sales advice needed

[Paul_C]

I'm not getting a lot of interest in my lined fretless Stingray (selling to raise funds for a fretless Bongo, hopefully), so I'm considering fretting it as I reckon there are more people interested in fretted basses than fretless - thoughts ?

P.

 

[SLUGGO]

I really think you would wind up regretting a refret. Two reasons.....one, it will probably lower the amount of money you would be able to get for the 'ray. Two...it will cost you alot to get the refret done.

Either way, it equals less money in your pocket.

Not to mention that very few aftermarket fret jobs look as good or last as long. (Unless you reeeeeeaaaaaalllly pay for it!)

Be patient, while the market may be smaller for a frettless, evntually somebody will grab up your bass. Give a bump to your "for sale" post and link your classified to this post to draw more attention to your sale.

Good Luck!

 

[bassmonkeee]

Yeah, I am not sure I'd fret it. With the availability of used fretted instruments, you'd never recover the cost of the fret job AND you'd lower the resale value of the instrument. At that rate, you might as well see if you can find a EB dealer willing to give you a good trade in on the fretless towards a fretless Bongo.

Or, you can simply lower the price of the fretless. Instead of adding cost with a fretjob, and losing resale on a modified instrument, simply lower the cost of the fretless to below market value. I bet you'll find a buyer.

 

[Big Poppa]

The are two reasons why something doesnt sell but one no brainer...price...keep dropping the price 25 pounds until it sells...the other is marketing...

 

[adouglas]

Or, you can simply lower the price of the fretless. I bet you'll find a buyer.

+1.

I've bought and sold a lot of gear over the years and in my experience the only reason something fails to sell is the seller wants too much for it. I've never had trouble selling anything, because I have realistic expectations.

There is definitely a market for that bass at the right price. Do your homework and keep your feet on the ground. You'll sell it in a jiffy.

Good rule of thumb: Unless the market for a given item is unusually dead, 2/3 of the street price when the item was new is a reasonable asking price.

When I sell on ebay, I usually set my starting bit somewhat lower than that, and let the market decide. The psychology of auctions is interesting...if you set your starting bid or reserve at what you want to get out of the bass, there's a fair chance that nobody will bid on it. Start the auction at $1 with no reserve, though, and people go nuts.

Just last week there was a Bongo 5HS with piezo on ebay. That's an expensive bass to buy new. Only thing wrong with it was that it was missing one of the tone knobs. The guy started the bidding fairly high, and it got NO bids! Had he started it much lower, it probably would have brought in more than a grand.

Oh, and I agree with everyone else. Don't have the fret job done.

 

[Paul_C]

all good points, especially those of the boss

I'd have done the fretting myself as that's what I do for a living, so cost wouldn't have been an issue, but having dropped the price fairly low as it is, I'll go the other route and put a bit more effort into finding a buyer, I'm sure there's someone out there that's just waiting to buy it

thanks folks !

P.

 

[Aussie Mark]

The are two reasons why something doesnt sell but one no brainer...price...keep dropping the price 25 pounds until it sells...the other is marketing...

BP nails it. Price and marketing is the key with used equipment, same as for new stuff. Take a look at how many times people have to relist basses on ebay because they set the opening bid price or reserve way too high, or have crappy photos or a brief, lousy description. Take the time to research the market before setting your price (eg, by searching for completed items), spend an extra 10 minutes writing up the listing, and include some nice pics. Above all, be honest about any flaws or issues, and include pics of those if you can.

If the price is right it will sell.

 

[Jimmyb]

Hi Paul

I've just off-loaded a mexican t3l3 on e-bay, with a no-reserve auction, it raised over £200 (which was more than I paid for it, wtf?) plus, I also sold a Marshall JTM30w, again with no reserve and that reached over £220.

If you watch other similar auctions, you'll get an idea for what they're going for. Everyone is right when they say that starting with too high a reserve can kill your sale. We all like to think that we're getting a bargain, plus once the bidding starts, the competitive mentality can mean that people will bid higher, just to make sure they win.

Good luck with it.