Guitar Center question

[errrrrl]

Hey so the first ever Guitar Center in the state of Hawaii opens tomorrow. I've never been to one before and was curious about selling gear to/thru them. Is it on consignment? Or do they flat out buy your gear and sell it for higher? Do they give you a fair amount or try to rip you off? I have some gear I've been meaning to let go but just don't have the time to list and show gear on craiglist so if GC doesn't totally suck I may just unload thru them. Lets hear them thoughts! Thanks!

 

[311boogieman]

Here is my experience (but I mainly wanted to make sure Rig-Talk still works after 10pm as I rarely see posts after 10pm - we must be getting older) LOL

They will buy stuff off you - no consignment (that I've seen)
They will buy lower than what you will expect (they have margin requirements)
You can sometimes get a good deal though
Your stuff will be worth more if you're buying something (obviously)
They may be more motivated since they are just opening
Store policies and 'wiggle room' seem to vary depending on store/manager

What I would do is plug your gear into their current used locator search and see what they are asking for your stuff now. Also get some idea of what you can get for it otherwise, so you walk with a good idea of what you are willing to accept.

If you have something new you want and GC carries it, now would be a good time to go in and negotiate.

Many GC's have gotten burned over the years because they either pay too much for used gear and/or can't resell it so if you get a store/manager that is very conservative and really only interested in selling new stuff - you may have a hard time. You should know within about 5 minutes on how your future is going to go with them

My examples:

I got my Mesa Rectoverb RII head at GC for $490
I got my Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 for $315

and I've sold some stuff to them as mine seemed willing to wheel and deal - but have not been in awhile.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Whatever your gear sells for on Reverb cut that number in half
Only use if desparate!

 

[Snave]

Whatever your gear sells for on Reverb cut that number in half
Only use if desparate!

In my experience, they won't even offer half of what identical items are listed for on GC used.

 

[kingpinMS3]

Getting used gear for cheap and their return policy are the only things that make gc worth a shit

 

[Norton666]

40% of current used market value is their standard practice. Of course , if they have an immediate demand for the item that you’re trading in , you may get more.

EG: Your guitar is going used online for $1k , they will offer you $400 for it

 

[skullfxr]

Whatever your gear sells for on Reverb cut that number in half
Only use if desparate!

This. I have only brought one thing that I was interested in selling them to, ten years ago. LTD EC1000. They offered not much more than $200 IIRC. I sold it on Craigslist list a few weeks later for $600.

 

[Racerxrated]

The few times I've done it, as previously stated they won't quite get to 50% of what the ebay sold items have gone for. But that's pretty common as Music Go Round does the same thing. You just have to decide which is a bigger pain in the ass...Ebay/Reverb, where douchebags roam or take it in the rear by "giving" it away practically.....
As far as buying gear, for you out in Hawaii I'd think you now have a pipeline for cool used gear, if you want it...now you can scan the used GC website and if you want something have them ship to your new store...cheaper that way!

 

[Chris6870]

If your buying something from them it may be worth it to trade in because they give you something like 10% off the purchase price just for trading in. I have done this with junk gear that's not in demand or just not worth selling outright. If it's quality gear your always better selling yourself.
I had a cheap acoustic I traded in on a better one, and it was worth it because no one would buy it. With the 10% off the new one and they gave me maybe 100 for the trade in it helped.
On the other hand I had a mint Mark V:35 head that they offered me $800 for it. If I was trading it in I may have been able to work a better deal.I declined and sold it on Reverb for $1350

 

[alan67]

I wouldn't figure on GC opening a store in Hawaii - seems like a small saturated market but I'm not sure if Hot Licks or Easy Music are still around?

 

[lespaul6]

It depends on the piece of gear.. if its highly sought after they will give you more than 50%.... I traded in a Soldano hot rod 100 and they credited me 900 dollars- that's how much I paid for it- so it worked in my case.

 

[MrDowntown]

The few times I've done it, as previously stated they won't quite get to 50% of what the ebay sold items have gone for. But that's pretty common as Music Go Round does the same thing. You just have to decide which is a bigger pain in the ass...Ebay/Reverb, where douchebags roam or take it in the rear by "giving" it away practically.....
As far as buying gear, for you out in Hawaii I'd think you now have a pipeline for cool used gear, if you want it...now you can scan the used GC website and if you want something have them ship to your new store...cheaper that way!

Hell yea on the used gear pipeline...wonder what shipping from East coast, or West, out to Hi would be..? It's typically about 20-35$ to my house from anywhere in Cont USA.

I tried, and failed, one time to trade a guitar for their guitar..i felt like mine was worth 14-1500, they wanted 1k for theirs..so in my world they would be getting the better of the deal. Offered to bring it in and let them give it their once-over, and then just straight trade with me. Manager was like uhhh...no sir we cant do that.... i said C'mon man...at the end of the day you'll still have a $1,000-$1500 guitar hanging on the wall.

I wound up selling that guitar to a guy 45 min away for 1500$...

I'm likely in the minority, but i like GC...for what it is. the one local to me is typically very friendly and helpful,...and as stated they have a very generous return policy.

 

[Exo-metal]

What island will it be on man?

 

[Beandust]

GC is great for trying out gear, if they even carry it, then buying it from another dealer cause they are cheaper and provide better support. GC gas an open door policy on returns which is cool and they buy your used gear. Consider getting something is better than nothing but if your ever wanting to consider anything reasonable forget selling them gear. Trading in even worse. Give them your shit buy there's is what it will equal. Corporate greed is what they meet there numbers on. We have 2 where I live and they carry all the bs gear available.

 

[scottosan]

Hey so the first ever Guitar Center in the state of Hawaii opens tomorrow. I've never been to one before and was curious about selling gear to/thru them. Is it on consignment? Or do they flat out buy your gear and sell it for higher? Do they give you a fair amount or try to rip you off? I have some gear I've been meaning to let go but just don't have the time to list and show gear on craiglist so if GC doesn't totally suck I may just unload thru them. Lets hear them thoughts! Thanks!

They will give you 60% of what they will sell it for, so fair price is up for debate. People cant grasp the concept of business and understand that if they buy an instrument from you at the same price as what they go for, they won't be in business for long. For me, its somtime worth selling cheaper gear to them to avoid the mental beat down of the Marketplace or Craigslist. I also dont understand why people will pay for something to a stranger for the same price they can get it at GC, since at least you can take it back

 

[311boogieman]

I don't think it is as bad as folks are saying here but like I said....I believe (at least in the past) that there were big differences from store to store and manager to manager.

Honestly, I also believe that some of that past behavior is partly to blame for what got GC into financial trouble.

But if you take the 50% logic (which could very well be true these days) that means someone sold a Mesa Single Rec Rectoverb to GC for $250 and someone else sold a Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 to GC for $150.

Cray cray.

Crack money maybe?

 

[Fret-Shredder]

Bottom line is if its worth it to you to get a reasonable return on your initial gear investment than you make time to sell it directly to a fellow musician via Craigslist or the Classifieds. It can take a little longer but in the end it will be a lot better than dealing with G.C. as they have to make money to pay for their overhead. Thats just how it is. If you dont have time like you say than your options become more limited. Just walk into G.C. reach down and grab your ankles until a representative comes over to assist you. Good luck.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

People cant grasp the concept of business and understand that if they buy an instrument from you at the same price as what they go for, they won't be in business for long.

I do think people grasp the concept just fine. In the early 90s that model worked as the only other option was putting a listing in a newspaper type area circular.
These days with craigslist, Reverb, eBay, Facebook, Forums, etc it's a ridiculous loss to take as a customer seller.

Here's a concept of business I don't grasp- how does GC stay in business? Seriously. I used to drop 10k a year there 20 years ago and now I won't even buy picks from them.

 

[errrrrl]

Wow. Thanks guys I get it now. Sounds like if I am going to sell I might as well try to buy/order something from them to maximize a discount. It's good to know that 40 to 50% seems to be their target ahead of time.

I wouldn't figure on GC opening a store in Hawaii - seems like a small saturated market but I'm not sure if Hot Licks or Easy Music are still around?

I've seen pics from friends that started working there stocking it up and from what I heard from others is this is possibly one of the nicest GC they've seen based off some pics of their recording area where they have a wall of Mac laptops setup for software. Hot Licks closed down quite a while ago, and Dan from over there opened his own shop in town called Dan's guitars which is where I get most of my gear from. Easy Music had two locations but just closed one in preparation of GC coming. GC is going to do well here.

What island will it be on man?

On Oahu centrally located in Pearl City.

THanks again guys for chiming in.

 

[Kordoba]

There's nothing worse than taking a big stiff one up the poop chute.

At least with Guitar Center you know it's going to happen in a well lit, reasonably clean environment.