Is it just me? Ebay prices.

bgmartinsbridge

Interesting change to on eBay.
They are trialing a new contact method called phone.
Not a wind up and I received a message last week.
As a seller you change settings to allow people to click email or phone number.
I haven't used it as yet but a big change.

DB1

I was having a moan at them a few months ago and they advised me of this, so I've been using it ever since. I do have to explain, in the ad, how to go through the process of contacting me, and not everyone seems to be able to follow it at first (it's easy really) but it's been very useful.

DefaultM

Is it text only or calls too? I don't want people ringing me.

GoldenEraGuitars

meltedbuzzbox said:

Zoolooter said:

I generally don’t get Custom Shop prices and particularly the demand for them. If you want a flamed neck, light body, chunky neck, hand wound pickups, etc, etc, spend £1000 on partscaster. It’s not like Fender CS are going to put a guitar together then dismantle it, swap parts around until it sounds great. You have a much better chance of owning a great sounding and personalised guitar if you work with a luthier from the off. 

I disagree.
You have no guarantee with wood.
Be it partscaster or luthier you don't know how it is going to pan out.
You can go and try 100 fender cs guitars in the course of a day and find a keeper much easier

Ditto with fender. You ought to see how many 4 piece custom shop Friday afternoon bodies I refinish. 

It is what you make of it. With fender you’ll get the name which is important to a lot of people. But, if like the majority who don’t have £4K stuffed in their wallet then £1k to £1500 goes a long way if you build from quality parts. With most builders and finishers you’ll also get pictures and detailed knowledge as you progress through the build. I don’t think your £4K buys you that. 

It is what you make of it though. If you want a fender, get a fender. If not, there are a plethora of realistic alternatives that won’t bust your balls. Why exactly are CS fenders £3500+ these days?

eBay is now a breeding ground for utter bullshit. There may be cheap insertion fee deals on as people have mentioned but they’ll still take their slice at the end IF the item sells. I wouldn’t buy anything else off eBay if the value is more than £20. 

Modellista

^ with respect, this has been explained several times above - eBay regularly run £1 *final value* fee. That’s all you pay them. Plus PayPal fees if you use PayPal. 

GoldenEraGuitars

Modellista said:

^ with respect, this has been explained several times above - eBay regularly run £1 *final value* fee. That’s all you pay them. Plus PayPal fees if you use PayPal. 

Yes, I meant the percentage that PayPal takes which is usually about 3-4% I believe.

And that’s just the start of it. Wait until the buyer wants to fuck you over and opens a case against you. Bye bye money and hello to a week or so of arguing with a call centre minimum wage staff member and a little shit you sold your item to. The entire system is ridiculous and with so many fakes out there I wouldn’t dream of buying gear on eBay. 

On the original subject of overinflated prices this is just the start of it. This is the age of people who don’t know that selling something used means that you generally have to knock about 30-40% off the new price, typically speaking. Unless it’s a specialist item. There is no need for some of the ludicrous pricing we see on used listings these days.

steveledzep

Great photographs with excellent description and a sensible price, eBay is no problem.  Huge audience, you just have to manage it correctly.

roberty

Might put a couple up with £1 fvf tomorrow and price them optimistically. I think some ppl just list their guitars over the odds in case someone bites, but really they're not particularly interested in selling

Epsilon

roberty said:

Might put a couple up with £1 fvf tomorrow and price them optimistically. I think some ppl just list their guitars over the odds in case someone bites, but really they're not particularly interested in selling

I've certainly been guilty of this. I have plenty of gear I'd be happy to sell at a good price point, but I'd also be happy to keep. If someone wants to buy at the top of the market value then great, and if nobody bites then I've not lost anything.

DB1

steveledzep said:

Great photographs with excellent description and a sensible price, eBay is no problem.  Huge audience, you just have to manage it correctly.

Yes, I agree with this. Not doing PayPal takes that aggro element out of it for me, and selling face to face is (again, for me) the way to do it, all for a £1 fee to a huge potential marketplace. I've sold tens of thousands of pounds worth of guitars now through eBay, and it's cost less than £50, I reckon.

The marketplace is huge - an L-5 Signature of mine went recently for £5k, and there were just two people who showed an immediate interest, one that wanted to fly in from Hungary and one from Ross on Wye, really nice people. Chat to them (if you want) first, get a 'feel' for them, and progress it from there. The chap from Ross bought it - advertised at £5300, hope for £5000, settle on £5000, have a cup of tea and a chat and everyone's happy. eBay get their £1 and there's cash in the bank from someone who has tried and liked the guitar enough to buy it.

I've never had a bad deal selling on eBay - buying without trying has been a different, to be fair, and I've bought a few lower-priced guitars that I wouldn't have bought if I'd have played them first. I won't do that again.

coffeehouse

The new prices have risen a lot in the last couple of years, which does drag up the used prices behind it. I have seen the same guitars sat on ebay for months and months and months, over priced and never selling. It is a place where people expect a bit of a bargain and rightly so... you're buying without trying and in many cases can't return it if you don't like it... and seldom does it arrive with new strings and gleaming level frets.... I do wonder if there is sometimes the 'I don't really want to sell this' price? ....