Has eBay helped or hurt the used instrument biz?

[Tedster]

On one hand, you have instant access to dozens of the used (and sometimes new) instruments of your dreams. A seller in Podunk, Arkansas has a world of customers.

 

On the other hand (from the buyer's perspective), IMO it's driven prices up a bit. Although there are still hot deals to be had, it's not like the old days where you could find a cool old guitar in a pawn shop for a couple of hundred. Now sellers can compare similar items and price their items accordingly.

 

The old proverbial double-edged sword.

[Caevan O’Shite]

I think the averaging-out of pricing goes both ways, as "what the market will bear" comes into play, as well...

 

I think that it's taken a BIG bite out of store owner's share in the used-gear market, though! Instead of taking stuff to a dealer for trade, cash, or consignment, many folks just go to e-bay. Same for shoppers.

 

I'd like to think that e-bay has helped in furthering the trend towards a general dissemination of knowledge and info, though, from some of the ridiculous claims (that are often, apparently, believed) that I've read there, perhaps not!

[Blue Strat]

I've got a love-hate relationship with e-bay. I like to be able to browse for cheap, lo-fi effects and off-the-wall gear anytime, day or night. The bad thing is that I can't touch it or actually pick it up and examine it, and then there's shipping costs and dealing with UPS.

[coyote]

It helps in procuring stuff you might not be able to find otherwise.

 

It could potentially hurt in acquiring certain things. A few days ago I purchased a used amp at Guitar Center. Took it home, couldn't get it to sound good... I returned it a couple hours later and got a full refund! Had I done it Ebay, I'd be out at least the shipping costs, and might have a headache with a seller reluctant to take the item back. And there's no way to know whether a guitar or amp will sound good til you have it in-hand for awhile.

[daddyelmis]

I think it's hard to segregate eBay's effect from the internet generally. Clearly both have essentially put an end to the "pawn shop jewel" phenomenon -- in 20 seconds you can find out what that Strat, LP, Guild, etc. is worth.

 

An there's no question eBay has damaged the local used instrument market -- but to the benefit of buyers, IMHO.

 

But, eBay has also morphed into more of a full-time and part-time dealers mall. I envision a time where eBay may segregate the dealers, liquidators and other full-time sellers from the "average Joe" seller that was eBay's beginning.

 

All in all, I think eBay has been a plus by increasing the scope of the market that buyers and sellers can play in no matter where you live, and by exposing players to instruments they would never have been able to peruse in their home town Music Mart.

 

It would be interesting to see if eBay sales have cut into new instrument sales -- the old "is it better to buy a new MexiStrat for $350 or a used Am Strat for $450" conundrum.

 

Plus, I was able to sell a 1984 Emu Drumulator to some guy in Japan for $150 -- it's a great place to get rid of old equipment.

[Jim Soloway]

I don't believe that it's driven prices up. Rather it's levelled prices, come going up and others going down. To the buyer, the greatest power of Ebay is that it gives you access to instant information so that by checking completed auctions, you can get the current true market value of damn near anything. To the seller, it opens access to an entire world of buyers. It almost forces prices to find their true levels.

[Billster]

Originally posted by Jim Soloway:

I don't believe that it's driven prices up. Rather it's levelled prices, come going up and others going down. To the buyer, the greatest power of Ebay is that it gives you access to instant information so that by checking completed auctions, you can get the current true market value of damn near anything. To the seller, it opens access to an entire world of buyers. It almost forces prices to find their true levels.

my thoughs exactly.

[Funk Jazz]

smart retailers realize they are competing with eBay more than other retailers and price accordingly... this is good for the buyer.

 

but i agree with Ted, the pawnshop prizes are getting thin.

[A String]

I have a very pety story regarding E-Bay.

 

5 years ago I signed up with E-Bay. On the login screen there was a message saying "Welcome to E-bay" and a second message stating that, as a promotion, they were allowing me to make my first sale free! I rummaged around until a found an item and put it up for sale, asking a ridiculously high price for it. Mainly because it was free and it was my first time using it. Shortly after that I disconnected the internet. A few years later I checked the site and I had been banned for non-payment. I checked the status and it said I owed $3.00 for putting the item up for sale.

 

I conntacted them and they said that because it was so long ago, they can't prove I signed up during the promotion and the only way I can reactivate my account is to pay the three dollars.

 

Now I know it's pety, but I can't bring myself to pay it. We have been sending e-mails back and forth for over 4 months now and they will not do anything about it. Currently I'm in a situation where I either pay them their crummy $3.00 or I never get to use E-bay again.

[Shoes]

I've flipped a number of guitars on Ebay and some by directly contacting those who had items listed.

 

If you are a reader of Vintage Guitar Trader magazine you will notice that Ebay has substantially lowered the expectations for what vintage and near vintage guitars Are Selling for. It matters not what the hang tag is if it isn't selling!

Ebay has accelerated the rate of turnover.

It has also increased the amount of misrepresented guitars on the market. Fender leads the world in Fine Vintage Fender Fakes on Ebay so be warned, bolt-on's & home made serial numbers!

 

Deals can be had on anything but the 2 years preceding a decade change. ie 58,59 or 68,69 unless it's like an original reissue 1976 Explorer.

 

It's become a research project with me so knowing what was made when and out of what material and where helps me sort the diamonds from the dogs.

 

? Has it hurt the market? No. It's simply expanded it and forced otherwise closet collectable out onto the marketplace. The thieves have always been there.

Use only Paypal, look for escrow services and ask for it if it's not mentioned. An honest seller shouldn't refuse if you pick up the cost. Buy insurance. Ship UPS or FedEx only.

Thought that might be wise to mention.

[Jim Soloway]

Use only Paypal, look for escrow services and ask for it if it's not mentioned. An honest seller shouldn't refuse if you pick up the cost. Buy insurance. Ship UPS or FedEx only.

Thought that might be wise to mention. [/QB]

I've never used an escrow service as either a buyer or a seller. When buying I research the seller and if i have doubts, I don't bid. I've bought and sold a boat load of stuff and never had a bad transaction.

[Shoes]

Originally posted by Jim Soloway:

Use only Paypal, look for escrow services and ask for it if it's not mentioned. An honest seller shouldn't refuse if you pick up the cost. Buy insurance. Ship UPS or FedEx only.

Thought that might be wise to mention.

I've never used an escrow service as either a buyer or a seller. When buying I research the seller and if i have doubts, I don't bid. I've bought and sold a boat load of stuff and never had a bad transaction.[/QB]

I'm happy for your success and hope that it continues! I've yet to buy anything I wasn't at least comfortable with so goes my efforts to ask good questions and feel out what the seller's about.

Escrow.. I've asked to have it used in a couple cases and it ended up the guitar was made by Dooey Cheatem & Howe.

 

Guitars and musical instruments in general are a different case when shopping Ebay. Pipe clamps at $5.99 a pair aren't much to get worked up over.

[Tele Kinesis]

In this town, it has hurt the local musicians, as far as finding good deals on good quality used. We have two "Sharks" that have guys run around town and buy up everything that's halfway decent, and then put it up on Ebay. One has always been a jerk, and the other used to be a good little store until he discovered there are people willing to pay too much for stuff. Now, his "best" stuff never sees the showroom, and the "good" stuff...he prices way too high. If you challenge them, one of his lackeys will pull up an Ebay sale to someone that obviously didn't know better, and say "See...that's what they can go for".

Jerks.

Luckily, I still beat them to stuff occasionally. But it's to use, not to take out of the hands of local musicians. There is one store that prices fairly, and won't put it up on Ebay until they've had it a few months. That's plenty of time for the locals to drop in. THAT seems fair.

Oh well, maybe I'm just jaded. Used to get good deals on stuff regularly. Now it's pretty thin. I have never bought a guitar online. I wanna get to know it first. (Other stuff.....occasionally).

 

Tele

[Bbach1]

Originally posted by billster:

Originally posted by Jim Soloway:

I don't believe that it's driven prices up. Rather it's levelled prices, come going up and others going down. To the buyer, the greatest power of Ebay is that it gives you access to instant information so that by checking completed auctions, you can get the current true market value of damn near anything. To the seller, it opens access to an entire world of buyers. It almost forces prices to find their true levels.

my thoughs exactly.

Yea brother. If you can't find it on eBay, it probably ain't for sale. I use eBay too much. It's too easy to shop there. I just sold a knife today for $300 bucks. That's still a far cry from the $1800 I need for my new guitar, but it's a start. Say, how much do you think a good wife would fetch?

[Guitarzan]

well for me being in the middle of nowhere (nova Scotia) it has helped me get a nice used pacifica 721 which i would never find around here. my local stores seem to avoid used gear. now when they have a clearance sale its stuff they can't sell, not like it used to be when there were great cheap deals on used guitars. my wifes uncle got a yamaha wedington special that was mint for 289.00 bucks canadian, when dealers still had good used stuff.

if anyone remembers those:

solid honduran mahogany, dimarzio pickups, all nickle plated hardware, nitro lacquer finish and japanese built. the chance of finding those now are slim seeing the dealers don't want the used gear as much.

but i doulbt i could get one on ebay for that cheap either. there are good points and bad points. people have more info available to them now so it should be hard to B.S. someone.

[Dak Lander]

Essentially, to me, it's hurt as a buyer but helped as a seller.

 

Overall, I suppose that equates to a leveling of the playing field, not a bad thing in the long run.

[Base]

Not sure I agree, I've picked up a couple of guitars way cheaper than they were worth. One was a flying V that a store put on to make room for stock and I must have got it at half the retail price, this was around Xmas and I guess people were spending their money on gifts in the shops. I've also got a very cheap BC Rich from an individual, there was no pic and not much of a description, it was also inaccurate about the condition, but that was ok as i took a risk with the intention of polishing it and putting it straight back on, on the basis that a decent description and a pic would get far more bids. I doubled my money and still keep an eye out for such things....

[webe123]

Well I got my mint condition PRS Mcarty soapbar guitar from ebay for $1,579 and the price tag was still on it from rons guitars, the store I bought it from. If you walked in and bought it, you would have payed $2,200 for the exact same guitar! So as a buyer it is great, but as a seller, I have sometimes had to take a loss to get what I wanted, but all in all the playing field seems pretty level and fair.

[Shoes]

Originally posted by Base:

Not sure I agree, I've picked up a couple of guitars way cheaper than they were worth. One was a flying V that a store put on to make room for stock and I must have got it at half the retail price, this was around Xmas and I guess people were spending their money on gifts in the shops. I've also got a very cheap BC Rich from an individual, there was no pic and not much of a description, it was also inaccurate about the condition, but that was ok as i took a risk with the intention of polishing it and putting it straight back on, on the basis that a decent description and a pic would get far more bids. I doubled my money and still keep an eye out for such things....

There are great deals out there and I've collected more books, and documentation on authenticating instruments than I have room for. It lets me identify a real deal. To this point I've been able to build a small collection simply by flipping deals and financing all of my guitars with previous purchases. This list of recent buys effectively cost me nothing at all.

1974 Stratocaster softtail (all original) $720

1971 Les Paul Custom Black Beauty (mint) $810

1972 Les Paul Deluxe Goldtop $750

 

All are worth far more than what I paid but what's more important is that they are fine guitars to play and I might not otherwise have been able to afford them.

My current searches have been for first reissue Flying Vs & Explorers. I don't intend to pay much so I'll wait and keep looking.

 

Tip..

Ebay is no place for the impatient and timing is critical. Best time to end an auction is 11:00 EST on Sunday. Worst time Friday at 6:00pm!

[DC]

Seems like now days, you can't give stuff away unless it's in vogue hi dollar to start with items.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Whuzziss, the "One-year-and-one-hour-anniversary" of this thread?

[Shoes]

Originally posted by Caevan O'Shite:

Whuzziss, the "One-year-and-one-hour-anniversary" of this thread?

 

ya... it stopped me for a minute there too... Deja vu all over again.

 

I've noticed that Ebay has drawn some guitars out from under beds and closets that might otherwise have stayed there.

 

Is it good? Is it bad?

Is it a dessert topping? Is it a floor cleaner?

[phaeton]

Nothing wrong with a little flashback

 

It's funny though, how you can hear this:

 

seller: "I'm going to ebay this so i can get the most money for it possible"

 

buyer: "I'm going to search ebay for this, so i can get it for as cheap as possible."

 

Maybe by eliminating the middleman(s), both statements are true?

[fantasticsound]

It's like any other purchase. It's all in the timing.

 

And I know of one shop in Nashville that is bound and determined to sell the most obscure gear at ridiculous prices without Ebay.

 

I have an Ibanez HD-1500 digital delay that is all but worthless. It's a very early 1 ru delay. Delay times of 126ms @ full bandwidth with x2 and x4 switching yielding lower frequency range and a max of 504ms of delay. It also does static harmonizing over an octave +/- and has modulation and feedback controls for chorus/flanging effects.

 

It's a candidate for a pawnshop prize that had an optional footswitch that could instantly recall 3 (That's right! Three) presets. The footswitch uses an 8 pin DIN connection. Completely proprietary.

 

Sounds like an Ebay adventure, right? The kind of item someone puts up just to see if an owner of the HD-1500 is around and interested in spending a little money on a footswitch for an item that was obsolete 15 years ago. Or perhaps a seller, feeling he has an item that, should he find a buyer, that buyer would spend inordinate amounts of money just to have the footswitch for a beloved piece of equipment.

 

Well, this local yokel had not one but two of the footswitches with no HD-1500. He wants $50 for the footswitch. Doesn't list it on Ebay. Doesn't cut someone a deal, locally. Just holds on to it looking for the elusive dummy or obsessive who happens to own one of these rare, but not coveted, digital delays.

 

I've known about this item at this store for most of the past decade. I would never pay $50 for the foot pedal. Hell, I'd be lucky to get $50 for the HD-1500!

 

So I must side with those who think Ebay has levelled the price-playing field while offering thousands of pieces of gear to the world market that would otherwise sit in someone's closet or be listed locally, diminishing the ability to find what you're looking for and increasing the chance of getting it at a decent price.

 

I have no use for most purveyors of used musical gear. Most are ripoff artists and, in Nashville, there's so much music business that every pawn shop overprices their used stock because they know what gear is worth and did so long before the internet assisted in research.

[Bbach1]

Originally posted by Caevan O'Shite:

Whuzziss, the "One-year-and-one-hour-anniversary" of this thread?

That's exactly what I was thinking. Wow. Don't old threads go into some kind of archive?

[Blue Strat]

Old threads never die, they just fade away....

 

E-bay. Good for finding cheap, obscure pedals and cheap, obscure guitars.