Get That Gear - Part Seven: Where?

I've talked about making lists, "checking them twice", having cash ready, avoiding the impulse buys and trusting your senses, now the question is once you are ready, where does one find the deals.

First off, if you have a need and the resources to fulfill that need then you could just go to the local guitar store, be it a Guitar Center or a "Mom and Pop" place and buy it. However if you are willing to be a little patient you might be able to get a couple of things checked off your list for the price of one. 

Some starting places...

1. eBay - Here's my post on eBay from a few months ago. One trick I just found out about is not new but new to me, and a great for finding valuations for things you're looking to buy or sell.  Go to advanced search and check the "completed listings" box and search for your item. This will show you recent transactions so you can see if that deal the store around the corner is really such a good deal.

2. Craigslist - Craigslist has a bit of a bad reputation as of late, however if done right you can find some great deals this way. I picked up a 1940's Kay "archtop" last year. I didn't bring any cash, the buyer met me at a neutral site where we sussed each other out and I sussed out the guitar. Then we went to the bank to get the money and made the exchange. He thought I was cool so he took twenty bucks off the fair price and I thought he was cool so I took him to lunch. I used the guitar in the film Gangster Squad. Just in the background of a few scenes, you aren't actually hearing it. One has to be cautious when going to places with large amounts of cash or when inviting strangers to your gear strewn music room. But I don't really need to tell you this. The neutral site thing works great.

3. Yard Sales - Deals still exist out there. It's been a while, but have in the past gotten some very good deals at yard sales. I generally go looking for cheap things. If you look in your local Friday classifieds you will see listings for yard/garage sales. Look for the ones that actually say musical instruments. Could be an accordion or charango or a Stella acoustic or an early 60's Strat for $300. The latter, 20 years ago, I actually found once and told the seller it was worth $50,000, even though it was worth more like 10-20k, but I couldn't bring myself to buy it and I didn't want him to sell it to any one for less than it was worth. There were times when I would go to yard sales at their listed start time, say 8am or 9am, and be told that guitar buyers were knocking on their doors as early as 6am or the night before sussing out the deals and then low balling their prices. I never did that.

4. Thrift Stores - I picked up a couple of 60's Stella acoustics for $20 each at a Salvation Army once. A match pair - standard and tenor. Both worth easily over a hundred each. Don't care so much about that, they sound cool. The six-string has a very Robert Johnson quality to it and is great for slide and the tenor (4-string) is a very unique sounding instrument which is always good to have. My wife is always on the prowl at thrift stores and will call me if she sees something she thinks I might be interested in. Because of eBay, good deals at thrift stores and yard sales are getting tougher to find. Everyone seems to know what stuff is worth.

5. Local Guitar Store - So much of life is about relationships. This is true in gear acquisitions too. Some of my best purchases were from stores that I frequented. And by frequented I mean, bought stuff at, not hung around at. Store owners can be friends too. Sometimes they'll give you their cost on something because they appreciate your business. Sometimes even lose a little on a sale because they need the cash, just like anyone else, and would rather lose money to you than a stranger. I've gotten some of my best deals in such situations.

6. Friends - I have a acquired a few instruments from friends who either wanted me to have an instrument of theirs and they made me an offer I couldn't refuse, or had friends with guitars that I've told, "if you ever decide to sell this instrument talk to me first." In those situations I always offer/pay market price as I don't want to take advantage of my friends. My son got a great deal on a Gretsch Tennessee Rose in such a manner. I got my 60's 175 from a friend I'd known since 1974. Known the guitar that long as well. You can always make known your offer. In the case of the 175 it took 30 years to "adopt".

Ebay Buying Tips

Back when Beth and I first got married we didn’t have much of anything, especially money, so we frequented yard sales and flea markets in search of furniture and other necessary stuff. I would always look for undervalued instruments. I bought an old Silvertone Twin Twelve amp for $140 years ago at one of those yard sales. I remember telling her, “If I could have one superpower it would be the ability to look at an item, know exactly what it is worth and know where to get that much for it.” I know it’s not x-ray vision or the ability to fly, but I was trying to be practical. The problem is is that everyone has that ability now since eBay was launched. Have an old pedal in your closet? Search for it at eBay and watch a similar item sell to determine it’s value. This has made it much more difficult to find good deals around the corner.

eBay benefits the seller by exposing them to millions of potential buyers. Try that at a pawn shop. And eBay benefits the buyers by allowing them to set their maximum price and possibly get it for less than that. Here are some tips for those in the second camp.

1. When searching for something like “Gibson Les Paul” sort list by “Time: newly listed” just in case someone who doesn’t know what they have has listed their item at an unusually low “Buy It Now” price. A good friend of mine listed his Matchless Hot Box (a pre-amp pedal) for a “Buy It Now” price of $200 and it sold within minutes. “I guess I should’ve listed it higher” he later told me. I guess he should’ve called me first.

2. Try misspelling the name of the item. “Marshal amp” or “Gibbon Les Paul” or “Phender Strat”. eBay is a search engine based site, you would not be referred to a typo, so create a typo.

3. Carefully read the item’s description. Look for phrases like “without speakers”, “not original”, “I am selling a photo of a ’59 Les Paul”. E-mail and ask for more pics. It costs to have more than one photo on your listing and many aren’t willing pay the extra price, but it costs them nothing to send you a jpg or two.

4. Start your eBay experience slowly. Start with smaller items like pedals. Bid only what you are comfortable paying. Use PayPal whenever possible. It’s easy to dispute in the PayPal system. Bookmark sellers that treat you right.

5. If you are having trouble finding what you want, click the “Add to Favorite Searches” link and eBay will e-mail you every time one of those items is listed. Be somewhat specific. Don’t just say “amp” or you are liable to get 1500 e-mails everyday! Fool me once...

6. If you have a good experience leave a positive feedback. If your eBay transaction is much less than smooth and you’ve tried to resolve the issue, (and have some grace as many things can go wrong; shipping issues, computer issues, PayPal issues and so forth) then it’s OK to leave a negative feedback. Feedback ratings are the oil in eBay’s machinery.

7. Bid confidently with someone who has a feedback of 100%  and a number of feedbacks as that A+ rating is worth more than gold and most sellers and buyers will make your happiness their priority in order to keep it.

8. Be cautious with bidders or sellers with a feedback score of less than 10. Click on their name and see what items they tend to sell/buy. Look at the dates. Are they all in the last month? This may be a sign of someone reregistering to distance themselves from a too negative rating under an old handle. However, if you are a gambler, and you really want a good deal, there is very little bidding competition for sellers with 80-95% ratings. But remember caveat emptor.

9. When bidding look at who else is buying. Click on the “bids” link. It will list your bidding competition. If you see buyers with hundreds of purchases (especially gear purchases) you are going up against pros. Two conclusions: You are bidding on something worthwhile and you are going to lose.

10. Bid weird amounts. The minimum next bid amount increases with the price; 50 cents to one dollar to $2.50 to $5.00 and so on. If making a late bid, at least double the minimum and add a penny, that someone may try to sneak a last second minimum bid but you will beat them by one penny. It’s been done to me and it’s very humiliating. Try maybe 11 cents or 31 cents or something unpredictable.

11. Sometimes the “Buy It Now” price is better than bidding. Look at what they are willing to give away to have the sale ended. One amp I was looking at threw in free shipping (saving $65), some used but working tubes (?$) and a five switch pedal. All worth the difference between the starting price of $1149 and the BIN price of $1299.

12. On bigger items check out eSnipe!!! It will bid for you in the last 6 seconds (!!!!) so you don’t have to baby sit the auction. And so you are not tempted to drive up the price with price testing bids. It will save you a fortune.

13. Also, again, carefully read the items description. This can be to your advantage. I recently bought a “broken” “as-is” mic pre (I used eSnipe), for less then a fourth of the cost of it’s retail, new value. It was being sold from Cleveland pawn shop. The description said, “doesn’t produce any sound” and “don’t have the ability to test any further”. I speculated that they didn’t know what they had, as mic-pres don’t produce any sound that doesn’t require amplification. I checked their other items for sale. Figurines, flutes, home stereos, but no high end sound gear. They probably didn’t know anything about mic-pres. It didn’t properly work when I received it, but even after repairing it it will cost me less than half retail! Score

I hope these tips help you get some great deals on some new for you gear. Post your eBay successes and failures below in the comment thread so everyone can learn from your... um... successes and failures!