Store trade scenario - what gives? need some advice

[jazzguy]

So I was in communication with a very well known national / internationally known guitar store. Not GC. I have bought two guitars from them. Both excellent purchases. We were exchanging emails regarding a trade of one of my guitars for a Collings I was interested in. They offered me a very fair trade value for my guitar.

The Collings guitar was listed at X price but then below that “list price”, it had a lower price. It did not say “sale price”. When it came down to figuring out what I would need to bring to the table beyond my guitar, the kind salesman informed me that trades are calculated at the “list price” not the “sale price”. Keep in mind, it did not say “on sale” or “sale price”.

Can anyone share with me the logic for this? Also - the fact that it just had a lower price not a sale price doesn’t seem right. Help me out. Thanks

[RP]

You'll generally do better buying something straight out (no trade in), be it a car or a guitar. The price that one pays for a great trade-in price is a not so great price for the item you want to purchase. If you want a great price, sell your guitar yourself; if you want a good trade-in price and don't want to deal with selling it yourself, then you won't get the best purchase price...

[Rad]

The issue is not the words, the issue is the $. Just politely inform the seller of exactly what you are willing to pay in addition to your trade in.

[Zissou Intern]

If it is a new Collings, it shouldn't have any other price below the list price. For years Collings allowed a 10% discount. That ended in June 2019.

[4mykey]

Originally Posted by jazzguy

So I was in communication with a very well known national / internationally known guitar store. Not GC. I have bought two guitars from them. Both excellent purchases. We were exchanging emails regarding a trade of one of my guitars for a Collings I was interested in. They offered me a very fair trade value for my guitar.

The Collings guitar was listed at X price but then below that “list price”, it had a lower price. It did not say “sale price”. When it came down to figuring out what I would need to bring to the table beyond my guitar, the kind salesman informed me that trades are calculated at the “list price” not the “sale price”. Keep in mind, it did not say “on sale” or “sale price”.

Can anyone share with me the logic for this? Also - the fact that it just had a lower price not a sale price doesn’t seem right. Help me out. Thanks

So my experience with trades is that shops usually offer you a good deal less for your trade than what you could sell it for privately. Basically, they need to make money on the entire transaction. So if this shop offered you fair market value for your trade in, what you could sell it for,....then they're not expecting to make much off selling your guitar. Therefore, they're going to make up that difference by not giving you the discounted price. If you paid fully up front for it, they would give you the discount. But since they're taking on your guitar which they might or might not make money on reselling, they're taking a risk and are going to cover their bets.

[Eraser]

List price/sale price means nothing, all that matters is change over price, thats for everything guitars, cars etc

[dneal]

Some good replies so far. The only number that matters is the difference (what you pay out of pocket).

[SkipII]

Any deal comes down to the most a buyer is willing to pay, and the least a seller is willing to charge. All this debate about "list" or "sale" doesn't matter.

Work your deal, and be willing to walk away from a deal that doesn't work for you. Remind them, of course, that you are a two-time customer.

[SalFromChatham]

Times are tough. We have been spoiled - 40% off MSRP etc. for years. And we are all playing in a luxurious hobby. 1st world issues have we...

Without a doubt, decide your best delta over your guitar, work your deal, but don't let your emotion resent a business owner for doing what's in their best interests - even if you don't agree what would be in their best interests as well as yours. It's wasted emotion. Buy your guitar, or walk away, with a smile. Life is short. And there are legions of working guitarists who would make an Ibanez Artwood sound better than any Collings/Martin/Gibson we would be lucky to play.

Good luck working your deal!

[mawmow]

I would never trade or sell a guitar to any store : I prefer selling by myself.
Keep in mind that the store has to make some profit when selling a guitar :
Why not keep that profit in your own pocket ?

Then I would buy from the store a lower than marked price.

This leaves way more money in my pocket.

[rmp]

stores don't like two way transactions as a rule.

your trade is just that, they are taking something IN to send something out.

Be thankful you actually got a "Fair" trade offer. Usually stores low ball people, oferring some where around half of what they think they can sell it for.

a $500 used guitar to them, is only worth $250 back to you.

Sell it out right and you avoid all of this, but have to hassle with listing fees, shipping shenanigans and the outside chance that you will be selling to a person who is just difficult to deal with

You just have to decide if the "difference" is worth the hassle. These days, really isn't IMHO. I would take the trade, and deal with the current pricing setup if I really WANTED the instrument.

it's the cleanest way to move one out to grab another. a comprise, but that's life!

[RP]

Originally Posted by rmp

...Sell it out right and you avoid all of this, but have to hassle with listing fees, shipping shenanigans and the outside chance that you will be selling to a person who is just difficult to deal with

You just have to decide if the "difference" is worth the hassle. These days, really isn't IMHO. I would take the trade, and deal with the current pricing setup if I really WANTED the instrument.

it's the cleanest way to move one out to grab another. a comprise, but that's life!

I agree - getting a low trade-in price (or not the best price on the item to be purchased) is what I call the PIA factor for trade-ins. There's generally some $$$ leeway built-in, and if you ask you'll normally receive these leeway bucks on your purchase or trade-in, but not both...

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by jazzguy

The Collings guitar was listed at X price but then below that “list price”, it had a lower price. It did not say “sale price”. When it came down to figuring out what I would need to bring to the table beyond my guitar, the kind salesman informed me that trades are calculated at the “list price” not the “sale price”. Keep in mind, it did not say “on sale” or “sale price”.

Can anyone share with me the logic for this? Also - the fact that it just had a lower price not a sale price doesn’t seem right. Help me out. Thanks

I'm not sure what's going on with the two prices, but I would check with another store to see what the street price actually is. The Music Emporium usually has quite a few Collings guitars and they are great to deal with.

Once you figure out what you have to pay for purchasing the guitar you can start to figure out the trade value. The store is going to want to sell your trade fairly quickly (they already have plenty of inventory), and they are going to make money when they do. So you need to assess (search) what would be a reasonable/low sale price for your guitar and then subtract a healthy profit for the store. Then you will end up with a fair amount of out of pocket money.

An example: I traded in a Martin that the store told me they could sell for $2,400. They gave me $1,900 as a trade on a new guitar with a very healthy discount. They could have given me a smaller discount on the new guitar and offered me a more generous amount for the trade (not unusual in the business, and possibly what is happening to you), but everyone was correct to suggest the only real number is what you end up paying.

Probably the easiest way to check the deal offered would be to contact The Music Emporium and see what they can do for you.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by RP

I agree - getting a low trade-in price (or not the best price on the item to be purchased) is what I call the PIA factor for trade-ins. There's generally some $$$ leeway built-in, and if you ask you'll normally receive these leeway bucks on your purchase or trade-in, but not both...

yea, you kind have to be ready to just let it go and move on regardless of the "numbers"..

I tried to trade a Gibson Goldtone amp a few months ago. The store owner agreed that it was a great amp, but they are not well known, so we agreed he'd have a hard time selling it.

eventually put it on craigslist, and it sold easy enough, but I had to deal with the "negotiations"..

and ever after that, the guy came back and said "if this needs new tubes can we renegotiate the price?"

What?

#1, it didn't need tubes, they were no more than 4 years old with not a lot of use,

#2, we already negotiated and 100bucks off asking was done.

it's kind of like me buying a used guitar from you, where you not only agreed to take less than it was clearly worth, and then I come back and ask you to mail me $20 so I can replace the strings...

[Italuke]

Yup, what everyone else said.

Trades never work in favor of the buyer.