Weird at GC? Doh!

The guitar market is flooded beyond belief. This is the worst time to sell or trade a guitar. Guitars on Reverb are just sitting there and no buyers.

Dude knows how to play a guitar. That was some damn smooth hard rock/metal stylin' on the intro. Sounded freaking great. I watched it like 4 times.

A few months ago I took a Sire L 7 to trade in on a Gibson Les Paul. I owned the Sire for 1 month and the Manager offered me $300 on a trade in so I walked out and haven’t been back since😵‍💫🤷🏻‍♂️🤔😂

Sounds shady at best... I'm fortunate (?) that I have a number of Guitar Center stores in my area. If I don't like the offer from one, I go to the next one and see what they say. Amazing how different the offers can be!

It almost sounds like something I ran into the other day at a guitar center. I was just there to get some accessories. But a guy was there looking at some acoustic guitars at the same time I was. I was just browsing as I was waiting on a PRS I had bought from Sweetwater. A worker there came up and told him he couldn’t find the guitar he wanted but he was still trying. It was a left handed acoustic. The worker said they had inventoried it a week ago. And it got me to wondering if they were going to try a bait and switch on him like car dealers do. You know the one where they say they have the car you want but when you show up it miraculously got sold last night by another seller. But I have this great one I can sell you instead…Also, one of the accessories I bought was quoted at 6.50 but when I got home I saw it was sold at 10.99. Now it was too far away to go back and impossible to prove so I didn’t. But it makes you wonder.

I've been to Guitar Center once or twice. I didn't care for their demeanor at all. I purchased an M Audio keyboard controller, and that's all. I never considered trading with them. I had an acoustic guitar I sold at a pawn store. It's probably not much better of a deal, but it is what it is.

It falls under "bait and switch". You have a Better Business Bureau complaint. Do it.

I will never buy a brand new guitar even with a trade in, used instruments are just as good and way cheaper. Guitars depreciate as soon as they're used and it's just a guitar it's not like a car where you want to buy new or with low miles because it will only last a certain amount of miles. Take full advantage of the used market.

Never had an issue selling to GC. They typically pay 55-60% of the market value.

Dude I just went to guitar center this Tuesday and took my Fender 12 string acoustic Electric in good condition and they said all they would give me is 50 dollars I was like naw I’ll keep it I’ll never take anything in there again

Guitar center ALWAYS rips people off on trades.

Nice video, but I don't think you'll surprise anyone here who knows the market. Remember when they used to hire actual musicians at GC?!

Sell it online, or prepare to get bent over "proper style" if take it to SG, pawn shop, etc.

GC typically offers around 60% of the average sales price of the used guitar you're trading in.

GC operates like your typical car dealership. I buy stuff at Sweetwater.

I have been buying, playing, repairing, selling and trading guitars for 50 years all over the USA. I have worked at and managed independently owned music stores. I can say I have had the WORST experiences ever at 'Guitar Center' stores. I refuse to ever walk in one again. I do all my business online at 'Sweetwater Music' where I have been delt with by professionals and treated extremely well!

Nothing to back up your story. list the model/year/condition and anyone here could give you the value, half of that is what GC will pay.

That’s why I deal with long and McQuade

I brought in my Gibson SG standard with upgraded pick ups and guitar center tried to offer me $500 😂

Uhm…it works hard.

Nothing strange here. When you are trading, it matters what you want to buy because everything has different margins for profit. The price GC will give you for your trade is dependent on what guitar you want to buy. Also, it sounds like the first employee gave your friend a round-about figure, but when your friend got serious and actually wanted to do something, GC got serious about how much the Charvel is worth. GC only pays about sellers 40% of what GC thinks they can sell the guitar for. If GC thinks they can sell a guitar for $1,000, they will offer $400. They will then price the guitar at the store at maybe $1,300. After three months, they might drop it to $1,000. You can always say no, so GC is not doing anything wrong with their offers to sellers. Also, keep in mind that Reverb prices are very inflated. For items that sell often enough, Reverb has a listing of what they actually sold for. Compared to what GC would pay for a used guitar, say the $400 amount, you will see same guitar on Reverb selling for around $600-$800 -- so not that different -- especially when you put in the Reverb fees. However, if you have a desired guitar like Fender Custom Shop Strat, or better a Masterbuilt, you would make out much better on Reverb. I have sold over 40 guitars on Reverb. I only made a profit on one guitar -- a Fender Masterbuilt. Hope this helps.

I was waiting for this LOL, I’m glad you’re enjoying it man! I’m certainly enjoying the KM-6 as well, I’ve never had a Nazgûl/Sentient equipped guitar until now. Makes for something different but killer af!

I’ve heard if you trade in & buy they knock 15% off. Sounds like they took that 15% off the Charvel.

Par for the course at GC. They want people to spend money and will low-ball people to ensure they take in money. I walked in with a 2015 Fender HWY 1 Strat, they said that it was not original and quoted me $200. I am sure that the person that would have gotten my HWY 1 would have appreciated the Fender CS Fat 50's pickups over the stock Alnico 3's. I turned around and walked out without saying a word. F**k GC.

Never trade in a guitar at Guitar Center. You'll never get a decent price on used guitars. I traded in 3 that had never been played (I needed the money) and probably got less than half of what I payed for them. This sounds like a case of "Bait and Switch". What happened to the original employee that gave the first quote? I would have waited to talk to him.

GC offered me $125 for my Dean ML (neck through with SD puckups and a FR) FGC

Rule #1 Never go to guitar center. There many more options.

I think u need to practice more.try practicing in the shower and when u eat and probly when u sleep. Should notice an improvement.

Years ago i saw a Strat at guitar center for $600, but instead of buying decided to shop a bit before buying. A few days later at a local music store which has now gone out of business, i got quoted on an identical model for $700. The guitar Center deal seemed better, but since i was a long time customer at the smaller Fender dealer, decided to purchase there. Imagine how shocked I was when I found out my American Standard Deluxe came with an accessory pack and Deluxe hardshell case, which had been itemized on the Guitar Center quote for an additional $160

I had that exact guitar and traded it for a white C1 Hellraiser.... loved the LTD just liked the looks of the C1

Years ago when my youngest son was a teenager, I took him and a friend to a Guitar Center to get some specific equipment for their band. OK, my son was white, bald and like most kids his age wearing his pants low. His friend was black and dressed kinda gangsta. Both super smart, good kids, & very good at any instrument that you put in front of them. So they're checking out what to get when these 2 salesman started talking about these 2 "LOSERS" who for sure couldn't afford to buy ANYTHING there, then looked at me and grinned. I informed them that he was my son and was probably carrying more cash, to buy with than he (salesman) made in a week. Took the boys outta there to go somewhere else when a man outside overheard our conversation and asked the boys and I what went on, he was the Mngr and very apologetic and PISSED! Tried to get us to go back, sorry damage was done. Have heard way too many Guitar Center horror stories than I care to. Update on my son, went to have a couple successful bands, grew up, good job, got married, kids, etc, $6+ figures /yr! Wonder how those 2 salesmen did?

They are worst than any pawn shop Music go round is about the same very low quotes.

NEVER USE GUITAR CENTER UNLESS YOURE DESPERATE. ALWAYS SELL ON REVERB.

Dang!💪💪💪! That solo is Brilliant!!!

Great licks!!! Guitar Center's are basically the Used Car Dealerships of the music world.

That guitar has a loud high pitch hissing tone coming from it.

At the Guitar Center near me, they quote one price to buy the guitar and a second trade in value. The trade in value is usually a little higher than the cash they will pay for a guitar. Unfortunately trading in guitars is like trading in a car: they are offering wholesale prices because of markup to sell the guitar at a retail price. They are trying to make a profit. Not defending any retailer, but that's how it works. You usually make more money selling a guitar outright, if you have the time and energy to deal with the folks on FB Marketplace etc. Can't tell you how many times I've been stood up waiting for someone to show up to buy a guitar or amp.

Probably should have locked in the "quoted" price, the employee that quoted it should have been called over to confirm the original quoted price. If it was just a rough estimate quote then you'd have to take it with a grain of salt. The guy that quoted it might not have known that much about that particular brand and model, he also might not have been giving an absolute quote and would have had a manager type employee do the final quote. I'm not exactly defending guitar center, but we dont have all the information or guitar center's reasoning for giving a lower second quote. Your friend easily could have pointed out the employee that gave him a quote prior and got an explanation as to the price drop. Usually trading in at a store is not your best bet in general, even at a pawnshop your unlikely to get even close to what you'd get for it if you sell it privately, which he should do. Marketplace can be a bit annoying to deal with, but it works, just dont click any links a potential seller send you, such as if they try to immediately pay via E transfer and send confirmation links (thats not even how Etransfers work, but it is how scams work) Just make sellers either Etransfer the proper way (you just give your email then check your bank for incoming funds) or stick with cash only deals. With marketplace and privately selling you can just look up some prices on reverb like the guitar center employee did, get a rough idea what yours would be worth, also check marketplace if anyone else is selling a similar one and their price as well as condition, and thats it. Hopefully your friend just goes that route and gets what its worth. And if he knows how to check if a guitars good, maybe find that acoustic on marketplace and give it a try, might save even more money that way.

I was told they pay 60% of eBay sold price the last time I asked a GC employee. Plus 15% discount on any new items you buy the day you sell something there. You sell at a discount there for convenience.

Perhaps first guy was new. More senior employee saw quote and it didn't look right and checked the price himself.

Love that opening solo! Reminded me of Mr. Scary! Very cool!

Get your quoted offers in writing unless you are going to trade right away.

Offered me 800 for my 3600 dollar 2008 custom 22 prs. B bye

Simple mistake = weird . That’s the internet in 2025 😂😂😂

Im a Sweetwater man myself i only go to Guitar Center when i have gift cards now lol

Is that a tremonti signature or just his pick ups?

Killer playing buddy.

I've been in two independent guitar shops and one GC where "everybody" was too busy until I made a potential selection. In none of those cases was the store busy with regular traffic. If they had been legitimately busy with regulars, I'd understand they wouldn't want to pre-process twice and waste time. I was certain that it would've been a sliding scale of trade-in worth like at a car lot. So, what I do now, is to "trade in" for a real expensive piece, get the value and then change my mind after thoughtful repose. Then, if they can recalculate worth that is mostly close to that (doesn't have to be exact) for what I want , I do the deal.

Not even a minute into the video and i get hit with a Megadeth level riff: 0:00