I still tell my wife I paid $100 for every guitar I bring home. Has worked so far!

I like to buy something that's got some age but not old enough to be "vintage". I recently bought a couple 08-12 American Standard strats for $850 each, about half what a new one costs. They look and play great!

I'm to the point where I am happy with all I have and will only ad and not really wanting to trade anymore. Lose too much money. Recently purchased a Cordoba Fusion Nylon string at your shops suggestion and so happy! Thank you! I love how you are so interested in the player and what is best for them if you don't have what they are needing. That is what makes you guys so great! I always come to you first!

Last year I had to sell basically everything, including my 1995 Taylor 812c, which is kind of heartbreaking. It was ageing gorgeously. I was only able to get $1500 for it. I paid $1800 in 2008. I had looked it up in 2021 to assess its value and at that time they were going for around $3000. Honestly I'm just sad that I had to let it go at all.

During the Pandemic was a surreal experience. Can’t believe Pennsylvania shut everything down. Don’t they know that guitar shops and manufacturers are “essential key workers?” 😂

The whole thing is whether you are confident enough in your knowledge of a guitar to go buy from someone rather than a store . Stores have to make money so their used gear may appear expensive to you . I was looking in the used section of a store and there were a load of good although expensive Les Pauls . I said to a sales guy it seemed odd why you’d buy such a good guitar and then sell it …. He explained that a lot of customers had traded up -a 2k Les Paul and bought a 4K Murphy lab or whatever!! Jeez !! You can definitely get used PRS guitars for a decent amount here in the U.K. as they are not just as popular as Fender /Gibson so people buying a core model should expect to take quite a hit when selling .

For the past year or so, I've been able to buy and sell used gear for pretty much what I paid for it, which was great! I could basically try something and flip it if I didn't like it. That seemed to change about a month ago. I've got one amp and one guitar left that have zero traffic in either. I'm not too upset if I'm stuck with them. I have been fortunate to try some great stuff and dial my rig in just about perfect.

If you're selling to get other gear you're often better off just finding someone who is getting rid of the gear you want and offering them a straight up trade. Just traded my Mexican Fender for a neck through Ibanez. Mine had a ding or two and I wasn't going to get the money I needed and the guy I found had a refinished Ibby that he wasn't going to get top dollar for either. Luckily he listed things he was looking for in the ad and top of the list was a Fender. Half hour drive later and we got two happy customers who didn't take a loss selling gear to get gear. Always put your wish list on your gear posting.

I am fortunate in that I know how to repair most guitars, so I get good deals on damages stuff. I bought a Martin which had been stored in an unconditioned attic in Texas for 20 years. The top and braces were loose, neck bent. 40 hours of labor later, and I have a nice $2500 Martin for the price of $100 and $4,000 worth of my labor. 🤣🤣

"Gibson and Fender have softened" explains a lot. I went into a shop a month ago looking at a used Les Paul Tribute, and the guy was like "get it now, all the prices are going up like $400 in three days". Guess it was the other way around.

I know an Ex salesman at my local Guitar Center and he told me flat out that depending on the condition of the guitar you can expect approx 40% of what they will resell it for if it is in excellent condition and it lowers by approx 3 to 5% lower depending on how bad it is.

The fact that you mentioned Diablo 4 makes me want to buy a guitar from you!

A quick lesson for those who, like Baxter, are math impaired. The assessed value of your property does not determine how much property tax you pay. Your tax is determined by the spending (i.e. budget) of the entity (city, village, county, school district) doing the taxing. If the budget does not change from one year to the next then neither will the tax you pay, though the tax rate applied to your assessed value will change if your valuation has changed. The property tax rate is simply a multiplier. If your property taxes increase year over year it is because the budget (i.e. spending) of the taxing entity went up, not because the value of your property went up.

I came across a used Yamaha LL6M ARE in great condition at a good price. There are good values out there.

For most used guitars they only take off like 10% max off the new guitar price. No thanks, I'll just buy a new one

Guitar market is not a special case. It always follows the general market conditions. Inflation = up, recession = down. Simple.

I just traded a recently acquired bass that wifey hadn't seen. When she asked which one I was trading I said the black and gold Fender. She said oh yeah I remember that one. Heheh

the other half of this is the new stock prices continue to rise. so the Used cost may soften compared to the increased new prices, but may still be above where they used to be

D-Day was June 6, 1944. Great info. !

yup its a buyers market right now for sure ,, I bought a 1971 Gibson LP custom in cherry for $2500 only thing not original were the pups just installed some Tom Doyles ( sound fricking amazing def worth the money ) for my 1982 LP standard i paid $1800 and paid $1600 for my 1978 Fender Tele 100% original bought all three in the last 18-20 months ,, now looking at a Fender custom shop 62 reissue we're at $3k right now but think i can get it for $2800 ,, just gotta remember what people are asking and what things are actually selling for are different animals completely

I will die owning every instrument I ever bought. I made sure they were the right ones before I parted with my hard earned money.

I haven't flipped any guitars but a few of the low end Gibsons I've bought have went up in value if you go by Reverb prices. A 2009 Melody Maker reissue and a 2019 Junior Tribute DC have each doubled and tripled in price. My used ES-235 has doubled in value. That doesn't mean I could get those prices locally.

I picked up some bucket list guitars here the last couple weeks... '76 Ibanez 2405 Custom Agent, '76 Ibanez 2457 Stereo, '79 Ibanez Professional 2671S, '74 Ibanez 2393, '78 Ibanez PF100, and an '82 Artist AR30... all sub-Reverb prices by a pretty good margin. Guitar Center used market had the 2393 (turned out to be really nice condition for a 49 year old guitar, but their pictures weren't amazing), and a Music Go Round location had a shockingly clean AR30 at a great price. PF100 was a marketplace find and the seller bargained down further from a price drop.

I like listening to these chaps.

I buy a guitar purely based on the fact that I can't live without it, (or at least I have convinced myself of that ) and resale value should be the last thing on your mind, if at all.

I have been waiting patiently for a user fender American pro II to come down used. They are about 1200 ish at the moment and I think I am going to pull the trigger soon

Right now everyone is on a spending freeze after getting boned by tax season. Seen some incredible deals on Reissue Gibsons. 3800 for a goldtop R9 w/ carmelita neck profile - guitar was over 5000 new.

Thankfully i bought my guitar collection many years ago before the prices went crazy. I still have most of them, finding a realy good sample of a guitar takes time and effort so i have no intention of selling my best samples just to make a profit then buy another one that is not as good. Good luck to those who have at least bought and sold for the same price, but at last some common sense is returning to the used market. My question is, what are the buyers going to do with all the junk that has been sold just to satisfy demand, no one is going to pay top money for a bad guitar.

I live in Victoria, Australia, and the premier here, you have a governor, closed us down for the amount of time, that we won the length of shutdown, world wide. Our premier, is named Daniel Andrews. He's known as Mao Tse Dan. A very repulsive unit. But on the good side, I just swapped an Epiphone Casino for an Epiphone Master Built Dreadnought, an AJ500RNS. Great deal, I wasn't playing the Casino, so it went to a guy who wants one, and didn't want the Dreadnought.

Earlier this year I sold a 2013 Gibson USA Firebird V for $500 more than what I paid for it, which was already a high price on the used market. I did so well because at that point, Firebirds were not available anywhere, and the buyer was willing to pay my asking price.

The worst I've seen are the pawn shops. They go online, find a retail price and now, we're fucked! 🤷‍♂️

I'm a pawn shop hound and have been for years. As I travel around the state hunting for deals, I have noticed that shops are stuffed with used guitars. I have found some nice guitars for very good prices. Most non vintage/high quality guitars can be bought for around 25% of new with some haggling.

I started doing guitar shows after the pandemic. Made a little money at the first Philly show. The next two were losers where I made nothing (outside of a trade with another deal). The offers I got were really from some cheap bastards. My $500 Fender got an offer of $300. I can knock off $50 or so, but $200 off a $500 guitar is absurd. My Tele Tenor is $1,100, but some clown offered me $750. Do these people realize dealers have to buy guitars, pay for spot in the show, drive there from wherever, and sit there all day long? I'll stick to Craig's List.

Back in the Old Days (1980-2000) the dominant thought was that New MSRP's were going up so fast that people would only buy older-used cheaper gear. And the New MSRP's would have to come down to recapture sales.. Well, it almost worked. Kinda. That was assuming the New quality would be the same as the Old. Well....guess what? MAYDAY, MAYDAY

I had a relative that would haggle over the morning newspaper price at the corner store. By noon the news was old.

This is just a video of a guitar shop using you tube to manage your expectations. Coming out and telling you they'll be buying used gear as low as possible, cause it's not worth what you thought, sorry. ...and it's true. Inflation is kicking in and people are selling off the luxuries. But, now is getting to be the time to buy, and the market will probably go lower before it comes up. You have to buy smart, though. New stuff is already 20% higher than in 2019. Pick a guitar and compare prices then to now. Usually less features or even a model drop for more money. (Epi LP Custom Pro is now Custom, and priced at $150-$200 more). Sorry for this new dealers, but don't buy new if you can withstand the GAS for 10 minutes. That way you start at today's resale value. The only models that increase in value or even hold their own are the super special models that make you just moan when they come out. Even then, they drop in values to almost half when you slide your card, so don't just click buy, call in your order and at least ask for a discount. The more high end, the worse the initial devaluation is. You'll have to hang on to anything bought new for a long time if you don't want to lose your shirt. Let the first GASer take the hit, and pick up the (usually) pristine impulse buy at 30%, 40% less or more. I just got a perfect '20 Heritage for 1/3 the cost of a new one, at a guitar shop. Shop around. They're out there. NEVER sell to a shop or trade in, it's lowball hell. Even consignment eats any possible profit. When you do buy used, negotiate. Know the values. Step out (or just do it right there), pull out your phone and look at Reverb SOLD listings or trend graphs. Go at least 20% less than that and make the offer. That pause after no just means come up a little. Everyone instinctively knows that the usual deal is to meet in the middle, but if they go there right off, middle to that. I've had private sellers just say yes to my first offer. Hit the pawn shops and don't worry about anything but the structure and/or major parts broken or missing. Ignore the new retail or excellent condition price on the tag (they always do that). Look through the dirt, the dirtier the better. Lots of that suff is just dirty. Pawn doesn't send stuff out for repair cause it eats their profit, and it's not worth it for them to even clean things up. They know what it costs to repair, so discount for that as if you'd send it out. So ya, things are going a little soft, but it's really no big deal. Just hold on to your stuff a while. Inflation will bring prices of everything new up and the used market will follow. We'll be looking back at the deals of today, pineing for the low prices. We've seen it before, it's just a cycle, always up. This drop is a blip. Everything is going up, and with inflation it never comes back down. That's why a Gibson ES-($)335 is now $3350 or more.

2021 prices like real fire. Like raging fire. 2023 prices like smoldering fire.

Prs is is king. I bought a bunch right at the start of the pandemic, all of them are worth more and selling for more than I paid at the time. While fender and Gibson guitars are a dime a dozen and seem to be losing their allure. Ppl have been sleeping/mocking prs for too long now ppl are starting to understand. Literally almost every prs ad I’ve saved in the last year has sold, they are not sitting.

The used car wholesale market is doing the same thing. It didn't drop quite, but it "softened" in that buyers are starting to become more discretionary.

The all knowing algorithm lead me to your channel a while back. I had no idea your store was in NC! I’m on the coast not too far away. I guess the algorithm was aware of this too 😮.

Still can’t find $250 p basses like back then lol 😔

I've found a few good deals in the last few months. You just have to really know what you're looking at. The way prices have been I haven't even thought about buying anything until recently.

Yeah, Benson! I’m stoked to hear you guys buying and selling that brand. I just purchased my second Monarch combo. A great product and (on a side note) Chris is the nicest guy. I met him a few times when I still lived near PDX. Great show, fellas!

I just put things on my Reverb watchlist and if someone sends me a hella cheap offer I see if I can Affirm it without being gouged on interest. Sold! For $8 a month until the end of time.

I am lucky I bought a brand new acoustic right before the prices shot up in 2021. Most of my other gear was bought 10 plus years ago The big ticket items anyways guitars and amps. Although I did just buy A 2010 JCM 2000 DSL100 not an h for 600 bucks. Most of my gear has increased in value if not it has stayed the same. My less Paul I bought brand new in 1995 for $650. The other day I saw similar Les Paul's of the same year going for 1100. Granted the guitar is 25 plus years old. My 93 Explorer I also paid $700 for in 1996 People are selling those for 2000 plus now. Crazy

Gibson Standard Les Pauls have just gone up another $200.00 retail just this month. They are now $3000.00 new and the used prices on Reverb are up as well. Les Paul Specials are now $1800.00 new retail. USA-made Fenders are going up as well due to the fact that the new guitars don't say Made In USA on them any longer! I predict the " made in USA " Fenders will continue to go up from now on. Gibson Standard Les Paul has had 2 price increases Since September of 2021 for a total of $500.00 in a year and a half. Prices are not going down for high-quality guitars that say Made in USA on them! Of course, if we go into a hard depression due to the actions of the FED and this government things could change drastically.

A new les Paul is 3000 now. A used one is still only 1900-2300. That’s crazy!

Great transparent info. You know I think a lot of the price negotiating come down to respect. If someone can build a great relationship with reputable store like yours and explain their goals, budget, etc then I've found often others are more likely to work with them to help them get the guitar of their dreams. Very different than the people who try to play hard play. It's also important to know what products might be have room and to consider what the % of the whole price is - $400 off a Fender Custom Shop guitar is a lot more realistic than $400 off an American Strat.

Maybe I’m not looking at the right places, but prices I’ve been looking at for older bass amps like SWR and early 90’s Trace Elliot gear are still insane!! Even some Peavey Dyna Bass from that time are crazy with people asking 750.00 plus. Just crazy!!

Alex Lifeson started using PRS electric and acoustic guitars in the early 1990's after years of using mainly Gibsons and a few Strats and still seems to favour them in his post Rush work. As a very varied and at times unorthodox guitarist this speaks volumes for the versatility of the PRS stable.

“Slimy cotton candy hands on our guitar strings...” killed me, the pause solidified the humor.

I have not seen maskes anyplace but dr offices for a long long time out here in ca. As best i can tell people just make stuff up about ca for politics or whatever but i can just walk outside look around n say nope

I just scored an “S”8…USA Precision at a pawn shop for less than $300.00….I KNOW WHAT I’VE GOT!!!!…VINTAGE….RARE! Going on Reverb for $4K baby! Whoop whoop! How do ya like me now!!!

People have been financing these crazy used prices. Interest rates are going to keep going up and people will start selling their gear cheap.

The difference between now and then is that we have vaccines and treatments now. We shouldn’t judge three years ago by how things are today.

Actually, yea. Offense to all predatory real estate investors. Housing should not be a commodity.

Theres a specific year Telecaster (80s era) that nearly tripled in price in a year. I bought mine for 900 and wanted to buy another, now the cheapest one i can find is $2,600. Missed my opportunity unfortunately.

I just saw Baxter Clement on a Adam Neeley video about flying with musical instruments! You guys are famous!!!!!!

Recently Emerald City Guitars did a great video about a one-owner 1954 Strat (including footage of the son's classic cars) that they've now got for sale, and I was surprised to see how little it was listed for. Anyhow, even if you don't care about vintage Strats, it's a cool video. I'm a huge guitar watcher on Reverb and one of the things I was watching was a Kauer. Got a really great offer for it, which I accepted. (Eek, another guitar!) Anyhow, some of the other offers I've gotten lately have been pretty amazing.

What I’m running into - in a smaller market - is the knock on effects of Reverb charges. Personally I don’t want to deal with long distance buyers, shipping etc. so take my old gear to stores that offer consignment. As part of that consignment fee, they would also advertise on Reverb and handle the sale and shipping. Many of them will no longer use Reverb. However, they all charge the same percentages on consignment gear. I’m in a small market area of Canada, the last expensive guitars I sold through a consignment store both went to the States. The store advertised on reverb, they handled the sales and did the shipping and kept their 20%. Now I have another guitar on sale in there, it is probably seen by the same the 50-100 customers every week and if it ever sells, I will pay the same 20% . In the meantime, they keep suggesting I lower the price further and further. I’m sure there are many people in similar situations.

In general, Taylor’s resale values are pretty bad… it’s largely because Taylor’s niche is innovation. I don’t like some of their innovations, others do. But the point is when your bracing pattern, pickup system, etc… is all last years tech, there’s a perception it’s obsolete. Martin, Gibson are marketing mostly on tradition and legacy. That enables them to hold value much better, at least on their iconic models… the closest thing Taylor has to an iconic model is the GS Mini. Every music retailer should know that’s. True… one of many reasons Taylor is one of my least favorite acoustic brands.

Great stuff as always guys!

I bought a Taylor T5z-12 recently. I was considering a used one, but the used prices were not much lower than the new ones. Fact-check me.

I've been active on Reverb. If a listed price is reasonable but they've toggled "make an offer" I'll politely offer 90% of the listing. I don't want to offend folks, but if they're willing to accept offers, 10% less doesn't seem disrespectful. Also, when they accept, that makes it THEIR fault that I'm buying another guitar. Less guilt for me!

🤣 at tricking the other half. I switched out my JCM 2000 with a Silver a jubilee head a few months ago and I still haven’t had one question as to if anything has changed. Not sure if it’s even been noticed.

Last time I went to Merlefest Doc was there. Have fun!

I love you guys and all the undercuts you made about the COVID stuff 😂

Is there anything left that people don’t turn into political conversations?! When we were growing up, people believed stay away from politics and religion…now it’s all anyone wants to talk about…can’t even listen to a guitar shop talk about guitars without political commentary about taxes, mask mandates, etc.

I have noticed people openly shamming sellers on Facebook groups for listing gear at "Covid" prices. The gold rush is over and gear isn't moving like it did 2 years ago. The real sore spot in the used gear market right now is in 100w tube heads. Everywhere I look I see 100w heads sitting and not being sold or they are being heavily discounted. Thanks to amp sims getting better and better, the reasons to buy a 100w tube head becomes smaller and smaller.

In Nashville, your assessed property value is only your relative share of the existing budget. If everyone’s assessment goes up by the same percentage without a separately voted on tax increase, your property taxes don’t change that much. They raised the tax rate during the pandemic, anticipating a shortfall, and homeowners all got hosed.

What older, say from the 80's and up electric guitars do you think are sleepers to invest in right now? Would love to know your thoughts. Thanks!

I can't wait for Guitar Center to Liquidate...

D4: i bought the ultimate played the beta 30+ hours. you're gonna love it.

I've bought four guitars that the wife didn't know I bought. She never noticed.

We never trick the “better half.” They know everything and they’ll use that knowledge when you are at your weakest. I have battle scars to prove it!

I thought the bearded guy sold duck calls?

The price of acoustics is just NUTS.

Ok, got it. The used guitar market is "soft." Message received. Any numbers/data to prove that? I'm in the market and I haven't seen too much of a difference from 6 months ago.

For real estate you need multiple investments if not it is either a wash or a loss.

I remember seeing 2 '70s les Paul's at a guitar shop about a week or so ago just before Gibson released their new MSRP on the standard '50s and '60s models at $3000 a piece, both vintage Les Paul's were just about at the $3000 mark I think one was $3250 and the other was $2995, case included.. Just kind of shows you the used market is back to sort of a normal state which is nice.

Found a couple nice S2’s, bought them for what I felt was under market value. I can’t sell them for what I paid for. Market is flooded and no one is buying.

Someday I'm going to drive from Canada down to your store to play a bunch of classic rock songs on your guitars and maybe buy something for my kids at that nice gift shop. :D

Its called credit value. With rising value of personal assets so should your credit. Tap into it.

My 82 Fender Catalina acoustic hasn't even kept up with inflation

Lucked out got my used mint PRS for $250 ten years ago

stay awhile, and listen

"Lock up your daughter, lock up your wife, lock up your backdoor and run for your life!" Yes Bon Scott. At any rate some people are decent about what they sell in terms of used gear. But one poor soul - ME told some fool on one of these guitar forums ( I won't mention the name) but he complained (to the moderator and owner of the forum) because I told him that what he wanted was too much for a used guitar and used case with an aftermarket bridge. It's not a rare instrument nor is it uncommon to buy these things since they are still available now. But I got BANNED for telling him so!!! I don't understand how people can be so self righteous today and piss off others and talk trash to them but if you go against the grain then YOU'RE the enemy of the people - not matter how wrong those people are! I guess you just can't win. But I'm glad that not everyone is like that (yet) so there might be some hope in this shit pile of a country that we call home. The problem is that the USA has become so self entitled that reality has yet to come calling on their door in terms of the way things should really be. In the meantime we have a piece of shit for a president and all the assholes that voted for him thinking that he's so wonderful and that he can't do wrong while legalizing pot and endorsing the idea that it's perfectly OK to be a junkie piece of shit like him and not give a damn and hide behind the U.S. Constitution with no real idea of what it contains or even what it means! We are now paying the highest prices for gasoline, food, clothing and durable goods than we ever have before. Why is that? Every time a DEVILCRAT gets into office it only gets worse. Maybe the USA will wake up one day when it's too late to do anything about it and wonder why their lives are such a mess letting the few amoral greedy capitalize on the misery of the many? I won't hold my breath!

Who knew it would get so crazy so fast

Bought a evh Wolfgang £780 sold it back 10 years later for £1300 to the same guitar shop

As long as nothing too unexpected happens, the value of my home is going to be an issue for the executor of my estate, not for me.

Happy Earth Day folks. Just looking for a good used or new and hang onto the guitar as 'carbon sequencetration.

Who buys music equipment. Mostly people with a job. The way the economy is going. Were to busy trying to keep our head above water. Besides the fact that people learning to play music has definitely decreased by half in the last 20 years.

Hi, I'm in WNC and have a 1944 Martin D28 that my dad played as a regional professional in the forties. I see values from 40k to 70k. Are there people who will actually pay these amounts or is it a pipe dream?

I’m wondering what the value of Indonesian made instruments will be in the future, if they keep getting better. I have a few Indonesian Ibanez guitars that are really nice for what they are. I enjoy playing them as much as my more expensive guitars. Will they be equivalent to vintage Fenders and Gibsons, or the 70s and 80s Japan imports, in 20 to 30 years?

My wife and I talked about if she would know if I upgraded my guitar and now I feel that I'm in trouble. lol

Let’s part up for Diablo iv release ! June 6 unless you pre order then June 2nd !!!!

What you give for a trade isn't the same as you would give in outright purchase.

Yes

Okay, what are those 2 Tele’s right between you two guys on the wall?

When I was looking to trade up to a 614Ce BE last year, a local shop offered my 70% of my original price. That was for a 6mo old guitar. Was that about right?