Off Topic craigslist is killing me

[Gio_Force_One]

since i have been using EBMM i have been trying to sell all my other guitars, don't use them , don't need them . I have one in fact that has had at least 250 in upgrades with pickups and wiring and copper shielding.Problem is is I wore threw the paint and people are giving me hell about it and want it lower. I thought 175 for a guitar with hotrails and shielded wasnt a bad price at all it plays really good and sounds good. The thing that got me was one person was willing to buy if I had sanded it to look old but because it was worn he said no. It just doesnt make sense has guitar companies brainwashed people with there relics that if its done at the shop its ok but if its a guitar that actually has been used its junk.
sorry for the venting but I'm sure you guys have gone through this before if you deal with craigslist. i guess people just want us to give stuff away , who knows.

 

[guitfiddle]

I suppose if you had intentionally beat it up and sanded it would play and sound better, wouldn't it?

It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round I guess - and you'll find them all on Craigslist.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Craigslist can be very fickle. You'll get straight up people who are actually looking for a guitar and are willing to pay a fair price for it. You get people who will send you a message weekly for a $175 guitar that will simply read "I'll give you $100 for it". until your guitar sells. Then, of course, you get the whackos.

I constantly buy and sell guitars on craigslist. I come out right about even overall (gain on some, lose on some) and do so to try out a guitar that I know I won't want to own long term. If you want....put a link in this thread.....I'm always looking.....



jack

 

[Gio_Force_One]

Some of the people i have dealt with have been great no problems, easy transactions. A couple of my friends who live in Mass and Conn. have told me the rhode island craigslist is completely different then all the other states. I guess i could see that considering that 99% of my good sales have been in mass and conn.

 

[straycat113]

G your best bet is to over price, if you want $175 list it for $250 or $225 so all the guys who are going to chew you down feel like they got over and you get the price you originally wanted. I hate CL to be honest and the only transaction I ever did was with a guy from Kansas of all places. The funny thing was what he had I really wanted and the price was to good to believe, so I talked him into putting it on ebay and happily paid for his ebay fees so at least I was covered. Honestly I have seen great bargains on the GP and HC but I would never do an out of state transaction with a stranger on the web as I have seen to many guys get beat. This is the only forum where I have done and would do a transaction.

 

[Gio_Force_One]

you know stray the transaction on did on here was the best one i ever did , very easy and smooth

 

[GWDavis28]

Gio, you also need to remember that right now, it's a buyers market. Guitars are selling for way less than there known worth in my opinion. Good luck, hope you make a sale.

Glenn |B)

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Glenn makes a good point. I'll add that if you have a guitar with expensive modifications, people will compare it to completely stock guitars. Heck, I know my sub 1 will never sell, because I probably have $200 in mods into it and $70 in a hard ebmm case. So I'd have to get close to $700 for it to break even (not to mention all the work that went into it). Used Am strats 2 years ago were all over $1k. Now, they're easily available for $600. The low end sells like crazy (I live there). It's hard to lose when you pay $30 for a guitar (what I paid for one I currently have). There are still plenty of people without a job or with a downgraded paying job because of the economy. I know that if I lost my job, I'd sell all but one of my guitars. That floods the market and drives prices down.

 

[GWDavis28]

Jack, exactly man. The economy is still down, and there are a lot of people without jobs. That makes it hard to sell not only guitars, but other things as well.

Glenn |B)

 

[straycat113]

Glenn and Jack are both right on point about resale value today, with the economy in the tank I have never seen so many nice or hard to find guitars selling for so low with most of the sellers starting there sale with -Due to the loss of my job and having to make the mortgage,car or medical bill payments. On the other hand some guitars still retain a high resale value and without sounding like a fan boi and just telling it the way it is EBMM guitars are one of them as you can just look on ebay. Also to get a good idea always look at the completed auctions and what a guitar actually sold for not for what guys are asking on an active auction.

But Gio is selling a straight up player of which there should be no issue, especially at that price. I am sure the guitar plays and sounds good, I bet if he parted it he would make more money on the parts or depending on where you wore through the paint the best fix is a nice decal like a pin-up girl, every guitar of mine that has decals have them for a reason lol. I know we all have guitars that have been modded, the two I did have been with me since 85 and 02 and will never be going anywhere. I see these guys on HC and the GP saying there new 3K whatever just came and they already have 3 mods for it which boggles my mind since you should not have to do anything for that price. I have 8 Balls now and for me there is nothing I would change as I could never make them play or sound better to my ears. I know some guys like to play with there pups which is fine in my book, and a forum friend sometime back had a rather rare guitar of which he switched pups and wanted to sell the originals of which it took me 3 PM's to talk him out of lol. I would of hated to see him make a hundred plus now and lose over a grand down the road. Truthfully anyone that wants to switch pups just put the originals away so if you ever want to sell you can just put the guitar back to stock or you will take a beating.

 

[GWDavis28]

Glenn and Jack are both right on point about resale value today, with the economy in the tank I have never seen so many nice or hard to find guitars selling for so low with most of the sellers starting there sale with -Due to the loss of my job and having to make the mortgage,car or medical bill payments. On the other hand some guitars still retain a high resale value and without sounding like a fan boi and just telling it the way it is EBMM guitars are one of them as you can just look on ebay. Also to get a good idea always look at the completed auctions and what a guitar actually sold for not for what guys are asking on an active auction.

Stray, sorry man, but on your point about EBMM's holding their value in this economy, I have to strong disagree. I can't even get close to what I paid for some of the guitars that I have, People are looking for deals and unless you are selling and taking a loss, which isn't me then your not going to get what you paid for it. I think in the end if things are selling it's because someone has a huge/major want. My 20th, can't get what I paid for it. been low balled a bunch of time, I'd rather keep it than take a loss.

Glenn |B)

 

[Astrofreq]

These people speak much wisdom! On Craigslist, I always mark stuff at least 25% higher, just to get what I want. Personally, I only use Craigslist as a last resort. The aggravation of having people not show up to look at something or the sheer fake emails wear me out. I do eBay for almost everything, simply because at 3,000 plus transactions, I've got it down to a science by now. I just sold a vintage BMX bike and I had it marked WAY higher than I was expecting (or what it was worth), just so that offers would be in the ballpark I wanted. The economy has a TON to do with how things sell in this type of marketplace and it is tough to get good returns right now.

On the flipside, I bought a mint condition Taylor T5 at a STEAL of a price. I'm only saying that brand in this case because I know EB doesn't do acoustics. Were it a better economy, I simply couldn't afford that guitar right now. No way.

 

[straycat113]

Glenn I know you have that guitar listed for awhile and I certainly would do the same thing you are doing in holding fast to the price you are looking for. On a whole though as someone that watches ebay listings regularly EB guitars do indeed hold a better resale value then most other companies, I have never owned a PRS but they have really plummeted with a lot of posts of guys pulling there hair out over it, and forget Fenders as you can find them for just about half price. Not to name names but a good friend sold a few of his Balls recently and made out pretty good in doing so. I know and like that most forum brothers like to keep it in the family and will go lower selling on the forum as it is also the fastest way to sell, but in your case Ebay would probably be the way to go since you are reaching a really huge audience and eventually someone will bite. I have seen power sellers who over price and will not even come down a dollar continuously re-list the same guitars and it may take sometime but eventually it goes. I think we all know it is a total buyers market right now due to the economy and a lot of guys on forums like the GP and HC are more into trading for something of equal value than getting lumped up. I am just pointing out the more popular EB guitars like a JP, Silo, and Axis that guys who are not even that familiar with EB know about and you can look at the Ebay listings and see guys taking a bit of a hit but nothing really drastic. Sometimes a rare guitar during times like this can be hard to move like your 20th as there were what only 300 made, so you get guys who never even seen or held one shy away as they do not know if they will gel with the guitar where as thousands of players have played a JP,Silo or Axis. But believe me there are guys dying to own that guitar that just do not have the scratch at the present time though the day will come when it goes believe me. Again though if you are really trying to off it I would go the Ebay route as I saw one go a few months back for 2K with no Piezo and another that was listed for $500 more than you are asking which also did not have a Piezo that I do not see anymore, but that guy was in another country. So I can say there are many guys outside this forum looking for that guitar.