Has anyone bought on Sweetwater Gear Exchange?

[Lou_NC]

Has anyone bought anything sizable on Gear Exchange?  A seller is currently listing a Hammond SKX (not the "Pro" version, the straight SKX) and I'm in the market for a very clean one at this point.  I'm certainly aware of Reverb, and Ebay, but have never done a transaction via Gear Exchange.  Would be interested in hearing about folks' experiences, both good and bad. 

 

Thanks,

Lou

[Stokely]

I looked at it, but prices didn't seem that great.  That said, with any used site all you need is one good deal.  

I pretty much only buy used from Guitar Center due to their return local policy (45 days).  A good friend just bought a fairly expensive guitar on Reverb where it said "no returns" but the guitar had a warped neck, and that certainly was not in the ad.  Now he's struggling to either get the seller to pay for fixing it, or take it back.  Yuck.  That said, if Sweetwater's normal 2-year warranty were to apply to their used stuff (I doubt it) that would be a big plus!  I've now had to use that warranty twice, bad that I had to, good that they honored it.

[CHarrell]

I actually just went through the process of buying, then returning, a CP4 from Gear Exchange, my first transaction with them. It was very smooth! I got it specifically from Jeff's Music Gear, which I believe is Sweetwater's "used" department. I was surprised to see no sales tax on my purchase!

[Lou_NC]

2 hours ago, CHarrell said:

.......I got it specifically from Jeff's Music Gear, which I believe is Sweetwater's "used" department. 

Interesting, the SKX is listed as being sold by "Jeff's Music Gear", and there's an SK2 listed from "Jeff" as well.  I've exchanged a few messages on the SKX so far, and the person responding is "Mande".  I wonder if "Mande" is a Sweetwater employee?  

[CHarrell]

50 minutes ago, Lou_NC said:

Interesting, the SKX is listed as being sold by "Jeff's Music Gear", and there's an SK2 listed from "Jeff" as well.  I've exchanged a few messages on the SKX so far, and the person responding is "Mande".  I wonder if "Mande" is a Sweetwater employee?  

 

That's the peep I've had correspondence with! I've had no issue with them, a very pleasant experience with a 7 day return policy. There wasn't anything wrong with the instrument, I just wasn't satisfied, and they sent me a return label through FedEx. The return label was listed to go to Sweetwater Sound Inc. in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

[Mark Schmieder]

Don't forget that most sellers allow offers to be made.

[RABid]

Have not bought anything but I have sold several items on GearExchange. I list all my items as "no return" because I don't want to deal with people that want to play around with my gear for a week, then send it back and try something else. I talked to a couple people at Sweetwater and they warned me that returns are very prevalent with guitars and effects.

[Mark Schmieder]

Having gone through about 30 posts at Gear Exchange by now (half of them not yet sold), I can report on a few interesting aspects that make this site special:

 

1. High level of protection for both buyer and seller, compared to other sites

2. You get to keep 100% (no commission or fees) if you decide to take your payout in Sweetwater Gear Credits

3. You can apparently only set one shipping price, in advance, which is a bummer as local vs. opposite coast can be over $100 difference

4. Very few people make offers, but they'll wait six months for you to drop your base price to their sweet spot, which is aggravating

5. Not many people yet know that Sweetwater now deals in high quality orchestral and band instruments, beginner to pro, including used

6. There's a tendency for people to flake and ghost you after many backs and forths where you have spent hours to accommodate them

7. On the other hand, Sweetwater kicks people off the site if they "buy" something and then don't pay -- I've had three people do this to me

 

Overall, I prefer Gear Exchange to eBay or Reverb at this point, but Craigslist is still more flexible for offers and getting cash, it's just usually a longer wait to find the right customer even though people have a chance to try before they buy. I hate eBay at this point; fees have skyrocketed. But at least they've improved the payment part.

 

The main takeaway is that Gear Exchange buyers tend to be the opposite of horse traders, which makes it hard to get your best value without alienating a lot of people, or to even find a compromise price you can live with. Maybe this will change over time, as more people become familiar with the site, but right now it is a lot like this forum, where almost no one is willing to make an offer on anything.

 

The other thing is that it only makes sense to post local-only with no shipping, for anything weighing more than 2-4 lbs, due to the astronomical cost of shipping these days. Even my harmonica case is local-only as the eight pound case, which is about the size of a small briefcase, would cost $45 to $65 to send, depending on USPS vs. UPS.

 

Paying is smooth at Gear Exchange and it is really easy for the seller to complete the deal confidently and get discounted pre-paid shipping tags. It's just that it's too late to adjust the price at that point. It takes a lot of time (hours usually) to research the likely range of shipping costs and then to decide on a mid-way "average".

 

Maybe there's a feature I haven't found yet, that allows shipping to be determined at checkout time. To me, that is the single biggest flaw of Gear Exchange.

 

[MathOfInsects]

My single experience was easy and beneficial all around. I saw an item I'd been wanting, made an offer, he accepted 10 minutes later, I paid on the spot, he mailed it that afternoon, and I had it two or three days later. Easy peasy.

[zxcvbnm098]

Similar to MOI.....I made a bid lower than the reserve, but the seller quickly reduced the reserve as he and I were communicating via email about the price I was willing to pay. 

 

 

[zxcvbnm098]

On 7/6/2023 at 10:21 AM, CHarrell said:

I actually just went through the process of buying, then returning, a CP4 from Gear Exchange, my first transaction with them. It was very smooth! I got it specifically from Jeff's Music Gear, which I believe is Sweetwater's "used" department. I was surprised to see no sales tax on my purchase!

My "surprise" was the opposite...I had to pay CA sales tax. I assume it depends on the state you live in..

[Mark Schmieder]

6 minutes ago, zxcvbnm098 said:

My "surprise" was the opposite...I had to pay CA sales tax. I assume it depends on the state you live in..

 

Most states by now have reciprocal sales tax, but there might still be a few that don't. These days, it's the state you live in. Many years ago, before people understood the internet's implications for interstate commerce, it was often the state you were buying from, as though you had physically visited the store.

 

My items are fairly specialized, and people have inquired but not recently, probably reserving money for Black Friday. The oddest is the Hammond XK-1c, which I have dropped four times and is well below the usual used price, yet not a single inquiry or watcher in all these months, or even many views!

[zxcvbnm098]

14 hours ago, Mark Schmieder said:

 

Most states by now have reciprocal sales tax, but there might still be a few that don't. These days, it's the state you live in. Many years ago, before people understood the internet's implications for interstate commerce, it was often the state you were buying from, as though you had physically visited the store.

 

My items are fairly specialized, and people have inquired but not recently, probably reserving money for Black Friday. The oddest is the Hammond XK-1c, which I have dropped four times and is well below the usual used price, yet not a single inquiry or watcher in all these months, or even many views!

I bought a Clavinet on SGE, and I'm pretty sure that was the sellers situation as well. It had been up for 3-4 months before I waded in. He responded immediately when I first reached out with a couple of questions. 

 

I'm guessing they still don't have a ton of traffic to this part of their business yet, and therefore not many keyboard players are perusing the offerings...

 

[HSS]

I purchased a used mint Kurz PC4-7 a few months ago via Sweetwater Gear Exchange.  The transaction went smoothly, and I have no complaints.  I received the board via Fed Express promptly and it was in mint condition as advertised by the seller.   

[Mark Schmieder]

Another very positive experience with Gear Exchange today, as their sales agents quickly took care of a software snafu that was slowing down the completion of an adjusted sale. I doubt any other site would do that; especially in a timely fashion. It had to do with a non-local making an offer, my deciding to risk shipping, and our agreeing to a shipping price. Strangely, unlike my previous non-local sale, the Sweetwater discounted shipping was way less than my own discount done from direct FedEx estimates.

 

On another note though, I bought a rare guitar case tonight after hours of searching and after failing with twelve other vendors, due to it being made by Yorkville and only sold in Canada. Who knew that shipping from Canada to the USA is almost impossible these days; hardly anyone is willing to do it! Easier to ship from the U.K. anymore! At any rate, their teardrop case is the only one on the market that will fit Danelectro's 12-string guitar, and as I decided it's a long-time keeper, I want a case rather than a bag.

 

The strangest part is that I ha to pay Virginia sales tax (though it's low compared to California). I had no idea that we have a reciprocal arrangement with Canada in that regard; I would have thought that stuff like that simply incurs potential customs fees (though of course it avoids Canada's VAT).

 

I still have not sold on Reverb, but it turns out I have bought two or three times from that site and forgot, as you don't have to jump through any hoops as with eBay.

[Doug Moore]

I have gotten about 40 guitars from the Gear Exchange in the last 18 or so months and have never had a single problem. Great and fair prices and the guitars are checked out by the tech group before they makebit to the wall in the Gear Exchange 

[Mark Schmieder]

On 4/4/2024 at 3:47 PM, Doug Moore said:

I have gotten about 40 guitars from the Gear Exchange in the last 18 or so months and have never had a single problem. Great and fair prices and the guitars are checked out by the tech group before they makebit to the wall in the Gear Exchange 

 

I think you might be thinking of something else. Gear Exchange is a place for individuals to post ads. Nothing passes through Sweetwater's hands, unless that's an option I haven't bothered exercising.

[MathOfInsects]

Plus, FORTY GUITARS IN A YEAR AND A HALF?? You just made a small army of married guitar players twitch in soul-killing pain. 

[Iconoclast]

I've sold on SweetH20 GX and I think it's a great way to buy and sell gear. A bit of a smoother experience than Reverb.

My only problem with GX is the market is SO much smaller than Reverb. There's just not near enough available. And I wish they had the pricing guide that Reverb has.

But shipping and everything else was a bit smoother on GX than reverb.  FedEx is an easier shipping experience than UPS and GX gets you a discount and you can print the shipping label at home.

I will not hesitate to use them again.