To those who had to sell multiple guitars before moving...
 

I'm probably moving in 18 months. Possibly 24, but 18 is the target. And not across town. I obviously don't want to ship a bunch of guitars. So I'm thinking of selling at least 6 guitars before I move.

I'm thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to start selling now. Even though it's guitars I wouldn't otherwise sell, and would play regularly if they were here. I just don't want to wait too long and possibly have to take deals I don't like just to get it done.

So to those who set a goal to sell at least 6 guitars before moving, how long did it take?

I don’t get why moving means you have to sell guitars. For the money? People move all the time. Big pieces of furniture, dressers, chests, dining rooms, bedroom furniture, beds. All are much bigger, much more space, way heavier, awkward to lift, heavy, require multiple people to lift. 6 guitars are nothing.

hi blue, since your in NA thats a plus to sell quicker imo. but the more pertinent question would be what are the guitars? and how much below market value would you sell them for... its a sellers market for GOOD guitars atm, but price dictates how quick they would move. so your question is very subjective without more info

Actually now is an incredibly good time to sell. Stocks are low world wide.

I put 3 guitars on consignment recently. 1 sold in 24 hours (and shipped from Australia to UK!) another took a week and the last one sold a week ago.

I've put guitars in a moving truck before. It was a harrowing experience for me. YMMV. And just to be clear. It isn't 6 guitars. It's 6 in addition to the un-named number I am keeping ;)

I sent 6 guitars in a moving van across the US...it worked well. Put the cases in the cardboard clothing wardrobes.

I only sold one guitar before the move, so i cant give you much input based on experience. I can say that the amount of time it takes to sell a guitar has a lot to do with whether it is a guitar that will appeal to a lot of folks: a commonly known maker (Martin and Taylor and Gibson for sure, maybe also Collings, H&D, Bougeois as well), using common woods (EIR and mahogany), offering a size that is popular (dreads are pretty popular), at a price point that many are ready to spend (below $2K is best, but it seems that below $4K is within reach of enough players; $12K guitars don’t usually get snapped up in a few days.

There also seem to be seasonal variation. For example, guitars usually move slowly for a month or two after Christmas, and there are other times of the year when sales volume seems to decrease.

For many people, there tends to be a big push in the last few weeks before a big move; I’d recommend that you aim to have your guitars sold a month before your move date.

Worst case scenario: you cant get all the guitars you want to sell gone, and you have to take a few more guitars with you.:)

I also used one of those "hanging clothes wardrobe" boxes and it should have been fine. Unfortunately the Saturn station wagon (why yes, this was in the year 2000 :D) "shifted" in transit and while only a little case damage was done, it was horrifying. When I opened the case of the Taylor Jumbo 555 I was gulping air in panic! But it was fine.

As to the guitars I'm selling, I'm an oddball so my guitars are as well. No Gibson, Taylor etc. Parker, a National style 1 tricone Baritone (I love it, but it isn't my holy grail. It is too similar to my holy grail German Silver style 1), Larrive 12 fretter probably. Not strange, but definitely not mainstream.

That's why I'm thinking of starting early!

I'm doing the same thing and the market around here is so depressed you can't get fifty cents on the dollar.

Seems like you can get very good money if you are willing to ship. If it's that bad around you it makes paying to have them packed at a UPS store could be worth. Plus it's possibly the best way to make sure insurance will be paid out if something goes wrong. assume close to $30 for packing and somewhere around $100 to $140 depending on where you're shipping.

High priced? Yes, but if it's between 5 and 10% of what you are selling for, that's WAY better than 50 cents on the dollar.

oops, wrong thread. :)

Sound like good advice. Thanks.

I don't either

we have 8 chairs for our dinning room set.

I aint selling 6 of them so I only to move two.

I have close to 20 guitars

we had a house fire last march, (didn't loose any)

I took all of them up to my brother inlaws about 20 minutes away

once we moved to temp housing, I took most of them there

when we moved back home in January they all came back home..

I never for a sec. thought of selling anything.

We entrusted a lot of expensive stuff to the movers. But not my guitars! I put 'em in my car and Mrs. Cougar's van for the 700 mile move.

I've not been in those circumstances but If I were I wouldn't wait to the last minute to sell them. Eighteen months is a long way out, but time gets away. They say the market for used guitars is good right now. Sounds like you have plenty of guitars to play.

Lots of advice on how to avoid selling the aforementioned six guitars. As to your question on actually selling them, my vote is to strike while the iron is hot and get them listed now while supply is down. Especially true if you're not planning on posting them for sale online and are looking to sell local. A smaller market and some unique inventory means it may take some time, even in this market.

I pretty much sell local now due to Paypal's policy shift to not refund fees if a buyer elects to return a guitar for any reason. I've learned patience is definitely a virtue when you're limiting yourself to your local geo. Finding the right demand for your particular supply can be tough, particularly when you're talking about higher priced instruments. In the past, I've suffered through the low-ball offers on (IMO) well-priced guitars for upwards of six months before I met up with the right buyer. Some have moved much faster, but I've never been in fire-sale mode, so can wait it out if required.

I might have to take this pandemic induced supply-side shortage thing for a spin myself and see if I can move one or two that do not get much attention. Best of luck with the move and with lightening the load!

Austin