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How to sell gear without taking a massive loss?

#61
"No one gets out of here alive" ~ Lizard King

I currently have an "open box" Boss pedal on the Reverb with original box, paperwork and no fingerprints. Pricing is $25 off retail & free shipping due to super reasonable site pricing for a USPS label for a very small package. I am selling at my original cost.

I have 13 watchers, 1 down from 2 "in cart", have had 3 offers - all from resellers and all have been declined and 1 refunded sale because the dude got right back to me and said he had thought it was a different pedal in the same series. (These things happen)

I generally sell for my asking price because it's fair for what it is. The thing is I just wait for the buyer who is cool with not spending a month looking to shave $10 off the price and would rather save the $25 now?

YMMV
 
#65
-Stingray said:
I have found that my items sell at about 50% -60% of new. Anything more and they just sit there.

It's still cheaper than playing golf…
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It really depends...no one really wants the cat hair in the Velcro on the bottom of the pedal you haven't taken the time to clean up, if needed. Ya want to sell a car, wash it!

I never use the word *rare* to discribe anything...or "prices are going up, do the research" or "last price drop" or "I'm really thinking about keeping this!" - (never state the obvious...)
 
#66
-Stingray said:
I have found that my items sell at about 50% -60% of new. Anything more and they just sit there.
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How many sales do you have? Buyers are rightly more suspicious of small or new sellers. Sellers with more completed sales get higher prices because buyers trust them more, a proven lesson people learned decades ago with eBay sellers. Reverb stores that are also high volume brick and mortar stores (eg Gearnuts [Sweetwater], zZounds, Geartree, Pitbull Audio, etc) sucessfully charge higher used prices not only because of their track record but their real-world reputations.

Fun fact: a while back a relative tried selling antiques on eBay and wasn't getting much interest, then took this lesson to heart and sold hundreds of paperbacks for practically nothing on eBay until she had a 99% rating with hundreds of completed sales, then listed only antiques and quickly stacked up sales from buyers who didn't both checking the sales history.
 
#67
I've been buying and selling used gear for decades. Traditionally, 50-60% of new was the best you could hope for. It's only been in the last couple years that everyone thinks they need to get 80-90% of new. I, for one, am not willing to pay that much when I can wait a bit and find a 10-15%-off sale and get a new one for the same price. If you really don't want to lose your shirt, don't buy new.

The other mitigation that has made it worth while to take losses is that I am (was, becoming again) a gigging bassist and every piece of gear I own has been paid for through gigs/sessions, often many times over. So if I bought a bass for 60% of the new price, made a few grand using it on gigs/sessions, and then sold it at 50% of new, I'm still way ahead even thought I took a loss on the sale price. If you don't gig, then that doesn't work.
 
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#68
It also appears to me that buyers are not interested in improvements. If some used bass is worth $X, that same bass with Hipshot Ultralight tuners, high-end pickups, and upgraded bridge seems like most buyers still feel it's worth $X.
 
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#69
Often times "custom" actually drives the price down. It's kinda like a Harley...the more stuff added, generally, is not going to be considered in pricing compared to a stock bike. Unless, the job done is extremely impressive.

A lot of people suffer from "limited artistic vision." This is where you and your mom are the only people who really dig yo project. This is especially true in the world of electric guitar/Bass.
 
#70
Don't mod. If you do not have business sense, expect to lose money and instruments are not the easiest to make money, Use your gear hopefully to make money and if not think hard what you really need even if you are just a bedroom player.

If you are asking this forum and haven't figured that not vey many are into making a profit or not loosing a cent, your powers of observation need some improvement.
 
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#72
mjcarp79 said:
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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You can't. That's complete fantasy
 
#73
mjcarp79 said:
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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Just keep in mind, the buyer sets the selling price. Econ 101. You can ask any price you want or assign whatever value it has to you. At the end of the day if you want to sell, you have to come down to the price point the market will support. Also keep in mind, you are dealing in very small limited market. It's not like you're selling something everybody wants or needs.

And take it from one that made a career selling one of three things ( health and time being 2 of them) that nobody has enough of, is more money and had a hard time at it at that..lol! Sales is tough.
 
#74
Hmm, it's strange how many folk expect 50-60% of the new price as a seller. These numbers are with shipping deducted?

Perhaps my tastes are more for boutique pedals that retain their value better. Or maybe I don't flip gear as much as I used to, and gear value has dipped. I just checked the used prices on my favorite in-production pedal, which I may want a 2nd soon, and the lowest price for a Plasma Coil is about my expected 80% and that is with shipping on buyer.

Still, buying at used price and selling at used price is the ticket to not losing your shirt (for pedals). Sell locally or on TB, and you'll save more.
 
#75
OhulahanBass said:
Hmm, it's strange how many folk expect 50-60% of the new price as a seller. These numbers are with shipping deducted?

Perhaps my tastes are more for boutique pedals that retain their value better. Or maybe I don't flip gear as much as I used to, and gear value has dipped. I just checked the used prices on my favorite in-production pedal, which I may want a 2nd soon, and the lowest price for a Plasma Coil is about my expected 80% and that is with shipping on buyer.

Still, buying at used price and selling at used price is the ticket to not losing your shirt (for pedals). Sell locally or on TB, and you'll save more.
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Nothing strange about it. 50-60% is historically where used gear falls. No, that does not include shipping

Paying 80% or more of new for a used, unwarranted item is just foolish.
 
#78
I think the market is saturated with gear. I became a supporter so that I could sell a bass. No bites….kept dropping price….couple tire kickers….continue dropping price until I just decided to keep it instead of taking a massive loss. My supporter membership expired. Still have the bass. 🤷🏻‍♂️

FB is a mess and so is CL….i can't stand dealing with folks on there….mostly "is this still available?"….then nothing. 🙄
 
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#79
It's hard to take a hit when you think to yourself "good luck if I wanted to buy it again at that price". This is especially true for those of us who were GAS addicts during the golden days of Ebay. It was almost guaranteed you could make a hefty profit selling gear back then.

The way I justify sometimes "practically giving it way" now is to charge myself rent. "I owned this bass for 5 years-how much was it worth to me to play it for that time period?" This helps justifying selling at times lower than you may like. And real estate is a benefit.

At least this is what I tell myself. LOL
 
#80
So after five resellers trying to buy an "as new" Boss pedal, with everything including no finger prints. With 13 watchers a $10.00 price reduction after 10 days. I pulled the listing and returned it on a trade for something I need for full purchase price. Recycle ♻️

I also liquidated a Precision Bass Body, after selling off the case and everything else, except the neck and tuners and pocketed $25 less on the sale than I purchased the entire thing for.

Got a smokin' deal on the replacement finished Swamp Ash body (and a $15 part I didn't have to buy) here on TB, and after fees and shipping, I had $10.00 left.

That's the way... uh-huh, uh-huh we like it...!
 

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