GC Trade In VS Reverb

[Mongillo19]

I'm toying with the idea of selling my midrange guitars (outside my favorites or ones that I have a connection with) for one really nice guitar. I'm not stranger to selling gear but have only sold and shipped one guitar before. I honestly dislike what Reverb has become with fees and heavy favoring of the buyer. Local sale is of course an option but the gear scene isn't great here.

So that leaves me with GC. Is it dumb to get less $$$ for the convenience? Have any of you just brought a bunch of gear to trade in before well knowing the trade off?

 

[JiveTurkey]

Unless you are leaving a TOOOOOOOOOON of money on the table; GC and get it done. IMRE, at least.

 

[Jarick]

I did that recently. Brought a bunch of cheaper gear that I never used as a trade in at a used gear place (Music Go Round). My stuff was probably worth close to $1000 used and they gave me I think $550 as a trade in towards a new guitar. That was fine for me because a few things I brought in would have been way too expensive to ship (amp, monitor speakers). I would ballpark if I sold all that gear for $1000, I would have had to pay about $50 in fees and $150 in shipping, so it wasn't as big a difference.

If you're not worried about losing some money on the deal and don't want to spend the time and worry about flaky buyers, why not?

 

[la szum]

I flipped a shit ton of gear in the 2000s and 2010s--including guitars.

I'll only list and ship pedals at this point. Too much risk. Too little reward.

I'd try Faceboook Marketplace and a local sale before going GC, though. It
seems to be the place where a lot of eyes go these days.

 

[Warmart]

Over the years I've been up and down on GC trade-ins. What you'll be offered sometimes has no rhyme or reason. Wouldn't think it would depend on the salesperson but it makes me wonder! And don't be afraid to push back a bit with their initial offer.

I did have good luck this year with a trade-in there, but I would also suggest following @la szum 's suggestion and try selling on FBM, first. All depends where you live, of course. Some areas are awesome for it and some aren't.

 

[Mongillo19]

Awesome, thanks everyone!

 

[Iron1]

I have multiple GCs and Music-Go-Rounds nearby and have taken gear to both. It really depends on a lot of variables, but lately GC has been giving 60% of what they will retail it for. I.e. a $100 pedal gets me $60. If I can sell that pedal on Reverb for $100, I'll likely end up with $85. If I take it to Music-Go-Round, they give 50%, so $50.

From there, the math is up to you as to what you're willing to "pay" for the convenience of just getting rid of the gear. GC also currently gives 10% off whatever you're trading towards. I recently took some stuff in and got a brand new Fender Rumble 40 for $75 out of pocket (traded in a rack tuner and a Peavy Rage practice amp).

For more expensive stuff, like pricier guitars, I go with Reverb and ALWAYS use the seller protection. eBay is still an option, but have run into several non-paying buyers this year and eBay doesn't seem to care that it happens.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Am I the only one who has stopped liking FB marketplace so people can see the $3k amp I have for sale?

 

[CBHScott]

I have multiple GCs and Music-Go-Rounds nearby and have taken gear to both. It really depends on a lot of variables, but lately GC has been giving 60% of what they will retail it for. I.e. a $100 pedal gets me $60. If I can sell that pedal on Reverb for $100, I'll likely end up with $85. If I take it to Music-Go-Round, they give 50%, so $50.

From there, the math is up to you as to what you're willing to "pay" for the convenience of just getting rid of the gear. GC also currently gives 10% off whatever you're trading towards. I recently took some stuff in and got a brand new Fender Rumble 40 for $75 out of pocket (traded in a rack tuner and a Peavy Rage practice amp).

For more expensive stuff, like pricier guitars, I go with Reverb and ALWAYS use the seller protection. eBay is still an option, but have run into several non-paying buyers this year and eBay doesn't seem to care that it happens.

I am with all of this.

Right now, I have something really cool on layaway at one of my MGRs. I am contemplating whether to try and sell stuff to make up the difference, or just take a bit more of a hit by trading it in. The thing is, the asking price on what I have on hold is probably a few-to-several hundred dollars below market value, so the trade hit I would take would kind of even out in the end.

OP, depending on the guitar you are eyeing at GC, it may be worth the peace of mind to just trade your stuff in towards it. If it’s a $2000 guitar, for example, they are going to knock $200 off the price, so at least that would offset a chunk of whatever the difference would be between the trade credit and the net gain of an outright sale.

Here is an example that I have shared elsewhere:

Let’s say I am eyeing a brand new Gibson Les Paul Studio at a rack price of $1699. I am going to trade in an Epiphone Slash Les Paul that new retails for $799. They are probably gonna sell it for no more than $650, and offer me no more than $350 trade credit, BUT the discount off the new guitar is $170 - so basically I am getting a $520 credit for the trade in. OTOH, I sell on Reverb for $650, but fees take at least $50, plus I also have to ship it, so figure around $70 there. $650 - 120 = $530 net to me (at best). Not much difference there at all, PLUS I know that GC isn’t potentially going to flake out on me after the sale, as opposed to some Reverb buyers.

In any event, good luck!

 

[Jarick]

Another one, if you aren't already getting a discount, you usually get something like 10-15% off for trade-ins. One time I bought a Helix Floor and brought in an old USB interface for trade in. I think they gave me about $20 for the interface and then took a could hundred off the Helix.

 

[Baba]

I'll only list and ship pedals at this point. Too much risk. Too little reward.

I'd try Faceboook Marketplace and a local sale before going GC, though. It
seems to be the place where a lot of eyes go these days.

Same

 

[DrewJD82]

Man, I should bring my DRRI in there when they’ve got an SV/SC20 and see what they’ll give me for it towards the Marshall.

 

[jellodog]

Man, I should bring my DRRI in there when they’ve got an SV/SC20 and see what they’ll give me for it towards the Marshall.

You're already aware that the SV20 is unusable (unattenuated) at home / apartment volumes? Just bringing it up because it's why this house ended up with a Friedman instead, despite the fantastic tones offered by the SV20.

At least the SC20 has an MV, as does the Mini Jubilee.

Other than that - awesome!

 

[DrewJD82]

You're already aware that the SV20 is unusable (unattenuated) at home / apartment volumes? Just bringing it up because it's why this house ended up with a Friedman instead, despite the fantastic tones offered by the SV20.

At least the SC20 has an MV, as does the Mini Jubilee.

Other than that - awesome!

Indeed. Whatever amp I buy next will most certainly need an attenuator. It’s most likely going to be around the SV20/Bassman/JTM45 zone. Right now I’m in a “I want a modeling rig and a traditional amp/pedalboard rig” instead of mixing the two together…..give me a week and I’ll change my mind again.

 

[jellodog]

“I want a modeling rig and a traditional amp/pedalboard rig”

That's where I am right now and I love it!

 

[Iron1]

You're already aware that the SV20 is unusable (unattenuated) at home / apartment volumes?

MXR M-108 10-band EQ in the Loop. Shape the tone and use the Level slider to cleanly attenuate the volume. Works like a charm.

 

[DrewJD82]

That's where I am right now and I love it!

I kept thinking of different ways to incorporate pedals with the FM9 and it’s just not feasible without making a 200lb pedalboard, so fuck it, I’m just going to keep ‘em separate. More is more!

 

[DrewJD82]

MXR M-108 10-band EQ in the Loop. Shape the tone and use the Level slider to cleanly attenuate the volume. Works like a charm.

This is what I used to do with my Carvin Legacy back in the day, I used either a rack EQ or an old Digitech rack delay, would crank the shit out of the amp and turn the output down on either rack piece.

I don’t know what the difference is between doing this and using an actual attenuator is, but it worked!

 

[la szum]

Indeed. Whatever amp I buy next will most certainly need an attenuator. It’s most likely going to be around the SV20/Bassman/JTM45 zone. Right now I’m in a “I want a modeling rig and a traditional amp/pedalboard rig” instead of mixing the two together…..give me a week and I’ll change my mind again.

I like to keep the world's separated. The best of both is likely found in NOT mixing them up.

 

[la szum]

For the last time, putting something in the FX loop that has a way to attenuate/roll back volume is not the same
as an attenuator. It just isn't.



All you are doing in that scenario is limiting the volume going TO the power amp section from the preamp. It has
ZERO bearing on the Power amp and attenuating the Amplifier. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nothing.

Just ask Dave Friedman. He'll tell ya.