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trading in an amp at a shop...


LukeFRC
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Hello, I just wondered, if you trade in an amp in near perfect condition how much/what percentage do they tend to buy it off you at?
i'm just wondering as my sale thread for my amp has gone below 45% of the original price and a what point is it better to sell to a shop?

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Think its dependent on the shop themselves. I conacted GAK re this last year, and received some very evasive answers, none of which actually told me anything. In the end, I stated that I would be driving 90 miles there, and if I were to be offered £200 for an item I knew they would be selling for £400, I would make the person who made the offer eat the instrument.

At that point, I got the straight answer of "We buy items for 50% of the price we can sell it for".

So realistically, (and assuming most music shops work the same) if your items 2nd hand value is £400, in all likelyhood, a music shop will sell it for £450 - £500, therefore you`re looking at them buying it off of you for £225 - £250.

If you trade it in against something however, some shops are very good on this. Coda Music, Gig-gear, Machinehead, all in my locality Hertfordshire, have been very good on this.

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A rough rule of thumb is that if in excellent condition a shop will offer around one third the current selling price and look to sell for two thirds. Remeber their selling price includes VAT on the difference between what they buy from you and the price at which they sell, so not all of it goes into their pockets. Always better to sell privately, but then people expect a private sale to be cheaper than a shop selling second hand, and you have to wait for that buyer....

Edited by alanbass1
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Hey Luke unfortunately you'll be offered next to nothing... seriously next to nothing.

As has been pointed out shops have to make money and they aren't in it for the odd £20-£30. As Loz has stated, the retailer will be selling for maybe a bit more than you have it advertised for BUT they have to factor in that someone will want to haggle and they have to factor in VAT (that one I still don't get but every time I ask about trading in at shops it gets quoted), they will want to make a couple of hundred as that's often the mark-up they have in the other stock. I'd say that you'd be offered at best a couple hundred quid and tbh I don't think you'd get a lot more if you were trading against something in the shop. The shop has you over a barrel; you NEED to sell it, they [u]don't[/u] need to buy it as they have sufficient new stock to worry about selling!

eBay may be your best bet especially if you offer shipping to Europe. :)

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[quote name='LukeFRC' post='1054880' date='Dec 11 2010, 12:31 PM']so the answer, not worth doing!
I may have to explore ebay, I've never used it before.[/quote]

I used to love eBay... not so much these days!

I'm sure you know how it works but necessary evils like; listing/final value fees, having to set up paypal accounts, paypal fees, money being held till buyers leave you feedback etc. these things will bug you but if you want to use eBay you have to play by their rules.

Sometimes it is worth it but other times you wonder why you bother.

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1054884' date='Dec 11 2010, 12:36 PM']I used to love eBay... not so much these days!

I'm sure you know how it works but necessary evils like; listing/final value fees, having to set up paypal accounts, paypal fees, money being held till buyers leave you feedback etc. these things will bug you but if you want to use eBay you have to play by their rules.

Sometimes it is worth it but other times you wonder why you bother.[/quote]


hmm when you look at it like that... trading in a brilliant amp for one that is good but costs me more to save 11kg weight.... not really worth it is it?

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If you're talking about the Hughes & Kettner head, you also have to consider that the average punters knows less than half a dozen bass amp makes - Ashdown, Fender, Peavey and, at a stretch, Trace Elliot, Hartke and Ampeg. I own a Tech Soundsystems rig and hardly anyone has heard of therm.

So, a music shop will offer you a pittance for the simple reason that they'll probably struggle to sell it.

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[quote name='bassbloke' post='1055488' date='Dec 11 2010, 10:36 PM']If you're talking about the Hughes & Kettner head, you also have to consider that the average punters knows less than half a dozen bass amp makes - Ashdown, Fender, Peavey and, at a stretch, Trace Elliot, Hartke and Ampeg. I own a Tech Soundsystems rig and hardly anyone has heard of therm.

So, a music shop will offer you a pittance for the simple reason that they'll probably struggle to sell it.[/quote]

yeah I spoke to them on the phone about it. The guy was like 'ooh hughes and kettner that will be nice" but then was like, although we wouldn't be able to sell it easily.

TBH i think I would be better off keeping it or waiting to see if anyone on here wants it. The problem is that very few ppl have heard it or much hughes and kettner stuff so don't know if it's any good so it is a risk without trying. also hughes and kettner's reviews and people bigging up the thing must all be in german cos i can't find much on the net, I mean it won awards in germany, yet no one in the UK has seen one before!

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I've generally found Mark @ Bass Direct has offered the best trade-in prices if your part chopping against his stock. It's still much lower than you'd get if you held out for a private sale, but certainly more than other music shops have quoted me for stuff in the past...

He'll even try and sell it in the shop for you and just take a commission on the sale... Bass Direct attracts a wider audience for shopping than Basschat..... Might be worth considering.

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[quote name='alanbass1' post='1054859' date='Dec 11 2010, 12:16 PM']A rough rule of thumb is that if in excellent condition a shop will offer around one third the current selling price and look to sell for two thirds.[/quote]
This is certainly the way it works with the Dawsons chain; one of their managers told me last month.

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[quote name='Lozz196' post='1055541' date='Dec 11 2010, 11:34 PM']You could look up interviews with Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet - he used HK on their reform tour.[/quote]


oooh interesting... ill go look, or just photos would be good to find... turns to google

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1055689' date='Dec 12 2010, 08:53 AM']IIRC the guy from the Manics was endorsed by H&K as well.[/quote]


in trying to see if that is true i found them listed amongst great British bass amp makers!
[url="http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/british-bass-amps/"]http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/british-bass-amps/[/url]

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[quote name='LukeFRC' post='1055738' date='Dec 12 2010, 10:14 AM']in trying to see if that is true i found them listed amongst great British bass amp makers!
[url="http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/british-bass-amps/"]http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/british-bass-amps/[/url][/quote]

No disrespect to those that have H&K Bassforce amps/combos but the BassBase and the QT amp you have for sale Luke are head and shoulders above the Bassforce; to qualify that I've owned several H&K products and Sound Control let me have one of the big BF combos on appro and it was back in the shop within hours as it just didn't have the same quality of tone of the high end H&K... again apologies to those who have BF gear but that's my opinion!



In fact the ownership of H&K amps got a bit silly at one point! :)

Warwick Protube IX
H&K BB600
H&K BB400
H&K BB250

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1055750' date='Dec 12 2010, 10:24 AM']No disrespect to those that have H&K Bassforce amps/combos but the BassBase and the QT amp you have for sale Luke are head and shoulders above the Bassforce; to qualify that I've owned several H&K products and Sound Control let me have one of the big BF combos on appro and it was back in the shop within hours as it just didn't have the same quality of tone of the high end H&K... again apologies to those who have BF gear but that's my opinion!



In fact the ownership of H&K amps got a bit silly at one point! :)

Warwick Protube IX
H&K BB600
H&K BB400
H&K BB250[/quote]


and somehow you whittled all that down to one thunderfunk!

and multiple cabs... one more on the way! :)



thunderfunk does look a nice bit of kit.

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1055761' date='Dec 12 2010, 10:39 AM']Oh that wasn't the worst of my addiction! :)



:)[/quote]

think you attatched the wrong picture there! I think you meant to add the one of the 30 warwicks on your wall and sofa! :lol:



oh and markbass sa450... and whats the other yellowy one?

Edited by LukeFRC
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[quote name='LukeFRC' post='1055774' date='Dec 12 2010, 10:44 AM']think you attatched the wrong picture there! I think you meant to add the one of the 30 warwicks on your wall and sofa! :lol:

oh and markbass sa450... and whats the other yellowy one?[/quote]

Now come on this isn't a Warwick thread! :)

The other yellow one is the Markbass LMK. I had the SA450 driving one EBS and the LMK driving the other (each cab was 4ohms), I tried having one cab clean and the other effected (chorus/octave/phaser or combination of)... as I say it got silly! :)

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1055814' date='Dec 12 2010, 11:12 AM']No competition; H&K[/quote]

i spent the morning looking for info about my amp, theres not much out there but I'm leaning towards keeping the thing rather than give it away at a daftly low price.
i think it will fit in my big rucksack

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