Anyone else have gear that you just don't have the energy to go through the steps to, ultimately, get it sold? I used to have a lot of spunk, for the lack of much better words, to get my stuff on Reverb or eBay to get it sold for the cash and the surprisingly pleasant space that comes with it. The older I get I just can't get off my @ss to do this anymore. I mean, I do, but it's grueling and not at all frequent enough or where it really should be. I fear returns these days too with any new or like-new gear that will take a serious hit if it comes back abused in any way. The times we live in it seems integrity has bit the dust a lot of times so that doesn't help much either. How many of you would have cash for gear if you could just snap your fingers and make that happen? How much you hanging on to? Is your collection ...on purpose?? Lol.
We are in the same boat my friend. I refuse to ship anything anymore. I'd rather take a hit on the price then deal with ebay or Reverb. Everything now goes on Craigslist or FB marketplace, no shipping offered. If it doesn't sell for close to what I'm asking for it, then I'll hang onto it. I also find that I bought it in the first place so at one time I enjoyed it, maybe in a few months I'll rediscover why I bought it to begin with. Everyone hates seller regret. I also live in a major metropolitan area so moving gear isn't that hard. I feel for you guys in the rural areas.
Funny, because I thought of your massive collection writing that last part too. I'm the same way in that I want what I want back too. That's another hindering factor for sure. I had a JTM45 Offset, full size, up and a guy wanted to give me 3500. I paid 4000 and wasn't about to lose 500 on what I consider to be a "no loss" amp. F-that. I just wont sell it.
I know exactly how you feel. To me its easy to move heads and cabs, but guitars and pedals are tough. The heads that I have, I love each and everyone of them besides the Diezel. The Diezel can go but its tough to sell an amp of that resale value. We know what we have AND we'll keep it if we can't get what we want for it. Besides the mass production amps, we know our stuff will only increase in value down the line.
Yes, I have several pedals that I would like to sell. I have already sold some, but I can't seem to find the time, or energy to list the rest on eBay. My wife lost her job on August 6th, and has yet to receive an unemployment check so I've been working 10 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week to compensate. EHX Super Pulsar analog stereo tremolo: I just bought an EHX Wiggler. While it doesn't have anywhere near the features of the SP, it utilizes 2 valves with circuits based on the Uni-Vibe, Hammond, Vox AC30, and Wurlitzer for vibrato as well as a tremolo. Nice and warm sounding. I also have a Stereo Pulsar if I need stereo out. EHX Bad Stone analog phaser. I have since bought a Stereo Polyphase which uses opto-couplers, has stereo outs, EXP control, and other features. I also just bought a Flanger Hoax which features two phasers that can each be bypassed (one fixed and one swept) in parallel, each with its own delay line. The FH is the coolest modulation pedal on the planet. EHX Tone Corset analog compressor: I own a White Finger optical compressor. I had to send it in for repair. It was held hostage by the COVID shutdown for a couple of months. I bought the TC, and 2 days after it arrived I received the WF back from EHX. EHX Graphic Fuzz analog EQ, distortion, sustainer: I recently bought an English Muff'n which uses 2 valves and is virtually the gain stage and tone stack of '60s Marshalls in a pedal. No silicon or germanium sand - it sounds incredible and is the only distortion pedal I will ever need. I have a couple of others, but I can't remember what they are off the top of my head. Sometimes I go on pedal buying binges. I guess I own too many.
I have sold a few items here and there over the years, haven't had any seller regrets yet, but yeah it can be a pain in the ass. I have some stuff that I probably should sell because I haven't used it in ages, but just don't want to deal with the low ballers and tire kickers. I've only sold stuff local, never shipped anything.
I feel exactly as the OP does. Gear sitting around not getting used. I recently worked on trading a couple of guitars (CS SG VOS and Gretsch) for an amp and cab with a store. I was ready to accept the ridiculously low trade in value just for the convenience. But the store was just too greedy. They wouldn’t budge a penny on full retail in addition to getting my gear at 40% of actual used retail value. So the guitars sit in cases in my spare bedroom. I need to get off my butt and list the items on our local buy, sell trade site.
Buyers have this habit of offering the cost of a row boat for the Queen Mary. I have a lot of cool expensive gear. I'll sell but not to an insulting disengenuous buyer who'll offer insulting $'s. I know the cost of my gear.........so do these tics.
That's why I sell on eBay. I use Buy It Now listings, and I offer the items at fair prices which are lower than the other listings for the same item in like condition. Sometimes, I will also accept offers but those below my absolute minimum are automatically rejected.
I've been thinning the heard for a year now. I post it on market place and forget it. I just sold 3 pedals as a lot (I built all 3) ... I posted the ad 4 months ago. I got a message last week asking if they were still available and sold them that night. What kills me is low ballers. I had a guitar listed for 500 and got a message saying (ill give you 300 cash tonight) I told him his offer was insulting.
Just sold 5800 worth of gear (no guitars yet). The bank of Dad needed an infusion otherwise it would have just sat there gathering dust. I do not miss any of it because it had a good run and I got my $$ out of it. (Sold everything on Kijiji)
I don't really sell gear, because I don't necessarily need the quick cash, and I don't mind if something sits unused for a while. I've sold a few things before on CL, or Ebay just because I never saw myself ever using it/up-graded so I sold it for cash, in person. I don't think I'd ever sell a large guitar or amp unless I used ShipGuitars.com. As mentioned above, if I do decide to sell something I'll just post it and forget about it. if it sells, fine, if not, that's fine too. I've never HAD to get money for something quick.
I'm curious about selling a 1968 Gibson ES 335; 1969 Gibson ES 335; 1962 Gibson SG/Les Paul Junior; 1956 gibson Les Paul Junior; 1971 Gibson Gold Top Les Paul Model 1958; 1993 Gibson Lonnie Mack V; Knaggs Severn Tier 2; Teye La Pirata; James Trussart SteelPhonic; Melancon P 90 Artist; McInutff Empress; 1978 & 1979 Ibanez Artist Model 2640 Doublenecks and boutique pedal collection..............less than $60K would be a no go. No that junk 1973 Ford Torino won't do.
....but when you eventually pass away, somebody will buy it all for like $5,000 in an estate sale.......
I have only sold one amp I regret My 2104 JMP MV, I have never broken equal on what I paid to what it sold for. Now the future items that I put up for sale will either sit, or sell. I am not going to budge on price anymore. Cheers
I have a lot of gear, could probably sell some of it and make some good $$$, the thing is I just don't want to! That and the fact that it seems everyone wants to try and lowball or screw me the few times I have sold a piece of gear..And music stores are the worst!
I used to sell a lot of used gear. Usually to put that money towards a new gear purchase. But now that Reverb and eBay don't protect the sellers anymore, there's really no incentive to sell it online. Plus, why take the loss on something I bought brand new? I'd rather hang onto it than go through the hassle. From here on out I'm keeping everything, even if I don't use it all that much anymore.
I've said it before. I would buy one of the Ibby doublenecks for fair market value, no problem there. Just sayin!
I used to flip gear more often too. I've since accumulated quite a lot of stuff. I've been holding on to a lot of the guitars at least because I play mostly 80s super strat trash and a lot of them are irreplaceable. I have some cool Kramers and such that if I sold them I'd never see another the rest of my life. I don't play out anymore and I'm not as good of a player as I used to be but I think my goal is to have a little youtube channel to talk about some of them. At least then if I sold it I could say, well, I got some good use out of it. Amps are harder to flip because they cost so much to ship. Couple that with increased seller fees on reverb and the chance that your end buyer won't have any idea what to expect or do with a 10, 20, or 30 year old vintage electronic tube amp and the odds of crashing and burning go up quite a bit. I think a lot of people think "oh well a 70s Plexi is a famous tone, I should get one" and just save up and buy it without much thought, then get blindsided by eventual problems. I buy amps expecting them to need some TLC and maintenance, the same way I'd treat a 30 year old car if I wanted to fix that up and drive it. Going into it with any other attitude is a sure way to get your feelings hurt. Thanks to a DIY spirit and the power of youtube and other free resources I've taught myself to perform most basic maintenance like cap jobs and tube biasing etc. The problem is eBay and Reverb etc usually protect these types because let's face it - we're a niche community within a broader market. We are going to know the ins and outs and treat our gear differently than your average end buyer and even Reverb who prides itself on having knowledgeable musician-specific support will fail, I mean imagine trying to explain the details of a 70s Marshall cap job or circuit revision to a Reverb support person under the pressure of a buyer asking for a refund - no way the seller is winning that battle. That said, I'll still sell online. I'm not going to make a profitable business out of it or anything but I like gear, getting new gear, and AB testing amps enough that it's worth a little expense to experience it all. There could be worse hobbies, and if you're a deal watcher like me I rarely sell for a loss when the time comes so I'd consider it to be pretty good if 10 years from now I just "broke even" on all of my music gear.
I think it's a lot tougher to get really good deals with the creation of sites like ebay, reverb, craigslist, and the internet in general because people can easily research how much something is worth, and then proceed to ask maximum price. The days of finding a '59 Bassman in grandpa's closet are probably over.
