Trading instruments in shops? Advice?

Kebabkid

I wouldn't sell/trade to a shop as you'll lose out. Even having items sold on commission now is getting silly with a shop taking at least 20% but usually more.

If the said guitar is available as a 'Buy Now Pay Later' why not do that and in the mean time, try and sell the guitars for as much as you can as you'll have a year to do that. If no joy at the prices you want, then you can think about taking a hit.

Creed_Clicks

@Kebabkid that is a good idea actually !

fretfinder

What’s the stuff you’re planning to sell and hope you may get £800 for? If you mention what the items are and how much you hope to get for each one, someone may come out of the blue on here and offer you what you want, it often happens. Then cash is king, as you say…

NelsonP

I had a conversation with a shop along these lines recently. They told me that they usually sell used guitars for 2/3rds of the retail price, and that they would give me 2/3rds of that. 

So they give 4/9ths of retail as trade in. That's a shit deal but leaves them room to make money, and is still attractive enough if you simply can't be arsed to sell privately.

Adamski

Wow I have never had these experiences, however from trading stuff outside of guitars (like when CEX give you £5 for a £50 game) I know why this is the view of all trade ins. 

I’ve traded in with both Coda and Peach and been given pretty close to what I wanted in a private sale. A dealer is not going to sell it for it’s used price here or on eBay etc, it is often a fair bit more but still less than a new one. They have to add their costs for keeping the guitar, listing/selling the guitar (in hours) and most importantly warranty and returns. 

Creed_Clicks

What I’m selling isn’t in the UK so I’m not saying what they are as I’ll just get “you’ll never get that etc” plus since Brexit for obvious reasons I haven’t had any joy selling on here even open t’offers  

fretfinder

Creed_Clicks said: since Brexit for obvious reasons I haven’t had any joy selling on here even open t’offers  

Not surprising I guess as UK buyers will have to pay approx 25% in duty and VAT on top of what they pay you for the guitar and shipping, assuming you declare the true value on the customs form.

stufisher

How do you know the market value of your two guitars and amp?

If your F2F negotiating with a buyer (shop) you should have a plan to push them in your direction a bit more.

If you believe the kit will sell quickly due to market demand and any insights you have then make a point of stressing the benefits to them (e.g. quick turnaround, no hassle, frees up shelf space,).
Presumably you'll have the kit showing its best and ready to play/use so stress that too.

You'll know when you walk in that they're gonna offer you peanuts but just thank them for their offer and say I was hoping for a bit more ... let me think ... then wander off around the shop and see what other things they might have that you could get thrown in (e.g. gig bag, tuner, peg winder, strings, leads, anything that you know you'll need at some point) and then go back and negotiate.

IMHO don't be coy about pushing your POV ... you could say something like, " This guitar has been SO good to play because of XYZ (features) and the improvements I've made (benefits) and I want to keep it but I'm really after ABC now.

You might have to repeat this exercise with a few traders/shops but it'll get easier and you'll get better at it. Your ultimate objective is to compel the buyer to want what you have to sell because that's what will get your price.

Based on the above, you'll possibly amend your target price to match better what the market will pay.

I'm not trying to teach you how to suck eggs ... far from it ... I'm only proffering an objective reminder of the dynamics of buying/selling. It's much harder to keep these tricks in the forefront of your mind when you are either of the parties. It's like auction fever and that's why people often taken someone with them to provide objectivity.

The bottom line is that you are the key to driving up the price so you gotta prepare. All of the previous comments I completely agree with so you have multiple options. The ramblings above only apply to F2F dealings in a shop.

Best of luck.

Creed_Clicks

Perhaps what i’m selling either isn’t in demand or I have high notions

fretfinder

Creed_Clicks said:

Perhaps what i’m selling either isn’t in demand or I have high notions

Looks like we’ll never be able to comment on the desirability or value of the things you want to sell, as you won’t tell us what they are! 

ElectricXII

RaymondLin said:

If an item goes for £500 used on the market all day long, the store will probably offer you £250-300.

You are much better off selling it for £400 yourself, yes you lose £100 but it will be sold very quickly.

That's exactly right. I sold a guitar to GuitarGuitar last year for £250 and it appeared on their website at £500 the next day.

Creed_Clicks

Haha , ok, items I want to offload are a 2000 korean Epiphone Joe Pass, an Ibanez RGR08LTD, and a ZT lunchbox acoustic amp. Not sought after I know!! 

Bigsby

ElectricXII said:

RaymondLin said:

If an item goes for £500 used on the market all day long, the store will probably offer you £250-300.

You are much better off selling it for £400 yourself, yes you lose £100 but it will be sold very quickly.

That's exactly right. I sold a guitar to GuitarGuitar last year for £250 and it appeared on their website at £500 the next day.

Yes, as others have said, GuitarGuitar seem to offer particularly low prices on used gear. I used their online form and got an offer of £600 on a guitar I subsequently sold privately for twice that amount. 

But I got an email from them yesterday saying "We'll match any higher offer from out competitors!" Maybe if you're best mates with a local dealer you could get them to give you a better but still reasonable offer, and see if GG will match it.

skullfunkerry

I traded in a couple of guitars with GAK last year, just before Christmas. Yes I could probably have got a bit more money for them selling privately, but as they were both superstrats (and one was a super-lairy colour), I would quite possibly still be waiting now for them to sell. I was happy with the price they offered me, and the convenience of taking them in, doing some paperwork and leaving with a brand new guitar that I really wanted. I did ask Guitar Guitar about the same thing, and they offered me quite a lot less than GAK, so I didn't pursue that. I did notice in an email from them the other day they're pushing their trade-in business and offering to match any other offers, so that might be worthwhile for you.

However it works out for you, best of luck!