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Looking for advice on trade ins..

K

KennyNJ

Feb 7, 2008
14
0
#1
I have a stingray 5 I want to sell for as much as I can (obviously). Mainly for the fact that I have seen a warwick double buck for 1200$ and wish to purchase it (after playing it etc.). I have looked at craigslist, ebay, and am wondering how much Guitar Center will give me for it...or any other music store for that matter.

It is in excellent condition and maybe one or two very minute scratches. It also plays great and I am the original owner with all the original parts.

I hope some people can shed some light on my options and what would be the most reasonable thing to do in my predicament. I am really intent on buying this warwick for the tone it has.
 
#2
sell locally or donate here and sell it here..

let me break this down.

GC and other music stores are a business they have bills, employees, insurances to pay.

They need to make a profit on used gear or they wont be in business. People always say the got ripped off or blah blah.. They are not there to give you good deals on trade ins they are there to make money off of your used gear.

Take ebay prices of your item and cut it in half thats what they will more then likely offer you..


You want to get most of your investment back sell locally or here. Plain and simple.
 
#3
Music stores don't pay you as much as you can get on the street because they're just going to turn around and resell it. I've been told as much by music store employees time & time again. I had them buy one bass from me for around $600 and stick it on the wall minutes later for $1600. (I only paid about $800 for it a half a year earlier so I had no idea - apparently it was the lower end version of the John Pattitucci bass and that inflated the price.)
 
#6
You said you checked ebay and craigslist? Have you checked used musical instrument dealers sites too? There should be plenty of sources for a 5 string stingray for you to get a decent idea of what the going rate is.
 
#7
KennyNJ said:
I have a stingray 5 I want to sell for as much as I can (obviously). Mainly for the fact that I have seen a warwick double buck for 1200$ and wish to purchase it (after playing it etc.). I have looked at craigslist, ebay, and am wondering how much Guitar Center will give me for it...or any other music store for that matter.

It is in excellent condition and maybe one or two very minute scratches. It also plays great and I am the original owner with all the original parts.

I hope some people can shed some light on my options and what would be the most reasonable thing to do in my predicament. I am really intent on buying this warwick for the tone it has.
Click to expand...

Here's how it was once explained to me by a guitar salesman, back when I was a guitar teacher at a music store:

You have a guitar with a "list price" (MSRP) of $1500, and a "street price" (MAP) of $999. This costs the store about $500 (dealer cost), and when they get it, they set it up, put it on the wall, provide demo cables & amps so you can try it out, pay their salespeople, insurance, taxes, utilities, rent, etc, and then you come in and buy it after talking them down to $900 plus sales tax. After all expenses, the store might make $50-100 or so from this sale in profit.

Now, sometime down the line, you want to come in and trade it. You want $750 for it, since a new one runs $1000, but you're willing to go as low as $650. What you have here is a used (even though it's in good shape), no-warranty instrument that will not sell in the store for as much (or as quickly) as a new one.

The dealer can get another brand-new one from the factory for $500, so the absolute most they will give you for yours is that, but since yours isn't new, they would likely give you only $200-300 for your used one.

"Two- to three hundred!" you say upon hearing the news. "I can sell it on Craigslist for double that!"

"So do it!" says the salesman. It's not that they don't want to accommodate you; it's that they don't want $300 of their inventory budget tied up in a used guitar that's hard to move, and you wouldn't be happy with $300, anyway.

Just like cars, sell used privately and you will get much more money. Then, go into the store with cash and get what you want. You can negotiate better when you have cash, too.

Hope this helps.
 
#8
Dave Muscato said:
Here's how it was once explained to me by a guitar salesman, back when I was a guitar teacher at a music store:

You have a guitar with a "list price" (MSRP) of $1500, and a "street price" (MAP) of $999. This costs the store about $500 (dealer cost), and when they get it, they set it up, put it on the wall, provide demo cables & amps so you can try it out, pay their salespeople, insurance, taxes, utilities, rent, etc, and then you come in and buy it after talking them down to $900 plus sales tax. After all expenses, the store might make $50-100 or so from this sale in profit.

Now, sometime down the line, you want to come in and trade it. You want $750 for it, since a new one runs $1000, but you're willing to go as low as $650. What you have here is a used (even though it's in good shape), no-warranty instrument that will not sell in the store for as much (or as quickly) as a new one.

The dealer can get another brand-new one from the factory for $500, so the absolute most they will give you for yours is that, but since yours isn't new, they would likely give you only $200-300 for your used one.

"Two- to three hundred!" you say upon hearing the news. "I can sell it on Craigslist for double that!"

"So do it!" says the salesman. It's not that they don't want to accommodate you; it's that they don't want $300 of their inventory budget tied up in a used guitar that's hard to move, and you wouldn't be happy with $300, anyway.

Just like cars, sell used privately and you will get much more money. Then, go into the store with cash and get what you want. You can negotiate better when you have cash, too.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

+1

The flipside of this is that I often get amazing deals on used basses at guitar shops. (though the same couldn't be said for the poor sod who ended up buying my Yamaha 6er - I would have sold it for much less.)
 
#9
Dave Muscato said:
Here's how it was once explained to me by a guitar salesman, back when I was a guitar teacher at a music store:

You have a guitar with a "list price" (MSRP) of $1500, and a "street price" (MAP) of $999. This costs the store about $500 (dealer cost), and when they get it, they set it up, put it on the wall, provide demo cables & amps so you can try it out, pay their salespeople, insurance, taxes, utilities, rent, etc, and then you come in and buy it after talking them down to $900 plus sales tax. After all expenses, the store might make $50-100 or so from this sale in profit.

Now, sometime down the line, you want to come in and trade it. You want $750 for it, since a new one runs $1000, but you're willing to go as low as $650. What you have here is a used (even though it's in good shape), no-warranty instrument that will not sell in the store for as much (or as quickly) as a new one.

The dealer can get another brand-new one from the factory for $500, so the absolute most they will give you for yours is that, but since yours isn't new, they would likely give you only $200-300 for your used one.

"Two- to three hundred!" you say upon hearing the news. "I can sell it on Craigslist for double that!"

"So do it!" says the salesman. It's not that they don't want to accommodate you; it's that they don't want $300 of their inventory budget tied up in a used guitar that's hard to move, and you wouldn't be happy with $300, anyway.

Just like cars, sell used privately and you will get much more money. Then, go into the store with cash and get what you want. You can negotiate better when you have cash, too.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Thanks man. I think I will become a member here and try to sell it here. And will probably sell it for $1,000 at least/most. Thank you everyone for your help and advice.
 
#11
KennyNJ said:
I have a stingray 5 I want to sell for as much as I can (obviously). Mainly for the fact that I have seen a warwick double buck for 1200$ and wish to purchase it (after playing it etc.). I have looked at craigslist, ebay, and am wondering how much Guitar Center will give me for it...or any other music store for that matter.

It is in excellent condition and maybe one or two very minute scratches. It also plays great and I am the original owner with all the original parts.

I hope some people can shed some light on my options and what would be the most reasonable thing to do in my predicament. I am really intent on buying this warwick for the tone it has.
Click to expand...

Well, I would stay far away from GC in this situation. They are great for purchasing grear at "sometimes" great prices, and have a great selection of gear, but you don't want to hear what they will offer you for your Ray. It will make you cry...:crying:

The advice to sell locally, or donate to TB and sell on here is the best advice I've seen yet. The basses (and gear) I've seen sold on here have all been at great prices. You would gain more for your bass and have more to put towards your $$ that you're interested in. Just my opinion. :D
 
#12
All solid truth, thus far. At GC, they figure what they can sell it for, and cut at least 25% of that for their offer to you. It's always better to sell it to an individual, and go to GC with the cash. Unless you're impatient, and don't mind getting soaked on the deal. I admit, I've done it.
 
#14
Ken: Rule of thumb is retailers will offer you 1/2 of what they will re-sell it for if they don't have to do anything to it -repair, clean up, etc. You will get more for an instrument in spotless clean condition than one that has years of bar crud all over it.
You will do better to sell it privately, here or in your local paper.

Remember, though if you sell online, you will have to ship it, package it, insure it, etc.

mark
 

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