Trading...

[NighthawkChris]

I recently have been wanting to get rid of a couple guitars that I usually never play, and when I do, I don't have as much fun with them as I do when I play some of my other guitars, so I decided to start thinning them out slightly.

 

I have thought before that I will only get a few hundred for them if I go into a store for a trade, or get a bit more if I sit on my perch waiting someone to respond to an ad I post for the sale of them. I felt is was really not worth it to get rid of a broken-in, quality guitar. If for some reason I wanted that guitar back, I'd have to pay more for it and the whole thing was a waste... But I don't think this will actually happen. I am talking Epiphones, Jacksons, etc. Basically intermediate guitars that I cannot see appreciating in value any time soon - and I don't get guitars as investments. I prefer to play them rather than look at them all day on a stand, hanger, display, etc. I digress...

 

I started to look at the situation in a different light though. I have guitars that are just sitting around, holding onto them for the sake of what? No guitar is happy just sitting in a case or on a stand, haha! I thought that even if I trade them in for an "upgrade" and get a little less back that if I sold them via an ad let's say, these have a fairly good value to me still if there's a guitar I want available where I trade. Haggling is half the fun of buying a new guitar IMHO, haha! With that said, I want to get the best trade value with these since I am getting a quick payout on these... If I am giving up a guitar that I have taken care of for quite a few years - and I have some sentiment towards them - I don't just want to part ways with them "in vain"... That part of it sucks, because there's a little bit of regret once I trade. It takes some getting used to, that's for sure. I know I am trading in a well taken care of instrument that will make someone else happy to play, and I can only hope that my traded guitar will make someone else pleased to play and it gets as much love as I have given to it so to speak.

 

Overall, I like guitars - very enthusiastic about the instrument in general. I like watching YT vids on guitars, learning about history of guitars, etc. Very interesting to me, haha! I'm a guitar nut! I don't want to have more than 8 of them though. I just can't play them all and I hate knowing they are just collecting dust or some piece of expensive furniture, art, whatever you want to call it. But I want to have each of my guitars generally different - no use having a duplicate so to speak. I don't want to be like the Spinal Tap guy who has the tags on their guitar still and gets mad at you when you point to it - and stop pointing at my guitars! Anyhow, trading I suppose is a necessary evil, just hope that I don't do something I regret... I suppose, what could I regret other than I find out what I traded ended up turning out to be worth a ton of cash and I parted ways with it for a mere peanut... I hope that doesn't ever happen, because that would sting a bit, I won't lie... Oh well, 'tis life. Does anyone else feel apprehensive to do a trade with a guitar that they never play or play once in a millennium? Even if it is for a guitar that is "obviously" better? Thoughts and experiences are greatly appreciated.

[rct]

Traded guitars since I was a teenager in the 70's. It is perfectly natural to me.

 

When something is not being used, causes me a problem like a neck that doesn't fit with the others, or any other reason I've decided, once a guitar is gone it is gone.

 

I've never bought guitars for the mythical profit everyone on the internet says they sell them for. I've also never had to meet someone in a laundromat parking lot to sell a guitar, and I've never had to invite total strangers into my house so they can offer me 250 for my 300 dollar guitar.

 

I know very well how it works and I always knock 5% off my expected take and am pleasantly surprised when I'm offered 10% or more over what I knew the offer would be. I also make sure that I get something good off what I'm trading for, before we start.

 

You can't predict what anything will be worth, so there is no sense in worrying at all about some guitar you let go. Krist, I'da been living in a mental hospital for decades now if I did that.

 

rct

[capmaster]

It could easily happen that I have to part ways with some of my instruments, but at the moment I can imagine doing this to only two of them, and perhaps two of my basses... :unsure:

 

On the other hand, as long as musical instruments are not exempted from CITES regulations, I can only keep them and hand them down without elaborate and costly paperwork. In most countries ex post facto laws are forbidden like in the USA and Germany. But this is what CITES rules do - they retroactively affect the right of disposal of the rightful owners of guitars or basses, lots of other musical instruments and pieces of furniture. It will bring not a single felled tree back into nature, but potentially bothers lots of people.

 

It's a strange time we live in... <_<

[pippy]

Hmmm......

 

Epi's and Jacksons (unless they are really special / early ones) are never going to be worth much money (relatively speaking) so just let them go and get something you really would like to play.

 

FWIW here's how I look at it;

I was monetarily shafted (and Right Royally) a couple of times when I was much younger and very much poorer so nowadays when I buy a guitar - new or used - it's always with the foreknowledge and total acceptance that if I ever want / need to sell it I will take a financial hit. Once that's understood there's no angst involved. It may turn out that something bought used might increase in value if bought well in the first place which makes the deal sweeter still.

 

Pip.

[capmaster]

...

 

Epi's and Jacksons (unless they are really special / early ones) are never going to be worth much money (relatively speaking) so just let them go and get something you really would like to play.

 

...

 

Pip.

I do own my only Epiphone Les Paul, albeit a top-level Epi with Gibson pickups and electronics made in USA including Mallory foil capacitors, because I like playing her. Two of my Gibson LPs I had bought before and three after her, but honestly, one of the latter Gibson LPs is the guitar I would trade or sell most easily. It's not because she would very likely achieve the second-most revenue of all. The Epi LP costed about a sixth of the average price of my Gibsons, her cost-effectiveness is stupendous, but I like four of my Gibson LPs very much despite of the diminishing returns. In the upper regions the air always gets thinner.

[pippy]

Ah. Perhaps I didn't make myself clear.

I didn't mean 'get rid of the Epi's because they will never be worth much'; I only mentioned them because the OP himself said;

 

" I am talking Epiphones, Jacksons, etc."

 

I have owned an excellent Epi LP Standard myself in the past and still have a couple of other Epi's in the herd nowadays so please, folks, don't think I was being 'down' on the marque.

 

Pip.

[merciful-evans]

So far, I have never regretted selling a guitar. It could happen though.

 

I have a couple that I could do without right now, and here's where I empathise with the OP. They wont fetch much either as trade ins or straight sale. Furthermore, if I spotted anything as good (and as cheap) elsewhere, then I would consider buying it. Its that kind of thinking that stops me selling them on.

 

TBH, I would get more pleasure gifting them if I knew someone (needy) that would appreciate them.

 

 

Hey, maybe we could have a 'swap club' for those sorts of guitars? Maybe experience 2 or 3 different guitars a year for carriage costs only.

[LPguitarman]

The main reason I don't buy a lot of guitars is because most of them would just sit around underplayed... especially with my Les Paul as my favorite. I have a Les Paul and an electric acoustic. The only other guitar I could see myself buying is a good Strat, for the tone difference.

 

So, trade them or sell them, just don't let them become pieces of furniture.

[kidblast]

I may have regrets spanning the decades that I've had guitars passing through my possession, the regrets for me come much later on in time. like my 73 lp deluxe I traded in 79 for an ibanez Musican MC400 (nice axe but I missed the gold top)

 

but,, meh, it is what it is, you move on.. I have two great Les Pauls so no harm done.

 

had a handful that, like you, sat in the case, and playing them, did not incite me to play them any more frequently than I had before getting them out for some air.

 

I sold these recently.. most were epiphone archtops that I'd purhcased over the last 6 / 7 years, and one was a manuel rodriguez classical acoustic that had the traditional wide, fat neck. Great sounding guitar, but that neck was just too much for my hands. (Small hands..)

 

I did as well as can be expected with 3 of the epi's, exactly what I expected. The one transication in question that turned out to be a gem was an Elitist Country Gent (Gorgeous guitar in mint condition, but in the case it sat.) After listing, I quickly got reasonable bites / offers based on my asking price, and at the end of the day, it quickly sold for a small profit (+$100) which is what I listed it for. (These are quite hard to find, so that was working in my favor) The new owner is in love with it, and plays it every day. Which is really what I wanted to see happen with all of these.

 

 

at present time, I have 16 guitars. I feel confident about selling the ones that I've moved, the fact they slept in the cases wasn't gonna change. I do have the "no way, keep" list. That said,... I still have one or two I think I could shed. proceeds allowed me to score a Taylor 500 series nylon. Best nyloner I've ever owned, and I've gone thru a handful till finding the right one. play it 100x more than I played the 5 I moved.

 

a 12 string acoustic lurks in the near future. just haven't decided which one yet.

[rct]

...I'm just a stickler for what's fair is fair, and I sometimes have a difficult time assessing what makes a trade fair...

 

You get what you want and get rid of what you don't want, that's the only measure of a fair trade.

 

rct

[kidblast]

buying guitars new, from stores, or online dealers is a losing transaction. they don't hold their value.

 

The only way to beat the game is to bottom feed e-bay. then when you move, you either break even, or if your a good sniper, you'll make some dough. One of my pals is staving off retirement boredom doing just this. it's a pass time, buy's em low, fixes, cleans them up, and resells (for fair asking prices) when he moves on from them.

 

Putz like me, wrangle the cost of ownership into the entire process.

[kidblast]

Unpleasant?

 

ha! I'm sure that is not true..

 

having been at this since I was about 11ish, (61 now) I never really give too much thought over a purchase. A painter won't angst over an easel or a set of fine brushes, and well, this is how we musical types paint.

 

My buddy is frugal. he can afford top shelf guitars, easily, his wife urges him all the time, but some how he won't allow a way to justify it. I've worked with this guy since 1977, hes just about my best friend, so I know, it's just the way he's wired.

 

The only guitar I ever really had to have a long talk with myself on is my SJ200, at north of $4k, that was something I really needed to decide if I wanted to go that deep for a guitar. In the end I am glad I did. The money 2 years later is of no consequence to day to day life, even though I funded quite a bit of it with a yearly bonus from work. and well.. the SJ200 is awesome in every way.

 

life is short, only get one crack, buy and play what you desire. as you say,, can't take it with you

[Cougar]

....At the same time, I don't want to just give away a guitar....

 

I took a couple Epiphone Masterbilts and a couple other nice Epiphones, all with cases, into GC looking to 'trade' toward a Gibson J-45. I was expecting to get the standard 60% of the 'true' value, but the offer was well below that, and they valued the cases at $1 each.

 

I took my guitars back home and sold them locally and on reverb for about what I had in them, all to fund what turned into my Guild 12-string fetish.