What Resources Do You Use for Valuing Basses and Other Music Gear?

tlite

tlite

Aug 18, 2016
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#1
How do TB members go about research before buying or selling gear. I'd like to know if there are any resources out there I don't know about, or that may be helpful to other forum members.

Ultimate goal here is to get together a list of resources to preempt the "What's my bass/pedal/whatever worth?" forum questions.

Not that there's anything inherently wrong with asking a forum, but might be good to have a valuation DIY resource guide so that helpful homework can be done first.

What I can contribute that could be helpful (and is likely super obvious):

For the most useful data- finding data on gear that has actually sold:
  • Searching eBay for Completed and/or Sold listings
  • Using Reverb's Price Guide
  • Searching old TB (or other) Classifieds to see if I can approximate what something sold for
  • Vintage Guitar Magazine's Price Guide (haven't tried it as requires purchasing it, but I know about it)
Second best data (asking prices):
  • Checking Sam Ash, Guitar Center, Music Go Round Used listings
  • eBay active listings
  • Using a Search All Craigslist to see what's out there
What have you found useful? If we wind up with decent responses, a lot of options, or otherwise plentiful super helpful advice, I'd be happy to compile into some kind of user-friendly format if this thread alone doesn't suffice.
 
#2
You have covered the most accessible sources, but there are some prevalent ones you have missed entirely:

-how much will get me out of my current financial jam?

-how highly do I value my sentimental attachment?

-how much will a hipster pay simply because it is old and beat down?

-how high should I go so that it never sells but I can honestly tell the wife it is listed for sale in numerous places?
 
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#3
Occasionally, the DIY valuation route can yield a huge margin of error. If you're willing to pay a modest fee, Gruhn Guitars in Nashville does appraisals in-hand or via the Internet. A friend of mine had his two vintage Les Pauls appraised last year for insurance purposes, and both valuations were higher than he thought.
 
#4
garp said:
Occasionally, the DIY valuation route can yield a huge margin of error. If you're willing to pay a modest fee, Gruhn Guitars in Nashville does appraisals in-hand or via the Internet. A friend of mine had his two vintage Les Pauls appraised last year for insurance purposes, and both valuations were higher than he thought.
Click to expand...

Gruhn's is and has been on a mission to break the ceiling on instrument pricing.

Also, insurance appraisals are always higher than retail.
 
#5
I pretty much follow the "used price is about 50% of new" rule as a starting point. Hard to find stuff is upwards of that, poor condition or just want it gone, it goes down from there.

Of course the tried and true "whatever the market will bear" is the final judge on this....
 
#6
Regarding Gruhn's:

All true, can be pricey, but what a great shop and they know their stuff. I used to live in Nashville- cool place. If I had something unusual priced north of say, $2,000 might consider a pro. For say, my Fair Condition Boss Super Chorus, not sure I'd want to hire George!
 
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