The great "Why doesn't stuff sell in the classifieds" debate.

[War_in_D]

I've seen a few threads and/or comments in threads lately about why gear doesn't sell in the classifieds. For myself, I have rarely ever been able to sell anything here. The common sentiment I see about why stuff doesn't sell is "because people list things too high". I have no doubt that listing stuff too high plays a part, gear sales slacking as a whole plays a part as well. I was bored today and thought I would go back through my "for sale" adds here to see how many pieces of gear actually sold here vs. how many ended up selling on Reverb/Locally. I'm sure there are some things I missed, but I feel the below is pretty representative. I was able to find at least 17 examples.

Of these 17:

• 13 ended up on being sold on Reverb after listing here and/or locally with no takers.
• two ended up selling locally
• two things sold in the classifieds here.
• Everything I listed here, with the exception of a couple of things were listed as "to your door" (EX: $1500 shipped/insured)
• There were rare occasions where I listed "plus shipping", these were listed with actual shipping costs TBD.
• I usually list things locally at the same price as here, or a bit lower to account for not having to ship it and pay those costs. However, I'm in a economically challenged area and local sales on big ticket items are pretty rare. It's mostly trade offers, etc.
• Almost everything listed at Reverb had a asking price listed that was higher than it was listed here (to account for some of the fees), and had added shipping cost of some kind. Not to mention the purchaser had to pay sales tax, which effectively increased the overall sales price.
• As you can see, the vast majority of things STILL sold on Reverb vs. selling here where it was in the classifieds with a lower price, shipping was included and no sales tax would be charged (I.E. the "bro" deal)
• Nothing I list on Reverb will be listed at a lower price than I listed for here first (one was $2000 shipped here vs. $1999+$75 shipping on Reverb). There are several of my "for sale" ads where I removed the price on classified listing after it sold (either here or on Reverb), as I feel that's not information that anyone needs to know except the buyer and the seller. Some of those I couldn't remember what I had listed it for here, but I can guarantee it wasn't listed for more here than it went to Reverb for.
• Gear listed on Reverb usually sold within a few days to a week, if not much sooner. Some things have sold within hours of being listed.
• Most items were larger ticket/higher dollar items like amps, guitars, rack gear, etc..

My thoughts are, if you're selling things like pedals/pickups/accessories, tubes, etc. something small or relatively inexpensive, then this place is a viable resource to sell from. If you're primarily selling larger ticket items like amps, guitars, etc.. unless it's something really rare/unique, super desirable, or you are willing to give it away then it's not going to sell here. At least not quickly. As bad as Reverb can suck, it's still the best option for me to sell the higher dollar gear because when I'm ready to sell something, I want it gone before I change my mind. Sure, Reverb has their fees, sales tax is charged, you're not getting the "bro deal", etc.. but listing it on Reverb puts your gear in front of a whole lot more potential buyers with the means to purchase what they want. Not saying the classifieds aren't a valuable resource, I've bought some cool stuff here but as far as selling goes that is just the reality I've experienced. I still list stuff here, but anymore, I'll list it here, locally and at Reverb at the same time. No reason not to do this as past experience has taught me that listing locally and here in the classifieds aren't going to produce much in the way of sales. Just my .02 pennies. YMMV

 

[Shreddy Mercury]

We ain't gots no money

 

[War_in_D]

We ain't gots no money

I feel you.. My buying has dramatically decreased over the past couple of years as I start thinking about retirement, job security, etc..

 

[VonBonfire]

We ain't gots no money

I was thinking about selling some used thumbpicks for really cheap on the RT classifieds just as a service to the forum.

 

[NeubyWanKaneuby]

We ain't gots no money

Nobody wants what I have to sell, either.

 

[romanianreaper]

When I'm looking for gear, every time I buy something you can be rest assured that an identical item will show up here on the.forum, an hour after I've bought it.

 

[Alpha Stryke]

cuz nobody has the dough for $15K guitarz n mApz

 

[VonBonfire]

When I'm looking for gear, every time I buy something you can be rest assured that an identical item will show up here on the.forum, an hour after I've bought it.

Why Orange hasn't sponsored you is beyond me. Every time you post I wind up looking at their gear.....yesterday was checking out that sick 2x12 cab....

 

[romanianreaper]

Why Orange hasn't sponsored you is beyond me. Every time you post I wind up looking at their gear.....yesterday was checking out that sick 2x12 cab....

The only thing I wish Orange would work on is cutting the noise out of their products somehow. Great sound but a lot of bzzzzzz, lol.

 

[VonBonfire]

The only thing I wish Orange would work on is cutting the noise out of their products somehow. Great sound but a lot of bzzzzzz, lol.

That cab is freaking beautiful though. All of a sudden I was thinking "hey maybe a sweet MESA head would make sense if I owned that cab" smh. I'm not going to be clicking on your links anymore!!!

 

[Floyd Eye]

Because you aren't giving it away.

On a completely unrelated note, I AM giving some shit away. Not in the classifieds though since there is no "Prefix" for free.

 

[ilikehats]

I refuse to sell on Reverb these days. I post here and TGP. In the past month, I've sold 3 things (tubes, humbucker, nano cortex) here without a single DM on the other site.

And I bought an amp and a pedal here in the last month too.

I would much rather deal here, even at a slow pace, than pay stupid fees or deal with douche bags. You guys (mostly) don't suck

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

Sometimes there are really cool things on here for bro prices. Yesterday, there was a badass mii for a great price. I have no need for another guitar or i would have picked it up

Today there were two pickups from scottosan for around the price he originally sold them at. I considered buying both, but i already have a roxy, and that would have been selfish to hoard cool shit

 

[Omnipotent1]

Sometimes there are really cool things on here for bro prices. Yesterday, there was a badass mii for a great price. I have no need for another guitar or i would have picked it up

Today there were two pickups from scottosan for around the price he originally sold them at. I considered buying both, but i already have a roxy, and that would have been selfish to hoard cool shit

Agreed & it sold fast AF because dude asked for a take it off my hands price / wasn’t knockin heads.. blessed another RT brother. Most the time ppl be asking top dollar for shit not realizing what they’re posting is a dime a dozen, & it doesn’t work like that..

 

[Rackman]

I think part of it is generational economics. A lot of this gear has been around for 20+ years and the older guys with cash have shuffled it around until they found something they like. Now they're thinking about downsizing. I'm on the younger end of that - probably at peak gear. Even with doing some fairly pro tracking work on gutiar, I can't justify more. Probably can't justify what I've got.

The new guys coming out of school that might be buying stuff up just had no leverage in the labor market. One of the newbie engineers a few months back told me she was going to splurge on bonus day on a $200 set of books, and I had to nod and keep a straight face about what the big dogs make. The ones that play guitar play like a Schecter Hellraiser or a MIA Strat and some practice amp and that's it. Which is cool. Sometimes I wonder if all this shit is even worth it.

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

I think part of it is generational economics. A lot of this gear has been around for 20+ years and the older guys with cash have shuffled it around until they found something they like. Now they're thinking about downsizing. I'm on the younger end of that - probably at peak gear. Even with doing some fairly pro tracking work on gutiar, I can't justify more. Probably can't justify what I've got.

The new guys coming out of school that might be buying stuff up just had no leverage in the labor market. One of the newbie engineers a few months back told me she was going to splurge on bonus day on a $200 set of books, and I had to nod and keep a straight face about what the big dogs make. The ones that play guitar play like a Schecter Hellraiser or a MIA Strat and some practice amp and that's it. Which is cool. Sometimes I wonder if all this shit is even worth it.

I definitely can't justify the shit i have. But it makes me happy and I even play it sometimes.

 

[Omnipotent1]

I think part of it is generational economics. A lot of this gear has been around for 20+ years and the older guys with cash have shuffled it around until they found something they like. Now they're thinking about downsizing. I'm on the younger end of that - probably at peak gear. Even with doing some fairly pro tracking work on gutiar, I can't justify more. Probably can't justify what I've got.

The new guys coming out of school that might be buying stuff up just had no leverage in the labor market. One of the newbie engineers a few months back told me she was going to splurge on bonus day on a $200 set of books, and I had to nod and keep a straight face about what the big dogs make. The ones that play guitar play like a Schecter Hellraiser or a MIA Strat and some practice amp and that's it. Which is cool. Sometimes I wonder if all this shit is even worth it.

It’s only worth it if it makes you happy brother.. that’s all that matters, & at the end of that road many things become priceless.