word is modified. In general basses are not investments. But as a rule when I make a change I keep the old parts so can make it whole. Bottom line a $500 bass plus $500 mods is worth $350 and without the mods it’s worth $500. Partscasters are never worth the sum of their parts. I make mods. But I do it for my use only.

This is the right answer.

Modifying an existing bass only yields loss of investment, not gain. I don't think a point is ever reached where additional modifications start to actually improve resale value, as a matter of fact. It only ever goes down or levels off.

So basically, the rules of thumb are: a) never mod a bass as an attempt to increase resale. It will always go down with mods, not up, and b) only mod a bass for practical purposes, such as to improve it for your own use.

L

 

[Mike Vee]

it all depends on the buyer. technically they are worth squat. You'd have to take it apart and sell the upgrade parts for going value, and then put the original back to original to sell all of that for the going value, which is now able to be gauged.

 

[MegaSwing]

There isn’t any one-to-one relationship between mods and resale value. The marketplace has spoken. Anyone who insists otherwise is swimming upstream and may win an occasional battle with certain buyers, but will totally lose the war.

Mods have to be positively exquisite and truly unique to increase the resale value of an item.

It’s a classic example of ‘the whole not being equal to the sum of the parts’.

The moral of the story is to sell the parts. Forget about the whole. The whole was for using, not for selling.

 

[Knavery]

An item is worth what someone will pay for it. That's really all there is to say about it. If someone will pay $300 more for an instrument because of mods, it's worth the price. If it doesn't move, then the buyer should lower the price. Simple economics.

 

[ThinCrappyTone2]

I don’t understand why there’s many people that think upgrading a Squier or any cheap bass means the value of the instrument goes up. I believe it’s the opposite and whatever part that gets upgraded should be kept as a value of its own and not added to the instrument.

I’m sure there’s a great counter argument to this topic and would like to hear the peoples opinions on this matter (if one cares to express).

when i see that a for sale item has aftermarket upgrades, I assume the work was done poorly, while high, by someone with even less skill than me.

Definitely not a selling point for me. Not because it’s no longer all-original, but because in past experience buying used items with upgrades, there was always some issue with the work.

 

[sethlow3]

I don’t understand why there’s many people that think upgrading a Squier or any cheap bass means the value of the instrument goes up. I believe it’s the opposite and whatever part that gets upgraded should be kept as a value of its own and not added to the instrument.

I’m sure there’s a great counter argument to this topic and would like to hear the peoples opinions on this matter (if one cares to express).

A-friggin-men. No matter how much nice stuff someone thought they added to an instrument, it usually devalues it. So charging more only hurts the sale for the seller. I don’t care if you added some bridge or pickup to a Fender Pbass… I expect used Pbass prices or I just buy a used Pbass. The logic from these sellers usually skips over this completely and then they’re perplexed when it sits there for years.