Wish we had a Musician's Friend store here in the UK. None of the shops we have offer anything like the 45 day reurn service or even the trading up system either.

The only thing we have are the Distance Selling laws and regulations that apply to all products bought through mail order. These allow you to return something within a 7 day period if it's not what you wanted. This is called a "cooling off period".

Mike

Guitars are like cars in that respect.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

As a few people have mentioned already. Your guitar doesn't really lose so much "value" once you buy it new from a store, in fact relatively speaking the name brand and quality guitars and other music gear actually retain good value for their TRUE used street price. For instance a new Fender Amerian Series Strat goes for ~$950 or so and the used selling price is around $7-750 for the normal average(you can obviously see it priced lower or higher, but in general this is the typical price range for a very good condition American Strat with the OHSC, if its all dinged up lower the price, hard to find color higher the price etc...) used price if you are sellind/buying DIRECT from another individual. So its lost about 25% of its value which isn't bad.

The problem as others have alluded to is when you try and sell it used to a store, the store obviously wants to make a profit, in fact most music stores make more profit percentage wise on a used item than on a new instrument. In general they will want to double their money. So if they know they can sell this used Strat for $750, they offer you half or about $325.00 give or take for it which is a huge depreciation from your original $950. They may bump it up to $400-450 for a trade in price if you buy more stuff from them, but in general this is the way it works.

Moral of the story is to sell your used instrument on your own since you'll get a lot more for it than any store will ever give you cash or trade in price. The obvious place is Ebay, your local classifieds, put flyers up where you can for free.

For instance, a couple of wks ago I went to my local music store to buy a Fender American 62 reissue strat and brought a 18" Paiste signature power crash and a 21" Sabian Signature Rod Morgenstein tri-top ride to trade in value was. Needless to say it was a joke and I didn't take their offer. They offered me only $200.00 of TRADE IN value for BOTH cymbals. Both of these cymbals RETAIL new for a little over $300--I was expecting more like $150 EACH for trade in value. I sold the Paiste for $185 on Ebay which in now helping me finance my Strat and will put up the other cymbal soon which I expect to get at least $150 for.

Somebody else said something about cars being the same way.

That's true, especially for american luxury cars. You buy a Lincoln or a Cadillac for around $40,000 and once it goes into your possession, it's worthless.

Unfortunately, that's the way everything in this crappy world is.

Oh, hehe, I should've mentioned Pawn shops, those are the worst.

it seems different in my place, Fender guitars retail price goes up each year, the second hand value for Fender and Gibson don't seems to go down in the market
I read that the most expensive strats are all old vintage strats instead, or those autographed by rock stars for charity auctions, or maybe those played by guitar legends in major festivals, such as the strat played by Jimi Hendrix in Woodstock.

i worked in a music store for my work exp, n i learnt that when a comapany buys in a guitar, say a american vintage strat. they buy it for £600, sell it for £1100. because of the vat etc n so they can make a profit. so when you take it back to them, there is no need for them to buy it for alot of oney, they have made there profit, they buy it from you for £500 then sell it second-hand for £800. its all about the money sadly

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When Quinn the Eskimo gets here, everypnes gunna jump for joy!

I've only found one answer for me for ths challange, and it sounds simplistic, but it's worked for me.

"don't sell them!!"

Ok, you ask, "But what if I don't *like* this brand new shiny guitar I just bought?"

the answer to that is 'You shouldn't have bought it!' ?????

Ok here's how I've learned to avoid buying guitars I just end up selling at a loss. (Mind, I went thru about $100,000 worth of guitars before I figured this out)

I no longer "look for new guitars". I let *them* find me. I *specifically* do not look for guitars that "look cool", "So and So plays one! (so it must rock", or "I've always wanted"

Here's how new guitars make into my collection (and never leave)

Step one: Catches my eye/ear

Step two: Pick it up and play a note/line/chord. If it resonates my soul, continue to step three, if not *PUT IT DOWN, NOW!!!*

Step three: plug it in (if electrified) If it still resonates my soul, continue, other wise PUT IT BACK, NOW!!

Step Four: Play for *NO MORE* than 5 minutes, If I can't put it down *and* my cheeks hurt 'cause I'm smiling soooo much, I buy it! If not, I PUT IT BACK, NOW

Of the last 5 guitars that made smile, I've still got 4 (the 5th got stolen in '75!!)

Of the 45 guitars that I "thought about and finally decided to buy!" I've lost probably close to $50,000 over the last 30 years on those decisions.

(I've also sold a '58 strat for $250, at '68 gold top for $275, and walked away from a '58 LP for $300) so I *know* what mistakes to not make again.

remember, if you ain't smiling when your playing it, it *ain't* the guitar for you, No matter How cool/cheap/whatever it sounds/looks like

gypsy!jack
ps: my problem these days is *all* of the custom shop strats at my store make me smile <sigh.>

GOOD guitars will only hold their value over the long haul. Only buy an
expensive guitar if you REALLY love it & never buy an expensive guitar if
you are just starting out. Playing a bunch of cheap ones will tell you what you like and don't like & then you can go for the one(s) you'll keep forever.
I've been playing 45 years and have found 9 keepers so far.
Also, if you modify a guitar, you had better be able to get it back into its original condition if you want it to be worth anything !! Perminant mods
destroy the value of collectible guitars !!!!!!

Some guitars actually do appreciate in value.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Agreed. My '58 LP has gone up $1k just in the 9 years I've owned her. 80's & 90's era PRS' are bringing a mint now...more than they sold for when they were new.

I worked for GC for about 8 years and yes, 25% of what GC sold it for was the general rule of thumb. If they bought it from another retailer and got gouged on the price, then they were in for even more of a shock. Some things we could break the rules on obviously, but the hardest point to get across was to the guys that came in with their modified guitars. It only adds value to the customer that comes in wanting those specific mods.

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ

I bought a brand new Epiphone Les Paul Standard in 2008 for $420 new. When I went to trade it in for a new guitar (after replacing the stock pickups with Gibsons, installed a bone nut, and added strap locks), I was offered $150 for it! What an insult. But going price for a used guitar like mine was around $300. Turns out improvements are only improvements to the holder. Not to everyone else. A couple places told me that. I was asked to put all the stock parts back on it and sell it that way since I'll get the same price.

Bottom line for me, I will NEVER buy a new guitar again. My Lonestar was new for $550. Used they are less the $425 at a retail store. Realistically, even less....

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC

I think the price of a used guitar should be 50% of the new price, maximum for non vintage/collectable instruments.

The prices of used guitars (particularly in the UK) are ridiculous. A used American standard for £6-700 is nothing out of the ordinary.

Ebay used American standard

New for £879

New strat listing

Theres only £180 difference between the two despite the used one being three years old.
It's a wonder theres any 2nd hand instrument market in this country at all.

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No no and no

I was in the Hollywood Guitar Center a couple days ago. They had a used Jeff Beck Strat for $1899. I said "that's ridiculous. You can get a new one for that". All they said was "so go get one".

I was in the GC by my house and they had a used JB as well...but for only $1149. That seemed a bit more reasonable. It still had the plastic on the pg and backplate even. I told them about the one in the H'wood store (which had some play rash on it) and they just laughed and said it was ridiculous. I went back yesterday to play it again and it was gone

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ

It's not just guitars it's everything. You can buy a brand new tv for $1500, keep it for a month and maybe get $500 for it and you'll probably have to deliver it. With the internet now people can order whatever they want or find deals at any time. People buy and sell so much stuff now that there is a saturated market of used goods.

It's not only guitars but almost any commodity that you buy,as soon as you leave the store the value plummets.There are rare cases where the value holds up but that's usually in big ticket items like some exotic sports cars or anything made in very limited numbers such as the very limited edition Strat that was made to celebrate the Jaguar sports cars,I believe that only about 40 were made,probably fewer.These guitars didn't depreciate much,if at all.Value is largely dependant on numbers made and availability the fewer made the slower the depreciation,so anytthing mass produced is destined to loose value quickly.If you are crafty enough or psychic you may even buy something that will grow in value over the years,like someone who was astute enough to buy a 'burst Les Paul in '59 for about $280,keep it in a closet for 50 yrs. and make a profit of $200,000 +.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.