Sales on commission?

Philly_Q

For many years I've been an eBay seller, and for the most part I've been pretty happy with it.  But it's been a year or so since I sold anything, and in that time I've read an increasing number of stories (largely on this very forum) about dodgy sellers, dodgy buyers, dodgy couriers, increased selling fees.... 

Many people also say that the system at eBay increasingly favours buyers over sellers, although I'm personally in the middle of a fairly disastrous situation, as a buyer, and I don't feel like they're doing me any favours at all.  But I digress.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I'm less confident about eBay than ever before.  I know there are things like Gumtree, Facebook (and the classifieds on here), but they seem to generally take longer and depend more on local pickup or delivery, which doesn't really suit me. Plus - from what I've heard - Gumtree and Facebook are full of nutters and timewasters and I can't be bothered with all that.

I was looking at @TTony's selling thread the other day and he mentioned commission sales.  I did a couple of those many years ago, pre-internet, but I hadn't really considered them since.

So, tell me about commission sales.  Do they work?  Which shops do you use?  What percentage commission do they charge?  Do they advise on the selling price, or leave it up to you?  Let's hear your advice, your success stories, maybe your horror stories too.

TTony

I'm interested in how it's worked for others too - this'll be the first time I've tried it.

I'm hoping that it'll give me a route into a wider audience, and with the credibility of a known retailer behind my guitar.  That should give the buyers some reassurance that all is well with the guitar.

It's going to cost me as I'll net less than a sale here, and it'll cost any buyer as they'll be paying a lot more than the sale price here, but that's the price of using a different sales channel, and the price of the credibility & reassurance.

Gassage

OK

A few things.

If you use a reputable shop to sell through, they have to offer a warranty, plus many offer 14 day money back guarantees, which sees you out of pocket for eons- normally 6 weeks.

If you're going to do it, it's also worth thinking about the item versus the place you sell it.

e.g. if I wanted to sell a piece of unobtanium effects from Pete or some rare vintage do-dah I'd give it to Charlie Chandler (15-20% commission).

If I had say a USA strat, Wunjo but talk them down to 20%.

Chandlers now charge 30% which kills the deal.

Also- if the dealer gives you shite about 'having to pay VAT' he only pays VAT on the profit portion of second hand goods so that's just on the commission fee itself.

It can be done succesfully, but be realistic re venue of sale.

axisus

I sold an expensive Fender CS bass via the Bass Gallery. I would have got more selling privately but to be honest it was perfect for me. I originally got a great deal on it, so I paid commission, dropped the price on request and still made a decent profit. Even if I'd have lost money I would have preferred that route as it was totally hassle free. went in about 7 weeks if I recall, was in the shop and available to try, shown on their website etc.

Philly_Q

Thanks for the comments so far.  Interesting to see that the % commission is significantly higher than eBay fees - which I expected - but on the other hand I guess the shops may achieve a better selling price, at least for more upmarket gear.

It's also attractive that it removes all the hassle of taking pictures, writing descriptions etc, which I find very tedious - and unrewarding when you see someone else sell exactly the same thing with one fuzzy photo and a badly worded, misspelled single-line description.

TTony

Philly_Q said:

Interesting to see that the % commission is significantly higher than eBay fees 

For me, eBay is just too risky for selling anything of any value.  

I don't even buy much on there anymore, beyond the cheap stuff that I would have got from Woolies or the market stalls in years gone by.

Gassage

TTony said:

Philly_Q said:

Interesting to see that the % commission is significantly higher than eBay fees 

For me, eBay is just too risky for selling anything of any value.  

I don't even buy much on there anymore, beyond the cheap stuff that I would have got from Woolies or the market stalls in years gone by.

To be honest, stuff i have sold that had an emotional attachment I've sold on here as I wanted to know where it went and if the person was loving it,

Call me a soppy sod, but that DOES count to me.

Powerslave

I've had some good experience of commission sales with Tim @ Sound Affects in Ormskirk, and I know he his active in this area for a number of other customers.

The rate is 20%, and that is on a par with a couple of other shops I know do this (but, which I've not used myself) - Guitars 4 You and World Guitars spring to mind.

Each guitar I've put up for sale in this way has sold, relatively quickly in most cases.

You do manage to avoid the possible mither of time-wasters coming to your house to try gear, or driving up and down the motorway network to complete deals in car parks (but, I've done that to great effect also).

On balance, I would say that I've seen an amount for my gear that I would have probably obtained via a private sale - but, the shop has been able to get more which, of course, becomes their cut.

A couple of advantages that can be overlooked are that the shop will have greater flexibility in terms of px, and they can take plastic payments.

My money has also been paid over by bank transfer in a matter of days. Obviously, distance buying impacts this.

My only gripe is the "fixed" commission rate. I've always felt that it should be graduated - say 20% for up to 2k sales, and then winding down a bit as the value gets higher.

If you find yourself with very high-end gear to sell, most people are very reluctant to hand over large bags of cash to some random bloke off the Internet (good trader feedback or not) but more inclined to do so with a store.

Tim is very good at discussing likely / bottom-line pricing, consulting with you as offers / possible deals arise, and (in the case of mint condition gear) holding it back off display until genuine interested parties express an interest.

Hope this is of help?  

stimpsonslostson

It CAN be a good option for certain things.
I asked at LiveMusicShop in Edinburgh about commission selling one of my guitars. The guy I spoke to was refreshingly honest about the time a sale would likely take (& the value of my cut) versus private selling.
I effectively would have got 70-80% of a reasonable second hand value for it & it'd probably take a month or so.

In the end I stuck it on gumtree & just refreshed the ad until a buyer came along. It took 3 weeks & I obviously pocketed the whole amount.
I've never had to wait too long for a sale on Gumtree, but I think living in a city & being realistic about pricing help (I've had one courier disaster so always do pickup anyway).

Dave_Mc

I sold one thing on commission- a marshall valvestate amp. Worked well- shop was very cheap (10%!) and while I had to wait several weeks for it to sell, it actually sold quicker than I thought it would. Considering I had no box for it and couldn't be annoyed with parcelling it up and was a bit wary of Ebay etc.. I was very happy- but I'm well aware my experience went like clockwork and the 10% sounds very competitive indeed compared to what most shops seem to charge.

matt3man

Apologies for bringing an old thread back to life but I just want a sense check. I have a very nice Phil Davidson mandolin that I’m going to sell so I contacted Eagle Music in Huddersfield (they specialise in mandolins and the like). I’m not sure of the exact value but Phil Davidson himself told me he sells the newer/upgraded version of mine for £3K so we’re not talking a few hundred quid here.

Anyway, they are interested in it and will sell on commission but they want 1/3rd of the price it sells for.

Am I alone in thinking that on the high side to say the least?  Thanks.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Out of curiosity, how do we think the amount you'd get from a commission sale versus what you'd get in from just part-exchanging the guitar with something else in the same shop stacks up?

I've seen something that I'm tempted by in the preowned selection in a store. Would I be likely to get similar value by just trading in my current guitar against the price of the 'new' one, or am I more likely to be better off by trying a commission sale?

Or are there too many factors to make any kind of fair comparison? 

ICBM

matt3man said:

Apologies for bringing an old thread back to life but I just want a sense check. I have a very nice Phil Davidson mandolin that I’m going to sell so I contacted Eagle Music in Huddersfield (they specialise in mandolins and the like). I’m not sure of the exact value but Phil Davidson himself told me he sells the newer/upgraded version of mine for £3K so we’re not talking a few hundred quid here.

Anyway, they are interested in it and will sell on commission but they want 1/3rd of the price it sells for.

Am I alone in thinking that on the high side to say the least?  Thanks.

High but not completely unreasonable these days - although the more expensive the item, the lower the commission usually. 1/3 is easily justifiable on low-priced items where the fixed costs start to become a significant proportion of the profit margin.

For something in the £1K+ range I would expect more like 20-25% - but bear in mind that they may have to negotiate on the price to the buyer, which if they've given you a figure in advance may mean the actual commission ends up being much less.

eg - if it's on the wall for £1999 and you're getting £1333 back, if they end up selling it for £1700 and you still get £1333, that's actually a commission of about 22%. Just make sure it's that kind of deal.

matt3man

Thanks for such a quick response.  Just checked their email; I would get 2/3rds of the selling price.

Jalapeno

I've sold on commission through North American Guitar £250 for photos & listing + %ge and Vintage  & Modern in Thame straight %ge - the latter are a lot more straightforward to deal with, but no point taking a Jem777 to Pete in Thame ! (or NAG for that matter) - pick your shop to match your item

guitars4you

Hard for me to tell any business what they should or shouldn't do - I would have thought that very few shops in the UK have an appropriate customer base that will allow them to stock/promote/sell a mandolin worth 3k - Specialist market place, so maybe 1/3 is not unworthy in this instance

Lewy

matt3man said:

Apologies for bringing an old thread back to life but I just want a sense check. I have a very nice Phil Davidson mandolin that I’m going to sell so I contacted Eagle Music in Huddersfield (they specialise in mandolins and the like). I’m not sure of the exact value but Phil Davidson himself told me he sells the newer/upgraded version of mine for £3K so we’re not talking a few hundred quid here.

Anyway, they are interested in it and will sell on commission but they want 1/3rd of the price it sells for.

Am I alone in thinking that on the high side to say the least?  Thanks.

If you haven't already, post it for sale on the British Bluegrass Music Association Facebook group. Phil Davidson is well known there, and you'll be reaching a huge proportion of the people out there in the market for a high end mando or who know people who are. Phil might even chip in with some info about the build, you never know.

GuyR

axisus said:

I sold an expensive Fender CS bass via the Bass Gallery. I would have got more selling privately but to be honest it was perfect for me. I originally got a great deal on it, so I paid commission, dropped the price on request and still made a decent profit. Even if I'd have lost money I would have preferred that route as it was totally hassle free. went in about 7 weeks if I recall, was in the shop and available to try, shown on their website etc.

I have sold four basses in the last 18 months via the Gallery between £2.5-4.5k. All sold quick. Gave them a dealing margin but they still mostly got my asking price. 15% inc vat. Wouldn’t go elsewhere. They also refretted my 66 Tele to perfection.
Edit. sorry just noticed this is an old thread. 1/3 seems prohibitive but against a private sale might be ok. Always worth haggling!!

hollywoodrox

I’ve just sold 2 guitars Yesterday and day before and a katana 50 on eBay , sold quite a few things this year  mostly I put them on and the next day when I look they have gone so I’m chuffed to bits . You have such a wide catchment area. 

crunchman

hollywoodrox said:

I’ve just sold 2 guitars Yesterday and day before and a katana 50 on eBay , sold quite a few things this year  mostly I put them on and the next day when I look they have gone so I’m chuffed to bits . You have such a wide catchment area. 

You don't get as good a price on Ebay as a decent shop will get.  I bought a PRS on Ebay years ago.  I later sold it on consignment in Chandlers (before they raised their commission rates to ridiculous levels).  They got £300 or so more for it than the Ebay price I paid.  By the time Ebay would have taken a 10% fee, plus a 3% Paypal fee, I would have got a lot less on Ebay.

Charlie Chandler sold a PRS S2 Satin for me a couple of years ago.  I'm trying to remember the exact selling price, but there is one advertised on EBay for £100 around less than Charlie got for mine.  Ebay/Paypal fees are a bit cheaper than Charlie's commission rates, but not enough to make up that difference.

It's also a lot less hassle selling that way.  You drop the guitar in, and you get the money in your account a few weeks after it sells.  You also don't have to deal with all the time wasters and scammers.

hollywoodrox

Assuming you have actual guitar shops You can get to , I’m a pedestrian now,marooned in Devon and don’t travel far these days owing to nausea. I always get the price I’m happy with and factor fees into the whole , sold Gibson, Jackson’s ,charvels, fenders boss gt 1 , XP deus and whites metal detectors all sorts . UPS collects all big stuff from my door  most things have sold the next morning or a couple days after listing . My sales are mostly selling to buy the replacement item . I’m hoping to find a nice soloist now . My fave hunting ground richtone in Sheffield is Beverly sparse now we have had the pandemic, used to be some amazing bargains before covid hit .