Do Stores in the USA Take Trade Ins?

[pvfederico]

I started playing the guitar about ten years ago. I've lived in Mexico for 14 years, and I very rarely visit the USA. Consequently, I've not had much interaction with US guitar stores. Do US dealers take trade ins? If they don't take trade ins, will they typically consign for me?

[rstaight]

The stores I deal with will take trades or consignment.

[musicman1951]

Yes, every store I've been in takes trade ins. I've traded in many, many guitars.

You do have to understand that they already have a store full of guitars, so they need to sell quickly and for a decent profit. Both of those requirements mean getting considerably less.

A positive is that only pay sales tax on the difference between trade and a new guitar.

[lowrider]

Every guitar store I've been to takes trade ins, but they're only going to give 50 to 60%. Good luck, what do you want to get?

[The Bard Rocks]

If you plan to buy without seeing, as many of us do, and want to trade in on a new one, the store will need to figure a guitar is in poorer condition than it is - to protect themselves from the very human tendency to think it is more valuable/better condition than others might feel it is. A good store might give a range of values, to be decided once they receive it. Which of course opens up to some scamming if the store is not honest, so I would check the reputation of the store beforehand.

If selling to a store (and not buy anything), many will not be interested and should expect bottom dollar from those that are.

[ewalling]

Dave's Guitar Shop is an excellent place. They offer a fair price which is not so far below what they would sell it for. If a guitar is in good nick, I'm sure they would offer a good price..

[jaymarsch]

The shops that I have dealt with in the San Francisco Bay Area all take trades and do consignment. I have mostly done better with consignment in terms of getting more money from the transaction but it varies from dealer to dealer depending on their inventory and the brands that sell well.
Best,
Jayne

[RP]

Believe it or not, I've traded in a guitar...

[Tahitijack]

One more thing to consider. How will you get the guitar to a US store? It's hard enough to safely ship a guitar within the US, now you add crossing international borders where anything can happen, and often does. You cross your fingers and hope for the best and something goes wrong like damage to the guitar and the shipper refuses to cover the lost or damaged guitar. Good luck but be careful.

[pvfederico]

Originally Posted by lowrider

Every guitar store I've been to takes trade ins, but they're only going to give 50 to 60%. Good luck, what do you want to get?

If I can make a reasonable deal with the store, I might trade in the Larrivee for a Martin OM-42. (Yes, I do like a beautiful guitar with tasteful bling. )

Thanks to all you others who commented. To respond to some of your points...

1) I will physically visit the store when I visit my daughter
2) For me 50-60% is better than having it in the closet -- not played

I already have (and love) a Martin 000-28ec, so I'm pretty sure that I will like the OM-28 or OM-42. I need the longer scale for some songs.

[pvfederico]

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

One more thing to consider. How will you get the guitar to a US store? It's hard enough to safely ship a guitar within the US, now you add crossing international borders where anything can happen, and often does. You cross your fingers and hope for the best and something goes wrong like damage to the guitar and the shipper refuses to cover the lost or damaged guitar. Good luck but be careful.

I won't ship it to a store. I'll hand carry it when I visit my daughter.

As far as the new one goes, I've bought new guitars twice in the USA, and crossed back into Mexico (and I carried an old classical guitar all over Latin America). Many tourists travel with their guitars. It's never a problem. In fact, I've never been asked about it by any customs authority.

Just in case, I get a document from the dealer called Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (US form 3-201A). It confirms that the guitar was either manufactured before June 11, 1992, or that it uses no woods on the endangered list.

I've also had two guitars shipped to me without any problem -- except a delay in Customs while I arranged payment of import duty, which was about 16%.

[Br1ck]

Every store will take in the package deal on trade ins. If you trade a $2000 guitar for a $5000 guitar, you'll do better than if you were buying a $3000 guitar. But a store is going to do what they have to do. Maybe they are generous with the trade value, not so generous with the discount. And if you do this twice a year, they are going to make you happy.

And as always, cash is king.

[Gromitspapa]

Originally Posted by pvfederico

If I can make a reasonable deal with the store, I might trade in the Larrivee for a Martin OM-42. (Yes, I do like a beautiful guitar with tasteful bling. )

Thanks to all you others who commented. To respond to some of your points...

1) I will physically visit the store when I visit my daughter
2) For me 50-60% is better than having it in the closet -- not played

I already have (and love) a Martin 000-28ec, so I'm pretty sure that I will like the OM-28 or OM-42. I need the longer scale for some songs.

Where in the US would you be going? Maybe someone can recommend a good store to deal with. Are you looking for a new or used OM-28 or OM-42?

Edit- I see you're going to the Chicago area: https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=659170

Maybe you could consign your Larrivee instead of trade it in?

[RichardN]

I will recommend you get in touch with Elderly Instruments in Lansing MI. They will take your guitar on consignment and charge you 20%. They have a huge showroom for acoustics and they sell proactively on-line so your guitar may not take too long to sell.

Lansing is about a 4 hour drive from Chicago. Even if you don't want to make the drive you could ship it to them from Chicago.

You could also talk to them about a trade, I think you'd do better than 60% but I'm not sure about that. And they have a lot of Martins to choose from.