Do high end guitars sell on Adverts?

Darach · 17-12-2008 03:47PM #1

just as a matter of interest, seems to be a ceiling on adverts above which guitars don't seem to move as readily if at all.

up to about 600, there seems to be a fair amount of activity across both electric and acoustic, but above that, it seems to plateau pretty sharply

credit crunch aside, anyone else find that for higher end €1k+ lekkies and €1.5-2k handbuilt guitars that there is a relatively modest/insignificant demand and is it down to the demographics of adverts users or just demand in our wee isle?

Voodu Child · 17-12-2008 04:01PM

Obviously less people will buy a €2k guitar as opposed to a €500 guitar. That should go without saying. Its no different to new (ie retail store) trends, or even trends in other areas.

I don't know why you'd even need to ask the question, its common sense. Expensive items are more expensive (:pac: ), hence take longer to sell.

That doesnt mean expensive items don't sell, ive seen tonnes of high-end PRS, Gibson, Mesa/Boogie, Matamp, *whatever* change hands on adverts. Youve got to price your item fairly and be patient.

Even with the credit crunch, people aren't going to stop buying things until it gets seriously desperate, just look at the bargain alerts forum (the actual forum, not the thread here) to see people clambering over each other to pick up deals. Or all the people here snapping up bargains from the UK :pac:

Doctor J · 17-12-2008 04:14PM

I don't think there are that many people with a 1k+ lying around ready to drop it on a guitar on a whim. As voodoo_child says, you've got to be patient. Some great guitars have been sitting around not selling recently, it's all about finding the right person for the right guitar and that can take time, especially given the amount of tyre kickers adverts seems to attract.

Darach · 17-12-2008 04:17PM

The question wasn't about querying common sense, more about adverts being a good place to sell high end guitars vs normal guitars, rather than the obvious fact that "cheap stuff sells more" as there are relatively few outlets for GASsers constantly trading in search of acoustic/electric Nirvana!

All the different sites seem to have different profiles of buyers, so was just wondering how people rated Adverts which is great vs some of the other sites for higher end gear.

Voodu Child · 17-12-2008 05:08PM

Darach wrote: »

All the different sites seem to have different profiles of buyers, so was just wondering how people rated Adverts which is great vs some of the other sites for higher end gear.

The one thing i would say is that adverts.ie is an online site (obviously), so by definition your prospective customers are internet-savvy. It only takes them a few minutes to open a new window and google the items you're selling to see what they're worth.

So it may look as though high-end gear is more difficult to sell on adverts, but tbh it just puts the onus on the seller to get their price right. Ive seen guys try to sell Marshall amps for more than they could be bought brand new off GAK. or any number of other examples.

dermo909 · 17-12-2008 05:21PM

I think adverts.ie suffers from the same thing that plagues ebay. People expect to get things dirt cheap and a fair price for good quality gear seems too high to them. They expect to get quality for nothing! I have seen alot of trades being offered which are worth nowhere near whats being asked!
It might be due to adverts being seemingly used by teenagers with no money. Its defo a good place to buy and trade cheaper stuff though.

Vim Fuego · 17-12-2008 05:26PM

Yeah, some of the trade offers are ridiculous but it's not like you have to accept them. Any other places that are good for selling gear? Should there be a sticky (or in the existing sticky)? I'm drawing a blank outside of ads, gumtree, eBay and B&S though (metal ireland classifieds?).

I've used ads a fair bit though since I discovered it (only this year) but the biggest item I've managed to sell is a Marshall head for €600 and that took forever.

Doctor J · 17-12-2008 05:43PM

Every forum has the people who'll chance their arm or just did too much crack. I bought and sold a fair amount of stuff this year, on one forum (mentioned above

) the same fella offered me the same crap fretless bass for everything I put up. On one occasion he offered me the bass twice over the period of a couple of weeks, using different accounts, for one item in particular. I traded a couple of higher end pieces on a UK forum called basschat during the summer. No bull**** there, no lowballers, just genuine players who knew their gear and had realistic expectiation of what it was worth. It was a very different selling experience from the Irish foums.

Voodu Child · 17-12-2008 05:48PM

Doctor J wrote: »

on one forum (mentioned above ) the same fella offered me the same crap fretless bass for everything I put up. On one occasion he offered me the bass twice over the period of a couple of weeks, using different accounts, for one item in particular.

Doctor J · 17-12-2008 05:54PM

Yeah, hard to believe

Ravelleman · 17-12-2008 05:59PM

I agree. I find the random trade offers and constant low balling extremely frustrating. Even if you make it clear in your post that you are looking for something specific in a trade or no trades at all people just ignore it.

Doctor J · 17-12-2008 06:05PM

I don't mind the unorthodox trade offers, tbh, you can get some interesting stuff that way, once you're in or around the same value. It can be a handy way to discover gear you'd never normally consider if you were looking to spend cash. When you get the "Would you swap an Epiphone and a Squier for your PRS?" type crap, that's when it gets annoying. I picked up a Bassman in a trade last year and, at the time, an amp like that was not on my mind at all but it was a fair deal and... well, sometimes you've gotta take a chance

Gaspode · 17-12-2008 06:08PM

Darach wrote: »

just as a matter of interest, seems to be a ceiling on adverts above which guitars don't seem to move as readily if at all.

What ya selling? Put a link in your sig and lets all have a look at it!

(cos we're nosey)

Glassheart · 17-12-2008 09:57PM

There is some terrific stuff up on boards at silly prices right now.
The unorthodox offers are fine.It looks better if somebody else is bumping the thread.

As much as the occassional cash offer can be unrealistic a lot of people try to sell stuff at prices close to what they bought it for.

Feelgood · 17-12-2008 10:01PM

I had a one year old Gibson Les Paul Custom on adverts for 6 months and it didn't budge at 2k!.

I don't think people are spending as much on high end guitars anymore. You can get decent axes now for next to nothing. Even a squier strat is an awesome axe if you change the pickups, which I think a lot of people are doing these days.

Darach · 17-12-2008 11:30PM

Overall, I have to give Adverts the big thumbs up, it's free, instant, no faffing about like with buy and sell listings or ebay ripoff fees and you do get a pretty quick indication of whether you're likely to sell or not and the majority of people turn out to be pretty genuine and sound.

@ Des - I've a Lowden D32 for sale...didn't think the rules allowed mentioning it, but seeing as you're a mod

{If the rules don't allow it, don't do it - feylya}
For the backstory, used to belong to Anto Drennan (Corrs and more) so it's a choice piece of kit.

Will give it one last week and then consider sending it somewhere on consignment or trading it in.

As Vim points out, beyond Gumtree/B&S/Ebay, here in Ireland, there's very little else in the way of turning stuff around to get to that next gas fix.
Fastfude.org for NI is the only other one close to hand, beyond that it's the AGF or manufacturer specific forums and the hassle of shipping and fear of courier carnage.

jimi_t · 18-12-2008 12:31AM

Darach wrote: »

@ Des - I've a Lowden D32 for sale...

You weren't playing at B&S in EP were you?

Gaspode · 18-12-2008 08:18AM

Darach wrote: »

Overall, I have to give Adverts the big thumbs up, it's free, instant, no faffing about like with buy and sell listings or ebay ripoff fees and you do get a pretty quick indication of whether you're likely to sell or not and the majority of people turn out to be pretty genuine and sound.

+1

@ Des - I've a Lowden D32 for sale...didn't think the rules allowed mentioning it, but seeing as you're a mod
{If the rules don't allow it, don't do it - feylya}

I've seen plenty of people put a link to their ads as part of their signature so that's OK - it's when you're clearly selling in here that'll get you into hot water.

Darach · 18-12-2008 09:21AM

@ jimi_t - sorry, not sure what you mean by EP?

@ feylya - sorry, had read the rules, but that was in response to a question from Des, who gave it the green light from a mod. feel free to remove it if it's not in line.

felim · 18-12-2008 09:54AM

Some people do take the piss a bit with lowball offers but there's also people on there selling used gear and expecting to get almost new prices for it. I've even seen people trying to sell used stuff that can be gotten online for cheaper brand new.

I sold a Les Paul Standard on adverts about two years ago. I put the ad up before leaving work and had someone call and buy the guitar that night. I did price it to sell fast though. I researched what they were going for and knocked a couple of hundred off.

ClutchIt · 18-12-2008 01:45PM

What's the big deal with getting a low offer? Just say no

Doctor J · 18-12-2008 02:21PM

Why go to the effort of wasting someone else's time as well as your own?

Dord · 18-12-2008 03:35PM

ClutchIt wrote: »

What's the big deal with getting a low offer? Just say no

It's frustrating to the seller and can make a mess of the thread. Personally when I've put stuff up for sale on adverts its usually priced to sell fast. Even still I get eejits asking for it at half that price! :rolleyes:

Voodu Child · 18-12-2008 03:45PM

ClutchIt wrote: »

What's the big deal with getting a low offer? Just say no

Its a waste of time and space, and like Dord says, it can ruin a thread.

You should not offer to buy anything, or even think about buying something, without knowing what it is. That seems like common sense. If you go off and research a Les Paul you see (or whatever) and see that realistically its worth a grand, what's the point in offering €500

That's not haggling, its stupidity, or being a smart ass.

But, as already mentioned, that's not exclusive to adverts, you get that everywhere.

ClutchIt · 18-12-2008 04:05PM

BUT...

Sellers are always just bumping their ads anyway so it's a free bump and it shows interest.

I will confess to making a few small offers and it has worked for me too. If a thread says no offers then I won't make one.

I still don't believe there is any harm in making and refusing offers. But I've only sold one thing so maybe I'm only seeing it from a buyers side.

jimi_t · 18-12-2008 10:40PM

Darach wrote: »

@ jimi_t - sorry, not sure what you mean by EP?

Electric Picnic. Was working stagecrew and remembered checking in two Lowdens - I think one was Anton De Stac's or maybe one of Sharon Shannons' band; given their rarity in the country I was figuring you might have been playing down there.

Darach · 19-12-2008 02:39PM

Hi Jimi, unfortunately, it wasn't me, this one hasn't seen any stage action in my hands, hardly a breathmark on it!

Never say never though, hope springs eternal :pac:

Sergio · 19-12-2008 08:13PM

I think people are alot more eduacated these days about prices and the different brands of guitars out there other than gibby or fender.i think most people if spending over the 1k mark would prefer to buy a new guitar as opposed to a 2nd hand one.

Darach · 19-12-2008 08:43PM

It's a little different when you're talking about handcrafted or small factory acoustic guitars like Collings, Lowden, McIlroy, Beneteau, Sobell when the street prices can start at 3k and keep on going, sometimes the new price is just out of reach so a used model can be the only option.

And when it comes to new vs second hand, as a personal preference, especially for acoustics, I prefer a "played in" used guitar as long as it's been taken care of as it's more likely to sound better than a fresh out of the factory model as the the top will have opened up giving you a real indication of the guitar's sound.

dermo909 · 20-12-2008 08:28PM

@Darach: I could'nt agree more about acoustic guitars needing to be 'broken in'. I've got a lowden 032 which celebrated its 10th birthday this year and is sounding better than ever. It still has that new guitar smell though!

Darach · 22-12-2008 04:19PM

congrats on having nursed it all the way to the decade mark...by now the spruce top should have a nice tint to it and start thinking it's a brand new cedar top with extra bite

Eric Roche gives what must be the ultimate in how to play a Lowden O Series!

along with Dermot McIlroy, (mcilroyguitars.co.uk) who used to work for Lowden, there's never been a better choice of incredible Irish guitars.

Do high end guitars sell on Adverts?

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