What is your preferred method of selling a guitar?
 

How do you guys sell your guitars? Classifieds here or on other sites, reverb, consignment, trade in? Do you typically put them up for sale in multiple places?

Craigslist. Cash and carry or trade. Meet face to face in public place, i.e. well lit gas stations, police station, large store parking lot.

For years it was always AGF. Then came 'the glut'. So I started doing both AGF and Reverb but still mostly sold on AGF. As of late I've had the best luck on Reverb but now that they changed their rules for getting paid I no longer sell on Reverb, only buy. I've sold a couple on Craigslist but the only things that sold well there were Martin guitars. Of course those are also the easiest to sell on AGF!

Using the local classifieds in cities big and small since I was 13. First newspapers, then kijiji classifieds. I've always met people at my home and never had a bad experience. I'm not selling gear anymore though for several reasons.

Consignment/trade, in order of preference...

There’s not really a market for higher end acoustics in my areas so what I consider my safe choices are AGF classifieds and Reverb. Reverb’s total fees are now nearly 8% of the total selling price (including estimated shipping). I sure hope when I list a guitar at both, an AGF buyer shows up first. I wish potential Reverb buyers would consider checking the AGF classifieds also.

I've been fortunate to have bought and sold a fair number of guitars here on our classifieds but more recently I've begun consigning. Mostly to avoid the associated headaches but also all the fraud lurking out there. The AGF classifieds do offer an incredible amount of exposure to players in this community at a very reasonable cost. I purchased off of Reverb but never sold there or had anything to do with CL.

I've been a bit wary of selling guitars online. But that seems to be the only way to do it these days. My local guitar store might consider a trade-in, but the last time I asked, they were very particular about brands they would consider.

This has been a bit of an issue for me, as I have come to the realization that I have guitars that I don't play, have no interest in playing, and are taking up room for guitars that I DO want to play.

I may break out of my comfort zone and put one of the lower end guitars up on the local Craigslist and see what develops.

During the past year I've had great selling (and buying) transactions on AGF. One was a sale to another AGF member, and the 2nd was a trade (+cash) with a different AGF member (we met semi-locally to transact our business). Actually, AGF member had just gotten Covid and met with his friend instead.

I like using AGF because you can get a more fair value (vs. 60% or whatever at GC), even while giving another AGF member a decent deal.

A few months ago I also purchased a guitar from Sweetwater Used Gear (which I had not previously been aware of). There was some trading involved as well. As it turns out the seller was only a few hours away so we met part way (in a busy, public parking lot in front of a restaurant). The seller informed me that there were no selling fees on Sweetwater, so I may try them down the road if I sell another guitar.

Cheers!

I’ve been a Craigslist guy. Going to try the AGF this year. See how it goes.

Craigslist works well for me because I live in a fairly large metropolitan area. It probably doesn't work too well in smaller areas with less population. My second choice would be Reverb where things like payments, shipping and insurance protection are all pretty straightforward. I wouldn't hesitate to use AGF classifieds to sell to another member and actually did sell a snark tuner once that went very smoothly. I don't think I would want to consign a guitar for other people to look after it and allow anyone to try it. I'd worry about it all the time.

Edited by member.

AGF Classifieds only, since my transactions have been 99% positive to date. Due to my own stupidity and trusting nature, I got burned on a Craigslist posting a few years ago, so I'm done with that.

Craigslist when I feel like it's one that will sell there. I like meeting face to face (in normal times). Never had an issue with CL, buying or selling.

Local Craigslist, Cash only.

I do my deals at our local Police Station.