Fat Bottom Guitars

hassleham

I’m not sure of their exact address but i thought they were based near derby

GoldenEraGuitars

hassleham said:

I’m not sure of their exact address but i thought they were based near derby

<ADMIN EDIT: Removed this, because it actually contained a home address which has since been removed from their site>

joeW

If someone manages their cash flow so badly, I would suggest they are a good candidate not to be in business in a few years.  I very much hope that they have no cash owed to any tFB members should they eventually fail.

digitalscream

ADMIN NOTICE TO ALL:

Fat Bottom Guitars don't like some of the things said in this thread, so they've submitted a Notice of Complaint under the Defamation Act 2013. The relevant members have been notified with appropriate instructions as to what happens next, as per Section 5 of that same Act.

It's possibly worth noting that they couldn't comment on this thread, because they (clarification: the owner of FBG, acting under the username theguitarmarketplace) were banned for spamming people by PM and then permanently banned for attempting to sign up additional accounts after that ban.

timmypix

digitalscream said:

ADMIN NOTICE TO ALL:

Fat Bottom Guitars don't like some of the things said in this thread, so they've submitted a Notice of Complaint under the Defamation Act 2013. The relevant members have been notified with appropriate instructions as to what happens next, as per Section 5 of that same Act.

It's possibly worth noting that they couldn't comment on this thread, because they were banned for spamming people by PM and then permanently banned for attempting to sign up additional accounts after that ban.

Well now I definitely won't consider using them or The Guitar Marketplace. 

RobG3294

digitalscream said:

ADMIN NOTICE TO ALL:

Fat Bottom Guitars don't like some of the things said in this thread, so they've submitted a Notice of Complaint under the Defamation Act 2013. The relevant members have been notified with appropriate instructions as to what happens next, as per Section 5 of that same Act.

It's possibly worth noting that they couldn't comment on this thread, because they were banned for spamming people by PM and then permanently banned for attempting to sign up additional accounts after that ban.

FBG Official statement:

Ohhh what are you up to tonight? 
Ohhh on the fretboard talking shite!
Ohh a defamation claim will make you stop
Fat bottom guitars we make the rocking world go round. 

hollywoodrox

Anybody sold them a guitar since ?  I was thinking of their deal to sell my Slash sig 
  It’s awful for selling in the present climate although I died sell a strat a week or two ago 

notsopro

Sold them something through the 'competition' offer back end of last year. Offer wasn't too terrible, dealing with them as people was fine right up until the day the payment was due to be made. Sent them an e-mail on the payment date asking if this had been sent, and when I could expected payment, heard nothing. Contacted them the day after the 'payment date'. Asked them if there had been any reasons for a delay, heard nothing. Sent them a message stating that 'by the terms in their contract the guitar is mine until I get paid, so unless they can prove that payment had been made at the time of my request (after payment date), I'd just take my guitar back. Strangely enough got a reply straight back saying the payment had been made the previous day, and should be with me that day. Got the funds a couple of hours later. Sent them a message just saying don't think it's a good way to deal with customers, whether its cash flow issues, holiday, or just human error, it's a bad look when they reply immediately all the time until it came to payment. At this point I was informed of their record year, and how they their turnover was over five million pounds.  At this point was tempted to inform them if that was the case they have to be VAT registered, and their VAT number has to be included within their company details on their website, but I was happy for them to think I was a clueless idiot. 

My take, did they do what they said, within reason yes. Are you likely to not get paid, highly unlikely. Do I have reservations about the longevity of their business given they seem to think cash flow, turnover and profit are all the same and directly linked. 100%.

But if you're happy with the price, and are ok chasing the funds, or take their 'payment date' with a pinch of salt. I'd go with it.

Boromedic

Sums up my experience too ^^

DrJazzTap

Reading through all of this, screams of a business which isn't going to be around this time next year. 

colinw

DrJazzTap said:

Reading through all of this, screams of a business which isn't going to be around this time next year. 

Before using any company, my practise is to first check them on Companies House. There you can see their most recent accounts.

Fat Bottom Guitars are a one-person company, which is allowed these days, and its turnover has increased significantly between 2023 and 2024. Hence they have no excuse not to pay promptly. But it might also be that the owner is now overwhelmed with his success and simply gets behind, to take a sympathetic view. I wouldn’t know.

However, you can see for yourselves here: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13531341/filing-history

Look at te PDF of the Micro Company Accounts of 15 March 2025. The fact that he has registered his accounts on time suggests he is trying to run it professionally, and these accounts look to have been prepared by an accountant.

colinw

I should point out that he was owing £54000 at the end of 2024, but had plenty of money in hand.

guitarjack66

colinw said:

I should point out that he was owing £54000 at the end of 2024, but had plenty of money in hand.

That sounds like he isn't in a rush to send payments out on time. If he is a one man business it would make sense to turn it into a two person operation and hire a secretary.

Bats_

Wow…. I was very close to selling a couple of guitars to these a few weeks back, 

CMW335

CMW335 said:

For what it’s worth I just completed a competition sale with these guys and all went smoothly including being paid on time without prompt. 

I should update as I have had some dealings and interactions since and won’t be giving these guys my business again.

So first experience as above all good

Second experience sold a guitar and payment was 9 days late following 3 prompts and his final response before finally making payment was a defensive one saying that I emailed on a weekend outside of business hours… no apology for late payment despite the other prompts and 9 day delay.

Since then some very strange interactions with Ben where he came across as arrogant and condescending while throwing some ridiculous offers at me accompanied with scaremongering tactics about how I would struggle to sell my stuff. I genuinely don’t mind low ball offers but I detest scaremongering tactics designed to try and panic me into selling cheap.

Resulted in a bit of tit for tat all very unprofessional and completely unnecessary. 

I for one will avoid

jefftweedy22

For what it's worth I think it's only fair to share the good here too. I sold 3 guitars to FBG a couple of months back, all of which were paid within 3 days of them receiving the guitars. From the outside looking in i think they've had explosive growth over the last 12 months and with a small team delays can occur - I don't think they're out to catch people and they seem to really know their stuff. 

After all if you're selling thousands of pounds worth of stuff it's only fair to wait a couple of days for payment? These guys must have guitars coming in all the time so to go through each guitar accurately and then deal with hundreds of payments must be a job in itself.

Final words - give these guys a go! they're a company to watch as I really do think they offer the best service for buying & selling in the UK with a great private space and they seem to be growing larger than any other privately owned guitar dealer/store I know of in trying times. let's actually support businesses in this sector instead of moaning when they shut.

joeW

jefftweedy22 said:

After all if you're selling thousands of pounds worth of stuff it's only fair to wait a couple of days for payment?

It’s not the period of time that is the issue - it’s the fact they give you a date for the payment, which factors in the processing time and they are delayed beyond that and go quiet.  

I think a lot of folks like the concept but the repeated payment issue is a big red flag for any business. 

Glad you had a good experience tho - plenty of others have too, but timely payment should be a standard. 

WafflesOnHorseback

jefftweedy22 said:

For what it's worth I think it's only fair to share the good here too. I sold 3 guitars to FBG a couple of months back, all of which were paid within 3 days of them receiving the guitars. From the outside looking in i think they've had explosive growth over the last 12 months and with a small team delays can occur - I don't think they're out to catch people and they seem to really know their stuff. 

After all if you're selling thousands of pounds worth of stuff it's only fair to wait a couple of days for payment? These guys must have guitars coming in all the time so to go through each guitar accurately and then deal with hundreds of payments must be a job in itself.

Final words - give these guys a go! they're a company to watch as I really do think they offer the best service for buying & selling in the UK with a great private space and they seem to be growing larger than any other privately owned guitar dealer/store I know of in trying times. let's actually support businesses in this sector instead of moaning when they shut.

You joined up on a Sunny Friday just to sing the praises of FBG?

Offset

jefftweedy22 said:

For what it's worth I think it's only fair to share the good here too. I sold 3 guitars to FBG a couple of months back, all of which were paid within 3 days of them receiving the guitars. From the outside looking in i think they've had explosive growth over the last 12 months and with a small team delays can occur - I don't think they're out to catch people and they seem to really know their stuff. 

After all if you're selling thousands of pounds worth of stuff it's only fair to wait a couple of days for payment? These guys must have guitars coming in all the time so to go through each guitar accurately and then deal with hundreds of payments must be a job in itself.

Final words - give these guys a go! they're a company to watch as I really do think they offer the best service for buying & selling in the UK with a great private space and they seem to be growing larger than any other privately owned guitar dealer/store I know of in trying times. let's actually support businesses in this sector instead of moaning when they shut.

Ben, is that you?!

jefftweedy22

joeW said:

jefftweedy22 said:

After all if you're selling thousands of pounds worth of stuff it's only fair to wait a couple of days for payment?

It’s not the period of time that is the issue - it’s the fact they give you a date for the payment, which factors in the processing time and they are delayed beyond that and go quiet.  

I think a lot of folks like the concept but the repeated payment issue is a big red flag for any business. 

Glad you had a good experience tho - plenty of others have too, but timely payment should be a standard. 

Fair enough, though I wasn't given a payout date so I can't comment on that. Instead in my agreement (which I thought was very professional as I've not had a binding agreement when selling to a store before) said payment within 7 working days and they stood to their word. If I was selling in-person I'd expect payment on the spot but given how easy they made it to have my 3 guitars collected and with them paying for the shipping I'm fine with them taking a few days to bank transfer my money over