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Our mortgage has gone up about £400 a month and I'm sure a lot of other people are in the same position. Add to that the fact that your weekly shop is probably 20% more expensive than it was a couple of years ago, cars are more expensive (and the interest rates on the finance higher), energy prices remain high, and your council tax/rates bill has just gone up, and I think a lot of people don't have the spare cash to spend on non-essential things like guitars.
Irrespective of mortgages, housing costs are huge at the moment. Despite the wider economy performing poorly and interest rates rising, most places outside London and the South East are still experiencing house price rises. Rent is very expensive, there is still a huge shortage of housing stock, and it's very expensive to build at the moment. We completed a major renovation/extension last year and it was the wrong side of £300k by the time kitchens/bathrooms/flooring etc was all done, and that's Northern Ireland prices which are generally lower than England (though Brexit added some cost, tariffs on British steel were so high it was cheaper to import from south of Ireland even with the weak pound).
Basically if it hasn't sold it's too expensive for the current market and you need to decide if you're willing to sell at a lower price or wait for the market to improve (which I imagine won't happen in the next 18 months)
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
In terms of guitar forums and GAS maniacs like ourselves, I would have thought that in fact trading or swapping guitars would be more of a thing. Maybe it will become a thing because guitar flipping or making a quick profit (or any profit) is incredibly difficult right now.
(I bought a CS Les Paul Junior for €2500 in July 2021! Why did I sell it? (For the same price in December 2021!) Argh!)
But that little caveat aside I think the price of the new prices rising and the used prices getting close to that is a major issue. If we take a look at the price increase of a Les Paul standard for example, a couple of years ago (numbers may not be right but the principle hopefully will be) you would be looking at say £2,000 for a new standard. Used people asking say £1600 or so. Even at that point there would have been a large chunk of folk saying '2k, that' a bit much for that', fast forward the 2 years, that standard is now £2500 on average with a used one pushing up towards the £2000 mark. So the same people who were unsure about a new one at that price are never going to see a used one as anywhere near good value. I don't blame the people selling their used gear at a % of the new price (as I'm sure I'm guilty of it too), but as has been previously stated, it's supply and demand, and I'm a big believer in something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
Lastly I'm really fortunate; whilst I appreciate the price rises and cost of living crises, I was extremely lucky to fix my mortgage at a low rate for multiple years, and due to running a business that has taken off over the past few years I'm still lucky enough to be able to treat myself to some nice gear and I think the way I look at buying gear new / used represents why a lot of stuff isn't selling as much. Let's take for example the Les Paul, the majority of people who are cutting back, or adjusting to the world we live in now, will not be looking to spend 2k (which even me as a les paul fan, doesn't think represents really good value) on a used guitar. Then the people who can afford these guitars and have the disposable to buy them may think "well hold on, I can get this used les paul off a bedroom dealer / facebook marketplace etc, unseen for £1900 or so, or for £2200 I can go to all the shops in the area (obviously if you're near enough), play multiple les pauls, choose my fav one, or my fav top for around 20% more and have risk free returns, guarantee etc". I think a lot of the buyers will choose the later. So the prices as they are at the moment in my view are almost alienating both sides of the market.
I never buy to sell, so I just enjoy playing everything while I wait for it to sell (if I need to sell it).
I remember trading stuff for Fender in the past because I thought it would sell quicker, but I just ended up in limbo with something I didn't want to play. Just be patient with the nicer niche stuff.
I don't see value in a £4k+ for a "normal" custom shop Fender, but they're a much better buy used.
The other side is that stuff that's "fairly" priced in my opinion seems to be sitting for a long time. There's an American Elite Telecaster for sale fairly near me that's been for sale at £1150, has sat for months even reduced to £1000. Seems a bargain for a 7 year old equivalent to the American Ultra series which is £1900-2100 new
Three people said they would buy it and all backed out with varying excuses.
Annoyingly an identical one sold on Ebay recently for £650! Perhaps I listed it too cheap!
Very frustrating.
And I've just had a quick look on Ebay, there's none around that price point they are all quite a bit more.
Brexit has meant new prices are way higher.
Be prepared to take a 40-50% haircut on a new guitar if you move it on. Thats what it used to be.
there could be a conversation to be had with the cost of used guitars being impacted by Brexit if you're looking to sell / buy, as these will now incur some form of import fee's + vat, but in relation to new prices, the average cost of a new guitar is relative in every country. Yes the prices have gone up, along with everything else.
Yep that's political ... ask me if I give a f**k?
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Import taxes.
Devaluation of the pound.
Increased admin for the dealer resulting in reduced stock.
Slower to get stock due to additional bureaucracy.
Yeah, let’s not talk nonsense and pretend it’s not had a significant impact.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
All the other points taxes, devaluation of the pound, admin all that may be the case, but it hasn't affected the price we are paying compared to the rest of the world for new guitars, so how can you possibly argue it's caused the prices to rise?
The prices of new stuff has gone up yes, but there's a lot of other stuff that is responsible rather than Brexit. So my comment stands, if you think Brexit has caused the price of new guitars to go up when the price has gone up all over the world, including in markets where the guitars are made, i think that is nonsense.
*edit* - hadn't seen oilcitys post.
whilst all that may be true, my point wasn't on the impact brexit has had in general, specifically the cost of new guitars.
Totally unrelated: I'm also puzzled how Fender's EU site is showing these as 'in stock' whilst UK dealers are quoting 3 months+ or September for availability. Doesn't seem very fair to the dealers.