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Methinks your expectations are too high, OP. Value is ultimately set by the buyer. You don’t have to sell, but complaining about it when the buyer has spoken is on you.
I’ve never had a problem selling equipment when I want to move it but I try to price it at a point that will make it reasonably attractive. Might not what I’d like to get for it but the point is to sell it.
Increasing prices of new gear doesn’t necessarily increase the value of used gear. If you’re selling a piece of gear that's a dime a dozen. For example a Fender or a musicman I’ve watched the prices for new ones double over the years, the used value has gone up some but no where close to same rate as the new prices. Because of this those particular basses went from being products we used to buy new knowing the resale value would be good to now being basses that much like many others you’ll be lucky to sell it for half of what you paid new. It’s definitely not an issue with rare high demand gear though. Take dingwall production basses for example. I saw one sell the other day for 90% of what I paid for mine new and I have a 2018 so I’m not talking old prices. But they are much harder to come by than say a fender and buying new often means waiting several months to get it then. I had to wait two months to recieve mine because I wanted a finish no one had in stock at the time. And that was actually quicker than normal because the dealer I bought it from actual had that finish on order for a couple months before I ever contacted them. I can buy Mexican fenders used in the $300-$400 range all day long, I can find American made fenders and Musicmans for sale used for under a grand despite their ever increasing new prices. Part of it with those basses is they’ve saturated the market over several decades. I also think theirs a lot of sellers out their that are posting stuff at unreasonable prices because they saw another bass for sale at a certain price. Just because someone lists a used bass at a certain price doesn’t mean it will sell for that. There are a lot of people who post gear for sale that don’t really want to sell it so they list it for a ridiculous price to maybe get their spouse off their back, “ honey I’m trying to sell one” or they aren’t in a rush to sell and are wishful thinkers lol. I typically like to use Ebay to keep an eye on used value. You can see what a particular model bass has recently been selling for. Though I do recommend when looking at that to investigate a little further and make sure an item didn’t sell below the normal market value because it was damaged or something. I consider what they’ve actually been selling for at the condition they are in And make the decision to sell or hold on to it and I really don’t have this problem with tons of lowball offers. Every once in a while I might get a message from a wishful thinking buyer who can’t afford the item but I’ll say “Sorry, im not willing to go less than yada yada” and they always seem to understand.
You described the market as I see it. Maybe it's a local thing then. Cuz I get some rude messages about a starting price of 400 bucks.
Depends on the bass and wether it includes a case or not. With a good case that would be a reasonable deal imo. Without a case I would personally just keep scrolling at $400 for a Mexican fender because I know I could find a better deal. But I definitely agree with you that $100 is a ridiculously low offer for them. I wouldn’t get bent out of shape about it though I’d just reply with “lol”
It very well may be a local thing. My job pays 50% more in some areas of the country and in other it pays less. My wife works in public education and her job pays up to 100% more in some states. Higher paying states tend to also have higher home values so that’s going to impact what people value the dollar at. I know for me a dollar is nothing these days, you can’t buy a 20 oz Pepsi for a dollar anymore. To give another example in the break room at my job they often have the home improvement network on the tv. People are always talking about how rediculous the prices are. But home values are low here because pay outside of a few different jobs is low here. I refuse to sell gear locally aside from bass cabs which are crazy to ship. People around here just don’t have any money.
