making offers to shops on used guitars

Fuengi · August 2019

Set out your position first, ie I really like this but I know I can pick them up used for £x. I'm a cash / credit card / finance buyer, what sort of deal can you do?

Do it all with a smile and you often get good results.

Cash, today in their account can be extremely helpful for businesses, don't forget that!

LastMantra · August 2019

Or just buy from people that don't overprice there stuff to begin with.

TINMAN82 · August 2019

thegummy said:

Do some people really haggle with shops for brand new guitars?

Are we only talking Custom Shop level or even for like 600 quid production models?

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/160006/your-best-guitar-related-shop-haggles/p1

FelineGuitars · August 2019

A lot of secondhand guitars you see in shops are actually being sold on commission for guys like yourselves.

The shop may well listen but they'd have to go and ask the person selling if they'll take less for their guitar (shop will be working on 10 or 15-20% these days in most cases).

Because of eBay and Reverb, sites like this and so forth few will sell outright to a shop at a price that the shop would wish to have enough margin to have money tied up in stock that may or may not sell like they would pre-internet, so sales on a commission basis are more likely

terada · August 2019

thegummy said:

Are we only talking Custom Shop level or even for like 600 quid production models?

Nope. Everything. Even strings

thegummy · August 2019

TINMAN82 said:

thegummy said:

Do some people really haggle with shops for brand new guitars?

Are we only talking Custom Shop level or even for like 600 quid production models?

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/160006/your-best-guitar-related-shop-haggles/p1

Oof, kind of scary that I completely forgot asking the same question one month ago.

FelineGuitars · August 2019

By all means ask, but don't be offended or put off the shop if they can't comply.

hollywoodrox · August 2019

Always put in an offer , nothing to loose everything to gain

Collings · August 2019

fretfinder said:

Personally if I’m interested in used gear in a shop I ask them what their best price is rather than just make an offer. Then if their best price is still more than you want to pay, you can always try a lower offer. Good luck with it.

I tend to take the opposite approach in many instances. I always know what i'm willing to pay and I just offer them that always stating if they accept I'll buy the guitar that day and pay by any method that suits them although these days that tends to make no difference.

I guess there is the chance with this approach that I may pay more than the lowest price they would have accepted.

I think its good to build up good relationships with the dealers over years, so for the ones I generally buy from, they already know i'm a serious if I enquire about a guitar and very often they will always say "we can do you a good deal on that as its you" and we go from there. I got some significant reductions from the price tag over the years.

ICBM · August 2019

As long as you ask sensibly and not with a “you’ll never get that for it” type attitude, you have nothing to lose and the shop should not take offence. But as already said, it’s quite likely they’re selling it on commission for a customer and they may have little room for movement.

The difference between £2700 and a typical private sale price of £2000 also reflects that with a shop, you’re getting a guarantee (or you should be from any reputable one), you can use a credit card, and they may accept trade-ins, all of which you won’t get with a private seller - so if you’re paying cash and not trading anything in there may still be a small amount of room for negotiation. Don’t be surprised if the important word is ‘small’ though...

NorthernGooner · August 2019

Don't waste the shops time as a time waster/tyre kicker, once you get to the talking money stage. If they offer you a good reduction be ready to go ahead with the purchase. After negotiating a good deal it's not on to say 'Yeah I'll think about it' .

lovestrat74 · August 2019

When I've sold on commission the shop would say something like... We'll put it up for this to give us some wiggle room and then they ask what your bottom line is. So there is nearly always room for an offer

Whitecat · August 2019

... and don't forget shops have to charge 20% VAT on their markup from whatever they paid for it as well.

crunchman · August 2019

FelineGuitars said:

A lot of secondhand guitars you see in shops are actually being sold on commission for guys like yourselves.
The shop may well listen but they'd have to go and ask the person selling if they'll take less for their guitar (shop will be working on 10 or 15-20% these days in most cases).
Because of eBay and Reverb, sites like this and so forth few will sell outright to a shop at a price that the shop would wish to have enough margin to have money tied up in stock that may or may not sell like they would pre-internet, so sales on a commission basis are more likely

There is still room for movement there though. I've sold stuff on commission several times. Often you agree with the shop that they will put a price on the ticket, but will take an offer. For example, you might price it at £800, but they will sell it if someone offers £750. Anything below £750 and they call me. The exact numbers may vary, but every time I've sold on commission it's been that kind of arrangement.

On occasions, some mug has paid full price, and the optimistic price has worked out. Other times I've had phone calls asking me if I'm willing to take a significantly lower price.

I tend to be guided by the shop on the ticket price, as they have more expertise than me, but sometimes sellers can be too optimistic on price. I remember a conversation with the manager of a shop that did commission sales about a guitar that was overpriced. It was on commission, and that was what the seller wanted. Maybe that's the case with the CS Strat that started the thread.

If you aren't in a hurry to sell, sometimes you start optimistic and reduce it if it doesn't sell. I did that with a PRS once. Started high, and it didn't sell in a few months, so reduced it by £200. Ended up taking an offer of £100 below that, but still got £200 or so more than the low ball offers I was getting in the classifieds here, for a lot less hassle.

As others have said, there has always been a culture of haggling in guitar shops. Shops used to price with some haggle room built in, so you could normally get 10% off of anything. With the internet, and everyone comparing prices these days, that kind of pricing doesn't really happen any more, but you can normally still get something.

A lot of the time, pricing has finance deals and free shipping built in - with the possibility of a customer return as well. If there is a finance deal, the shop will pay a fee to the finance company (3%?? - not sure of the exact amount). If you are there in person, so there is no shipping for them to pay, with a card that goes straight into their account, and no risk to them of you sending it back a week later under distance selling, there is normally some wiggle room.

Sometimes it's easier to ask for accessories. If you ask for £100 worth of case, strap, lead and strings to be thrown in, it will only cost them the trade price, so it's £60 or so for them, which is easier than giving you £100 cash. At the very least, you should be able to get a set or two of strings thrown in.

Jalapeno · August 2019

Always worth a punt. Depends if it is on "Consigment" sale for a punter or not, if it's a sunk cost (ie. trade credit expired on the item and shop has had to pay for it), and a long list of other constraints on the shop. But do ask.

Jackobean · August 2019

I usually aim for at least 10% off if it's a fairly high end item. Otherwise I'll probably walk away.

Jackobean · August 2019

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prlgmnr · August 2019

crunchman said:
On occasions, some mug has paid full price, and the optimistic price has worked out.

This doesn't necessarily make them the mug. Maybe you could have asked for more.

crunchman · August 2019

prlgmnr said:

crunchman said:
On occasions, some mug has paid full price, and the optimistic price has worked out.

This doesn't necessarily make them the mug. Maybe you could have asked for more.

Maybe I should have asked for more, but they were still mugs. Whatever the asking price was, there was a little bit of give in it.

Fiftyshadesofjay · August 2019

Always haggle on stuff in shops. I really don’t see the problem if you’re a genuine buyer and polite about it.

Just the other day I haggled £200 of the price of a used Les Paul Standard I’m Guitar Guitar. I got it for a decent price and I’m very sure they wouldn’t have accepted if they weren’t making a profit on it still.

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