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How to sell gear without taking a massive loss?

mjcarp79

mjcarp79

May 3, 2017
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#1
I get the impression from many online discussions that it is possible to sell gear without losing a lot of money.

My experience has been different: it seems like I can't get things to sell, unless I drop the price to about half the current new price for the item.

For the record, the items that I try to sell are gently used and in basically perfect condition: they look new.

Are my expectations too high, and should I just be content with getting about half the new value?

I'm so discouraged with playing, and music in general, that I am contemplating just quitting and selling everything.

If I don't quit, I would still like to trim down the collection: it would be mostly pedals to sell in that case. Thanks!
 
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#2
Recently I was looking at Soundgear basses, and on Reverb for in-production models the used prices are consistently $100 less than new.

After you roll in the cost of shipping, this means that used is more than new. There's no benefit to the buyer to buy used when they can buy new from Sweetwater or Guitar Center, retailers with robust return policies, and not spend any more.

It's unfortunate but used prices have to be significantly less than new for a buyer to be interested in taking a risk on your merch. And that's regardless of condition, because the buyer doesn't know you and online they have no opportunity to inspect what you're selling.

Think of it this way: You wouldn't buy a new car and then try to sell it the next day and expect to make more than 50% of what you spent. Other markets don't work the same way as the auto market but they're not that different either.
 
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#3
For a lot of things half of new retail is a rough baseline for used value, and you adjust from there for condition, rarity, etc. It can be hard to sell like new gear for higher prices if you're competing with cheaper used gear that's not cosmetically nice but works well. And as mentioned, with music gear especially it can be hard to pay a premium for something used that you can't practically try in person.

The pandemic also threw some used markets in a loop they haven't really recovered from. Prices jumped as people bought a lot of gear early on, and now there's a lot of gear for sale which would typically drive prices lower, but that price perception has stayed relatively high.
 
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#4
For whatever variety of reasons, it does seem like the used market for non-vintage gear is much slower moving these days. If you look on reddit or elsewhere, you'll see a lot of people complaining that their used stuff isn't selling unless priced much lower than what was working to sell stuff even a year ago.
 
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#5
Losses are a fact of life, but you can reduce the losses you take by avoiding selling on platforms with high fees. Sell on TB, its worth the small investment of a supporting membership when you factor in the lack of selling fees. I've never had a bad experience as a buyer or seller.

When you do sell, regardless of the platform, it can help to use shipping options like PirateShip. Its cheaper than or at least equal to eBay/Reverb's "discounted" shipping rates for UPS and USPS, and doesn't require a membership.
 
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#6
With buying and selling effects, I have found that there is a sweet spot of medium/medium high price point and brand. Chase Bliss is the best example. Easy to turn over without dropping the price. If it's vintage/expensive you're rolling the dice and best waiting it out. I wouldn't drop the price. Where I have had the worst luck is say trying to sell a Boss DD-7. I have owned 3. Sold them all. I bought them used so I didn't lose a ton, but there are so many on the market. Good news is they sell fast but some things just don't hold value.
 
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#7
If it's used it's worth a much less than new unless it's difficult to find or in unusually high demand. Why would anyone buy used for a 10 or 15% discount? I buy most of my gear used and from where I sit, at least 25% off retail is where I start to get interested. When I sell, it's generally at least at 25-30% off retail, and by retail I mean actual street price, NOT MSRP....... and that way it usually sells. There are a number of items languishing in the classifieds here with asking prices at 80-90% of "new", sometimes at or equal to actual street prices which may be below MSRP.
 
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#9
WG Plum said:
Unless something is rare, I don't understand why people think they shouldn't lose money selling a used item.

I consider the loss a rental fee for the time I used whatever it was I had.
Click to expand...
This^^^^^ Too many sellers price within sight of new for what is essentially commodity gear. For the little amount of money I would "save", I'll just buy it new.
 
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#10
mjcarp79 said:
Are my expectations too high, and should I just be content with getting about half the new value?
Click to expand...
Yep.

www.investopedia.com

Understanding the Endowment Effect: Causes, Examples, and Impacts

The endowment effect is a cognitive bias where individuals irrationally overvalue owned items. Learn why it happens and how it impacts decisions in finance and beyond.
www.investopedia.com www.investopedia.com

I may be wrong, but there may also be a gear glut right now. A lot of people bought a lot of gear during the pandemic, and are probably selling some of the excess now.
 
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#13
Another thing to keep in mind when you're setting prices is: The prices you see on Reverb are for the items that DON'T sell, usually posted by people whose expectations were set by other unsuccessful sellers' prices.

Savvy buyers who want the equipment you have are simply waiting until somebody lists at a lower than typical price. Those listings disappear very quickly.

edit: If you want to see what items are really selling at, you have to either watch the sales trends chart on the Reverb Price Guide for that item, or on the search results page for that item click "All Filters" > "Show Only" > "Sold Listings" -- and even that only shows the listing price, not the possibly-negotiated-downwards price it actually sold at.
 
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#14
My philosophy: Research everything you buy well.

I feel this way, you'll like what you buy and want to keep it.

Don't expect the world to be so eager to buy what you've lost interest in.

Everyone loves a bargain, but everyone also wants top dollar for what they're selling.

Someone has to blink.

Usually it's the seller.

Mike
 
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#16
IME TB Classifieds you can usually get 80% for your used gear which is fair. If a used pedal is priced higher than 80% I'd rather get it brand new. Shipping and fees increase the loss to seller on original investment.

I think the best way to not lose too much on a pedal you may not keep and flip down the road is to follow these steps:

1) buy used at <80% of new price or less
2) find a platform with low fees like TB
3) Sell for ~80% of new price shipping included

This way you only lose PayPal fee and cost of shipping. If you sell to a cool bassist like me, I'll send payment as friends & family so you don't have to pay the rather large PayPal fee. Capitalism is gonna capitalism so those fees are only going to increase, I feel bassist should be cool and not require them…May karma protect me;-)

Losing just the cost of shipping is a great scenario in my book, is like paying $15 to rent a pedal for as long as you want.
 
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#17
When pricing used gear, I usually just go to Reverb, review the used listings, and use a number slightly lower than the average. If it's an item that doesn't sell much, then I'll look at ended/completed listings as well.

I think 60% of the price of the same item new is a pretty good starting point for a "commodity" item. By that, I mean something that is not currently a "hot" piece of gear, and there is a good supply available. Like the previous generation of Fender Am Pro basses, for example. You can find them in good condition for around $1100 versus $1800 for a new Am Pro II. Anything rare or especially desirable will drive the price up.

I know it's too late now, but you can offset the loss you take by selling something if you buy it used in the first place. If you find a good deal when you buy, then you can use it for a while, and get most or all of your money back if you decide to sell it later. The old "buy low, sell high" saying doesn't mention that buying low does 99% of the work. I tend to get most of my gear this way, as I expect that just about everything is going to be sold at some point. I also like to look for open box, B-stock, cosmetic flaws, discontinued colors, that kind of thing.
 
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#19
ClusterFlux said:
Yep.

www.investopedia.com

Understanding the Endowment Effect: Causes, Examples, and Impacts

The endowment effect is a cognitive bias where individuals irrationally overvalue owned items. Learn why it happens and how it impacts decisions in finance and beyond.
www.investopedia.com www.investopedia.com

I may be wrong, but there may also be a gear glut right now. A lot of people bought a lot of gear during the pandemic, and are probably selling some of the excess now.
Click to expand...
Add to that people don't have the funds right now.

I have several like new basses to sell but no bites at half new price.
 

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