The high value guitar ownership vs resale value dilemma

RandallFlagg

A question for those of you that own brand new higher value guitars but like to change up every so often and explore new gear

How do you reconcile the loss in value when flipping higher end guitars? or do you prefer to hang on to them?

The way I see it is that a £3.5K guitar, a year or 2 old can sell for about 70% of it's purchase price so you stand to "lose" £1,000 unless you are very lucky and prepared to wait a long while for just the right hungry buyer.

It's not ideal but a fact that has to be faced for those that want to change up gear and try new and exciting guitars or succumb to GAS. The alternative is don't sell and keep amassing more gear as disposable income allows.

The way I try to reconcile this is that the lost value could be viewed as a 'hire charge' for the duration you owned it, so £1K divided by 24 = £41 a month for the privilege of playing and owning that guitar. It softens the pain just a little I guess...

...and yes I'm toying with swapping out some guitars/gear!

Bridgehouse

RandallFlagg said:

A question for those of you that own brand new higher value guitars but like to change up every so often and explore new gear

How do you reconcile the loss in value when flipping higher end guitars? or do you prefer to hang on to them?

The way I see it is that a £3.5K guitar, a year or 2 old can sell for about 70% of it's purchase price so you stand to "lose" £1,000 unless you are very lucky and prepared to wait a long while for just the right hungry buyer.

It's not ideal but a fact that has to be faced for those that want to change up gear and try new and exciting guitars or succumb to GAS. The alternative is don't sell and keep amassing more gear as disposable income allows.

The way I try to reconcile this is that the lost value could be viewed as a 'hire charge' for the duration you owned it, so £1K divided by 24 = £41 a month for the privilege of playing and owning that guitar. It softens the pain just a little I guess...

...and yes I'm toying with swapping out some guitars/gear!

I'd say that if you know you are more likely to flip and enjoy trying lots of gear and change up often then the right starting point isn't new gear but used gear. That way, the initial hit has been taken, and chances are when you flip you'll either make a very small loss or break even. 

mbe

There is always a certain amount of wear and tear to take into account after the newness has worn off.

Bridgehouse

mbe said:

There is always a certain amount of wear and tear to take into account after the newness has worn off.

Unless you've paid more for built-in pre-wear and tear

sunshinewelly

it depends on what you buy and whether you have bought new or second hand.

I have a few high end guitars and have flipped a couple of them with no loss.

i currently have a DG335 - bought new and is now worth more if i wanted to sell it.

also bought and sold a new gibson R9 for no loss (or profit)

I bought a jason smith masterbuilt strat second hand and sold that for a small profit when i got bored of it

the one guitar i will make a loss on but the one i intend to keep is my PRS custom 24 

guitars4you

RandallFlagg said:

The way I try to reconcile this is that the lost value could be viewed as a 'hire charge' for the duration you owned it, so £1K divided by 24 = £41 a month for the privilege of playing and owning that guitar. It softens the pain just a little I guess...

easy for me to say this as a guitar shop but I've applied this theory/comment on many occasions

But the longer you keep it the less the 'depreciation' will be each month - In fact as time goes by and the equivalent new example has gone up in price, then you can sometimes get close to parity  

mgaw

I just take the hit and move on, where's the mileage in even worry about it..

guitarfishbay

If you'd spent the same money on experiences you'd have no option to get anything back... holidays, food, drink etc...  

If you've bought a car it's probably depreciated...  etc...

When it comes to musical gear it depends what the goal was.  If it was a tool you made money with the maths aren't as simple.  If it's just for a hobby then that's going to come down to what you're personally willing to spend/lose to get what you want... I don't think there's a formula for that

pmbomb

The only guitar I lost significant money on so far is the PRS I bought new. I won't do that again, now I buy used having watched the market for a little while, losses are minimal or none. Two came from here, two from ebay, all were good in price and value. Plus it's silly to keep buying new stuff when there are gazillions of good used ones about. Fink of da planit!

Neil

Guitar playing is a hobby to me and a very reasonably priced one at that.

Thinking of the money people spend on golf, fishing etc will put it into context.

pmbomb

Neil said:

Guitar playing is a hobby to me and a very reasonably priced one at that.

Thinking of the money people spend on golf, fishing etc will put it into context.

fair - see also bikes, I have buddies with £5k mountain bikes.

Bridgehouse

pmbomb said:

Neil said:

Guitar playing is a hobby to me and a very reasonably priced one at that.

Thinking of the money people spend on golf, fishing etc will put it into context.

fair - see also bikes, I have buddies with £5k mountain bikes.

Mountains must cost more than 5k...

RandallFlagg

pmbomb said:

Neil said:

Guitar playing is a hobby to me and a very reasonably priced one at that.

Thinking of the money people spend on golf, fishing etc will put it into context.

fair - see also bikes, I have buddies with £5k mountain bikes.

There's a couple of chaps at work into cycling, have all the really expensive lycra, expensive shades, helmets, GPS sat navs, hydrating liquid bottles, expensive bikes with funny handle bars and skinny wheels, etc etc

Fair weather cycling freaks

At least we don't have to dress up like hi viz lemons and wear skin tight lycra to play guitar...some may choose to but it's not essential for fast playing is it?

Sassafras

Bridgehouse said:

pmbomb said:

Neil said:

Guitar playing is a hobby to me and a very reasonably priced one at that.

Thinking of the money people spend on golf, fishing etc will put it into context.

fair - see also bikes, I have buddies with £5k mountain bikes.

Mountains must cost more than 5k...

No, there's that massive one in the Himalayas, it's only 2K

Collings

I tend to buy used wherever possible but by and large accept i may loose money if i decide to sell some particular guitars. I dont buy taking selling at some point in the future into consideration at all.

If i do loose some money like you i view that as simply the cost of owning and enjoying the guitar for the time i,ve had it.

For me now guitar playing is a hobbly and am more than happy to spend money on. 

RandallFlagg

I think I spend enough on booze through the year to buy a nice guitar! I can't sell off the beer belly...

p90fool

It depends why you buy them, mine make money much faster than they depreciate. 

Bridgehouse

p90fool said:

It depends why you buy them, mine make money much faster than they depreciate. 

Burn him! He’s a witch!

Wolfetone

I would rarely buy a new guitar partially because I can guarantee that there'll be something identical available secondhand and also there's the thrill of finding 'the' guitar.

There's also the buzz of finding an absolute bargain that crops up from time to time. 

What I'm about to say will be controversial but I'll say it anyway....there's nothing worse than a new guitar, all bright, expensive, jangly and just waiting for it's first heartbreaking dink!

dindude

mgaw said:

I just take the hit and move on, where's the mileage in even worry about it..

Yeah tend to agree - I sometime do the cost per month thing, but usually I just compare it to boring real life costs. For example I had a parking miss-judgement at the weekend which will probably cost me the depreciation spoken of in the OP. That really does hurt more than owning and enjoying something then moving on.

Dave_Mc

guitars4you said:

RandallFlagg said:

The way I try to reconcile this is that the lost value could be viewed as a 'hire charge' for the duration you owned it, so £1K divided by 24 = £41 a month for the privilege of playing and owning that guitar. It softens the pain just a little I guess...

easy for me to say this as a guitar shop but I've applied this theory/comment on many occasions

But the longer you keep it the less the 'depreciation' will be each month - In fact as time goes by and the equivalent new example has gone up in price, then you can sometimes get close to parity  

True although if you're keeping it that long, it's probably time to start worrying about inflation having an effect on how much you're losing, too

I think @Bridgehouse is on the money- if you flip things a lot then used is probably the way to go. I don't flip much, and I prefer new anyway, so I go new... but that would get very expensive if you were changing guitars every month!