What a fair price?

[Michael Stanley 2112]

You can check historic prices on reverb for a particular model

 

[Slevage]

Shipping costs can be a deal breaker these days.

Unless an instrument is a non production instrument or vintage, I expect a used instrument (no matter the condition) to cost me about 1/2 of a new one.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Actually, both of the basses I have for sale (locally as well), are a good bit under the new price for them. For example, The Stingray is around $2400 now. The G&L is well over $2k. I also have a 2018 Player P Bass up for $600. They go new for $850.
Also, in the local ads, I have made myself available to meet the buyer up to an hour away, so they can try it before they buy it. Not even a nibble.

I think bass players, probably everyone, want something for nothing. I could donate these instruments to a school or the like and take a 100% tax write-off as a donation, and I might do it.

You are looking at new prices. That's your problem. Just like a car, the biggest loss is there. No warranty, no way to know how it was treated, and no "new bass smell". If you are listing it for more than it can be bought from a retailer, that tells you something.

And yeah, the "friends and family" thing is a big no no. Fraud is never a turn on for buyers.

 

[wysiwyg248]

I think bass players, probably everyone, want something for nothing. I could donate these instruments to a school or the like and take a 100% tax write-off as a donation, and I might do it.

Great thinking! Before you pull the trigger, check your situation relative to the current Tax Exemptions, which may be better than itemizing.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

Research ideas:

• Check SOLD transactions on eBay
• Check SOLD transactions on Reverb
• Check past Talkbass Classifieds

^Caps above are important^

Many people assume listing price is the market value of an item. The true market value is the price comparable examples have actually sold for, not what the seller was asking, full stop.

 

[Oluolugbenga]

Might not be your pricing or the desirability of the basses. Unfortunately people are hurtin for discretionary cash.

This is by far the biggest factor, I would say.

If you have a price you don't want to budge on, then you need to be happy to wait until the right buyer(s) enters the right search terms.

Or you take the hit on price if you can't wait.

OR as you say, donate them and take the tax relief.

 

[murphy]

I hate it when I list for a very "fair" price..and still have to take a bigger hit to agree to a sale...
Then the shock as paypal takes their 20 percent and gives me a cra##py exchange rate

I will always give friends and family here (unasked)....but not bought a complete bass..for a while
I think of us as a community, not just randoms

 

[friskinator]

Even as a buyer, I don't deal with local sellers anymore. I have zero patience for the endless messaging back and forth, figuring out a time/place to meet, waiting on them to show up, potential flaking out, etc. Online, I click buy and the thing is sent to my doorstep. Or here, I send a message saying "I'll take it - what's your PayPal?"

 

[wncBass]

Shipping costs can be a deal breaker these days.

Unless an instrument is a non production instrument or vintage, I expect a used instrument (no matter the condition) to cost me about 1/2 of a new one.

And for brands that are less known/popular you can drop that price even more or they will be slow to sell.

 

[Jack Butler]

Well first, the market has been a wild ride the last couple years. Things I never would have thought are going for unfathomable prices(especially in guitar land). That said this is why I almost always buy used and wait for the right price, because selling is always harder than I think, so I try to keep the loss of trying out different stuff to mostly the cost of shipping. On occassion I lose more than that, every once in a while it goes my way and I make a few bucks.

 

[Lammchop93]

I see where you are coming from, but all of the costs of selling an item (fees, taxes, shipping etc.) should all be considered when pricing the item for sale to begin with. I do not mind paying fees as a seller because I remember the days of trying to sell to a very limited local market (Craigslist, I'm looking at you!) and putting things for sale online increases the number of people looking at it by quite a bit, increasing the odds it will sell and ultimately what I could get for it. That is definitely worth something monetarily to me.

When I see "Friends and Family" all I think of is "no recourse" in case something goes wrong. If someone doesn't want to eat the PayPal fee, they could just as easily increase the price by 3% (which Paypal will automatically do when you use F&F anyway, so it is a more transparent way of telling potential buyers what the actual final price will be). Sending the money Friends and Family is like sending a gift, at that point you only have the goodwill of the seller to rely on if the item gets lost, broken, or if they simply do not choose to send it.

the reason I use friends and daily only going forward are the new tax laws. If I sell it as a good or service, I have to keep records and report it on my taxes, even if I sold it for a loss. I don’t want to deal with the hassle, so I only do friends or family payments from here on out.

 

[Jack Butler]

...
I'm probably going to have to bite the bullet and make them available for shipping.

This is probably key. I don't know if your pricing is off or not, I'm not tracking the type of instruments you're selling. But the much wider audience will help a lot. I always try to sell local first, but most of the time it's here or the 'verb where it sells and I ship.

 

[Jack Butler]

Shipping costs can be a deal breaker these days.

Unless an instrument is a non production instrument or vintage, I expect a used instrument (no matter the condition) to cost me about 1/2 of a new one.

Yeah there a few niche exceptions, but that's how I see it.

 

[Spidey2112]

Timing is everything.

 

[bdplaid]

First off, I want to deeply thank everyone for posting and suggesting things. I've leaned things, so thanks!

And I’m cheap so there’s that.

most of them are Single H models which are more desirable than the HH models.

I understand it, but honestly it's strange to me. I've had single H Stingrays in the past, and this is mo better. In fact, when I bought this one, I got a single H first and sent it back in favor of the HH.

I'm not a tax professional, but you should be aware that donating them and taking a deduction is nowhere close to the equivalent of selling them.

My son is an accountant, and I will confer with him before I do anything. I didn't ask him about it, I suspect he will say, Nah, you're going to lose your shirt. OTOH, I regularly donate a good bit to animal (dog) charities, and I have an idea in my head I could give these to them, and they could resell for whatever they get. I'd be happy with that.

Yeah, this seems strange to me, Maybe the recession has a lot to do with it. I priced them with the idea that someone would contact me with a lower price and negotiate, but I've not even gotten any of that. Weird.

As for the Stingray, the only thing I don't like about it is the neck. I'm at a point where I'm thinking that, given the amount of loss I'll take, it might be reasonable to have a new, more comfortable neck made. The bass is very lightweight (a little over 8 lbs), and really sounds amazing. Something else to ponder.

Thanks again!

 

[Marko 1]

I understand it, but honestly it's strange to me. I've had single H Stingrays in the past, and this is mo better. In fact, when I bought this one, I got a single H first and sent it back in favor of the HH.

Yeah, that sounds confusing to me, as well.

I look almost daily on G.C. Used site, and there are soooo many Rays for sale (many Indonesian made) and the vast majority are single H, which hints to me that they're NOT the most popular.

I have an HH and I can isolate the rear pickup, so...

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I have three basses for sale, for a good while now. Very little interest. I guess it's the price. So how do you guys determine a fair price? I don't want to give things away.

You look at used listing.

Set your price accordingly

 

[abery001]

I think the key thing here is to make sure you are checking the prices for which the basses in question actually sold. My experience has been that it’s rare for a Reverb offered instrument to sell at the price for which it is initially listed. I recently purchased a high end, boutique bass listed on Reverb offering almost $2,000 less than the listed price and the seller immediately accepted my offer.

 

[dfreeland83]

I'm not a tax professional, but you should be aware that donating them and taking a deduction is nowhere close to the equivalent of selling them.

If you take the standard deduction you might see your tax liability reduced by a whopping $0 for donating several thousand dollars in instruments.

At best, you'll reduce your tax liability by 37% of the instruments' fair market value if you're a high earner. The less money you make, the less reduction in tax liability you'll get.

If you donate them, do it because the kids can use them, not because you're frustrated at not selling them.

This. I'm firmly middle class and my wife is currently a stay-at-home mom. I work in an industry where deductions used to be highly important, and with the new $20,500 (If I remember correctly) standard deduction, even with everything I used to be able to write off, I don't come anywhere close to meeting that deduction anymore. I had $5,500(ish) in charitable giving, and it didn't amount to diddly squat.

 

[Fresh Eddie]

I have an HH and I can isolate the rear pickup, so...

I have an H with a thumbrest and your solution sounds a little more elegant looking!