So, let’s say you want to sell your guitar. Maybe you need money for a new guitar, or you just want to get rid of your current guitar, since it occupies too much space in your room, and so on.
Whatever the reason is, you need to asses the value of your guitar before selling it. So, how to asses the value of your guitar? How much should you sell your guitar for?
First thing you should do is to check the price of your guitar at eBay, or some other selling site. Just by looking into it, you should get the general sense of your guitar’s worth. Roughly speaking, guitars are sold at 30 % to 60 % of their initial value.
However, there’s a lot more to it. Is your guitar potentially wanted among collectors, or guitar enthusiasts in general?
Is there a potential for rise in value when it comes to your guitar?
Vintage guitars very often maintain their value over time. Not only do they maintain their value, but it’s often the case that vintage guitars rise in value.
Of course, there’s no general rule to that, since every guitar is different. Check out the article from this site about it, in details.
Guide: How To Assess The Value Of Your Guitar?
But, what if you want to sell just an average guitar, whether it’s electric or acoustic? How can you get the sense of its value? Here are the tips you can read. I hope they’ll help.
1. Check Selling Sites
Go on eBay, Craigslist, or your local selling site to see for how much a guitar model you own is selling.
Of course, some may sell their guitars at ridiculously high price, but luckily there are many sellers out there, and you can just compare the prices they’re selling their guitars for.
Usually, an average guitar is selling at around 30-60 % of its initial price. This “rule” isn’t definite. It doesn’t mean you can’t sell your guitar at, let’s say, 80 or 90 % of its initial price.
However, prepare yourself for this estimation. Most of the (average) guitars are sold at half of their value.
2. Ask For Assessment At Guitar Forums
It’s simple. Just go and ask the question at few guitar forums, such as Ultimate Guitar, Reddit and so on. Open the topic and ask. In a moment, you’ll get a few answers.
Today, there are so many guitar communities on the web that it’s impossible to not get an information about your guitar’s value.
Of course, many answers and opinions will differ. Nevertheless, this is a great, quick and free way to get the valuable information about the value of your guitar.
3. Ask Your Local Guitar Shop
Take your guitar at your local guitar shop. Here’s my advice. Don’t try to sell the guitar there.
They’ll probably give a very low estimation of your guitar’s value. Just ask them for their honest assessment.
Guitar shop clerks have experience in this. They can tell you the approximate price.
4. Don’t Take Your Guitar In Pawn Shop
Don’t sell your guitar to pawn shop. Why? It’s simple. Pawn shop won’t buy your guitar for their personal use. Their job is to buy things from people and then sell those things to other people.
They are just mediators in the process. Therefore, they are assessing the value of things in this way. For example, if they offer you a 200 $ for your guitar, that doesn’t mean that your guitar value is 200 $.
It’s much higher. If they offer a 200 $, that means they’ll sell it for 400 $ or something like that. It’s because of taxes, their profit and so on.
So, I wouldn’t advise you to take your guitar there. You’ll only get disappointed.
4. Examine Vital Guitar Parts
Before selling, you must check your guitar thoroughly. Is some part of your guitar damaged? Is that visible?
In case of electric guitar; check the pickups and pickup switches, and input jack.
Pickups tend to get rusty, and pickup switches often stop working. Check if every pickup is functioning properly. Also, check the input jack. Many times input jacks get loose and that can cause sound cutting when playing.
Of course, before selling, you must clean your guitar. Nobody wants to buy a dirty, dusty guitar. I advise you to read this article.
4. Do A Research On Your Guitar
Take a few minutes to do a research on your guitar model. Maybe the guitar model you intend to sell isn’t produced anymore. In that case, there’s a high chance that the value of your guitar is rising.
Especially if there aren’t much same guitars out there. As it’s been said, it’s not uncommon for a guitar value to rise over time.
It would be a shame to sell a guitar that has a potential, in terms of its value.
Final Words
I hope this article gave you some general information about this subject. If you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it, I’m more than happy about it.
Don’t forget to check out some other interesting articles from this site about various guitar topics and issues!
Cheers, and rock on!
