Oh boy! I've noticed lately that many selling the "higher end" guitars on ebay are asking way too much for the guitars they are selling and the potential buyers are willing to pay way too little. The result is many are not buying or selling but just continually relisting and watching (and wasting everyones time and money). We need to be realistic and reasonable and less greedy on both sides. This observation is obviously not true in all cases but true none the less.
yeah i know what you mean. you'll see a pickup out of a 1955 esquire have a $5,000 Buy it Now and never get sold. it's like the sellers are hoping for that one guy that stupid enough to pay that much for it, and the buyers are hoping to find a steal. but that's just the world.
I've seen the same; but I've always chalked those up to traditional "brick and mortar" stores being the ones who offer those over-priced items. Re-listing, for them, is just the 'cost of doing business'.
I buy and sell "high end" acoustic instruments on ebay. Part of the problem in selling is ebays excessive listing/selling fees. Nobody want's to lose money selling a multi-thousand dollar instrument, so your 1st option as a seller is set a Reserve. ebay charges 1% of reserve. On a $5,000 instrument, you've already added $50 which gets passed on to the price of the instrument. As does the other fees and considering 3% for paypal and ebay's selling fees etc. etc. When all's said/done the seller (and therefore buyer) have between 7 and 10%.
The other option is sell w/ the Buy-It-Now or Best Offer (or set your opening bid at your reserve). Much cheaper as far as listing fees (No Reserve), but I find that I have to set the B-I-N much higher than the price I'll accept, because bidders will low ball and some will make absolutely rediculous offers. A lot of ebayer's like to be a smart a** about this stuff. I recently had a funny guy make a $25 offer on a $3500 mandolin. Of the offers I get on an instrument, I'd say less than 25% are serious. Many are just plain mean.
And so, the biggest issues with high end instruments on ebay are 1)fees are to high and 2)bidders are too tight.....If you want a professional quality instrument, you're generally gonna have to pay for it!!!!! If you want cheap, buy a Chinese built instrument. ebayers should expect sellers of high end instruments to be fair, but expecting the seller to lose money on the sale is not reasonable. Hey, if a buyer can do better walikng into a local instrument shop, they won't need ebay!!!!
I noticed this as well. But remember its a 'world' market and economies change daily. What may seem like alot to us here in the USA may be a bargain for a guy in Germany if the dollar is low that day. Its cheap to post a listing in store format and my guess is that the sellers are actually brokering deals offline to avoid the ebay seller fees. Its simply cheap advertising for high end merchandise!
With all the fakes being listed and sold, there is no way I would or recommend anyone buying a high end guitar on ebay. Some by "power seller"s' that have 98 -100% feedback scores. And when you start asking questions they tell ya to mind your own buisness. So unless I have it in my hands to inspect I wouldn't take the chance.
DBG: The idea of a "world" market is great, and from here in Tokyo it looks that way. Stores, auctions, individuals will sell and ship anywhere. But in my searches of guitars on the US ebay, I constantly find "no international sales - no exceptions" in the description, and when I have emailed the sellers, don't even get a "thanks but no thanks" response. I'm not sure why that is. PayPal accepts and verifies payments, duties go to the buyer, so maybe someone here can explain why there's so much closed-mindedness.
I agree with Glenn. I wouldn't trust the purchase of a "high end" guitar without some sort of inspection and certification. The counterfeit markets have branched into high end guitars, new and vintage.
I also sympathize with comments about excessive fees. The fees are pretty ridiculous, especially considering that there is no kind of escrow service provided. More protection needs to be made available to sellers and buyers.
Luckily, I live in a large metropolitan area so I do all my selling and buying of high end guitars via Craigslist. You have to meet the buyer/seller, but it's free and people are comfortable with the transaction right away. Plus, you can negotiate.
And I sympathize with international buyers outside the USA. I don't understand why some sellers won't ship outside the U.S. when a buyer is willing to pay the price and the shipping. Seems somewhat silly.
Guitars are like a lot of 'high end' things, you can't really tell what you've got till you hold it in your hands [sometimes not even then]. Pictures are rarely sharp and even then they seldom show the particular details that matter. A lot of fakes are out there and a lot of fakers, besides which 'condition' and 'sound' are very subjective. That make it hard on the honest people - buyers AND sellers. Shipping cost is another part of the real price and it seems to get jacked way up when the price-tag gets more digits We all know it doesn't cost $18 to ship a NoName guitar and $150 [plus insurance] to ship a BigName - the actual cost is the same. Sellers who try that aren't fooling anybody, just jacking up their profits - and the bidding gets discounted to compensate. Sometimes it's not so much a bid as a wager - 'I'll bet X-number of dollars that the thing offered will be a genuine, MIB, 'BigName' when [and if] I get hold of it." If it is, it was a bargain. If not, well the loss wasn't too painful.
With all of the 'Antiques Roadshows' and Bargain Hunts' out there offering 'expert opinions' we often forget that the value - the real value - of a real thing is NOT what some collector's guide says. It IS what a willing buyer will give a willing seller - today.
Another part of the problem is that eBay has evolved so that it's no longer a place for sellers to offer items that they can no longer afford to keep, and for buyers to find something that they can't find elsewhere ... It has now become a place where buyers are looking to find readily available items for less than rock bottom prices.
So an individual, in the original sense of the eBay world, is unable to compete with the savvy store owners who also list here on eBay ... because of the fees and shipping costs.
When I use Turbo Lister, I ask it to tell me what my listing fees will be, then I add to that my calculation for Pay Pal fees, and THAT becomes my Handling fee ...
So my listing is immediately passed over when that handling fee is automatically added in to the eBay CALCULATED shipping fee, and it looks to all potential bidders as though I'm charging WAAAYY TOO MUCH for shipping, and I get passed over in favor of a traditional store that can offer FREE SHIPPING (they can afford to gamble on making up the short fall in the following months).
Since I only have the one item to sell, I can't make up the cost; so I'm stuck re-adjusting my handling cost down to allow the shipping cost to look more reasonable, and then eBay collects a larger and larger chunk of the sale price..... :-(
Hello to all, Here are the problems with international shipping. We ship 5-10 guitars a week, and are asked about international shipping almost daily. The reason guitar sellers are not interested in international buyers is that we can't ship for reasonable prices. U.S.P.S. will not even take boxes this long for international shipment. You can have boxes this long mailed into U.S., but not out??? Makes sense huh?? UPS wants an arm an a leg for boxes this long, usually $200 to $400 depending on location. Buyers are no longer interested after hearing these rates, and I think most probably think the sellers are trying to rip them off? Fed Ex is even more expensive, we quit checking quotes with them even. We check these quotes often and never end up with a sell. I will be glad to ship to anyone willing to the expensive shipping. As soon as I can find a reasonable way to ship international, we will. Hope this clears some of the confusion. As far as the $35 to $50 shippers, they are just making extra cash, or possibly just don't know how to ship, they can spend that much if they don't know who to use, or how to package.
For International shipping have you ever tried to get a package shipment rate from an airline? I know that on domestic shipments that airline rates are sometimes ridiculously cheap. And at the same time sometimes much faster than even UPS/Fed-Ex. You just have to have the box hand delivered to and from the terminal.
If you want a quality guitar you are going to pay for it. Only idiots pay 5k for a repro guitar. Original LP's sell for big bucks becaUSE THERE WERE NOT MANY MORE THAN ATHOUSAND ORIGINALLY MADE! I'm lucky enought to have been born when a 59 iLP was a used guitar. I paid 365.00 for it and still have it I also have an original 56 and a repro. People are greedy and think they deserve top dollar for junk They think a limited issue Gibson is worth bif dollars. Gibsons limitted runs are in the thousands. They make more in a week than they did in 8 years in the 50's. There is no old growth lumber , the wood stinks and they pay top dollar wages. Also you people need to realize that Fender Guitars were always made by Mexicans. The only difference today is where the bus picks them up. You want to pay top dollar for a band saw guitar, be my guest.
On the subject of International shipping, I refuse because everyone who asks has been a liar. The last minute comment is can you lie about the value so they can cheat customs. I refuse to cheat and I dont ship overseas. Also any place out of the lower 48 is considerd International. Too much of a hassel and too expensive.
i agree. im selling a great affordable guide published by pineland green publishing on ebay. it will help you with buying a guitar, it goes over the basics of everything on a electric guitar. yes alot of sellers on ebay are asking prices that are too high for models that are a few years old and calling them new. they are discontinued overstock and they act as if the price does not make a difference. beware of this.
Must use Buy It Now and PayPal.
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