My eBay rant

[Ranger Roger]

Maybe I should call it the uneducated buyer rant.

SO I’m looking for an Octave Mandolin. Probably will get a Trinity College 325 (Looking at the $695.00 pricing which includes “free” shipping and setup)….

First of all, can a person really get a good deal off eBay? I guess if they tried but most prices I have seen have been higher than what retail stores, such as Elderly and Mandolin Store offers, plus, you can get a setup that is probably done correctly from these stores (It is probably wise to get it professionally setup from a luthier near where you live too).

I then see instruments coming from Romania (Hora). After adding a hard case (Like you would ship your instrument without from overseas) and with postage, you’re looking at close to $400.00.

While a person might not be able to afford a better quality instruments, I think that paying a slight premium and buying your instrument from a known dealer is really the best deal in the long run.

I remember when you could find lots of deals on eBay. That doesn’t seem the case now.

Just my rant.

[CES]

+1 on recommending instrument purchases from a Cafe sponsor. Ever since my eBay disaster of a KM 675-S years ago I've avoided anything but casual observation on that site, so can't comment on the presence or lack of deals...I really should have done with a KM 150 from Elderly or Janet Davis Music (was unaware of TMS and Folkmusician back then).

[Seattle]

I haven't had any problems on ebay with mandolins or anything thing else. As you mentioned, it helps to be an educated buyer however. If you know what you are looking for and you know what you consider a good price then what's the issue?

Ebay doesn't have as many used items (it seems to me) as it once did and you're right that sometimes you see prices that are higher than buying from another source with more guarantees (Amazon) but in those cases...just don't buy it. :)

I just got a solid wood ukulele from Taiwan (via ebay). It's solid curley acacia with a case for $200. The same thing anywhere else (with a Hawaiian maker) would be more than $400.

It was shipped immediately and was in the U.S. a couple of days later with a several day delay in U.S. Customs and I got it a week later.

Regarding setup of mandolins. Just set it up yourself or buy it cheap enough that you can have it set up locally but keep in mind that there aren't always people locally who have all that much experience with mandolins.

[Jeff Mando]

I may be missing your point. Many, many established, well-known dealers sell on eBay and offer the same great service they do in their brick and mortar store. Many of these dealers were in the music retail and vintage instrument market for 20+ years before eBay was even conceived......

I'm not a "big time" seller on eBay, but I have done it as a primary source of income for 16 years or so, with 3500+ feedbacks (all positive) and speaking for myself, I think I offer great service, quick shipping and honest dealing online. I don't sell something unless I like it myself and I think that I am "even" pickier than the average eBay buyer -- so most people are thrilled with what they get from me.

Speaking as a buyer, also, you are correct -- not all sellers on eBay go the extra mile to please a customer.

[BrianWilliam]

My rant: It doesn't seem quite right to me that I'm responsible for return shipping when a seller misrepresents his/her item.

[JeffD]

Things are worth what they are worth. Ebay as a purchase option is mature. Going to ebay with the hopes of getting something worth significantly more than what you hope to pay for it is likely to disappoint. Not because its ebay, but because things are worth what they are worth. Going anywhere with the hopes of getting something worth significantly more than what you hope to pay is likely to disappoint.

There are exceptions, but in general things are worth what they are worth.

[colorado_al]

I've had some great scores on ebay. You need to be patient and check it out every day.
Just last week I bought a used Eastman MD805D 2 Point for $819 in excellent condition. About $80 less than I'd ever seen one.
The best deals you're going to find on ebay are on used or store demo instruments. However, then you have no warranty nor guarantee of condition.

[darrylicshon]

You never know how the sell will go on ebay i sell and buy many items. Most of the time it's a good deal. I've had to return a mandolin or two because the seller didn't pack good and they have arrived broken. Like said already do your research check it as often as you can, check sellers feedback and they have a return policy that sometimes makes the seller pay for return shipping

[allenhopkins]

The attraction of eBay, IMHO, is that you can run across instruments there that are highly unlikely to find elsewhere. Over a few years, I've picked up a Howe-Orme mandolinetto, an Oscar Schmidt Guitaro Autoharp, a Polk-A-Lay-Lee "surfer uke," a Merrill aluminum bowl-back mandolin, a Mexican-made Weissenborn Hawaiian guitar clone -- that kinda stuff.

As a "connoisseur" of oddball instruments, I find eBay a resource. And oddities, since by definition they're not often bought and sold, aren't as subject to the straitjacket of widely-known prices -- you know, when everybody knows what a Kentucky KM-150 sells for, so everyone who's selling one sets pretty much the same price.

It's much less of an amateur-based marketplace than it used to be, much more dominated by established on-line sellers, which has both good and bad points. Don't go on it like I used to, but still glad it's there.

[colorado_al]

This looks like a good deal on a Gold Tone OM800+ acoustic/electric:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-BLEM-Gold-Tone-Acoustic-Electric-OM800-Octave-mandolin-w-OHSC-warranty-/281835187284

It is a B stock. And might have an issue with the bracing, but check out the pictures.

Again, with an instrument that is more rare, you're going to have a hard time finding deals.

Maybe you can make an offer on this one:
https://reverb.com/item/1284665-trinity-college-octave-mandolin

[Petrus]

My rant: It doesn't seem quite right to me that I'm responsible for return shipping when a seller misrepresents his/her item.

As an occasional seller it doesn't seem right to me when a buyer claims "not as represented" on a purely subjective basis, and eBay accepts this without question.

[Ranger Roger]

I did place an offer for the Trinity but haven't gotten a reply.

[MikeEdgerton]

It's been many years since I've seen real deals on eBay, probably because people have become a bit more savvy in searching out the real price they should be charging. Back 15 or 16 years ago people would get eBay fever and start clearing things out of their homes not knowing what they were worth but just excited about the cash flow. A friend of mine bought a circa 1970 Gibson Hummingbird in it's original case, new like it had never been played. The seller included the original bill of sale, $450.00 if I recall and he sold it for what he bought it for in 1970. The seller probably thought they did great. My friend resold it the day he received it for $1800.00. My Strad-O-Lin was $50.00 including shipping. I was buying instruments that were listed with the wrong name in the wrong section cheap. One of my favorites was a George Cashburn guitar. It was a heck of a business. It hasn't been that way in years. I'm sure you can still get good deals but I generally do better on Amazon and Reverb.com for some reason.

[BrianWilliam]

As an occasional seller it doesn't seem right to me when a buyer claims "not as represented" on a purely subjective basis, and eBay accepts this without question.

This and the fees are why I stopped selling on eBay.

[MikeEdgerton]

I stopped selling on eBay when the feedback rating became one sided. The only thing that kept the playing field level was two-way feedback. When sellers no longer had the option of leaving bad feedback then you were at the mercy of some dubious buyers and I paid the price twice, then stopped. It just wasn't worth it.

[catmandu2]

Yes ebay has really been valuable to me - living in the rural West; allowed me to acquire otherwise unobtainable instruments.

[Jeff Mando]

It's been many years since I've seen real deals on eBay, probably because people have become a bit more savvy in searching out the real price they should be charging. Back 15 or 16 years ago people would get eBay fever and start clearing things out of their homes not knowing what they were worth but just excited about the cash flow. A friend of mine bought a circa 1970 Gibson Hummingbird in it's original case, new like it had never been played. The seller included the original bill of sale, $450.00 if I recall and he sold it for what he bought it for in 1970. The seller probably thought they did great. My friend resold it the day he received it for $1800.00. My Strad-O-Lin was $50.00 including shipping. I was buying instruments that were listed with the wrong name in the wrong section cheap. One of my favorites was a George Cashburn guitar. It was a heck of a business. It hasn't been that way in years. I'm sure you can still get good deals but I generally do better on Amazon and Reverb.com for some reason.

Those were the days, Mike! I basically HAD to quit my day job and start working for myself because I was spending 18+ hours a day refreshing the new listings and buying stuff for pennies on the dollar! Like you say, mis-listed stuff, etc. I don't think those days will ever come again, but eBay had a great 10-12 year run. Nowadays eBay is certainly "old news" but still the occasional deal slips through AND I still use it for selling -- although things that once sold overnight as a Buy It Now will remain on eBay for months, sometimes years before finding the right buyer. Oh well, it still allows me to sell things internationally for pretty good money, but nothing like it once was.

After spending most of my life trying to make a living as a songwriter and musician, selling on eBay seemed SO EASY, by comparison.....I foolishly told my friend who owned a music store, "what's so hard about business? you just buy it for one price and sell it for a bigger price, right?" Little did I know how much the economy played a part, etc. But, it was really amazing for a while. And yes, for a while it was possible to buy an instrument for $500 and sell it for $1500-2000 almost weekly and I wasn't the only one doing it. Not to mention all the stuff for under $50 bucks that was worth $300.....and the difference was the "newness" or novelty of eBay....people couldn't click the Buy It Now fast enough -- just to keep someone else from getting it. Fun stuff. Unless I can invent an App that everybody needs, I doubt if I'll ever make money like that again!

[MikeEdgerton]

Yes ebay has really been valuable to me - living in the rural West; allowed me to acquire otherwise unobtainable instruments.

It also allowed many people to see instruments they would have never seen. We still get those gems that pop up, maybe not at great prices, but come out from under a bed and suddenly there is something you've never seen before with several pictures. That is a plus in my book. For someone living away from a major retailer the Internet (and eBay) are almost a necessity. I still buy on eBay. I don't buy instruments very often but I buy legacy server parts for my data center that I can't get anyplace else.

[catmandu2]

Ebay is still a repository for such things as vintage accordians - I'm in the habit of picking those up. In fact, the reason I started playing the piano accordian was due to the copious availability of really nice instruments, for a veritable song :whistling:

[LadysSolo]

Like has already been mentioned, if you live in a smaller town or more rural area, you might not have any selection, and on ebay there is a large selection, and you can decide if the price is worth it. When I decided I wanted a mandolin, I researched what kind of music I wanted to play, and then decided what kind of mandolin I wanted. That is how I found this site (VERY helpful, thank you all,) and found out what I needed, and then decided how mush I was willing to pay. If there are no music stores in your area with any kind of selection, ebay can be very helpful.

[thehoffer]

I just picked up a buy it now copy of Jethro Burns' vinyl "Tea for One" for $6. No condition mentioned in the post and the picture was fuzzy. I received it yesterday and it is a sealed copy! Probably worth $30-$50 bucks! Now I need to find another copy so I can actually listen to the record!
Some deals are still out there, but you have to look a lot, be knowledgeable about what is and is not a deal, and be able to act fast.

Happy Shopping!

[kkmm]

I bought quite a few instruments from eBay in the last few years (at least 12) and I am happy with what I received. The trick is to know specs of these instruments and the condition of the listed ones when I decided to buy.
Except are two cases where the instruments arrived broken due to poor packaging, which I returned and made damn sure the sellers PAY for the return shipping as it is not my fault. Still a bit unhappy as I got to go thru some hassles to return it.
Almost forgot: HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE.

[darrylicshon]

There are still deals just not as often, last month i bought a mandobird for $119 and A few days ago i bought a Kentucky km300e for $169 both bin. I think i got 2 good prices, mandobird is in great shape , i get the Kentucky Monday can't wait. But i do look on eBay way too often

[slimt]

I think for the most part of eBay is Some sellers figure ebay is the place to get rid of there crap that they can't sell in there stores.. most of what I see need work or are parts of parts..
then there are other sellers that don't have a good local interests in certain items.. so the only way to market is eBay.. these are the ones I aim towards.

The thing I really watch for is the Global shipping program , I stay clear from that.. I would rather pay the seller for proper packaging . and look after my own taxes from the Post office than have a broker over inflate the fees for me.. Btw.. GSP the buyer pays twice for shipping.. once to Kentucky, then from Kentucky to the Home address.. and the time frame of shipping is longer . also.. if at anytime the Shipping gets lost through GSP.. they will not back it up.. Had that happen way to often..

[barney 59]

There are still deals just not as often, last month i bought a mandobird for $119 and A few days ago i bought a Kentucky km300e for $169 both bin. I think i got 2 good prices, mandobird is in great shape , i get the Kentucky Monday can't wait. But i do look on eBay way too often

There are always deals on ebay --think of something you want and a reasonable price your willing to pay. Launch a search for that item and wait ---eventually there is a good chance that one will show up that fits your criteria and is within your(realistic) price range. I've sometimes had to wait a really long time for the right thing to show up but eventually they do. If you need it right now maybe ebay isn't the best place to shop. The deals that I find generally come from "amateur" sellers--people just trying to get rid of something and would like to get something for it. The "pros" can list it at a higher price and if it doesn't sell just try again next week.So people with a small number of transactions are often where the deals are I've found..

[colorado_al]

I just picked up a Kentucky KM-650 for $300 from ebay. B-stock new, direct from Saga. Cosmetic blemish on the headstock. Will be here on Tuesday. Normally cost $900. I'll take a ding and $600 off.
Plenty of deals if you are patient, and flexible.

And they sold me a Travelite case for it for $59, $20 off.

[Jeff Mando]

My rant from an eBay seller's point of view -- what happened to all those wonderful bidders who would bid against each other in the spirit of friendly competition (and to keep the other guy from getting the item) and bid an item that normally goes for $100 to over $800? (and feel obligated to honor their bid by paying for it) Doesn't seem to happen much anymore and was once fairly common to witness on eBay.

What happened to listing 10 items for sale with a Buy It Now, going to bed, then waking up and having 8 of them SOLD the next morning? Never happens anymore, at least with the stuff I sell.

How about when a potential buyer engages you with several emails worth of questions needing measurements, photos, etc., I quickly respond and then never hear from him again? OR, BETTER YET -- responds three weeks later with an offer of 25 percent of the asking price? ("I see nobody else is interested in this besides me, I'll take it off your hands for.....")

Or things, in general, bidding for MORE than what I expected -- happens rarely these days.

Having to relist things week after week that normally sold in ONE WEEK.

I could blame the US economy (for the past seven years), but I sell worldwide, so I have to blame the fact that the "newness" of eBay has worn off and people (musicians, in my case) no longer live and breathe eBay 24 hours a day.

OTOH, and sounds like a contradiction to the above, when I am interested in something on eBay, EVERYBODY AND HIS BROTHER decides to bid.....:(

[Petrus]

What happened to listing 10 items for sale with a Buy It Now, going to bed, then waking up and having 8 of them SOLD the next morning? Never happens anymore, at least with the stuff I sell.

Maybe we need to switch from mandolins to computer and electronic accessories. How 'bout this external hard drive for $65 -- "1,189 sold in 24 hours" -- "12, 074 sold" (that's some major bucks right there) :disbelief:

141269

http://www.ebay.com/itm/391323601397

(These sellers must be major operations ... hard to imagine a lone individual packing & shipping 1200 items a day!)

[ollaimh]

i have had great deals from ebay. especially for the odd and weird. there have been fantastic deals on harps recently. a 30 string ardival , made in scotland, which would be over 6000 bucks, yeah six grand, new, seven with shipping tax and exchange, was bought for $1850 canadian dollars, all in, including tax, exchange shipping etc. great condition. i bought a poor condition but playable jay witcher harp for just around 200, all in cnd, they are $2700 usd new.

but for mandolins there are a lot of more knowledgable people looking. however last year i bought a 1919 gibson A 4 that was not recently played with a few short cracks, for around 600 cnd. fixed it up and it's now my daily player. i was thinking of selling it but it is such a great sounding mandolin. might even refrett with modern fretts eventually. the old ones are ok but there is no meat left for a dressing.a9but the small fretts keep yo accurate).

i bought a fantastic five course octave mandolin round back for a total of $450 a few years back. the odd ball things can go cheap. i look close and research, and i have found almost all sellers to be cooperative, and i've had no trouble with the one return i did, the other return was done but with a lot of trouble and a loss of $25, which i let go.

i also found a poor condition vega cylinder back, maple back and sides(the desirable version), needed work but well worth it. and i've seen quite a few other things go for reasonable prices. just look closely and do a little research.

i still say the pre 1920 gibsons are under priced on ebay , and if in decent condition they are life changing players.

[jdsobol]

Ebay has certainly evolved over the years, going from a messy and cheerful electronic flea market to a gigantic mega-mall with concentric rings of antique malls, thrift shops, districts full of hustlers, card sharps and pickpockets, and finally, way out on the outskirts, the tattered remnants of what was once a bright-eyed community of amateur recyclers idealistically re-inventing the concept of free markets from the grassroots up.

In the process it has forced generations of vintage and new artisan instruments out of closets and workshops and onto this free (for the viewing) platform where whole realms are up for spectacle and speculation.

I look around my music room and I see a 1780s English guittar (a form of cittern) bought from a Fresno antique store for $350 bucks (and $1200 or restoration work later it plays pretty well), an Alan Carruth 000 cutaway with tap-tuned top bought from the original owner for a third of the new price, a Goodall 12-string cutaway with an astonishing selection of woods bought from an LA dealer--not cheap, but hey, when was I going to walk into that shop in Westwood?-- and a selection of four vintage mandolins, each unusually tasty and purchased on ebay for anywhere from wholesale to nothing (i.e., I resold the case for more than the price of the mandolin it was shipped in).

And yes it's a time-devouring addiction akin to playing the ponies, and yes, I get sick and tired of the gamesmanship and the sellers who ask five times retail for mediocre pieces because doing so is good for their self-esteem, and yes the skyrocketing fees and wised-up buyers make selling less and less attractive.

But you can still find cool stuff at cool prices. For a while yet, anyway....


i have had great deals from ebay. especially for the odd and weird. there have been fantastic deals on harps recently. a 30 string ardival , made in scotland, which would be over 6000 bucks, yeah six grand, new, seven with shipping tax and exchange, was bought for $1850 canadian dollars, all in, including tax, exchange shipping etc. great condition. i bought a poor condition but playable jay witcher harp for just around 200, all in cnd, they are $2700 usd new.

but for mandolins there are a lot of more knowledgable people looking. however last year i bought a 1919 gibson A 4 that was not recently played with a few short cracks, for around 600 cnd. fixed it up and it's now my daily player. i was thinking of selling it but it is such a great sounding mandolin. might even refrett with modern fretts eventually. the old ones are ok but there is no meat left for a dressing.a9but the small fretts keep yo accurate).

i bought a fantastic five course octave mandolin round back for a total of $450 a few years back. the odd ball things can go cheap. i look close and research, and i have found almost all sellers to be cooperative, and i've had no trouble with the one return i did, the other return was done but with a lot of trouble and a loss of $25, which i let go.

i also found a poor condition vega cylinder back, maple back and sides(the desirable version), needed work but well worth it. and i've seen quite a few other things go for reasonable prices. just look closely and do a little research.

i still say the pre 1920 gibsons are under priced on ebay , and if in decent condition they are life changing players.

[Dave Sheets]

For me, the best part of e-bay is being able to find some really odd, obscure instruments relatively easily. By buying player's grade, or instruments in pieces (electric instruments), I've been able to get some instruments that simply be out of reach for me buying them retail, assuming I could ever even find them. It's hard to get a deal on "standard" items, but on the oddball things, it works. The sellers probably do better on them as well, at least they have a way to find buyers for these things.

[Jeff Mando]

Ebay has certainly evolved over the years, going from a messy and cheerful electronic flea market to a gigantic mega-mall with concentric rings of antique malls, thrift shops, districts full of hustlers, card sharps and pickpockets, and finally, way out on the outskirts, the tattered remnants of what was once a bright-eyed community of amateur recyclers idealistically re-inventing the concept of free markets from the grassroots up.

Great summary of those early eBay days! I just thought it would last forever. Spending most of my life as a "starving artist" musician, I had lived most of my adult life not being too concerned with chasing money. When eBay arrived on the scene, in a week I went from being a $10 an hour music store clerk to making a 6 figure income -- talk about a culture shock! And, all I was doing was cleaning out my closet of years of flea market accumulation. My friends said, "you were BORN for eBay!" Lotta fun back then. Little did I know people would put the "brakes" on their purchasing and come back to "reality." I still sell on eBay, but I think I'm back to $10 an hour (on a good day!) :(

[jdsobol]

Ebay has had a very interesting effect on the vintage instrument market as a whole. Being a wholesale marketplace by its nature (because it's mainly populated by amateur sellers, i.e. low-information sellers, and thus inherently higher-risk for buyers) there is a downward pressure on prices across the spectrum.
And then there are the retailers, who keep their prices high and keep their instruments on the board for years at a time. And then the outliers in both directions: those who start auctions at rock-bottom opening bids and let the market decide the value, vs. the high-ballers, those who start things at fiendishly prices, either to bolster their self-esteem or in the hope of encountering a bipolar billionaire on a manic binge.
The overall effect is market distortion, a kind of buffeting of stable price-levels by irregular winds of ignorance and speculation. Observant buyers can dash out into the midst of it and snatch some very good deals, but there's a whole lot of debris that needs to be combed through and swept aside.
JS


Great summary of those early eBay days! I just thought it would last forever. Spending most of my life as a "starving artist" musician, I had lived most of my adult life not being too concerned with chasing money. When eBay arrived on the scene, in a week I went from being a $10 an hour music store clerk to making a 6 figure income -- talk about a culture shock! And, all I was doing was cleaning out my closet of years of flea market accumulation. My friends said, "you were BORN for eBay!" Lotta fun back then. Little did I know people would put the "brakes" on their purchasing and come back to "reality." I still sell on eBay, but I think I'm back to $10 an hour (on a good day!) :(

[Jeff Mando]

If you didn't live through the early days of eBay as a participant, I can only liken it to (what I imagine) the Gold Rush of 1849 was like! You only bent over for golf ball sized nuggets of gold, the "little stuff" you left for somebody else. There were THAT many fantastic deals. I had one account for buying and one for selling. If you put the time in, several times a week you could buy a guitar for $400 and turn around and sell it for $2200. Imagine buying and selling from the same source! Forever changed buying vintage instruments, records, vintage Levis, and many other collectibles. It should be noted that some things went up and many went down in price, due to eBay. Many instruments were worth more 20 years ago!

[ollaimh]

i think a lot of the ebay pressure to drop prices has been as much due to the uneven economic recovery in america. the elite are doing great but the average joe is still struggling, and most musicians are average joes. prices are down on ebay since the recession. and as i said for the unusual and odd ball thing they can be waaaay down. especially for fixer uppers.

i love looking at the listings. gone are the old days of trolling junk stores and pawn shopes for musical instruments. that was fun when on the road but a lot more time consuming.

[vince f]

One effect of Ebay is to standardize prices nationally on collectibles. The days of walking into a pawnshop or music/camera store in Omaha, seeing a camera or instrument at half the price you would pay in DC or Boston are over. by 2000, dealers in DC were telling me they were getting less, and the deals being found on the cross country trip had evaporated.

Used dealers complain that every seller wants to get the ebay price, and every buyer wants to pay the ebay price. No margin left. I have started to look at dealers as the guy that can let you compare in person 40 guitars, and a place to liquidate unwanted gear without entertaining musicians in your home. It is a service, and worth paying for.

Ebay is great for people who don't mind buying on chance, and passing it along if it is not great. How can you buy an acoustic instrument without playing it unless you are prepared to move it along if it fails to blow you away. That said, buying instruments used and selling them at nearly no loss is a great hobby. Lets you get your hands on lots of stuff for long enough to really audition it and refine your tastes.

[Jeff Mando]

1. Still deals on eBay, you just have to look harder. :mad:
2. Look for the stuff that falls through the cracks. :disbelief:
3. Still deals in pawn shops run by older owners who don't "do" eBay or tried it and got burnt by a difficult buyer and won't do it again. I just bought a Nikon zoom lens for $40 in a pawn shop and resold it a couple days later for $300 on eBay -- the "trick" is not to get greedy -- most sellers were asking $500 for theirs, and they will still have it six months from now.....:whistling:
4. I pay for my road trips, gas, hotels, food, trips to visit Mom, etc., with things I can resell on eBay -- lotta deals if you know effects pedals. (just a hint) :cool:
5. Don't stick with just one thing. Besides instruments, I buy and sell records, cameras, books, small furniture items that I can ship, vintage clothing, and other cool old stuff.
6. Offer worldwide shipping, it isn't difficult and guys in Belgium can't go to flea markets in Mississippi, like I can....
7. It's not as easy as it once was. :crying:
7a. Prices are down. (good for buying) :)
8. Buyers are more picky AND are spending less (a disturbing trend!)
9. Buyers return things more often than they once did (another disturbing trend)
10. Great points made by all above.
11. Buying and selling stuff related to music is still better than punching a time clock or digging ditches, IMHO! :))

[fromsfca]

In 1996 when eBay was just getting off the ground, it was really the first of it's kind.

Brick and mortar shops had limited (if any) online presence and forums had not yet gotten to the point where you could comparison price something. Things are worth what people are willing to pay for them...in the case of early eBay, we were able to buy things we'd never seen anywhere else...copy of Tiny Moore's electric mandolin?...you bet I want that....an early Gibson? Heck, yeah...but reflect now on what's available. So, buyers and sellers have become so much more knowledgeable and the buying venues have increased.
I'm running cold on eBay because I think the fees have gotten too high.
I do still find deals...and also may have to invest a little more in setup or instrument tech services, than if I had bought from a reputable store...but if I'm buying something worth serious dollars, I'm going to the stores I trust...like our sponsors here.

[Petrus]

I predict that soon we will have mandolins-on-demand where you click on the design you want, and your home 3D printer makes one for you from scratch. Alternatively, mandolins-by-drone. :cool:

[ollaimh]

my local luthier says the cinese now have machines where you pout sawdust and glue into one end , and a few pieces of metal, and an instrument comes out the other end. untouched by human hands--and you can 3d print a robot to play it!

[Jeff Mando]

my local luthier says the cinese now have machines where you pout sawdust and glue into one end , and a few pieces of metal, and an instrument comes out the other end. untouched by human hands--and you can 3d print a robot to play it!

That was my fear, when Rap "music" started 30+ years ago.........

[Eddie Sheehy]

That was my fear, when Rap "music" started 30+ years ago.........

And now they have their own radio station K-RAP...

[Petrus]

So anyway I came up with this idea where you could have a couple of tiny drones that would hold your mandolin aloft at a comfortable angle (based on GPS), thus eliminating the need for a strap around your neck. Still got a couple of kinks to work out like keeping the drones from crashing into each other.

142187

[Eddie Sheehy]

You could probably get a shave and a haircut - while playing shave-and-a-haircut...