"Limited Edition"??!!?! Really?!? Slight Squier Rant upcoming.....

[covermego]

I bought a Squier Classic Vibe Sonic Blue "Limited Edition" Precision bass. You know, the one that has the matching headstock? Yep, that one. Nice bass and I kinda jumped at the chance of picking one up for a pretty nice discount when it popped up on GC. It really is a very nice bass and I had thought of just holding onto it for when they became hard to find. Yes, there is my confession, lol. I figured if it was nice and light for this old guy's back, I'd hang onto it. It's just a hair over 8lbs, so not real bad, but I decided to just keep it in the box and see if I could resell it down the road.... figured I could at least get my initial investment back, right?
Well, that was A YEAR AND A HALF AGO !!!!! Looks like Squier is still having sales on this "limited edition"!! MF has them for $349 !!
A little back story : I had bought a MIM Fender Mustang bass "Player" series that was all-black with the ebony fretboard. First model was junk; sent it back. The second one was a beauty. I gigged it twice before COVID19 put a halt to everything. Those, too, were on sale as a limited edition. Bought it for approx $549 and when I decided to sell it (never played it after those 2 gigs) I got $950.00 for it! The buyer was elated to find one in flawless condition, so we were both happy.
So anyway, I thought this Sonic Blue beauty would either be perfect for me or I could get maybe a few bucks more. Shame on me for even thinking that, lol.

All that to ask the question: At what point does a manufacturer draw the line on the classification of "Limited Edition"? This Precision ain't no limited edition! I'll bet every household in the USA has one sitting in their smoking parlor right about now! Sheesh!!!
-RANT OVER- -For Now-
Laughing at myself, I remain,-Lenny

 

[JC BASS 91]

One thing I have learned over the years is that "special edition" and "limited edition" are rarely such. I vaguely remember my marketing class in college where the professor taught us that those titles on an item are a way to boost sales for the very reasons you bought the bass...in the hopes that you would have something special that would be rare down the road. That lesson also included education on the "New & Improved!" labeling.

 

[3toes]

I've got a '93 Chrystler LeBaron "Limited Edition" I've been sitting on that I'm hoping will finance my kid's college education...

 

[buldog5151bass]

Marketing is a wonderful thing.

What kind of "collectability" did you expect on a $349 instrument?

 

[HP Hovercraft]

I have several in my smoking parlor

 

[HP Hovercraft]

Marketing is a wonderful thing.

What kind of "collectability" did you expect on a $349 instrument?

It does happen when an instrument is actually limited

 

[Seth DuSith]

" but I decided to just keep it in the box and see if I could resell it down the road.... figured I could at least get my initial investment back, right?"

Back in my day, we used to buy instruments cause we wanted to own and play them

 

[Pet Sounds]

I bought a 50th anniversary P-Bass when they came out, partly because of the "unique" Butterscotch Blonde finish. About a year later, Fender made it a stock color on the American Series. Lesson learned.

 

[J Posega]

Nobody cares if a flipper/collector gets hosed on trying to turn profit. You played yourself instead of your bass.

 

[Harper]

The McRib wasn't ever coming back either, you know....

 

[Rabidhamster]

Give it 25 years, you can recoup your initial investment then.

 

[TheReceder]

The McRib wasn't ever coming back either, you know....

 

[Rabidhamster]

View attachment 5257612

 

[Bass Viking]

It's always amusing to see sellers trying to offload their Squiers on Kijiji, Craigslist and set them apart from the rest of the pile: e.g. "rare", "limited edition", "custom", "my 10 year old Squier is better than the current garbage", etc.

 

[micguy]

It’s a Squier, not a pre CBS Fender. It is a mass produced instrument - if you’re buying it as an investment, or expecting to be able to flip it for a profit, you’ve missed the point. A “limited” edition, unless they specify how many they’re going to make, is a meaningless title - it means nothing, other than they’re trying to get you to buy one. It worked.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Obviously people aren’t flipping out over these limited edition Squiers. Unless you’re buying it at cost, you should expect to take a loss- unless you use the bass on lots of very good paying gigs

 

[Artman]

Production limited to 400 million or until the last tree in China has been used up, whichever comes first.

 

[bwildt]

Give it 25 years, you can recoup your initial investment then.

Don't forget inflation eating into your "investment". Here's an example I gave a while ago:

In 1979, I bought a Peavey T-40 bass (still have it) for $350. The used market for these hovered around that same price for years. Now they have been "rediscovered" and priced around $1000. Great! If I sell it, I make money!

Wait a minute. To buy a bass that was $350 in 1979 would cost $1480 today. My actual buying power has lost $480 if I want to replace that bass.

My other point is that there is basically no way that any mass-produced instrument is going to be worth a bunch of money in the future, especially low-end market instruments. There are just too many of them out there.

 

[Killing Floor]

You can’t invest in ONE Squier any more than you can invest in one stock.

You need to diversify your portfolio with many Squier options. If you invest wisely in Squier basses you’ll be rewarded.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

If you want to flip for profit, buy used items in good condition for the right price. Oh, and don't use COVID-era pricing as the basis of your business decisions.