Steinberger in Japan..??

[MEKer]

Wow---is the price like this because it is over there in Japan or what? I saw some prices varying wildly (to me) from $1K to this almost $5K.

Whats up? Why are they so expensive??? I know we have some Steinie gurus here. Educate me.
Steinberger Steinberger Synapse XS - 15FPA 5 - String Bass Guitar Black �yParall 711106493985 | eBay

 

[alembicbones]

Whenever I see a Japan listing on eBay I don't even bother. The prices generally are ridiculous and often there are multiple listings of the same instrument. If you are interested in this model of bass, look domestically and given time, you'll find one being sold at a more realistic price.

Bones

 

[BruceWane]

Usually the seller on those listings doesn't even have the bass listed, but it's available at a shop in Japan. For a lot less than the Ebay listing. So, seller hopes someone will pay the hugely inflated price and they will then buy the bass from the shop, send it to you, and pocket the difference.

In other words, they're fishing for suckers.

Check Major Metal's tale of snagging a beauty of a Sadowsky by tracking down an actual seller through a similar situation.

 

[Mr. Headless]

They may indeed be fishing for suckers, but you may have noticed that there seem to have been NO sales from any of those eBay listings (I am keenly interested in market pricing now, as I am likely to very soon put my '81 Steinberger up for sale).

 

[TolerancEJ]

That price is bizarrely out of range. But yes, individuals will post items for sale in a store near to them. They usually mark it up a few hundred or a thousand. (But I've yet to see a markup to the extreme that you've posted.)

Since learning of this, I began attempting to learn the store(s) with the item in stock. Often, it's simple because the eBay seller copies the photos from the music store's website and they have a watermark or something like that. I have been able to track down the originating sale item of just about everything on eBay that interests me, with the exception of a few items.

 

[sonojono]

Your best bet is to scope out eBay everyday for a new listing. Market price the synapse realistically go for between $560-700. Nothing over $1k. I did however scope a red synapse bass at reverb.com that sold for around $900 in very mint condition.

It really just depends on the seller and how many buyers are in the market for a synapse bass.