WATCH THIS VIDEO! | How To Sell Your Used Gear & How To Set REALISTIC Expectations

#guitarcenter #guitarstore #guitarshop #used #usedgear
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[@Claimjumper55]

Everything you said is totally accurate. I love buying used gear from Guitar Center as I get a nice deal. Of course I know that whoever sold it to them got far less than that. If I want to get the most out of my used gear, I'll do the legwork to make the sale myself. I'm picking up a used PRS S2 McCarty 594 Thinline from Guitar Center next saturday when it comes off of 'pawn hold'.

[@pickersgrip]

I ddn't know about searching with the completed tab, cool, thanks Robert!

[@RobertWJackson]

My pleasure sir!

[@johnnyhood4841]

Excellent info Robert Jackson my friend....👍

[@1rwjwith]

Very valuable video! Thanks this illuminates a lot of what to do when buying and selling.

[@luthravin4774]

Great subject video Robert!! From my own personal experience on selling and buying off Reverb, EBay, or Craigslist.. what’s mostly done today is this..I might list an item with a price that includes what Reverb or EBay will keep for themselves..and the item sits and sits..what I do now is not worry about what they take out and just sell it as is..a fair going price with the best offer tag included. This made a huge difference and it builds up my respect amongst buyers bigtime for future return to my store!! You know as you’ve been there!! Thanks again for this awesome enlightenment!! Have a great day✅😎

[@andrewmorse4324]

Great video as ever Robert. I'm looking at selling some gear and that basic thing of checking completed transactions was a bit of a light bulb moment. Plus I'll keep that a store has to make 30% and take it from there. I'll be checking your video on gear's value that has tanked next!

[@OmicronTauKappaClassicDaddy]

I've flipped a good amount of used guitar gear and use these 3 guidelines in general: 1) Do your research 2) Raise the bar of expectations high for yourself as a seller & 3) Lower the bar of expectations for buyers as you will find it's a real jungle out there when dealing with other people.

[@jeanroy8283]

Hey Robert, thanks a lot! I have a lot of gear to sell and I did not know about estimation value on Reverb and sold prices on ebay! This is a great tool to get an idea of the real value of my stuff and not what I think it's worth! Thanks again for your help, much appreciated!

[@gearmeister]

Hey, Robert! Your advice is invaluable & as we get older, we learn to research relentlessly in order to be treated fairly when trading in or purchasing new gear. My guitar collection has grown to about 30+ including acquisitions which need restoration. I'm writing this to thank you for your great advice over the years. I was totally burned out on the music scene & dealing with the baggage that goes along with it. I unsubscribed to all my music related channels, including yours. I'm here to say that, you have to be a mental case to quit this stuff cold turkey! Just dropping you a note to say thanks & I'm glad to be back!

[@guitartim2128]

Great video Robert . Anytime that anyone sells used guitars (this will apply to selling anything really),when your selling to someone else that will resell it,then expect to get half or less because nobody is going to just make $5 or break even from the sell. Love the channel. Keep it up brother 👍😍👍

[@KnoxCoRailfan]

Always do your research before you sell! GC is the best! I sold a 2020 Ibanez AZ Premium that I bought new for $1350. It was mint with case got $900. I sold a Ibanez RG Limited 2017 Premium that I bought off Reverb in 2020 near mint with case for $1200. I got $750. These guitars were sold in the summer of 2022. Thank you Robert for all you do!! 🎸🎸

[@huntrrams]

Thanks for this!! I wanted to sell my DJ equipment to upgrade and this was the best video on selling to GC and other places.

[@rickycompton2610]

Great Video, Robert and you are so spot on about Reverb the listings that I’ve seen on there for a couple hundred more dollars you could go buy the same item new, I think Guitar Center is pretty fair in my Opinion in fact I sold them some stuff During Covid and made money only because I had bought stuff years ago, and a lot of pedals that I sold were limited runs, but rarely do you make money on Musical instruments, unless it’s a special run or a limited addition

[@seanmccann2513]

Good video and nice retake on your first video about how GC buys gear. I think you said it in the original video but people also need to be realistic about the condition of their gear. Too often on reverb I see gear described as mint or excellent that is in good condition at best.

[@MelodyMaker218]

I agree with you man. They gotta make a profit. I just got a McCarty 594 SE. It is so fun, I just had to say something.

[@buck7477]

I have bought Geetars from pawnshops and enjoyed them and then taken them to GC years later and made a big profit. A made in Japan Navigator Esparto I got for $180 GC gave me $400 on trade and a Ibanez Destroyer same deal. I have taken practically brand new Strats to GC to trade and they low balled me and I sold them on EBay and made my money back that I paid! Now things seem to be different, people aren’t buying like they were 5 years ago. I’ve also taken a beautiful purple 1986 Ibanez Roadstar to GC and they didn’t even want it. I have found a keyboard on the side of the road on trash day, taken it to guitar center and they gave me $200

[@Hugh_Manitee]

I just did a deal at GC Hobart, Indiana. I traded a Peavey Studio Chorus 70 2x8" amp on a NIB Acoustic A40 amp. I was expecting a $75-$90 offer on it against the new amp. Young girl said she give me $175 OFF THE ACOUSTIC AMP. I only paid $90 from the amp 13 years ago at a pawnshop. My gear is in immaculate condition always. Sometimes you can WIN at GC. They also gave me $445 on a Blackstar HT STAGE 60 212. I paid $250 on ebay for it and it was local so no shipping. Also in mint condition.

[@dawnr8511]

Hey Robert! If ya watch your other show Pawn Stars, you will learn the art of the deal. Sometimes, they even pay out way too much. PS Watch out for cockroaches in used electronics. They love warm places like tube chassis and like, ya never know. I ALWAYS seal amps, etc when they arrive, with tape and plastic and bomb the inside with insecticide and let it set for a few days. So far, no bugs found, except for one from Taiwan.

[@IndyRockStar]

The Power cab retail range of $861 - $1122 = average retail $991.5 x.65 = $644.48. The Helix range is $1,025 - $1262 - Average used retail: $1143.50 *.65 = $743.28. The total package is worth $1387.76 Cash and about $1500 trade at a music store.

[@haroldcory3587]

I also was a manager at GC for about 3 years. I caught the GM stealing out of our commission checks. I got fired for catching him. About a year or two later he got fired. Then a bunch of people got checks in the mail to make up what was stolen. I got nothing.

[@Joe-mz6dc]

That's a sad story man. I'm sorry that happened to you. There's nothing worse than managers who screw over their staff.

[@alexanderdavis319]

Yup GC is shady as f. You wont see this guy backing you up though. Clearly he's some kind of corporate stan, hes just going to defend guitar center in any way possible

[@RobertWJackson]

There’s definitely a few details being left out here because GM’s - aka store managers - don’t handle payroll. That’s ALL handled by the payroll DEPARTMENT at the corporate office. GM’s receive a report in case there IS an error, and that’s it. My paycheck got shorted a few times due to human error somewhere, and it was always fixed by the end of the day that I found the mistake. Nobody is stealing any money out of employees’ paychecks, that’s ridiculous. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@jimbeam-ru1my]

@@RobertWJackson as an employee that makes commissions, you learn to keep track of them, especially when you start finding you're getting shorted. when the employees are consistently finding that they aren't being paid full commission at GC, and it's not an isolated occurrence, then someone is stealing from them and who at guitar center has the responsibility of reporting their hours and commission to payroll? Who else besides the gm would have the motivation to short them on commissions? The GM isn't keeping the commissions himself, he's artificially inflating profit margins to make himself look good, and if you don't think any GM is capable of that then you're fooling yourself.

[@SH-fm5eu]

Note the weasel phrase "up to 60%". Whenever I go on Reverb I think of the "these prices are just to F'n high!" scene from "Used Cars" with guitars being shot to shards. If I get a 60% offer on the average price online I would think "overhead dude, light bill, inventory, staff, you want a GC they gotta make some money".

[@budgetguitaristcom]

This video is spot on. In my experience with GC and Sam Ash, on average they'll offer about a third of what an item costs new. Sometimes more, sometimes less. You can always ask for more money - they won't take a swing at you or anything. I've gotten as low as 25% and as high as 100% (actually that qualified as a "return"). GC and Sam Ash need to make their $$$. I hate selling online with a passion - it's not worth my time. Mostly I just keep stuff.

[@RobertWJackson]

For the most part, I generally just keep most everything, as well. However, lately I’ve been so overloaded with gear that I just don’t have a choice but to unload some of it. I’ve been slowly selling off a few things here and there that I just don’t use anymore. I think I’m going to continue doing this until I finally acquire the amount that I need for my ever-elusive Gibson Les Paul Custom that I’ve been trying to buy for two decades now.

[@jimbeam-ru1my]

@@RobertWJackson "I’m going to continue doing this until I finally acquire the amount that I need for my ever-elusive Gibson Les Paul Custom that I’ve been trying to buy for two decades now." Fuck the gibson. get yourself a greco egf1200. they aren't cheap but they are consistently high quality instruments that you can buy online and have confidence that it will perform like a custom guitar should. Gibson can't set a neck to save their lives. Even their high dollar guitars have necks with gaps around three sides and the only thing holding them in is the fretboard. When norlin took over they changed the neck heel to cover the joint between the neck tenon and back of the body because they started using the rocker tenon which always leaves a huge gap. And they've never gone back to the method used for bursts, but greco has. When the neck joint is hidden, you can't tell if it's gapped so there's no way to QC it. With Gibson a properly set neck is a rare event. that's why modern gibsons lack the sustain and resonance of bursts.

[@puppyy780]

Great bit of info! How I tend to do this is literally check GC's website. Find the model/item you're selling and find one on there (if applicable) in similar condition and do the list price x .6. (i.e a guitar is listed at $500, do 500 x .6 = 300, so you can assume, on the high end, you could get about $300 on the trade) That would give you a good idea/ball park of what they may offer you. I used that all the time instead of researching (not discounting that method, but it's quicker to get a range) and it hasn't ever failed me.

[@RobertWJackson]

Gotta be careful with that. GC’s website isn’t always fool proof. Sometimes the stores do buy gear in incorrectly, which is why I explained in this video the methods I use.

[@richgleadall3884]

awesome video now i know if i sell and or trade items... i will know if there being fair. but! does that change if i was going to buy something in that store would they give me a better deal on the items i was selling or give me a better deal on what i was buying???? i feel this is a good question. cheers robert.

[@klepetar]

hey'! i'm number one...yay!!

[@sgholt]

I will buy a inexpensive pawn shop guitars and update/fix, setup and some extras(nut/tuners/pickups)...then I will sell them to Sam Ash ...I expect a 30 to 40% off what reverb shows....I generally get store credit(which is more than just selling) if there is something I want. BTW I don't used Guitar Center because of some poor service issues...I pretty much know everyone at Sam Ash....but you got to expect the buyer to be able to make some money for himself. The last 2 guitars I sold I got more than I paid for them, and it only cost me a little labor to fix any issues I found. I still have a MIM strat that cost me $250, with work it is a great instrument.... thanks Robert you are right in what I have experience over the years...one more thing, never sell to a pawn shop they will try to screw you :(

[@jamesg8008]

You R right about what people ask for there gear on REVERB. See prices that are idiotic all the time

[@elliottsidewater1288]

Hey James, you're so right. The only time I'll bid on an item on Reverb is when I see "accepts offers". But that's not foolproof either, I once offered $55 on a $57 "accepts offers" pedal and the seller rejected it. (I resisted the urge to send back a private message). Has this happened to anyone else? I don't want to get a complex over it A telltale sign of "my stuff is special" is when an item has been listed for 6 months with no offers. Who cares that it was hermetically sealed inside the clean room of your smoke free , pet free house/studio if you're charging too much?

[@mikedr1549]

I've sold two guitars to Guitar Center (both guitars in great shape - both guitars were popular and sold pretty quickly) and got right around 70% of what they listed them for. I knew what to expect going in and was willing to take the hit on the $$ to save me the hassle of having to deal with all the knuckleheads out there. Thanks for being the voice of experience and reason!

[@hellodrjeckyl]

You gotta take what you can get. When trading in at GC you have to understand they are looking to make a profit too. They may offer you less but the convenience of a headache free transaction has to be taken into account as well. You can sell the stuff your self online and make more but you never know how that will go. Stuff broken in shipping, dishonest buyers, or getting scammed, possibly robbed in person. It is a crap shoot. It just depends on your level of comfort and time value. Personally I dont want to deal with possible headaches. I like to trade into GC but only when I'm trading in to buy something new and I get the extra 10% off the new item. With the extra 10% it usually works out to about a fair deal. It can even work in your favor if you trade in a low value item like a pedal towards a high value item like a guitar.

[@jimfischer5670]

I always sell my own stuff but I often buy used from GC. I am posting because of a specific instance I had with GC and buying. They were selling a Ceriatone Horsebreaker for $100 over the new cost, I brought it up to the store manager and he immediately went onto Reverb and says "Yup, that's what they go for". I even pointed out that the pedal is still in production and that was just reverb people trying to make a profit because there is an 8-12 week wait. I laughed at him and bought a new one.

[@RobertWJackson]

That 8-12 week wait list is what drives the price up on the used the ones. A better example of that is the Analogman King Of Tone Overdrive. Yes, you can buy one brand new for about $350 or so, but their wait list is currently up to more than two years, last I checked. Plenty of people are more than happy to pay $800 or more for a used one just so they don’t have to wait for the new one. This wait list items are always a little trickier.

[@jimfischer5670]

@@RobertWJackson Ya, I would have understood if it was a KoT, 2+ is a lot . I was not willing to pay extra for the used one and bought the new one.

[@martianmurray]

I’ve bought plenty of stuff new and sold it at a “loss” to a shop. I say it like that because I look at it like I rented nice new shiny guitar (or whatever gear) for whatever the loss is lol.

[@RobertWJackson]

Nobody ever said guitar gear is always an investment. Most of the time it does depreciate.

[@I.am_Groot]

Really good info. I did a deal with Sam Ash and got 50% of retail on a couple of used pedals but also got a discount on my purchase which was a new guitar that day. What I did not have to do was list, package, ship/meet up. and pay fees on the sale. Guitar Center offering $700 on something you would only 'net' $900 on is a fair price. If the come in low then go list the item and get a better price. Otherwise we pay a 'convenience fee' and since I never pay more than a fair price for used gear most of the time I get my money back on the sale.

[@budgetguitaristcom]

Used pedals are an area where you can get good money if the pedal is somewhat rare. I bought a pedal used at a local mom and pop store and traded it in at Sam Ash for more money once. It was the DigiTech FreqOut. Great pedal.

[@I.am_Groot]

@@budgetguitaristcom Nice!! I try and find people selling a bunch of pedals which lets met try things I wouldn't buy on their own and usually gets the price per pedal way down. I have a nice Boss loop station and fender volume pedal that were free once I sold the other stuff I got. The used gear market before Covid was cooler in many ways

[@elliottsidewater1288]

You did a lot better than I did with Sam Ash, I brought 3 pedals in and they lowballed me horribly on all 3. This was during a promotion where they advertised "top dollar for used gear". I sold them all privately on Craigslist and Reverb for twice what SA offered. I'm still mad, I'll probably never set foot in any of their stores again. Two hours of my life I'll never get back......

[@budgetguitaristcom]

@@elliottsidewater1288 Totally depends on the sales person, the store manager, and the location, for sure.

[@baileyf1998]

Gotta remember when you sell to Guitar Center, you are selling to reseller. They need to purchase your item, then they need to certain they can resell it and make profit on it. Thats why it feels like they are "low balling" you, cause they are, but they have to. If you turly want to get market value, you just gotta sell it yourself.

[@Fendernocaster109]

Just got this small vox cab with a 10 inch 30 watt speaker with my mini 5 and I have a fender boss 57 reverb a dd7 right now killing it sounds very traveling willberryish Roy orbasin was the man in that band

[@Fendernocaster109]

Roberts your Absolutely right though selling used gear is what it is black and white no grey area about it

[@jerryhatrick5860]

Funny thing bout the modeling sruff? People use 2 to 4 setups.. A great amp and a couple pedals do the same. It'a all hype and nothing beats tubea and a few pedals still. There is nothing like speakers and an amp behind me kicking me in the ass. The feel, the reactance between me the amp the speakers. Cant be mimic'd

[@randywoolum2648]

About a year ago I had a Squire classic vibe jazzmaster, that was a GC exclusive, paid $430 for it. About 6 months later, I didn't really want it anymore, so I took it back to GC, and the sales associate offered me $270...I found that to be more than fair because I was expecting somewhere between $150 - $220. Then just a couple of months ago, I went to trade a squire classic vibe 60's telecaster custom in....paid almost $500 for it at Sweetwater, excellent condition, and this wasn't a straight sale, it was a trade, and it was a different sales associate and he offered me $94....now that to me was an insulting lowball offer. I laughed at him and told him I'd rather give it away to a kid who wants a guitar and can't afford one before I take give it to you for $94!

[@robertvance1873]

I'll admit I am still learning about how valuable some things are like I have a old Dixon Evh wanna be and I can't find hardly any info on it, I know it's a cheap guitar I'm just curious 🤔

[@barrymiller2272]

The used market is what it is, however, as i shopped for nearly a year for my 2019 LP STANDARD waiting for a " Chevron " top, which i got for $ 2150 from Sweetwater. I have since moved that guitar for $2300 for a CS Slash! Being in a really great guitar forum helps. There are collectors who buy up. I now own 32 instruments in which at anytime could get what i paid, because i purchased patiently . In no way in my arguing your point. I am just saying that in really great guitar forms, there is a community of people that think the way you do in their collecting practices. Robert I get a lot of good information from you thank you

[@jimbeam-ru1my]

you need to stop buying gibsons. you're getting fucked. familiarize yourselves with greco and tokai. much higher quality instruments for much less.

[@barrymiller2272]

@jimbeam-ru1my that's why everyone of my "hero" guitar players over the last 40 years hit the stage with a Tokai..or Greco-Roman! And yes I am familiar with those brands. Next time I'm in Nashville..or London, I'll make sure to stop by the "Tokai" garage! Oh..maybe not, it doesn't exist...

[@patrickhale424]

So true. Do the research and know what the market is on whatever you are selling. Also I agree with you 💯% about the clowns on Reverb. They think they have gold and prices to match. Those listings sit there for a loooooong time 🤣😂🤣. Glad you changed your channel name. 🤘🤘🤘

[@RobertWJackson]

Moist.

[@TommySG1]

I honestly hate selling used gear so I typically wind up just keeping most of the gear I buy, good points you pointed out here though 👍

[@RobertWJackson]

I did the same thing for decades, and then the day came when I suddenly didn’t have anywhere to hang or store my latest guitar, and that’s when I knew it was time to get rid of stuff and clear out some space for some other stuff. I’ve actually sold half a dozen or so guitars over the last year or two, I’ve made money on just about all of them, and I actually don’t miss any of them. Kind of wonder what other cool stuff I could have acquired by now if I hadn’t been such a pack rat with my guitar gear. LOL

[@benmoore3776]

we use Reverb sold listings for pricing now, also shopping used on Guitar Center has been ruined by every store listing great 10-15 percent less than it is new opposed to what it actually sells used for.

[@RobertWJackson]

I’m not a big fan of Reverb sold listings. I find that the vast majority of the time eBay completed listings seem to be the more accurate representation of the market.

[@mykneeshurt8393]

I pretty much only buy new and never sell anything. It is a mental health issue but it suits me well sometimes. Great video, Robert!

[@sgholt]

I trade up to new guitars... :p

[@logTopic]

I've decided to sell because people around me have been passive-aggressively telling me that I suck at playing and that's it's a waste of time at my age. They won't admit it because they don't want to be painted as villains. Honestly they're sucking the life out of me and they've made something that I once passionately enjoyed learning and getting better at miserable. The worst part is that they'll never outright say it, it's covert. If I try to ignore them and keep pushing on, they up the ante. The craziest part is that I never had any delusional dreams of making it big as musician, it was just a hobby that made me happy. I guess I'm at the point in my life where if something isn't making me money, it's a waste of time. I wish I started playing earlier in life, maybe things could've been different. It really sucks. Anyway, thanks for the tips.

[@robertvance1873]

Reverb is Crazy

[@bigbadbillb]

I work for Goodwill. I see a lot of high end gear donated, and I'm sure it's because it's such a headache trying to sell your gear that people have pretty much just given up with it. It's sad.

[@jacobbockover1628]

When i sell my gear with no ship i usually sell at half what i pay or 100$ less than they go for. If i was going through shipping it would change stuff

[@IndyRockStar]

Instead of selling my Helix I traded it for a used PRS S2 Custom 22. Then I trade it for another guitar and some pedals, and traded again, and again. After about 6 months I end up with a 2003 JCM800 2203x with no money out of pocket. It's all a game of finding the people that need stuff and people that have stuff, and being the guy in the middle.

[@Metalbass1979]

I agree with you on nearly everything, Robert. However, I think that my 1992 Pignose amp that was played by a guy who met Emilio Estevez should bring a trade in value of at least $100k. 😉

[@RobertWJackson]

AT LEAST $100,000. LOL

[@IndyRockStar]

right now I'm working on a deal to trade a 2023 PRS McCarty 594 core for a 2014 Gibson Custom R9 VOS which I will eventually turn into a new Gibson Custom Explorer. I also have a guy that willing to give me 3 PRS Core guitars for a 60's Telecaster. They are harder to come by for a worthwhile price.

[@SarcasmoSuxx]

Question: how often do you think GC tests the gear before they buy it? I’ve purchased several used pedals from GC that are defective 🤦🏽

[@RobertWJackson]

Depends on the store, really. Some stores are really good about it, others not do much.

[@skerryperry3]

I think that Guitar Center is offering enough to make it fair for both parties, but when I sell my gear, I don't attempt to sell it to people who also need to make a profit. A place like GC has to make something. Otherwise, why would they even bother.

[@I.am_Groot]

Where I have walked away from GC deals most of the time is their price. I am not paying $$$ for a guitar in g/vg condition from GC when you can get nm/m used gear other ways. A few months ago I found a nice Player series strat that was priced right was missing the selector tip no big deal... but when I plugged it in just to make sure everything worked the neck pickup gave no sound. I was told 'oh we checked that out it just needs to be hooked back up' and dude looked at me like I was crazy when I asked 'so why did your tech not do that when it was apart' They literally have a repair nook in the store but too often issues don't get corrected .

[@57ebartley]

And factor in the fee’s that Reverb and Ebay charge to the seller.

[@RobertWJackson]

Yep. Those fees are up to about 10% in a lot of cases nowadays.

[@ibanez2010]

I'm always amazed when people cry about offers from GC or pawn shops. It's like, hello, do you not understand that they are buying your item to RESELL it and make PROFIT? If you want the most coin, sell it privately on ebay or a local marketplace. But most people are lazy and want the best of both worlds (fast/easy sale AND max $).

[@RobertWJackson]

Exactly. There’s no simpler way to put it. People are LAZY.

[@fuzzy734]

i think we confuse personal value with actual value. the stores need to make money; bitter pill to swallow but that's how it works. no one in their right mind is gonna pay $25-$50 less for something used vs. new. also, anything 'digital' is not gonna hold it's value after the next best thing comes out.

[@kma6881]

One word of advice, gear should be viewed as a depreciating asset (or liability) and should not be used as any type of investment. Sure there’s the one-offs that will go for a mint, but you’ll have a better chance in a more traditional investment vehicle.

[@dewmac8604]

So should I do with a guitar GC wouldn't buy?

[@RobertWJackson]

Huh?

[@teedub127]

I tried to sell my Roland TD-30 at GC and after the 6th time of of attempting to contact them to set up a day and time to bring it in, I quit trying. I haven't been in a GC since then and to be honest I worked for them in the 80's and they haven't changed or improved in over 43 years.

[@budgetguitaristcom]

In my area, both the Sam Ash and the Guitar Center stores are horribly understaffed. It can take forever to get help sometimes. Shopping at these stores has gotten worse in my area. Sweetwater and Amazon are eating their lunch.

[@RobertWJackson]

And that is an unfortunate reality about today’s brick and mortar retail market.

[@kevinlynch5925]

In my experience Line 6 products don't hold their value or most modeling amps.

[@RobertWJackson]

No, long-term they don’t because they eventually go obsolete. However, that process usually takes 5-10 years, and both of the items used as examples in this video are pieces currently still on the market and arguably the most popular modeling gear that’s out right now. Yes, the day will come when you can pick a used Helix for $200 or less, but that day is still a long way off for the Helix.

[@user-ht9ss4qg9v]

You don’t have to be a guitar player to learn from this-whatever instrument you play, let this soak in real good, and learn from it.

[@johndaugherty4127]

I got here from that other video. Makes me like GC a lot more. I just assumed they were a big, corporate box store run by suits and ties tjat only cared for profit. Not so.

[@chrisb3976]

If people knew how pawn shops work with buying stuff then they would understand how GC works with buying equipment. They buy low to sell high later on lol.

[@j.juarez9526]

Easy. Selling to Guitar Center you will not get market value because you are hiring them to sell your gear. If you want the full market value, sell it yourself. You will have to pay the listing fees, but you will walk away with a lot more money.

[@squidfarmmusic]

Economics 101 the market tells you what to do. Not the other way around.

[@RobertWJackson]

Exactly.

[@DJ_V_squared]

In my experience with selling to guitar center they usually offer you 30 percent less than used market value.

[@martianmurray]

I think they’ll give you that much if they think it’ll sell quickly. Otherwise it’s more likely 50%. You must’ve sold them some cool stuff.

[@vanbraxton8422]

Whats the minimum profit they want to make on gear?

[@RobertWJackson]

Depends on the gear and several other different factors. There’s no set percentage that they are shooting for on every used piece that they buy in, contrary to what the internet seems to think.

[@jimbeam-ru1my]

Gear you should never sell to retailers is rare gear that doesn't come around often on ebay or reverb. I've got a greco egf1800 and you almost never see them for sale. The buyer would think "japanese les paul knockoff, I'll offer the guy 600" but then if you google it and see the few times they have been sold, they go for between 7500 and 10k. There's a lot of Japanese gear like this that's really expensive but so rare that it has almost no track record on ebay and reverb.

[@russellzauner]

Ya gotta trust a bro that's so open their Wang's is just hanging out there during...

[@russellzauner]

*it's the little gray amplifier over his shoulder* COME ON PEOPLE

[@hogie1259]

Selling online sucks. Reverb takes fees not only from your asking price, but your asking plus shipping and taxes. Then, you’re on the hook for taxes to the feds for online sales . GC, Sam Ash et al are giving you the convenience price. You don’t have to ship, you don’t have to deal with scammers etc. All that being said, if you want the most for your gear, list it online at reverb , eBay and any forums you belong to.

[@I.am_Groot]

To me the current fee structure for Reverb makes it unlikely I will sell a guitar again that I have to ship. I only have a couple of guitars north of the $1000 tag these days and can get good $$$ for them locally. Once upon a time the small risk you took shipping a guitar made more sense.

[@ericbanes873]

Guitar Center offered me $600 for a never played kept in a tolex case Rickenbacker 660 12 and they would not budge on their offer but said they would give me more only if I trade it in. were selling for over $2000 used.

[@RobertWJackson]

Why was a Rickenbacker 660 sitting in a case having never been played?

[@ericbanes873]

I was in a accident right after I purchased it and now can no longer play.

[@dw7704]

I have rarely put stuff up for sale, but when I have I’ve had flippers make offers, and they offer less than stores If I am selling privately it’s so I can get more than a store would offer, so if you offer less than the store,why would I sell it to you? But the info in this video is what I would expect, no issues with it And to say flippers annoy me

[@RobertWJackson]

Flippers are an entirely different category. I pretty much treat them the same way I treat trolls on my KZbin channel. LOL

[@howardcunniffe8738]

What I hate about selling used gear. Let's say you wanted to sell your Les Paul Gibson guitar in a pawn shop. You paid over $1,000.00 dollars brand new. The pawn shop only wants to give you $20.00 for it, then sell it to someone else for twice the value you paid for it. To me that's getting ripped off. I hope Guitar Center treats their customers better then a pawn shop does.

[@paulmountenay3212]

Interesting video as usual. Up North with Long & McQuade, the rule of thumb in used gear is they buy at 60%, sell at 80% of original list price. They of course will do an eBay/Reverb search. Other factors, condition, sale-ability etc. BIG factor, if you are trading in used gear to buy new gear you’ll get a premium offer.

[@villageidiot9867]

Yeah, I don't sell anything. I bought what I bought because I wanted it.

[@dirkbonesteel]

I just traded my Les Paul for a complete Golden Girls pubic hair collection. Think I did pretty damn good

[@RobertWJackson]

Dude, that pubic hair collection is gonna be worth a FUCKING MINT!!!

[@dirkbonesteel]

@@RobertWJackson I like boiling them up, making a kind of "tea" to much

[@yourguitarist]

Just my two cents... these prices are way too high for what is essentially a computer that will be out date in a year.

[@RobertWJackson]

I don’t deny that the Line 6 digital stuff will eventually go obsolete, as it always does (though a year from now is a bit of a stretch), but the info shown in the video PROVES that these are, indeed, accurate prices for the current market.

[@flyoverbassin8959]

When you sell or trade your gear in to a store, you need to think of yourself as paying them for the time it takes to sell your stuff for you.

[@Elienguitar]

With the access to information out there, ther is no reason for someone not to spend 30 minutes of research prior to walking in the store.

[@jimbeam-ru1my]

when you sell gear to a retailer, you get fucked. that's all there is to it. It's not that retailers are scumbags, it's that you are splitting the revenue with them. find the customer yourself via ebay, facebook market, reverb, etc and you'll make a lot more money but it will take longer to sell. The only time you don't get fucked by the retailer is when you are screwing them. This is how business works- in every transaction there is a winner and a loser.

[@Guitars-N-Guns]

Guitar Center is no different than any Pawn Shop or Harley Davidson dealer---they want to DOUBLE their money on trade-in, and double their money on final sale. Been through all of it with all 3 examples. That being said; NOBODY is EVER gonna get out of their "stuff" what they have in it (it is used). It's a given. Just like Robert said, the final seller has to make a profit. George Carlin said it best in his "Stuff" act (and if anyone is not familiar with George Carlin, go fuck yourselves) "Why is your shit stuff, and my stuff is shit". That (for example) is the Craigslist experience. "I want an arm and a leg for my horrific bullshit, but I'll trade you a 1979 Daisy BB Gun for your 2000 American Standard Stratocaster" LOL!!! It's rampant! #StopIt

[@alexanderdavis319]

Came here to learn how to sell used gear, ended up watching a video about some corporate stan defending businesses who lowball everyday people. You can clearly see the completed transactions with the item being sold above 1k, yet you are cherry picking the results and only looking at the lowest possible price. Not only that, but you have no idea how the condition of the item was. They could have been scammed, for example listing the item in better condition than it actually was. Yet you assume that everything went perfectly, you assume the buyer was happy, and you assume that the lowest possible price you see on ebay should be the benchmark regardless of any context.

[@RobertWJackson]

Because if everything DIDN’T go smoothly, with all of eBay’s buyer protections in place, the buyer wouldn’t have alerted eBay and gotten it straightened out? Tell me you don’t know how this works without telling me you don’t know how this works. Dipshit. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@jerryhatrick5860]

Fuxle guitar center. Sell it private hahahaha. Shops have to make a profit. Reverb aux these days also. Soo we will have another selling olatdorn pop up i hope. That wont rape someone just for a place to get your gear put there. Cant sell my shit private for what its worth ill keep it. Throw it into the fire amd burn it first. In that way im helping the next guy get more for theirs.

[@armchairzen]

Honestly, I can't believe the level of ignorance on this subject sometimes. Try to trade in your car at a dealer. You might be spending $30,000 buying a car, and you know yours is worth $5,000, maybe that's the Kelly Blue Book price. They offer you $2,000. They will tell you outright that you will get more if you sell your car yourself. Duh. The current market value is the only meaningful number for selling music gear. You paid $300 for your Squire 5 years ago, it's not worth $300 as a trade-in. Duh. Guess what, my 1968 American-made Guild 301 studio probably sold for about $800. It's not worth $800 any more. Actually it's worth about $2500. I see this on the TV show Pawn Stars. Guy brings in a trinket, says he wants $5,000. The shop calls in an expert with nothing to gain or lose, and gives a value of $4,000. Rick says "Well, I still need to make a profit, not to mention it could sit here for 3 years before someone pays $4,000 for it. So, what do you want for it?" Customer replies: "Well, he said it was worth $4,000. I think it's worth more, but I'll take $4,000 for it." Duh. So if you want $5,000 for your $4,000 trinket, don't take it to a reseller as a trade-in. Sell it yourself. Then YOU can wait the three years. If you want $4,000 for your $4,000 trinket, list it that way. You just might get your asking price. Happens all the time.

[@tankdarla637]

I doubt many people are looking for the two products used for example in this video. I think for $1000 for both, I would take that and be happy, wont get more than 1000 for both.

[@RobertWJackson]

You doubt many people would be looking for used examples of two of the most popular modeling products on the market today in order to save some money off of the new prices? You’re not very familiar with the guitar gear market.

[@rnrsteev]

today = $, no?, next year add 20%. I'm not eating of a garbage can.

[@RobertWJackson]

Moist.

[@IIIDontLie2MeIII]

guitar center sucks

[@michaeldantoni4292]

Bottom line... Don't take your gear to guitar center. You will do better to list it online.

[@I.am_Groot]

If you want top price take some nice pics and list it even just FB marketplace sometimes can get nice results. I do miss the old Reverb bought a lot and sold a ton on there and sometimes it took a month to find the right buyer but that is the trade off...

[@kma6881]

What gets me is that they say “if you sell us something, you can apply 10% off your next purchase.” But… their website says this: (TLDR version, pretty much anything you would want to buy) “Products from the following manufacturers are excluded from discount offer: A Designs, ADAM, ADAM Audio, Aguilar, Allen & Heath, Alvarez, Ampeg, Antelope Audio, Apogee, Apple, Arturia, Ashdown, Ashly Audio, Avantone, Avid, BAE, Barefoot Sound, Beetronics FX, Blackstar, Bose, Boss, Burl Audio, Caparison Guitars, Catalinbread, Chapman, Crate, Cusack Music, D'Angelico, D.W. Fearn, Dangerous Music, Dean Markley, Deering, Duesenberg USA, Earthquaker Devices, Earthworks, Electro-Harmonix, Elysia, Empress Effects, Epiphone, Ernie Ball Music Man, EVH, Fender, Fender Custom Shop, FOCAL, Focusrite, Fostex, Friedman, Fulltone, Fulltone Custom Shop, Gallien-Krueger, Gibson, Gibson Custom, Godin, Golden Age Project, GoPro, HeadRush, Heritage Audio, iConnectivity, ISP Technologies, iZotope, JHS Pedals, Johnson, Keeley, Kemper, Korg, Kramer, Kurzweil, Kush Audio, LaChapell Audio, Lag Guitars, Lakland, Lewitt Audio Microphones, Lindell Audio, Lucida, Mackie, Manley, Marshall, Martin, Meris, METRIC HALO, Millennia, Milkman Sound, Mojave Audio, Moog, MOTU, Native Instruments, Neumann, Nord, Novation, Orange Amplifiers, Paiste, Pettyjohn Electronics, Phoenix Audio, Primacoustic, PRS, Palatino, QSC, Radial Engineering, Randall, Rane, Reloop, Reverend, RME, Rockett Pedals, Roland, Roland Cloud, Royer, Ruach Music, S.E. Shires, Savannah, se Electronics, Seagull, Sennheiser, Sequential, SERATO, Shure, Slate Digital, Slate Pro Audio, Slate Media Technology, Softube, Soundbrenner, Source Audio, Spector, Squier, Steinberger, Steven Slate Drums, Strandberg, Studiologic, Supro, Suzuki, Taylor, Teenage Engineering, Telefunken, Teletronix, The Loar, Toft Audio Designs, Tone King, Tube-Tech, VHT, Voodoo Lab, Vox, Walrus Audio, Wampler, Warm Audio, WESTONE, Xotic Effects, Yamaha, ZT, Zvex.”

[@RobertWJackson]

That’s just legal jargon. All it means is that they can’t ADVERTISE a lower price for products from those vendors. It doesn’t mean that they’re ineligible for coupons and other discounts. Yes, there’s exceptions that are listed like Bose, Apple, Dangerous Music, and FOCAL, but the majority of the brands you listed here can be discounted.

[@kma6881]

@@RobertWJackson thanks for clarifying.

[@alexanderdavis319]

By the way, the concept of "You sell it to us for 50% or less in exchange for us finding a buyer" is a complete pile of shit that only applies to certain companies like GC or GameStop. The vast majority of the world doesn't do shit like that, there are hundreds of other places to sell your gear where you can actually set a fair price, and you won't get scammed.

[@RobertWJackson]

Once again, tell me you don’t know how business works without telling me you don’t know how business works.

[@IndyRockStar]

i always figure I'm going to get 65%-75% of the average used price if I'm selling at GC. I find the average used prices on Reverb. Frequently, I end up getting offered a few dollars more than I expected especially when I trade for new gear. Also, I've bought so much gear (over $20K) over the last couple years that the guys at GC do everything they can to hook me up. Loyalty means something in the music gear biz.

[@friedrudibega6384]

The great thing about the internet is you can find information on pretty much anything. Markup target is 30% if I’m not mistaken. Guessing I could look it up. Don’t take it personally when they won’t give you a good price. They can’t. Pretty darn good video, Robert.

[@I.am_Groot]

For sure if you can get near 70% without having to list/sell/ship that is 'fair' and it can also depend on the item. A good tube screamer might sell online quickly for a good price but a Behringer knockoff won't.