Instrument Price Reference Sources

[MikeVB]

Let's say you're sliding into the business of buying, repairing/cleaning up, and reselling stringed instruments by starting part time. But, given the wide variety of stuff out there, and the fact that as much as I love instruments I'm a relative novice in the trade business I need good reference material/sources to find out what different things should currently be worth (on avg) to figure out how much I should offer someone.

What references sources are out there? I don't want to have to pay $50 to Gruhns for an appraisal on every new thing.

Thanks.

[Steven Stone]

The Vintage Guitar Magazine yearly price guide is a good place to start.

I would also recommend going to at least two big guitar shows every year such as Arlington, Philly, or Chicago.

Finally some regular web-surfing, including Ebay, Harmony Central, and of course Mando Cafe classifieds should be standard operating proceedure.

If you're planning on selling those puppies on that well known auction site that we never speak of by name then the best advice is to open up the categories you're dealing with and look at all of the new auctions daily, then search for the closed auctions for items like yours. Also, don't be afraid to set a high reserve to see where the market takes the instrument. You'll get a feel for the price of the items you sell in short order. I did this for about 4 years before I got tired of the buyers.

[thistle3585]

Try http://www.vintagemandolin.com/selling.html Charles seems pretty upfront on his dealings. I suspect that he knows the market, and business, better than anyone. There have been a lot of dealers come and gone through this board in just the short time that I've been here and he is one I'd definetely trust.

[Jerry Byers]

Are you talking modern or vintage mandolins?

Price references for modern mandolins are readily available. Charles provides a good reference, as well as, Elderly and Gruhn Guitars.

On the other hand, pricing for vintage mandolins is a very tough market. You have to deal with condition of mandolin, whether original parts are included, and supply & demand. Has the mandolin been repaired, restored, or refinished? Too many factors to track for me.

[EdSherry]

Many music stores rely on the "Orion" Bluebooks, which (though not cheap) are pretty good for run-of-the-mill stuff. #They're updated every year, and you may be able to buy last-year's edition second-hand.

If a music store in your area has some, and if you're friendly with the owner, you may be able to "piggyback" on their set (I do). #I find that the Vintage Guitar magazine guide (mentioned above) is good too.

There is a "Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars" (and a companion on Electric Guitars) that's updated every year or so, but I'm somewhat wary of their valuations. #But it's pretty inexpensive ($16 on Amazon).

By all means buy Gruhn's Vintage Guitar identification guide -- it'll help you identify "what's what." Same with Duchossoir's identification guide (the best source I know for dating good guitars).

Amazon sells a "Warmans Vintage Guitar Guide" which I've not seen.

All in all, you can equip yourself with a pretty good library for about $100.

Unfortunately, the amount of information available for banjos, mandolins, etc., is much less than that available for guitars. And valuing fiddles is an art unto itself.

I agree that "condition" is a key driving factor in value, and it takes time and effort to learn how to tell what's important and what's not. #There's an early chapter in Dan Erlwine's "Guitar Player Repair Guide" that provides good information on how to examine and evaluate instruments. #Frank Ford's Frets.com website also has some useful information.

[Big Joe]

The best source is just many years of experience. Nothing can replace that. The only book or guide that I think has any validity is the Vintage Guitar guide to pricing. It is probably the best. The Orion books are a good way to sell books to amatuers but most who are active in the business don't use them for anything except reference material for instruments, not prices. They are very inaccurate. Repair is another whole issue. While some basic repairs can be done by someone with decent hand eye coordination, many repairs are not a good idea for experimenting. If you want to do anything but really basic repairs on others instruments do yourself and the owners of those instruments a realy favor and find a good repair person to work with. A good portion of the work we do is fixing what other so called repair people have tried to fix and could not do it properly. You will do much better buying and selling part time than trying to do repairs without much training. The business is a good one and it is a joy to be involved with every day, but it is not as simple as just buying a couple books and buying a couple instruments and a hand full of tools and start doing business successfully. I am happy to help any way I can if you wish to talk. Just PM me.

[mrbook]

Everyone out there selling instruments can be your price guide - look at what they are selling and the prices, and if you have the same thing, compare yours to what you see. Is yours better or worse? It might be worth more, or less, and in any case, one price is not an absolute determination of value. Keep looking and comparing, and after a while you will get an idea of what instruments are worth.

Selling doesn't end there, either. People buy from the major dealers because of their reputations; you have to build up that reputation of trust and good service with customers to command the same prices for instruments. Although I have sold many instruments over the years, my day-to-day business is selling old books; while I am aware of everyone else's prices, my thought in every situation is the price I can sell the book to one of my customers. It's interesting and fun, but it takes time to learn; you can buy the necessary reference books, but not the experience.

[harmonist34]

I'm doing the same thing.

The auction site = #1
Gbase (minus 20%) = #2

Andrew