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Resale values

W

Wehmas

Oct 17, 2006
53
0
Kotka, Finland
#1
Hiya there!

After spending thousands of euros on bass guitars, trading and selling them to finance new purchases I've begun thinking about the resale values of modern basses. I know that vintage Fender's value will rise to new heights every year, but what bass guitars / brands keep their resale value year after year in your opinion?

Also, what is the approx. resale value of a 5-string Low End Jazz Bass? We don't see much of them here in Europe, and I've no idea what to ask for it.
 
#2
I would suggest checking on ebay. You can generally find most kinds of basses there. If on the left side of the column you click on the box that reads "completed items" it will only display the listings for your bass that have ended. A price in green is what the item sold for, and if it is in red it didn't sell. I use this feature for pricing a lot of kinds of stuff. Generally I have found that newer basses do not hold a whole lot of value versus what you pay for them. I am sure like the vintage fenders over time they will. Usually you take a considerable loss on most instruments. That is a good reason to buy used.
 
#3
:cool:
Resale is tricky.
It all comes down to, do you have buyer who wants your bass?

You will take a lose, unless it is vintage collectable bass.

If you payed say,$2000.00. for your bass.
You might get $1400.00 or $1500.00.
 
#4
Wehmas said:
After spending thousands of euros on bass guitars, trading and selling them to finance new purchases I've begun thinking about the resale values of modern basses. I know that vintage Fender's value will rise to new heights every year, but what bass guitars / brands keep their resale value year after year in your opinion?
Click to expand...

In general, I would believe that like most higher ticket items, a high quality instrument takes the biggest hit when it goes from "new to used", then any depreciation would be a bit slower and more predictable. That being said, it seems that the best quality basses tend to retain the greatest percentage of the original value, for example, a clean Sadowsky will often bring nearly new prices as a used instrument.
 
#5
Not all great basses hold their value. eg Fodera's, Sadowsky's, Dingwall's, Ritter's hold their value quite strong. Some other great basses do not hold their value (no names here). It has to do with the market tendency as well. When the market inflates vintage instruments, the custom high end resale value suffers a bit IMHO. When the market favours custom works, the vintage ones take a small dive. There are always people on both sides of the fence (meaning sellers and buyers for that specific product). It's just a matter of finding the right person to deal with. I have had no experience with Low End basses but I suppose they play great (taking into account the people that are involved in the process of making them). Try several market places for basses and check the price they can carry for resale.
 
#6
The importance of resale value probably depends on your budget and your habits. Some people shop carefully until they find the instrument of their dreams, and then buy it price no object, knowing they never part with anything. And if your budget permits this kind of shopping, there's no need to give resale value a second thought.

At the other extreme, are people on very limited budgets, who can expect to move up trade by trade, and will probably go through a goodly number of misses and intermediate steps before reaching satisfaction - and even then, hard times might require selling something. We pretty much all know who we are and what our requirements are.

Personally, I don't think I'd find a whole lot of satisfaction playing a bass I consider inferior and which I expect to dump as soon as I can, unless this is the only way I could afford an instrument at all. As the old saying goes, I've been rich and I've been poor, and rich is better.
 
#9
Supply and demand with a bit of "who's playing it who's hot now" thrown in for good measure.

Personally tend to only buy what I'm keeping unless Mr. Financial Calamity(aka Murphy) shows up to disrupt things. Forced liquidation is a big hit no matter WHAT you're selling. Resale value only comes to mind during a purchase if it is the second, third, fourth, etc. of the same or similar bass as a test of purchase "justification".
 

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