Biggest turn-off in a guitar ad?

[vc1]

The phrase "priced to sell" makes me laugh, especially because it's almost always used on an overpriced item. If it was priced to sell, it would have sold and I wouldn't be looking at your 2 month old Craigslist ad. Maybe that's just me though

[Nimiety]

Are we talking commercial ads, personal ads, 'third party' ads (Reverb?)...or any ads? I'm pretty easy-going for the most part...but...

Commercial - I am put off by very young 'sex-pot' models. Are they supposed to be catering to other young women or old men?

Personal - poor quality photos, lack of details. I don't want to phone you about something relevant that should be in the photo/description. You probably don't want a bunch of superfluous calls either. Or maybe you do?

The third party ads have actually been pretty good. I assume they won't accept the really poor photos?

[FingahPickah]

Any print ad that:

1) features "pretty" or "hip" people over the instrument itself... (i.e., - a female (or male) "model" trying to fake a chord while awkwardly holding the guitar)

2) contains incorrect specs (i.e., mahogany back & sides - when it's obviously rosewood) or failure to identify laminates

Any video ad that:

1) features an out of tune guitar

2) clearly highlights a player's technique over the tone of the instrument

[beachbum205]

Great topic! I think I agree with almost every post so far!

Here's my gripe- I appreciate YouTube videos demonstrating a guitar that is for sale. But why would someone do one of these using a capo? This makes it really difficult to evaluate the actual tone of the guitar, at least for me. Playing in an open tuning doesn't help me much either.

Just my 2 cents.

[Mezner]

Originally Posted by FingahPickah

Any print ad that:

2) contains incorrect specs (i.e., mahogany back & sides - when it's obviously rosewood) or failure to identify laminates

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Just say that it's laminated/layered/whatever other marketing term.

I absolutely hate when a retailer/company is vague and just says something like: "rosewood back and sides." If it's solid wood, say it's solid wood; if it's laminate, say laminate. Stop with the devious and vague wording.

[FingahPickah]

I hate it when the seller insists on saying:

- Played less than three times

- These sell for $ XYZ dollars new

[sford52]

When the price is buried in the ad and/or far down the page.

I like it when the price is stated at the top, maybe even in bold (or color) and with a leading dollar sign.

I know how much I am able to spend - if the guitar is out of my budget, I'll move on.

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by loco gringo

No pictures. Or, a link to Reverb.

This^^^^^^^^. Second most annoying is after a sale, the subject line is not updated to sold.

[Bogle]

"This guitar is a real canon".

"The blemishes should buff out".

[DungBeatle]

Originally Posted by sford52

When the price is buried in the ad and/or far down the page. I like it when the price is stated at the top, maybe even in bold (or color) and with a leading dollar sign. I know how much I am able to spend - if the guitar is out of my budget, I'll move on.

Definitely +1
~Bob

Naked guy reflections.

[darfaz]

You don't see this too much, but when someone is selling an item that isn't very competitively priced, and then proceeds to show line-by-line how much each individual "upgrade" costs in the listing. Um...those items are used, too, and many of them are hardly upgrades anyway.

[Jim Comeaux]

When a guitar is described as “handcrafted”. There are NO machine made guitars, not even the cheap Chinese copies of real guitars.

[blacknblues]

Some variation of “it’s the best guitar I’ve ever played” .. wouldn’t you keep the best guitar you’ve ever played??

[Mezner]

Originally Posted by blacknblues

Some variation of “it’s the best guitar I’ve ever played” .. wouldn’t you keep the best guitar you’ve ever played??

Best guitar I've ever played... so far.