Used bass pricing same as new - explanations?

[friskinator]

For the past year or so, I've been getting into refinishing basses as a hobby. I tend to look for good deals on used basses (especially Squiers) so I can do the refin and make a few extra bucks for my time and effort when I sell the finished product.

However, getting a fair deal on a used instrument has become near impossible. As we've touched on in other threads, the new normal seems to be pricing used instruments for new pricing (or more, unbelievably). I know there are some supply chain issues with certain manufacturers, but it's not like there's a scarcity of Squier Affinities out there that justifies the outrageous used pricing.

I've made fair offers and been flatly turned down on several instruments lately. The sellers won't even negotiate. Sorry, but I'm not paying new retail pricing for a used bass with damage/wear when I could get a NIB model shipped free with a warranty.

What's going on here, really? I just don't get it.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

The used market is a circus, but it’s allowed to be that way because some folks are willing to pay new or next to new prices. Certain models are experiencing shortages at the moment, and knowledgeable sellers are looking to capitalize. It is what it is unfortunately.

 

[Leonid Nidis]

Inexperienced sellers mostly that dont know how much a price drops when the bass is out of the shop.

Then there is the covid inflation,its no scarcity it's people willing to pay.

 

[Bass Viking]

There's a lot of greed and ignorance out there. Personally, if I had a Squier to get rid of I'd just donate it to a school band. They're inexpensive enough that it's not worth the hassle of selling IMO.

 

[Bass Viking]

I know there are some supply chain issues with certain manufacturers, but it's not like there's a scarcity of Squier Affinities out there that justifies the outrageous used pricing.

+1. They're a dime a dozen and not hard to come by. I'd just as soon buy one from a store even if it means paying a few extra $$.

 

[friskinator]

+1. They're a dime a dozen and not hard to come by. I'd just as soon buy one from a store even if it means paying a few extra $$.

Some sellers are asking more than retail on used ones, when you can buy them all day long new for less. What's weird to me is that they turn down fair offers with no counter. It's frustrating.

 

[Bass Viking]

Some sellers are asking more than retail on used ones, when you can buy them all day long new for less. What's weird to me is that they turn down fair offers with no counter. It's frustrating.

As I mentioned before, greed and ignorance. They're hoping for a sucker or they don't know how to use the internet. It really is laughable, especially when they try to sell you on how special and unique their Squier is.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Some sellers are asking more than retail on used ones, when you can buy them all day long new for less. What's weird to me is that they turn down fair offers with no counter. It's frustrating.

They only need to find one buyer that will pay what they want. That's the difference. If they had a warehouse full of them, they would meet you halfway. The downside for sellers is that for lower priced instruments like Squier, they still cost $140 to ship. The only advantage is lower insurance costs. Pull out Reverb and PayPal fees and you might as well hold onto it than sell and give it away.

 

[TheReceder]

Glad you posted that thread. It reminded me that I had a Squier Jazz that I was going to post on CL. I was one of those guys that posted it for a ridiculous amount a while back, I had no doubt that I wouldn't get a nibble, but it made my wife happy to think that I had something for sale. Now that it's the holidays I figured I can get the price to be more realistic. I suspect if anyone shows interest they'll offer half what I'm asking and maybe we'll meet in the middle.

I will say that for everyone asking more than a bass is worth there are 5 that will make a low ball offer, and to me a low ball offer is still a good thing, better than nothing but crickets chirping.

 

[Tanner5382]

This is a problem on Talkbass itself. The classifieds are definitely filled with overpriced used basses, not hard to find ones that cost more than new especially if it's a Rickenbacker or something like that.

 

[neil|lien]

Oh! So it's everywhere?
I thought it was just here in Spain! I got my Squier CV new for cheaper than i see it used. And i am kot talking about the Made In China 2008-2012 version... the current ones!

When i was in the UK, France or Belgium, i didn't have that problem... so it's a general trend?
Reverb guilty of that to a certain extent maybe? The few times i browsed their site, i felt evthg was too expensive..

 

[buldog5151bass]

Supply and demand. With a shortage of new instruments out there, some sellers are taking a harder line.

When supply lines open back up, things will change.

 

[arbiterusa]

What's going on here, really?

Used instruments are available. A lot of new ones are not. I’ve seen what you’re talking about.

 

[commonplayer]

It doesn’t bother me to see dime-a-dozen basses listed at inflated prices. You can always find one elsewhere so who cares. Where I do get annoyed though is seeing, say, an ok ‘78 Fender for like $4k. Who is buying these that they don’t just sit unsold forever?

 

[Pings Bass]

Markets are cyclical. Buy low, sell high. Today it's a seller's market. Eventually it will be a buyer's market. This lesson in market economics brought to you by your friendly neighborhood bass-playing Marxist.

 

[denton57]

It doesn’t bother me to see dime-a-dozen basses listed at inflated prices. You can always find one elsewhere so who cares. Where I do get annoyed though is seeing, say, an ok ‘78 Fender for like $4k. Who is buying these that they don’t just sit unsold forever?

YES. I stepped away from bass world mostly for a year or so while focusing on guitar. Came back a few months back and am like WTH... 70’s basses have apparently doubled or more in price.

There’s a natural 76 P on CL around here that weighs over 10lbs: $3800

There’s a wine red 78 P: $3500

I know it’s been a crazy last couple of years but not that crazy. I won’t be a buyer...plenty of AO’s and AVRI’s out there for in the manageable 1.5K range.

 

[BobKos]

I remember a year & a half ago there were a number of posters on this site predicting the collapse of used bass prices due to the pandemic. I warned that it wouldn't happen the same way it didn't in 2009. Instead, uncle Joe filled everybody's pockets with free money which was and is being used to overpay for all kinds of overpriced merchandise. Now we have inflated prices on used gear because buyers are willing to pay it.

 

[Wilmingtonian]

Some gear IS selling for more than retail because new just isn't available. Buyers the OP has encountered may have seen their used gear priced at its peak and won't come down thinking they have something more valuable than they really have. In the six-string world the Epiphone Alex Lifeson model is selling for - actual realized prices - hundreds of dollars more than new even though the guitar will apparently be still be available in the near future or is trickling out as new to the market still, just not at levels high enough to bring those used prices to "reality."

Just look at some cars that go for more than sticker when they are new, or, in this case, in this weird supply-chain world, even used. It's not just guitars.

 

[40Hz]

The recent flood of clueless newbies into the used gear market has a lot to do with it.

 

[Chicken Wing]

TL DR: Increased demand / combined with supply chain issues due to covid. Simple