Stagnant used market with unrealistic asking prices?

Wistman

I'm a lefty so the used market available to me has always been restricted, but usually there have always been a few interesting things floating round on the various classifieds and auction sites. In recent times though, I see the same stuff going round and round, with completely unrealistic asking prices - and new prices have gone up so much recently that you regularly see people asking for more than they probably paid new a couple of years ago. You'd think in a cost of living crisis and post-pandemic hobby dropping, we'd see a lot of people trying to offload instruments, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Is it the same in the righty market currently?

In the past decade I've been slowly transitioning away from electric towards acoustic, having pivoted from the heavy garage rock of my youth towards more folky writing, and I find myself wanting another guitar or two, primarily because I use a whole bunch of odd tunings and would really rather have dedicated instruments for each. (And let's be honest, it is always nice to try different guitars...) On principle I've always bought used both for ethical considerations and because I enjoy a bargain.

I miss the golden days when it was 2 dollars to the pound, I used to import used MIA guitars from the States and still pay significantly less than I would've in the UK...

VimFuego

it's difficult to judge the market, but based pretty much solely what I see happening here, the market for acoustics has always been a bit sluggish. I often see fantastic guitars are what I deem reasonable prices sit around for ages, or not even sell at all. I would agree with the basic premise that prices have been inflated of late, mostly in the electric market, not necessarily on here, but what I see on ebay etc. 
A slight tangent but could be relevant; I'm in the process of looking for a narrowboat, I've been looking for a number of years but have held off cos of massively high prices for both used and new boats (number of reasons, demand, steel prices, demographic reasons). I have noticed over the past few months that prices seem to be softening, I'm starting to see boats offered with reduced prices, something you never saw before. I suspect and imagine you'll see similar in the used guitar market, whether that's a good thing or not I guess depends on which side of the trade you're on.

Wistman

You make good points, and yeah, it does seem the acoustic market is more limited than the electric one. Sadly the left handed section on here has been rather dead for some time, it used to be reasonably busy and prices were often more realistic than Ebay A part of me also wonders if Ebay's constant gouging fee hikes have meant people trying to price their stuff so they'll get what they want POST fees...

WindmillGuitars

We generally see customers buying a number of electric guitars for their collection - but more often that not only holding one acoustic (two on a rare occasion). Players tend to change their electric guitars a lot more often in my experience. 

There's no doubt used prices have risen sharply in recent years. This has been a mix of rising costs on new models and scarcity in the used market on some brands (like Martin for example) .. as well as the poor $$ vs GBP as you've stated @Wistman We currently have a beautiful left handed Collings which is a good example of this - ticket price a few years ago would have been 20-30% less.

Lefty stock always carries a premium - however it's more often that not the retailers which are enforcing this as most brands now offer models in a left hand format at no additional cost. This is probably driven by the lack of volume in left handed sales vs right handed. Even at the beginner end of the market many new lefty players are being advised to learn right handed now due to stock availability..

Just my 2p lads .. 

Wistman

WindmillGuitars said:

Even at the beginner end of the market many new lefty players are being advised to learn right handed now due to stock availability..

I tried so hard to play guitar and violin right handed as a youngster and it just felt 100% wrong to me... until my parents got me a cheapo lefty Squier P-Bass, and suddenly it all made sense to my brain! I know other lefties who felt the same, makes me wonder how many lefty kids are put off making music for life by early enforcement of righty standards on them...

To be honest I'd say lefty beginners are comparatively spoiled for choice these days vs when I was starting out; whilst i am complaining about a lack of quality used instruments, there is a glut of low end but still reasonably playable instruments available now, whereas when I was starting 28-odd years ago there was FAR less choice and availability, and no online retailers or Ebay etc, just whatever was on the wall of the shops in my nearest city...

thomasross20

It's a tough market

DavidR

When an acoustic player (as opposed to a collector) finds an acoustic with tone and playability that suits them, they will keep it. The tone of an acoustic, although there are some things you can change, is relatively fixed whereas an electric player can fiddle endlessly to their hearts delight with those box things.

I wonder if that influences the frequency with which acoustic players buy compared with electric players.

Approx 10% of people are left handed btw.

Gmd85

VimFuego said:

it's difficult to judge the market, but based pretty much solely what I see happening here, the market for acoustics has always been a bit sluggish. I often see fantastic guitars are what I deem reasonable prices sit around for ages, or not even sell at all. I would agree with the basic premise that prices have been inflated of late, mostly in the electric market, not necessarily on here, but what I see on ebay etc. 
A slight tangent but could be relevant; I'm in the process of looking for a narrowboat, I've been looking for a number of years but have held off cos of massively high prices for both used and new boats (number of reasons, demand, steel prices, demographic reasons). I have noticed over the past few months that prices seem to be softening, I'm starting to see boats offered with reduced prices, something you never saw before. I suspect and imagine you'll see similar in the used guitar market, whether that's a good thing or not I guess depends on which side of the trade you're on.

Definitely some bargain boat deals out there at the moment. Boats tend to see earlier/bigger drops in value in tough times because of the holding/running costs. If you've come upon hard times selling the boat not only gets you some cash but also relieves you of substantial outgoings in maintenance, mooring and insurance fees. People need more incentive to take on such costs during a cost of living crisis and the market gets flooded so they need to be a deal to shift. 

Guitars have negligible holding costs so people are less incentivised to shift them. If the market is soft it costs little to put it under the bed until things improve. Still, the used market is definitely feeling the pressure, especially at the higher end. 

Agree some sellers are asking over what I would assess as the current 'market price', but I am seeing some great deals on high-end guitars from time to time , and some guitars listed at prices that would have been considered a steal 12 months ago still sitting there unsold suggesting they may have further to fall. 

jellyroll

My guess is that some of the weirdness in the used market is driven by the increase in new prices. When new prices were stagnant (the good old days?) a seller might expect to recover 50/60/70% on re-sale. But if you bought a high end guitar 8 years ago for £3000, that same guitars is probably £6 - 7K new now, or £4- £5k used. So, re-sellers are looking at getting back more than they paid new, the old rules are out the window, and prices are more widely spread.

Lefties have it tougher than the rest too.