'Real' guitar auctions as opposed to The Bay

StanleyAccrington

Does anyone peruse/buy guitars from guitar specific auctions? Either attending in person or registering for phone or internet bids. Even allowing for buyers fees and tax, I've seen some pretty decent guitars eventually sold at prices less than I expected them to sell for/less than the auction house estimates. Ok....I understand that you may need to arrange and pay the cost  for a courier to collect any purchases and get them to you if you can't attend on the day. Some guitars and the prices that they sold for include ;-

1960s Vox Stroller  £130.
1959 Hofner Senator  £280.
1969 Gibson EB 3  £400.
1984 Rickenbacker 350  £720.
1964 Burns Nu Sonic  £310.
1974 Yamaha SG45 £290.

All guitars looked and described as in  decent nick!!

Addendum......The 69 Gibson EB3 has had a neck repair!!

tony99

can you get me one of those gibbo 69er's please? cash waiting

edit: eeeugh it's a bass, feel dirty now

StanleyAccrington

tony99 said:

can you get me one of those gibbo 69er's please? cash waiting

edit: eeeugh it's a bass, feel dirty now

Sorry tony99. The EB 3 is the only bass on the list. But hey.....everyone should have at least one bass in their collection. 

Voxman

StanleyAccrington said:

tony99 said:

can you get me one of those gibbo 69er's please? cash waiting

edit: eeeugh it's a bass, feel dirty now

Sorry tony99. The EB 3 is the only bass on the list. But hey.....everyone should have at least one bass in their collection. 

Why?? 

GuyR

I have bought twice from GH auction. Both times I attended. In my opinion it is worth having a number of potential purchases in mind, particularly if travelling a good distance, then buying what is decent value. I always buy cars and often furniture at auction. I don't resent the mark up in buying from a reputable dealer, but I am confident enough in my ability to make a judgement to buy in the auction room.
Dont expect a retail experience, though.

Bygone_Tones

StanleyAccrington said:

Does anyone peruse/buy guitars from guitar specific auctions? Either attending in person or registering for phone or internet bids. Even allowing for buyers fees and tax, I've seen some pretty decent guitars eventually sold at prices less than I expected them to sell for/less than the auction house estimates. Ok....I understand that you may need to arrange and pay the cost  for a courier to collect any purchases and get them to you if you can't attend on the day. Some guitars and the prices that they sold for include ;-

1960s Vox Stroller  £130.
1959 Hofner Senator  £280.
1969 Gibson EB 3  £400.
1984 Rickenbacker 350  £720.
1964 Burns Nu Sonic  £310.
1974 Yamaha SG45 £290.

All guitars looked and described as in  decent nick!!

Addendum......The 69 Gibson EB3 has had a neck repair!!

Not always the bargain they seem. Firstly theres a buyers premium of 20% plus VAT to add on top of that. So if my calculations are correct a rickenbacker sold for £720 would actually cost you  £892.80.

Also its easy to be optimistic about the value of something just going by photos. People who have viewed it in person may have spotted some issues with it, and thats why it has sold so cheaply.

Moloch

Bygone_Tones said:

StanleyAccrington said:

Does anyone peruse/buy guitars from guitar specific auctions? Either attending in person or registering for phone or internet bids. Even allowing for buyers fees and tax, I've seen some pretty decent guitars eventually sold at prices less than I expected them to sell for/less than the auction house estimates. Ok....I understand that you may need to arrange and pay the cost  for a courier to collect any purchases and get them to you if you can't attend on the day. Some guitars and the prices that they sold for include ;-

1960s Vox Stroller  £130.
1959 Hofner Senator  £280.
1969 Gibson EB 3  £400.
1984 Rickenbacker 350  £720.
1964 Burns Nu Sonic  £310.
1974 Yamaha SG45 £290.

All guitars looked and described as in  decent nick!!

Addendum......The 69 Gibson EB3 has had a neck repair!!

Not always the bargain they seem. Firstly theres a buyers premium of 20% plus VAT to add on top of that. So if my calculations are correct a rickenbacker sold for £720 would actually cost you  £892.80.

Also its easy to be optimistic about the value of something just going by photos. People who have viewed it in person may have spotted some issues with it, and thats why it has sold so cheaply.

Yeah, both the times I've checked out a Gardiner Holgate auction I've found myself wondering if the buyers don't know the market or are just lousy at maths. I can't remember a single bargain from either auction.

HarrySeven

Darryl_Morris said:

Bygone_Tones said:

StanleyAccrington said:

Does anyone peruse/buy guitars from guitar specific auctions? Either attending in person or registering for phone or internet bids. Even allowing for buyers fees and tax, I've seen some pretty decent guitars eventually sold at prices less than I expected them to sell for/less than the auction house estimates. Ok....I understand that you may need to arrange and pay the cost  for a courier to collect any purchases and get them to you if you can't attend on the day. Some guitars and the prices that they sold for include ;-

1960s Vox Stroller  £130.
1959 Hofner Senator  £280.
1969 Gibson EB 3  £400.
1984 Rickenbacker 350  £720.
1964 Burns Nu Sonic  £310.
1974 Yamaha SG45 £290.

All guitars looked and described as in  decent nick!!

Addendum......The 69 Gibson EB3 has had a neck repair!!

Not always the bargain they seem. Firstly theres a buyers premium of 20% plus VAT to add on top of that. So if my calculations are correct a rickenbacker sold for £720 would actually cost you  £892.80.

Also its easy to be optimistic about the value of something just going by photos. People who have viewed it in person may have spotted some issues with it, and thats why it has sold so cheaply.

Yeah, both the times I've checked out a Gardiner Holgate auction I've found myself wondering if the buyers don't know the market or are just lousy at maths. I can't remember a single bargain from either auction.

Amen to that. 

As I’ve said before, GH stuff is often...errrr... *optimistically* described online/in print - and the 20% + VAT doesn’t make for ‘bargain buys’.

StanleyAccrington

Aye....you're right lads n lasses. Probably not the 'bargains' that I initially thought that they were. Was basically looking for a cheap/bargain buy year of birth guitar for myself. Was nice looking at some old/vintage guitars though.

TonyR

Back in 2015 I bought a Gretsch G6120AM from GH as a present to myself for my 50th birthday.

I didn’t attend the auction in person, but they did send me all the photos I needed of the guitar. I left my highest bid with them and I actually got the guitar for less than I was prepared to pay - including their commission. 

They recommended a company that would ship the guitar, that I ended up using. Guitar arrived very well packaged and it was pretty much mint, I doubt it had ever been played. Over the moon I was!

I’ve perused their catalogue on occasions since, but haven’t happened across anything I’ve considered to be enough of a bargain to purchase. In fact their estimates started going silly so I’ve pretty much stopped looking these days.

Andy79

I bought an old Yamaha at GH last year, maybe early this. By no means a bargain but I’m local and I was after the particular model. 
GV spend a lot there so the hammer prices are generally still less than retail

im not sure we should expect bargains at a guitar specific sale. When they pop up at the jumble sale auctions it can be a different story. I’ve done ok at those sales. Few and far between though. 

HarrySeven

Off topic, but...

@TonyR - that’s a fine pic you have there. One of my all-time fave LPs...

TonyR

HarrySeven said:

Off topic, but...

@TonyR - that’s a fine pic you have there. One of my all-time fave LPs...

Cheers @HarrySeven - my favourite band!

maltingsaudio

I think everyone’s idea of a guitar auction is one where that 57 strat goes for tuppence which is La la land. The GH one attracts people from all over and their sale prices reflect that, folks complain about their charges but  they are being transparent in what they get from a sale yet, folks rarely ask for a dealer to do the same and probably wouldn’t get an answer. The other thing to remember is it is a specific piece of kit your bidding on, so if your looking for a red unicorn and they have one in the auction, unless you know of a unicorn supplier, the one in the auction is the only one available that  your going to see On the day and have to outbid everyone else who wants one.

HarrySeven

TonyR said:

HarrySeven said:

Off topic, but...

@TonyR - that’s a fine pic you have there. One of my all-time fave LPs...

Cheers @HarrySeven - my favourite band!

Ditto!