Go onto Gumtree and type "Bass Guitar", location Ashton-under-Lyne

[edstraker123]

2 minutes ago, Killerfridge said:

it doesn't look like he's trying to "flip" them as such,

Well for what he offered me for mine in a potential px deal I'm not convinced of that.

[gjones]

On 07/03/2025 at 21:10, HeadlessBassist said:

Go onto Gumtree.co.uk and type "Bass Guitar" into the search & "Ashton-under-Lyne" into the location box...

 

These are all legit basses from one private owner (who I met last week and bought a couple of basses from), who is trying to thin down a massive herd in order to retire and downsize his house.

 

Some lovely bargains here, from very reasonable Squiers to some high end stuff.

 

Apologies in advance for the forthcoming GAS. 🫣

 

Wow.....that's a lot of basses. 

 

Edit: After a quick think, I recall seeing this guy and these these basses on Gumtree for months now, I assumed he was a dealer which makes more sense than a compulsive bass buyer.

Edited Monday at 14:26 by gjones

[Woodinblack]

6 hours ago, edstraker123 said:

Be interesting to know if Gumtree / FB marketplace now report people to HMRC as ebay now do 

 

Yes, they do, if you make more than £2000, which I suspect he has. 

[Pow_22]

I did a deal a while back involving my MIJ 57 RI P bass and a a 75RI Jazz Bass he had.  Nice genuine guy, as pointed out his prices are a little rich but has some lovely stuff

[Kev]

Just a little heads up - no real issues discussing this fella here, but please don't post any direct links to the basses he's selling.  He's more than welcome to come on here and advertise them

[neepheid]

I'll just leave this here...

 

Cort Viola bass - £249, no mention of a case

 

exact same bass from another FB seller, with a hard case - £160

 

I doubt he'll go that low, he may be the loveliest chap in the world but he's clearly in no hurry to sell.

[HeadlessBassist]

7 minutes ago, neepheid said:

I'll just leave this here...

 

Cort Viola bass - £249, no mention of a case

 

exact same bass from another FB seller, with a hard case - £160

 

I doubt he'll go that low, he may be the loveliest chap in the world but he's clearly in no hurry to sell.

 

I'd say the difference there is that the person on FB Marketplace needs the money. Tony clearly doesn't - I was at his house yesterday. Lovely drive through Holmfirth and across the moors coming back, too.

 

I'm quite shocked at how negative some people have been on this thread. A guy with a bit of permanent GAS usually sells some nice basses (it's up to you whether or not you think they're expensive - that's down to you and the depth of your pockets.)

 

So here was I thinking you'd all like to look at some nice instruments that a nice guy advertises on Gumtree and all you can all do is moan about his prices and make assumptions. It's all very sad, pathetic and typical social media. 😲

Edited yesterday at 11:22 by HeadlessBassist

[neepheid]

1 minute ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

I'd say the difference there is that the person on FB Marketplace needs the money. Tony clearly doesn't - I was at his house yesterday. Lovely drive through Holmfirth and across the moors coming back, too.

 

I'm guessing that's the entire current state of the market for these type of basses.  I'm not saying I know everything, but put it this way - today I learned that these basses even existed  

 

I don't care about any of that, I don't personally know any of the people involved.  All I see is the numbers.

[Kev]

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

 

I'd say the difference there is that the person on FB Marketplace needs the money. Tony clearly doesn't - I was at his house yesterday. Lovely drive through Holmfirth and across the moors coming back, too.

 

I'm quite shocked at how negative some people have been on this thread. A guy with a bit of permanent GAS usually sells some nice basses (it's up to you whether or not you think they're expensive - that's down to you and the depth of your pockets.)

 

So here was I thinking you'd all like to look at some nice instruments that a nice guy advertises on Gumtree and all you can all do is moan about his prices and make assumptions. It's all very sad, pathetic and typical social media. 😲

 

In fairness, it was extremely predicable it would go this way, especially following your rather tongue in cheek use of the word "bargain" 😅

 

That being said, I don't think anyone has been rude, its just an open on-topic discussion. 

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

I'm quite shocked at how negative some people have been on this thread. A guy with a bit of permanent GAS usually sells some nice basses (it's up to you whether or not you think they're expensive - that's down to you and the depth of your pockets.)

 

So here was I thinking you'd all like to look at some nice instruments that a nice guy advertises on Gumtree and all you can all do is moan about his prices and make assumptions. It's all very sad, pathetic and typical social media. 😲

 

 

These are not "bargains" as you painted them in your original post.  Maybe things even out at the top end but his low cost stuff is horribly overpriced.  If you can't understand why people might call you out on this, then with the greatest respect, you need to give your head a wobble instead of lashing out at your fellow BCers.

 

[Chienmortbb]

It all depends on you point of view. Many of the basses seem reasonably priced, others like the Westone Thunder II is probably close to twice its market value BUT they are sought after. I would love one but not at that price. 

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, HeadlessBassist said:

So here was I thinking you'd all like to look at some nice instruments that a nice guy advertises on Gumtree and all you can all do is moan about his prices and make assumptions. It's all very sad, pathetic and typical social media. 😲

 

Oh dear.... You told us about some basses for sale and people discussed both the basses and the prices, the consensus being that on the whole they're a bit pricey. I'm sure the seller's a lovely guy, but it's a bass forum, we're not here to discuss personality 👍

[Terry M.]

2 hours ago, Kev said:

Just a little heads up - no real issues discussing this fella here, but please don't post any direct links to the basses he's selling.  He's more than welcome to come on here and advertise them

Apologies for that. I've edited my post and removed the links 👍

[edstraker123]

9 hours ago, HeadlessBassist said:

So here was I thinking you'd all like to look at some nice instruments that a nice guy advertises on Gumtree and all you can all do is moan about his prices and make assumptions. It's all very sad, pathetic and typical social media

Or simply based on our experiences which may have been different than your own.

[Stub Mandrel]

On 10/03/2025 at 09:25, Killerfridge said:

It's not about making profit or volume of sales (although they are elements of it). If you're buying something for your own personal use, and selling it once you're bored/want something else, you aren't liable for income tax even if you made a profit. HMRC look for "badges of trade" to make a decision as to whether you should be filing self assessment:

 

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/business-income-manual/bim20205

 

Assuming he's not just buying with the intent to sell, then he should be fine regardless of the throughput.

 

"The number of transactions see BIM20230 Systematic and repeated transactions will support ‘trade’."

[Killerfridge]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

"The number of transactions see BIM20230 Systematic and repeated transactions will support ‘trade’."

Yes, that's literally the first thing I said. But notice that it says "will support trade" i.e. will be a factor that goes in the "might be trade" column, not "is trade". It's a judgement call based on those badges

[Burns-bass]

I was negative about things and that’s because I find the whole bedroom dealer thing to be depressing. There are people who swoop in on any bargains to be had and then sell them on again (on the same forums, sites and places) for much higher prices. 
 

This warps the market, setting a benchmark for prices, but more than that, it stops players without much cash from picking up a bargain.

 

If this a lovely chap who has spent his life collecting average guitars and is selling them on, good luck to him. If he’s a bedroom dealer that’s buying cheap, selling high and offering insulting PX values, I stand by my original point.

[Woodinblack]

8 hours ago, Killerfridge said:

 i.e. will be a factor that goes in the "might be trade" column, not "is trade". It's a judgement call based on those badges

 

I can't imagine a scenario where the inland revenue would look at those listings and says 'that isn't trade'. To me it looks like a shop and they are much more agressive with their assessments.

[Beedster]

38 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I can't imagine a scenario where the inland revenue would look at those listings and says 'that isn't trade'. To me it looks like a shop and they are much more agressive with their assessments.

Completely agree, the assessment will often be based on the idea of 'normal' buying and selling for personal use. Normal people do not own 50 bass guitars and try to sell them all at the same time. OK, if it's an estate, or if he's selling up a collection acquired over a career, there would probably be some latitude, but when there's evidence of ongoing purchasing of instruments only for them to be listed for sale at a higher price - and no matter how much he might want to claim "I just like trying different basses" (or how true that might actually be) - he will be treated as a trader 

[Burns-bass]

1 minute ago, Beedster said:

Completely agree, the assessment will often be based on the idea of 'normal' buying and selling for personal use. Normal people do not own 50 bass guitars and try to sell them all at the same time. OK, if it's an estate, or if he's selling up a collection acquired over a career, there would probably be some latitude, but when there's evidence of ongoing purchasing of instruments only for them to be listed for sale at a higher price - and no matter how much he might want to claim "I just like trying different basses" (or how true that might actually be) - he will be treated as a trader 

 

This is true. In my experience, HMRC have been very good. As long as you can speak to someone, they're fair, clear and understanding.

[Terry M.]

2 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

 

This warps the market, setting a benchmark for prices, but more than that, it stops players without much cash from picking up a bargain.

 

This is so true. I've lost count the amount of reasonably priced used basses I've seen on say,Gumtree or eBay that get snapped up only to reappear almost immediately on commission sale on some well known site at sometimes double the price. I lost out on a bass last year on Gumtree and before I knew it there it was on Bass Direct at quite a price hike. Definitely has an impact on players without much cash from taking part and finding good deals. I heard this happened to the house market some years back with people buying cheap property with the sole intention to let it out. No idea how true that is but I'm digressing now so...

[Beedster]

57 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

This is so true. I've lost count the amount of reasonably priced used basses I've seen on say,Gumtree or eBay that get snapped up only to reappear almost immediately on commission sale on some well known site at sometimes double the price. I lost out on a bass last year on Gumtree and before I knew it there it was on Bass Direct at quite a price hike. Definitely has an impact on players without much cash from taking part and finding good deals. I heard this happened to the house market some years back with people buying cheap property with the sole intention to let it out. No idea how true that is but I'm digressing now so...

 

But this is how trade works, I get that it's annoying, but if it didn't work this way no-one would set up as a trader in any field, and our options in life would be severely restricted. Like all walks of life, there are good traders and poor traders, some are fair and reasonable, others devious and cynical. I'm certainly no fan of those who pretend to not be traders, the 'From my personal collection' type, one of whom advertised a bass on eBay I'd sold him only a couple of days before on BC as such. OK, technically I guess it was now part of 'his personal collection', but the phrase is to my mind used to give the impression that it's been a long standing possession and therefore the seller can be expected to be aware of and take responsibility for issues etc. 

 

And going back to the hobby or business, question, I know a lot of people do bloody well out of it, but frankly, if HMRC saw my buying and selling record they'd send me a hefty rebate, a sympathy letter, and the book 'Business For Dummies'  

[Kev]

4 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

But this is how trade works, I get that it's annoying, but if it didn't work this way no-one would set up as a trader in any field, and our options in life would be severely restricted. Like all walks of life, there are good traders and poor traders, some are fair and reasonable, others devious and cynical. I'm certainly no fan of those who pretend to not be traders, the 'From my personal collection' type, one of whom advertised a bass on eBay I'd sold him only a couple of days before on BC as such. OK, technically I guess it was now part of 'his personal collection', but the phrase is to my mind used to give the impression that it's been a long standing possession and therefore the seller can be expected to be aware of and take responsibility for issues etc. 

 

And going back to the hobby or business, question, I know a lot of people do bloody well out of it, but frankly, if HMRC saw my buying and selling record they'd send me a hefty rebate, a sympathy letter, and the book 'Business For Dummies'  

 

Most of the time people know exactly what they're doing, but I think sometimes people genuinely don't accept what they're doing is beyond personal sales as well.

 

We have people on here argue until they're blue in the face that they're not traders when asked if they need a commercial membership, be it through devious or denial means...I think I saw one of them had a stand at a recent Guitar show 😅

[Terry M.]

6 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

But this is how trade works, I get that it's annoying, but if it didn't work this way no-one would set up as a trader in any field, and our options in life would be severely restricted. Like all walks of life, there are good traders and poor traders, some are fair and reasonable, others devious and cynical. 

Yes I won't disagree with this as I'm aware how trading works. It's just when you see how individual pieces change hands and the profit margin involved sometimes and how it can skew the market overall. This is why I'm grateful the lower end of the new market has really upped their game. Spending £1.5k over £500 on its own won't make me a better bass player which is all I'm really concerned about at the end of the day.