UK economy / selling guitars

[meterman]

17 hours ago, peteb said:

 

I must admit, I haven't been keen on Reverb - fees make it too expensive to buy from and too much of a hassle / takes a long time to sell. Also, too many idiotic low-ball bids from chancers! I suppose that it does depend on what you're selling. 

 

Reverb fees only add up to around 10% of the asking price, which you easily can factor in by setting a price that incorporates this.

 

Also, the low-ball bids? There's a function that allows you to automatically disable them, either by percentage or completely disable them.

 

Having (briefly) worked on Denmark Street, I can say - without naming names - that certain independent stores will have no qualms about putting a 100% markup on your instrument, or more. I've personally seen a 300% markup put on a vintage Gibson SG that didn't even reach the shop floor, as the store had a 'wants list' book, with customers names and phone numbers in it ready for when a particular vintage item comes into the store. The SG sold within 24 hours to a 'friend' of the store owner. I use the term friend very loosely - the guy thought the store owner was his pal, but the store owner would fleece him regularly and laugh about it behind his back. I remember one customer asking me how come his vintage Tele Bass had a price tag on it that was close to 3 times his agreed commission price. What do you say? "The owner is simply a greedy b'stard"? After chatting amicably with the customer, and explaining that I was earning minimum wage anyway, and that prices were outside my remit, he took his bass elsewhere. 
 

Anyhow, that's by the by. Whatever the OP wants to do with his gear is his business. But lugging them to the UK? I wouldn't 😂

[peteb]

25 minutes ago, meterman said:

Reverb fees only add up to around 10% of the asking price, which you easily can factor in by setting a price that incorporates this.

 

 

Yes, you always put a higher price on Reverb, which makes it slower to sell stuff. What tends to happen, and I have seen this myself, is that people put something on Reverb at an inflated price to cover the fees, then advertise it for a lower price on Facebook marketplace groups. If you see something that you fancy on Reverb, you then search through the various FB groups until you find it and then contact the seller through there. 

 

25 minutes ago, meterman said:

Having (briefly) worked on Denmark Street, I can say - without naming names - that certain independent stores will have no qualms about putting a 100% markup on your instrument, or more.

 

I would only use use retailers that I trust for commission sales. These days I tend to use Bass Direct, although I have used others successfully in the past. BD are completely upfront about the 20% they charge, then advertise at the agreed price on their website. To be fair, they will generally get a higher price than I would and I don't have to bother about postage & packing, etc with the bonus that I don't have gear that I need to get rid of taking up room in the house! It seems a reasonable deal for the commission charge... 

 

Edited May 31 by peteb