Commission sales

[Paolo85]

Right, I have just sold my fourth bass in about a year with the Gallery. A few considerations:

-They take 15% commission but they sell at good prices and/or very quickly (depending how "good" the prices are). This I imagine is also a factor in the fact that they do a setup and give a three month guarantee for repairs, which makes it a win-win in many situations

-I can only go there on Saturdays when they are understaffed and there's a lot of people coming in. It can take a while for the paperwork and combined with the fact that going there is two hours return and some, depending on the circumstances and the bass sold, it may not save much hassle all considered

-Clearly they are very busy...On the website they say that after selling, they'll wait a week in case the buyer has issues and then they pay you. That's not exactly my experience. It's more me checking their website, emailing them: "I see my bass was marked as sold two weeks ago, is this correct?" ..and then wait.

I imagine they would be quicker if I was selling Alembics but still.. as I write I am still waiting for the money from a Classic Vibe sold in March. Four emails to remind them have not helped so far (the last one Monday night did not get a reply, I am sure there are good reasons).

I am 100% confident I will get the money - maybe this Friday, I think they pay Fridays - so all good. Overall in my experience the Gallery is a great resource to get a bass out of the house and forget about it, as long as one has patience

[Gasman]

Andy Baxter Bass sells on commission - he's sold three items for me - Ricky 4004, Fender Jazz 60 anniversary bass 5 and a Takamine Santa Fe special 'Gecko' electro-acoustic. Reasonable commission, handles all the sale details, insulated me from tyre-kickers and paid out in good time - I would recommend. I sent my items by Parcelforce, picked up from my house, no problems. 

[Tokalo]

My experience with The Gallery is similar to Paolo’s - you need to be prepared to be in regular contact with the store:

to remind them to put the bass on sale;

to ask why it’s no longer on the website (sold, apparently);

to find out how to be paid;

to have the money sent.

 

They do seem to be very busy, but are apologetic and treat you like a human.

My bass sold quickly, and the transaction wasn’t a chore:
I got the train from Hertfordshire to Town with a mate, dropped off the bass and then spent the rest of the day in a bold quest to down a pint in London’s oldest pub (there are several claimants to this title, which made it all rather enjoyable)

[Guest Gabriel1918]

In my 20s as an impoverished student I made the horrible mistake of trying to sell a beautiful, immaculate lake placid blue Fender Precision Special through a shop in Glasgow.  I loved that bass but was broke and had barely enough money to buy food at the time.  Three months later, the bass hadn't sold, so I went to collect it.  I discovered they'd had it sitting in the shop window and the back of the bass was scraped and scuffed down to the wood, presumably from people pulling it out of the window to try it.  I realise that's probably not going to happen these days, but it's a cautionary tale for me at least.

 

My experience of the Bass Gallery in London is that you need to chase them for everything.  Yes, it may be due to being busy, but in my experience they also regularly misadvertise, misprice, don't include enough details on the listings ("information to follow") and waste time by having to continually chase them for basic answers.  I've bought things from them online only to be refunded because the item had already been sold, or was secondhand instead of new, or they wanted more money because they'd put the wrong price on the instrument.  This has happened so many times now that I wouldn't deal with them again under any circumstances.

 

Bass Direct has been ok sometimes, and problematic at others (the owner can be 'challenging' to deal with).  Given the choice between selling via the Gallery and Bass Direct I'd opt for Basschat first, then maybe Bass Bros.  There's no commission to pay on Basschat; it has a huge audience; and the folks on here are generally a decent bunch of people to deal with.