2005 Weber

[reggaB]

Need some advice on best way to sell a Mandolin. Recently had a friend pass away and have been helping his wife clean out the house to sell. Came across a Martin guitar and a Weber mandolin. She sold the guitar to a friend and asked me to sell the mandolin for her. Should I use EBay or Craigslist? Both instruments look like they had never been played before. The Martin still had the price tag on it when she sold it. The Weber us the same way. Looks brand new even though it was purchased over 12 years ago. It is a 2005 Weber Gallatin F-14F. Was going to ask about $1,800 for it on Craigslist. Is there a better place to sell? Any help/advice is appreciated.

[George R. Lane]

Sell it here on the Cafe, you will get better results. If it is a 2005 it would be call a Gallatin F model. Only TOH call theirs F14F's. It would be signed by Bruce Weber. The price sounds about right.

[HonketyHank]

If the only choice is eBay or Craigslist, I would suggest eBay. But I agree with George. I would much rather buy from an ad here than eBay or Craigslist and I suspect that sellers (of higher quality instruments like the Weber) feel the same way. My second choice would be Reverb.com. EBay would be my third choice.

And yes, list it as a Gallatin F. Look inside the sound hole. If the label is "Sound to Earth", it is a Gallatin F. If the serial number is seven digits, the first digit will be the last digit of the year. So it should be a 5 for a 2005 model.

[Northwest Steve]

If that Gallatin is bound only on the front sound board $1800 seems in the neighborhood. If it is triple bound, which is top, back, fretboard and peghead I would think it would think it should be a little more.

I would list it on craigslist, then in the Mandolin Café Classifieds and then Reverb. The last resort would be Ebay. If you can sell it local (you might check with a Bluegrass or Old Time group in your area) that would be easiest. A lot of mandolin players frequent here and there are a lot of instruments that change hands. It appears there are few bad deals, mostly dealing with pretty good people. You will pay the 2% plus loos 3% to paypal. Reverb will mostly be musical folks as well but a lot larger pool. I have had good luck buying and selling there as well. They collect 3% and you will have the paypal fee. Ebay you don't really have any idea who you are dealing with and ebay always favors the buyer if there is an issue. Plus they charge 10% plus paypal so 13% on larger items really ads up. If you have little experience selling instruments you should consider consigning with a good shop that could sell both. They have people coming in to play them and that is a big plus and if it is a good shop they should have a good internet presence. They would have an accurate idea of pricing and pay get enough more to pay the consignment fee.

You need good pictures and I would put some new strings on so if someone plays it it's not dead sounding. Also take nice pictures from different angles.

[jefflester]

Did Gallatins ever have any binding? Thought that was one of the distinguishing features. Maybe as custom work?

[Bill Kammerzell]

Did Gallatins ever have any binding? Thought that was one of the distinguishing features. Maybe as custom work?

I could find but one 2005 Gallatin F for sale anywhere on line and that one didn't have binding. I always thought they didn't come with binding. Sort of an entry level thing.

[gtani7]

Good advice in this thread. The other option with the least stress and probably lowest payout would be to consign with a vintage instrument dealer like Elderly or Bernunzio or one near you. Elderly charges 15% and requires you to pay for any repairs that would bring the instrument up to their standard. I think Folkmusician in Reno and the Mandolin store in phoenix, highly regarded dealers also do consignments, you can ask them.

[Northwest Steve]

My mistake thinking of the Yellowstone, some can be bound top only or triple bound.

[rcc56]

The safest and easiest way to sell is to consign with an established, reputable music store. They do all the work. Most will take 20%, a few will take 15%. If they want a higher percentage, run away.

Selling on a forum takes more time and entails a certain degree of risk, but the percentage is much lower [3%]. In general, forum buyers seem to prefer to pay lower prices than what a retailer would ask for the same instrument. I have bought and sold a few items on Mandolin Café and Banjo Hangout, with no problems so far. I do make a point of speaking with a buyer or seller on the phone before completing a sale, though. You can tell a lot about a person from just a short conversation.

Much has been said about taking precautions when doing business on craigslist, and much of that advice is good.

I have not done business on ebay. I'll leave that discussion to people who have had experience with them.

[George R. Lane]

Gallatins normally were not bound. If it is top bound more likely a Bitteroot. Also the Gallatin had a hook scroll, not the typical F5 scroll.