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How to Sell your Bass FAST
- Thread starter THORRR
- Start date
The Thinker & smcd. Some people lined up to pay $325,000.00 for a 1,800 sq. ft. home a few years ago in Arz. Cal. NJ etc. and they got a dose of reality of the Real worth >$170K. Sure if your willing to to pay $5,200 (say for starters a $70 material cost piece of Alder or Ash body) go ahead. I don't mind a builder making a good profit for an upscale jazz copy say even $3,000-$3,500 total price for overhead, profit, and such. Thats fine as there are many makers doing this for this price, but over $5,000 is pushing (in my book) it for a Bolt-on bass made from an inexpensive readily avaliable piece of wood.
I assume that you're referring to builders such as Sadowsky and Alleva Coppolo. What you're paying for is absolute meticulous attention to detail by skilled craftsmen that live in the US and thus need to earn more than someone in Indonesia. Additionally, each individual component is hand selected and QA'ed. Nothing is considered "good enough". Add taxes, overhead, and profit and while it's still expensive you get what you pay for. Is it twice as good as an instrument half the price? No. The laws of diminishing returns come into play, but if that's all we considered we would all play SX basses.
pablomigraine
Commercial User
Great Thread!!
Aside from being realistic about condition, here's a great rule of thumb:
Used in Excellent Condition: 70% of the retail cost
Used in Very Good Condition: 60% of retail cost
Used in Average Condition: 50% of retail cost
Used in Fair Condition: 25% of retail cost
Used in Poor Condition: Put on a fresh set of strings, fill in the dings with nail polish remover, give it a setup and then cross your fingers and hope for the best!!
Aside from being realistic about condition, here's a great rule of thumb:
Used in Excellent Condition: 70% of the retail cost
Used in Very Good Condition: 60% of retail cost
Used in Average Condition: 50% of retail cost
Used in Fair Condition: 25% of retail cost
Used in Poor Condition: Put on a fresh set of strings, fill in the dings with nail polish remover, give it a setup and then cross your fingers and hope for the best!!
"Hmmm........" (as I slowly brush my hand across my chin in thought).
In all honesty, I don't think I can disagree with any of your comments there!
That's a fair point. I'm not sure it's apples to apples though--for most people, a home is a fundamentally different purchase and investment/resale value is more often a factor. With a bass--especially one where you KNOW the resale value will be less than you paid--people aren't making a financial investment, but rather just buying their "dream bass."
FYI, I'm like you and would not buy a $5000 bass, period--bolt on parts or hand-carved. (At least, not on my current income
). But I don't think people that do buy them are getting ripped off as long as they get what they wanted.
THis is not bread, or milk... it's a bass, not a necessity. Who are you to say how much a builder should charge for his time and products? How much more arrogant can you get?
Who are you to say how much a seller on TB should ask for anything at all he wants?
The world does not revolve around you and what you want, that's a reality check you should familiarise yourself with.
You don't like a price? Don't buy. Simple.
I like your irritation factor.
I refused to sell once because the would be buyer was so obnoxious. He was not pleased... and I wanted the money, but I did not want the money THAT badly.
Similarly, I once had a mum and two kids coming over for a practice amp I did not want. It was part of a deal when I bought a bass off someone and then I really didn't use it. So I was not asking much for it, but I did not want to give it away for free. The amp was for the youngest kid, about 11. He was shy to try it, and asked me to demo it for him.. ah, I remember feeling nervous too when I was starting
So they like it, want to buy it, and the mum asks whether I'd take a bit less. They were very nice, and I laughed... and said yes. Then she asks the kid to get the money out of his pocket and she tells me how he has been saving etc etc... Immediately I halved the price. The look on that kid's eyes was well worth it.
Sometimes you need to sell something for a price. Sometimes money is the only factor. But most times, at least for me, price is a flexible thing. I don't want to give away stuff to strangers, for this is my "toy money" that I use to buy other toys I want
But I'm not out to make a killing either, it's not a business. So, give me grief, and I will not take one penny less. Or I might not even sell, like that one time. Be nice, and I'll be nice too. It's just amazing how some would be buyers think it's ok to come to somebody else's house and behave like an *******.
NOt in my house.
I agree. The common tactic of each party trying to bleed the other as dry as possible behind the justification that "it's business" is mercenary. Many believe lying/deception is perfectly acceptable in "business", then go home and tell the family how dishonest other people are, and feign teaching their children not to lie. Welcome to the human race
. There are many strategies at play, ranging from true altruism, through a sense of community and fair play, extending all the way to psychopathy. Watching the Japanese deal with the aftermath of the tsunami was heuristic: there was no rioting. People generally did not take advantage of the chaos for short term personal gain, and as a result all were better off for it. That's not the way similar scenarios seem to play out in other (less evolved??) societies. Play/bargain hard, but maintain a sense of fair play and respect. Treat others as you'd want to be treated. I occasionally make a low offer, usually explaining, in apologetic fashion, that the price is simply what I am willing to pay now, not an attempt at rape
. Other times I happily pay the ask. Sometimes I sell at a sharp discount to move product, other times I stand firm at a premium to market vale. It's all OK.At the moment they bought, by definition, they paid what it was worth. Today's value is no more "true" than last year's or next year's. Value is relative, and you or I are certainly not the arbiters of worth. Deal with it
krstko said:
Sure. That's easy. Sell something people really want but that is super hard to find. Supply and demand.
The whole crux of the original post is this:
If you are advertising something for sale,
. . . and it isn't selling,
Lower the Price until it does sell
. . . . . if you really want to sell it sooner than later.
That's it in a nutshell.
If you are advertising something for sale,
. . . and it isn't selling,
Lower the Price until it does sell
. . . . . if you really want to sell it sooner than later.
That's it in a nutshell.
This is the most relevant statement in the entire thread.
I recently sold a MIA Fender Jazz Deluxe for $925 on ebay. The bass was in good condition but definitely played. It sat on TB for a while with no bites. I even got an email telling me that I had it priced way too high and that if I got $650 for it I'd be lucky. I thanked him for his input but explained that I'd seen the basses go for more and was familiar with the market for these. Sure enough it sold. The buyer had the same exact bass in a 5-string and wanted a matching 4-string. I'd had other offers on it, lower than what I wanted but since I wasn't in a rush to unload it, I got exactly what I was hoping to get for it.
I see nothing wrong with trying to get as much as you want for your instrument. That's your choice and you have every right to do so. The reality though is if you're listing a new bass for $200 less than retail, it's probably not selling!
- Jun 3, 2009
- 3,330
- 399
- Disclosures
- Bassgearu, Music Industry Consulting and Sales. Tech 21, NBE Corp, Sonosphere.
As for home prices, my 1800 sq ft home is worth more then I advertised. A home in Bumfork Wisconsin will always be worth a fraction of my beach house because of location. I am in NJ on the beach. One hour to NYC and Philly. Got the best of many things here.
As for basses, yes if you must or need to sell quick expect a fraction of its value. However you need not think that what you paid is a true value. Foreclosed properties sell for a fraction of the true value because the lender wants out and to get something out of it before it starts to cost them big dollars. Many people buy them, do a quick fix and sell them for real values.
I still say all people have come to know is the price of everything and the value of nothing.
As for basses, yes if you must or need to sell quick expect a fraction of its value. However you need not think that what you paid is a true value. Foreclosed properties sell for a fraction of the true value because the lender wants out and to get something out of it before it starts to cost them big dollars. Many people buy them, do a quick fix and sell them for real values.
I still say all people have come to know is the price of everything and the value of nothing.
How much feedback do you need before you are allowed to have an opinion?
Actually, he is exactly right, but then maybe I don't have enough feedback to warrant an opinion either.
Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but as others have pointed out "the only reason something doesn't sell fast is price" isn't quite correct. Much of it is timing (a high-end 6 string fretless priced at "true market value" has very small, specific class of buyers who many not look at the FS ads each day), exposure (when/where it is advertized), the seller's policies (could impact a sale), and other variables. Obviously price is most important but it doesn't exist in a vacuum.
Also, how fast something sells is hardly indicative if your item is priced at "true" market value. If it took me 4 days to sell my 1966 Fender jazz at $3k or 2 weeks to sell it at $4k, which price is "true"? Was two weeks not fast enough to me consider that the correct/fair price? Did I just got luck with some "sucker" who overpaid at $4k?
And as far as the other statements that annoy the OP, personally none of those bother me. Buyers that nickle and dime over shipping or a few dollars either way, ask already answered questions, and/or flake out after committing to a deal are much more irksome.
Sound to me like the OP couldn't get the deal he want, and is sour about it.
To MCNACH & LOMO. Companies do charge what they can get away with and the public pays. Just think of the $4.00 gas prices we paid. Everyone with an once of common sense knew that it was speculators running up the prices and not the actual worth. That cost so many people their jobs. The gas companies didn't care how many people lost their jobs until it hit their profits-"how much more arrogant can you get". We paid $4 "at that moment" even tough it wasn't worth it because we had no choice-it was only when we stopped using so much (ie. trucking co. out of biz and such) did they back off. If we had consumed the same amount, I think today we could have been paying close to $5-6 a gal. However; with your logic you would have stuck to your guns and said thats ok companies should be given the right to charge anything they want as long as we pay. With a bass we have a choice and if some want to pay $5k+ for a bolt-on solid color, plain dot inlay bass-it is their choice. You are right to say the world doesn't revolve around me, but as for me, Ill buy the high quality upgraded $3,000 basses myself {thats a Good cost to quailty price}.
Unless you are dealing with a monopoly (which applies fairly closely to gas prices), whatever people are paying is what it's worth, period. A 66 Fender J had a market value in 66 and has a different one today, based on one, simple fact-what people are willing to pay. There are many factors that influence what buyers will pay (supply and demand being 2), but it all comes down to what the market dictates. A house that sold for 500 K in 1990 was worth it to the buyer who flipped it a month later for 550, and was a dud for the guy who lost 150K and dumped it for 450, but none of those prices was any "truer" than another.
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