How to sell gear without taking a massive loss?

[J Wilson]

Buy Smart.

I RARELY buy without considering resale as part of the process, because sure enough, sooner or later it's going to be time for it to go, and I want something else, and I'm not taking a bath and losing my shirt to do it.

I always look for LN used, open box, store demos, a few fingerprints or some little mark or me opening a brand new only box is not that important to me, I'm far more interested in shaving the buy in money.

I never get in a hurry and study sale prices to get an idea what the market value is. Then I know a good deal when I see one . . . as well as a bad deal.

Occasionally I make money, but if I can (and often do) break even, I owned and played it for free.

That's what I shoot for.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Even if you always buy high resale equipment there is no guarantee that you will get back every cent you paid for it.
Especially in these times.

 

[Relsom]

Now I will go back to yelling at the neighbors. If any of you would like to join me, come on over.

Is there BBQ on the grill and a cooler of cold beer involved?

 

[H K]

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!

I've bought, sold and collected atleast 2-300 basses over the last 5 years alone, and I can count on 1 hand how many times I've taken a loss or broken even.
It's actually very easy; buy alomost exclusively second hand.
The only things I buy new are amps and effects, unless they're availible in mint condition 2nd had. Oh, and limited edition stuff like FSR's.
As a rule of thumb, the moment a guitar leaves the store it loses 25% of the value. Any damages add to that. If I'm buying to KEEP, I'll be willing to pay about 70-75% of new price, but aim for lower. If I'm buying to resell, its a different story alltogether.

It's also about recognizing what gear keeps its value, or will increase, versus what will only depreciate in value once it's bought.
For example, A Fender AVRI can go both ways, if it's well kept (with all original stuff included) and now out of production, it will likely have gone up in value even if you bought it new. If you beat TF out of it, replace & misplace original pickups, lose the OHSC etc, it will definitely drop. This also includes the CoA, receipts and even stickers.

If it's for example a Affinity squier, sire, or something like that, it will have depreciated, no matter if its mint or you bought it last week. It's out of the store, and even if that model currently isnt in production, an identical one probably is.

One of the reasons is ofcourse the shop guarantee and stuff like that.

Anyway; short answer; depends alot on the price segment, availability/exclusivity and how broad the appeal of the item is.

 

[monsterthompson]

Scarcity is your friend. I started dabbling in harder to find and higher end gear partially because I realized that it flipped faster and closer to retail, or at least had consistent used pricing. If you buy a used higher end Spector it'll tend to hold value, and can even go up as the prices increase on new models. Of course that assumes you can afford such things in the first place and plan your purchasing ahead of time.

If you've already got some entry to mid level stuff, the market it saturated with others trying to sell similar items, and the potential buyers are bargain shoppers. If you want to sell such things, you aren't going to recoup much of your original purchase. If you really want to move it quickly you'll need to discount it more.

If you're selling online, take a look at pirate ship for shipping savings. I haven't used it but I should. If you can sell on TB you'll save a few bucks vs the Reverb fees, but you'll reach a smaller audience.

 

[BBQisgood]

Is there BBQ on the grill and a cooler of cold beer involved?

You are welcome anytime!!!!

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

So Anyway, I'm usually not interested in something used unless it's about 50% of retail. I'm also fine with demo equipment.

I hold the same ratio when I sell something. I'll put it at 50% of retail because I want to sell it quickly. I normally don't enjoy the sales process.
If it doesn't move at 50%, I'll take it off the market and consider gifting it to someone or our local school system.
All my gear is adult-owned and not banged around too much.

But I don't own anything rare or too expensive and I realize my strategy doesn't make sense for high-dollar items.

 

[VeryTallBassist]

I always buy used, and where it's something that needs repair but I can fix myself, I'll jump all over it for the right price. I also tend to buy mid-high to high end gear, so there's some scarcity involved. If you have something that is back ordered new but you can provide now, there's something to be said for that as well.

I haven't taken too many losses over the last few years and my buying and selling has ramped way up since the pandemic.

 

[SLPimp]

It certainly gets more difficult when you can't take all forms of payment in some places.

 

[Sertsa]

Of the music gear I've sold, I've only taken a loss on a couple things, and not too bad of one. But it's been a couple years since I last sold anything. A few notes.

• I've kept instruments for a long time before selling, so inflation helped, especially since the early 00s.
• I mostly bought used or decently discounted.
• I've taken pretty good care of them. they've gotten dings, but not too bad. The ones I modded I haven't tried selling.
• The instruments that most increased in value were highly lauded, especially a Collings acoustic guitar. The one I took the loss on was a US-made G&L. (And a Fender Pro Junior amp, as there are oodles of them around).
• Most anything digital will crater in value, unless it becomes wanted for a unique sound. I don't think I could get anything for my digital piano, for instance, nor my old modelers.
• Finding the best places to sell. When I had my major divestment a couple years ago, I didn't get much interest from local shops or classifieds, and the GC offer was sad. But a couple major independent shops had good offers, so I took a day trip and sold in bulk. (Fraught with temptation, though. I nearly left with a 335 and much smaller check.)
• Mostly, though, I try to buy carefully and chose things I hope to keep a very long time. (I sometimes envy the frequent flippers for the amount of gear they get to play, but I tend to look for "The One.")

 

[Tj smith]

That's about right for used gear unless it's high end.

 

[SoonerBill]

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!

I feel your pain. In the 70s through the 90s I bought, built and sold a LOT of hot rod cars. I knew lots of guys that made money doing that. But I lost money on almost every car. I guess I just don't have the sales gene.

 

[MegaSwing]

Use it to make money. That's how you avoid taking a loss. Use it enough, and it has paid for itself MANY times over.

The value of a musical instrument to a player is in the use of it. Only merchants should expect to make money in the buying and selling of instruments.

Ya gotta play a long game.

 

[Thumpin6string]

I don't know if I'm lucky, but I seem to always buy items at such a bargain price that I always make money when I sell them. I've done this for such a long time that I actually have $0 in my current gear.

 

[klattman]

350 vs 800.
"Well, you know depreciation man.."

 

[Root 5]

One of my pet peeves is sellers are impatient — whether it's because of desperation or just not waiting a while. Expensive, properly priced gear takes a while to move, even in high traffic guitar stores. Why should a private seller think it'd be faster? But private sellers panic & lower their price which lowers them for everyone.

 

[Ostie]

The high price of shipping isn't helping the used market. In many cases, by the time you pay shipping on a used item from TB or Reverb or others, you can get it new from GC or wherever, with a liberal return policy.

 

[bobbybass85]

THIS IS ONLY MY PERSPECTIVE AND EXPERIENCE: In the current climate, people aren't buying. All great i see is sitting. I've scored great deals because people ate trying to move on quick rather than getting their value out of their gear. If you quit, store it and watch the market. When it starts to soar, list your gear. Otherwise, current market will have you taking a bath

 

[Smooth_bass88]

the basic problem is buying gear with the intention of possibly selling it later. This idea is totally ridiculous. The concept of "resale value" should never ever ever enter your mind. this is not a car (which is what the term resale value is actually applied to). Unless you're a dealer buying things at cost, don't complain. ps, you could always use your gear to earn money thus eliminating the issue all together

 

[MultiScaleMale]

OP: what are you trying to sell and where are you trying to sell it (both location and method)? I don't think you're selling on TB as you don't have a supporting membership. Selling on Reverb will get the best prices as there is a larger audience to sell to, but it depends on what you are trying to sell. TB will put your stuff in front of a lot of bassists but it seems like half of us are cheap skates. FB Marketplace is good for selling locally. No taxes to worry about with a cash sale but the market is small unless you're in LA or NYC.