Fat Bottom Guitars

Offset

RobG3294 said:

elstoof said:

What happens if the raffle doesn’t generate enough cash to pay for the guitar?

Wisdom. And this is exactly what I meant by "this is eventually going to hit the fan" but Carlos doesn't care so we can all stop being daft about it.

So long as it's not in my backyard, ey lads and lasses.

^^ ...but the risk was Carlos's, no-one else's.  And if anyone else wants to run the same risk, that's surely down to them.

You pays your money, you takes your choice - although it isn't something I'd sign up to.

swiller

I got a quote of them last few days without seeing this. I thought the whole described process/options was pretty good to be fair. Including what happens if the raffle doesnt raise enough funds (makes no difference). I like the different options and their quote to just buy it was pretty good and nigh on what you may expect private sale.
Good to hear some have tried and tested it. What i am worried about is whether , after sending the guitar, they do a we buy any car and knock loads off unexpectedly of the initial offer post inspection. But doesnt sound like peeps have had that issue.

carlos

swiller said:

I got a quote of them last few days without seeing this. I thought the whole described process/options was pretty good to be fair. Including what happens if the raffle doesnt raise enough funds (makes no difference). I like the different options and their quote to just buy it was pretty good and nigh on what you may expect private sale.
Good to hear some have tried and tested it. What i am worried about is whether , after sending the guitar, they do a we buy any car and knock loads off unexpectedly of the initial offer post inspection. But doesnt sound like peeps have had that issue.

Not at all and my guitar had a few scratches here and there plus the changed pickups which wasn't the cleanest job in the world.

carlos

RobG3294 said:

elstoof said:

What happens if the raffle doesn’t generate enough cash to pay for the guitar?

Wisdom. And this is exactly what I meant by "this is eventually going to hit the fan" but Carlos doesn't care so we can all stop being daft about it.

"I don't work for HMRC or anything like that so not for me to worry about."

So long as it's not in my backyard, ey lads and lasses. 

If you want to call me something, then say it and stop with this passive/aggressive bollocks. 

carlos

elstoof said:

What happens if the raffle doesn’t generate enough cash to pay for the guitar?

The deal we sign (through DocuSign) states that we get paid regardless of if the guitar generates enough ticket sales or not but @RobG3294 wanted to jump to conclusions and be in the right even though he knows nothing about what he's talking about. 

elstoof

Then why do you have to wait until after the raffle to be paid the money you’re owed? Seems like all it’ll take is a few raffles failing to generate the right income for him to suddenly have to find a few grand to pay for his sold inventory

swiller

elstoof said:

Then why do you have to wait until after the raffle to be paid the money you’re owed? Seems like all it’ll take is a few raffles failing to generate the right income for him to suddenly have to find a few grand to pay for his sold inventory

Well at least its upfront with other options, including to buy outright. I think they sort of hand it over to other company to do all that raffle stuff and its wise business for cashflow purposes. The correspondence was pretty clear on that. My quote was for a LPC CS 2004 (pics on here). 2700 outright, 3100 expected on the other options, with the raffle meaning best £ for the seller as i think that was what i would actually get. They would need to sell 310 tickets at £10 which seems doable.
If i do decide to go ahead, i may buy a few tickets myself

RobG3294

carlos said:

elstoof said:

What happens if the raffle doesn’t generate enough cash to pay for the guitar?

The deal we sign (through DocuSign) states that we get paid regardless of if the guitar generates enough ticket sales or not but @RobG3294 wanted to jump to conclusions and be in the right even though he knows nothing about what he's talking about. 

We're talking about two different things here - you're focussed on your own transaction - it's a free country so hence I am allowed to question the business ethics in line with what you pointed out, without you having to dismiss my point because "You don't care because you got paid"

So you sold the Guitar to Fat bottom Guitars via docusign. They then passed the Guitar on to another business or theirs (presumably hence the mention of ticket sales) and then use the Guitar to generate revenue for them before they pay you. That's weird business practice. 

You get paid regardless of ticket sales apparently, so why then do they not just pay you upfront? If they make a loss on your Guitar's competition, then presumably they would offset it by profits on someone else's competition.

But what if that competition doesn't generate the sales either?

You can pretend to portray the fact that I'm thick or what not to the whole forum for all I care. I'm not, hence why I ask probing questions, because I'm not apathetic to the situation like you, which is absolutely your right to be, as you have got paid, happy days. Good for you mate. What's important is asking if this method is sustainable, especially as the OP mentioned he was paid after the agreed date.

That last sentence again would most likely have consituted part of his docusign agreement, which given the fact he wasn't paid, is a breach of said agreement.

No one should have problems with dealers etc buying instruments for whatever price they want from happy buyers, mutually beneficial.

Dealers (i.e. Fat bottom Guitars) buying Guitars then passing an asset they have not paid for (and hence do not own) through their raffle scheme (a separate Ltd company) before they pay for said Guitar means very weird business practice and not one that is particularly palatable in my opinion, your apathy to the situation means YMMV.

elstoof

Perhaps there’s a market for an eBay style raffle website where the actual owner lists and gets the bulk of the winnings, paying a percentage to the web host. Cut out the middleman entirely 

midlifecrisis

im wary of these weird auction deals. I believe they may be set up and run with the best intentions but the problems will occur when ticket sales arnt as good as hoped, a few times, then bad stuff will happen.

swiller

Its completely normal practice in business and common. Since when was broker sales / get paid when it sels some sort of weird business practice? Amazon? Guitar auctions? Again they do all quotes based on multiple options.  Including buy outright from them. 

razorblade_beat

Hey guys! Wondering whether anyone had any experience with selling to these guys recently? 

I’ve been offered a great price by them for my black falcon after trying for about 2 years to sell it unsuccessfully.

Sounds great option via email and hassle free?

carlos

razorblade_beat said:

Hey guys! Wondering whether anyone had any experience with selling to these guys recently? 

I’ve been offered a great price by them for my black falcon after trying for about 2 years to sell it unsuccessfully.

Sounds great option via email and hassle free?

My experience was in March so not that far in the past.

sev112

What’s a so called “weird business practice” - do you mean illegal? 

Offset

Fat Bottom Guitars make the rocking world go 'round, apparently.

razorblade_beat

@carlos so all worked out good in the end? The guy was initially responsive then seemed to be way slower in response to my emails to get the ball rolling. Including sending me the agreement. Which he is yet to do. 

carlos

razorblade_beat said:

@carlos so all worked out good in the end? The guy was initially responsive then seemed to be way slower in response to my emails to get the ball rolling. Including sending me the agreement. Which he is yet to do. 

Yes, didn't take that long for me. 

skullfunkerry

razorblade_beat said:

Hey guys! Wondering whether anyone had any experience with selling to these guys recently? 

I’ve been offered a great price by them for my black falcon after trying for about 2 years to sell it unsuccessfully.

Sounds great option via email and hassle free?

I sold my Cort X300 to them a month or two ago: went for the raffle option and it all went smoothly, apart from me messing them around on the collection date. No problems with getting the money, and they paid me about what I’d have got for it if I’d sold it through eBay.

DavusPG

In May I enquired about selling my PRS DGT to them, sent photos and the prices offered were good. I opted for the competition option. Guitar was collected promptly and I was notified when it had arrived safely. As per the contract my agreed pay out date was 7 days after the draw. Until then the comms had been superb, but that day came and no payment and no comms. Following day I receieved a reply saying payment had been made asking me to confirm if the funds were in my account - they weren't. No reply. Two days later I receive an email saying he'd been dealing with a family emergency, was on his way to the office and would transfer the money as soon as he was in front of his computer - nothing, despite him being on his computer 2 hours later conducting a live draw on YouTube. 

The following day I sent an email explaining that he was in breach of contract and that if payment wasn't made, I'd be sharing my experience on all of his social media pages, in the chat section of his next live draw and that I'd be pursuing him through the civil courts. I never received a reply, but 2 days later the money was in my account.

As the business/competition site has been running for quite a while with largely positive reviews, I don't think it's a scam, but it's a piss poor way to run a business and there are similar stories online of late payment, excuses and prizes not being sent for several weeks, so as others have said I suspect it's a cashflow issue. Regardless, it was the lack of communication, excuses and lies (as he had clearly never attempted to transfer the money) that really annoyed me - especially as I was banking on the funds being in my account on the agreed date to cover several bills. Had he been honest with me I'd have been more accepting of the situation, but being ignored and lied to really got my back up.

I know others have had perfect experiences with them, but that was mine and it most definitely wasn't hassle free.

RMJ

Yeah the above experience was similar to mine. Wasn't paid on time. Lots of excuses. Eventually did get paid but couldn't have done without the stress.