Is This Trade Possible?

Bellycaster

After Christmas our Band is winding down/going to different pastures blah blah. I have one too many amps and I have lustings for more Guitars these days.

Would any Guitar Store do a straight trade for a used amp for a used Guitar? Stores list a used version of my amp for £1199, so would they do a direct trade for a Guitar of equal or similar value.

Honest question, I've not gone this route before. I could sell on here but that could take a day or a year and GAS is strong for having a new arrival. Obviously, it would have to be a store within reasonable driving distance so their stock also is a factor.

Thanks.

exocet

I doubt it unless there was a market mismatch between what you are offering and what they are selling. I tried it with Andertons once, I had a pristine Mesa Lonestar Classic head which was two years old and they had a Dr Z EGZ for a price that my Mesa  was worth. They wouldn’t do a straight trade - would only offer £350 less than I perceived my amp to be worth. I sold privately for what they were selling the Dr Z for. 

dbphoto

No, especially as offering a warranty with a second hand amp is more of a risk than with a guitar from their point of view.

sweepy

Give a Peach a shout, always been very fair with trade ins of high end gear 

richardhomer

Shop owners I know tend to always want guitars rather than amps. I suppose they risk unexpected warranty claims with amps - and outside of bona fide vintage classics, few amps seem to hold their value these days.

StormshadowGuitars

Not a chance, if they're both worth a similar price in most stores you'd be looking at throwing in another £350/£400 to get a guitar for the same value as you perceive your amp is worth.

Bellycaster

Oh, well, general consensus accepted. Just out of interest, is there any scenario in which this is possible, purely hypothetical of course. 2 Popular Guitar models, say Strat for Tele.

I was just going on the basis of item in shop already has mark up applied and the value of my item's used worth already has mark up applied. I'm no business man though, thankfully

dbphoto

Unless it was a small independent that thought they had a better chance of selling what you were offering then again, no.

Both transactions would be seen as separate.

Profit needs to be made on the trade in, and profit needs to be made on the stock item.

DB1

Try Richtone Music in Sheffield - they'll do it, no problem. They'll buy whatever you've got for 2/3rd of what they'll sell it for, and if they (say) give you £1000 for your amp, they'll happily sell you a £1000 guitar. 

dbphoto

DB1 said:

Try Richtone Music in Sheffield - they'll do it, no problem. They'll buy whatever you've got for 2/3rd of what they'll sell it for, and if they (say) give you £1000 for your amp, they'll happily sell you a £1000 guitar. 

That’s not what’s being asked though.

The OP wants a straight swap for their £1199 selling price amp.

ArchtopDave

As above, the answer is essentially no, in that they will offer a "trade in" value for your Amp. so it would only be a straight trade if the guitar you wanted was of equal value to the "trade in" offer on the amp, which would be lower than their resale price of the Amp. 

Bellycaster

DB1 said:

Try Richtone Music in Sheffield - they'll do it, no problem. They'll buy whatever you've got for 2/3rd of what they'll sell it for, and if they (say) give you £1000 for your amp, they'll happily sell you a £1000 guitar. 

I'm in Sheffield anyway @DB1 I don't mind a slight loss(From a Shop), I'll look at all options although it looks like it's gonna get listed on here in the near future.

prowla

I think there at least has to be a 20% VAT difference - they have to charge it on their sale but not pay it on 2nd hand purchases; therefore the value of your guitar to them is minus that VAT amount.

You then have to add in their time to deal with you vs. selling something in stock; they have to earn enough to pay their wages and overheads or they might as well not be in business.

Based on that, I'd say the 2/3 of their sale value should be about right.

DB1

ArchtopDave said:

As above, the answer is essentially no, in that they will offer a "trade in" value for your Amp. so it would only be a straight trade if the guitar you wanted was of equal value to the "trade in" offer on the amp, which would be lower than their resale price of the Amp. 

Oh, I see - sorry, if the question was 'would they give me retail price on mine?', then no, of course not, but they'd certainly swap an amp for a guitar with no money changing hands and cash coming back to the OP if there was a favourable price difference. 

Kebabkid

Sell privately Jon but check out Richtone, as there local, as you never know.

Peach have been known to be one of the better ones for trades and offering fair prices.

Hattigol

More importantly, what's the amp? Surely worth letting us gassing maniacs know...

heavyrocker

DB1 said:

ArchtopDave said:

As above, the answer is essentially no, in that they will offer a "trade in" value for your Amp. so it would only be a straight trade if the guitar you wanted was of equal value to the "trade in" offer on the amp, which would be lower than their resale price of the Amp. 

Oh, I see - sorry, if the question was 'would they give me retail price on mine?', then no, of course not, but they'd certainly swap an amp for a guitar with no money changing hands and cash coming back to the OP if there was a favourable price difference. 

Not necessarily. In my experience some shops/dealers won’t take in amps - too much risk and they can be difficult to sell. It’s not just the monetary value, it’s also how long they think it will take to sell.

DB1

heavyrocker said:

DB1 said:

ArchtopDave said:

As above, the answer is essentially no, in that they will offer a "trade in" value for your Amp. so it would only be a straight trade if the guitar you wanted was of equal value to the "trade in" offer on the amp, which would be lower than their resale price of the Amp. 

Oh, I see - sorry, if the question was 'would they give me retail price on mine?', then no, of course not, but they'd certainly swap an amp for a guitar with no money changing hands and cash coming back to the OP if there was a favourable price difference. 

Not necessarily. In my experience some shops/dealers won’t take in amps - too much risk and they can be difficult to sell. It’s not just the monetary value, it’s also how long they think it will take to sell.

Yes, that's so, but Richtone will, which is why they sprang to mind. They're the only ones that I deal with that will.

Jack_

Just price the amp really keenly to sell. You'll probably still end up with more money than equivalent trade value at a store.

heavyrocker

DB1 said:

heavyrocker said:

DB1 said:

ArchtopDave said:

As above, the answer is essentially no, in that they will offer a "trade in" value for your Amp. so it would only be a straight trade if the guitar you wanted was of equal value to the "trade in" offer on the amp, which would be lower than their resale price of the Amp. 

Oh, I see - sorry, if the question was 'would they give me retail price on mine?', then no, of course not, but they'd certainly swap an amp for a guitar with no money changing hands and cash coming back to the OP if there was a favourable price difference. 

Not necessarily. In my experience some shops/dealers won’t take in amps - too much risk and they can be difficult to sell. It’s not just the monetary value, it’s also how long they think it will take to sell.

Yes, that's so, but Richtone will, which is why they sprang to mind. They're the only ones that I deal with that will.

Richtone are okay if you’re not after market value for the item and need cash quickly but they  buy low and sell low in order to turn over items quickly. Also, they don’t do trades in as such, they just buy your item and sell you the other item as a separate transaction.

I’ve sold a couple of pedals to them in the past but some of their offers on guitars and amps I’ve had from them were borderline offensive. I don’t even bother asking anymore. If I was going to sell at the price they offer I’d just list the item on here and let someone else have the benefit.

DB1

Yes, I'd go along with that to a large extent. I think they're good for getting rid of guitars that don't have that much value and you can't be bothered with hassle of eBay, Gumtree and the like, but for pricier stuff, it's a big hit to take, because although they're absolutely straight at giving you 2/3rds of the retail price, they do tend to sell low to turn stock over. One thing I'll say in their favour bough is that they'll shell out there and then and their decision to buy doesn't seem to be based on what season it is.

They'll also, as above, trade amps for guitars etc - if you don't want to wait, or have the hassle of selling, it's an option.