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Thread: Not all Collings hold their value

  1. #26

    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    While manufacturers largely govern the new pricing of instruments (especially brands like Collings) we, the buyers and sellers on the secondary market, set and control the used market. The first person who sells/lists an MT for $1800 sets the expectation for future buyers.

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  3. #27
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Offer to sell a used Collings at a fair price and you will have a line of potential buyers. I only got mine because I responded 1st.
    The only mandolin I bought new is an Eastman, since I think the used vs new price difference was only about 15%.

  4. #28
    Registered User Doug Brock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    New prices and used prices are both driven by the famous duo, Supply and Demand.
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  5. #29

    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by ABmando View Post
    Wow - I did not expect so many responses so soon!
    It probably makes sense to just hang on to the mando. Afterall it is a great instrument, and why take such a hit on selling it used.

    The lesson for me is to try to buy used to begin with. I need to learn that lesson somehow.

    Thanks everyone for your responses.
    Two thoughts....

    If this is the worst financial "mistake" you ever make, you will have been more successful than most.

    Whatever you lose reselling a mandolin will be much smaller than if you'd bought a boat.

    My wife has heard both things a time or two. :-)

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  7. #30
    Registered User Bob Buckingham's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    I think we all could be more satisfied with those instruments that we just had to have when we bought them, unless of course you continually want to support the myriad of builders out there.

  8. #31
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Sanderson View Post
    Why would anyone buy used if they can buy a new one for the same price???
    ^ This.

    Anyway, you’ve lost *nothing* in value if you plan to replace it with another nice instrument. You’re getting a good price with used market dollars. Take those dollars and buy your keeper used, so that someone else is paying the depreciation on your next one. Nothing to complain about here.
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  9. #32
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    When the world somehow forgot about buying instruments for tone and making music and non muscians started thinking of them as investments, your soul and quality of life took the biggest depreciation....

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  11. #33

    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by grandcanyonminstrel View Post
    When the world somehow forgot about buying instruments for tone and making music and non muscians started thinking of them as investments, your soul and quality of life took the biggest depreciation....
    Absolutely. This has absolutely ruined the violin world.
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  13. #34

    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    When the world decided a third rate singer with a few dance moves could lip sync to 10,000 people was worth more than paying a teacher who has to couch surf so they can teach, that is when you know the decline in civilization is well on course.

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  15. #35

    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    consider that the "original owner" gets a "lifetime warranty" the next purchaser has to keep that in mind~~and the warranty has a value.
    Sorry just saying

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  17. #36
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by prairieschooner View Post
    consider that the "original owner" gets a "lifetime warranty" the next purchaser has to keep that in mind~~and the warranty has a value.
    Sorry just saying
    Very true - but at any rate, warranty or no warranty, I’d buy new if used was the same price in most circumstances; what’s the incentive for buying a used piece of equipment if it costs as much, or virtually as much, as new?
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  18. #37

    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Thank you! A great persective!

    Quote Originally Posted by Buck View Post
    Two thoughts....

    If this is the worst financial "mistake" you ever make, you will have been more successful than most.

    Whatever you lose reselling a mandolin will be much smaller than if you'd bought a boat.

    My wife has heard both things a time or two. :-)

  19. #38
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    They "hold their value" if you buy 'em at the right price to start with. That means buying excellent condition used. Not new.

    Now, you CAN (sometimes) buy new and find they "hold their value" in some limited circumstances. These include situations where you buy and then the builder/manufacturer massively hikes the retail prices. Real-life example: In 2011 I purchased my Harvey-signed F-5 Fern (in the EU) for just over €5,000.... the current 'best' new price on those is €7,699. That's a big hike - so if I were to sell it (which I wouldn't, because I like it a lot) I'd get pretty close to what I paid new. Mostly though, if you buy new you are not going to get what you paid out.
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  20. #39
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    I had a few early mando experiences that weren’t exactly great and I more or less felt like it was wasted money. Nothing all that bad: a cheap ebay mando that had a “solid top”, a fender octave mando with pickup that was meh, an electric that was more or less just a neck bolted on a plywood board... I loved the used rigel I had but was a little disappointed when one of the tines on the tailpiece failed and I had to pay the cost for the new tailpiece and install.

    Now my 3 main mando’s are custom orders. One from Weber back in 2004 and two from Collings 2010 and 2012 (or ‘13). All have a wide neck - and got a bunch of other customizations on the weber, but just a strap button and pickup on one Collings and a one piece birdseye maple back on the other.

    I think of these as worth what I paid for them new, so I would be very sad to have to accept 70% (or less) of that value. And thankfully I don’t have to sell them, they would probably be the last of my possessions to go. But I guess that’s how I tend to operate, I try to buy exactly what I want from a respected name and get it customized to how I want it by them. I think it has something to do with being able to get it warrantied and serviced from the builders. It gives me confidence in my major mandolin purchase that I am relying on to keep on playing.

    Recently I have been using a local luthier who can do seriously good work and I would feel much more confident buying used. He might have been working for Collings the same time one of my custom orders were made, but we’ve never looked into the timeline close enough to work it out. It’s a different world when you have someone you can trust to go over an instrument and make it better, or fix something without paying 2-way shipping.

    I feel like the financial side of this is all sorts of crazy and as mentioned above gone in a soulless direction. Love the instruments I have and prefer customizations so I am saving up for a custom order from a small luthier who I will feel good about giving my money to.
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by almeriastrings View Post
    They "hold their value" if you buy 'em at the right price to start with. That means buying excellent condition used. Not new.Now, you CAN (sometimes) buy new and find they "hold their value" in some limited circumstances. These include situations where you buy and then the builder/manufacturer massively hikes the retail prices. Real-life example: In 2011 I purchased my Harvey-signed F-5 Fern (in the EU) for just over €5,000.... the current 'best' new price on those is €7,699. That's a big hike - so if I were to sell it (which I wouldn't, because I like it a lot) I'd get pretty close to what I paid new. Mostly though, if you buy new you are not going to get what you paid out.
    This is the second post that basically gives the manufacturer the sole right to setting price. This is where our thinking goes wrong and we tend to allow this to happen. If I make a widget and decide to sell it for$1000 and no one will pay $1000 I sit holding my widget till the cows come home and I ain't got no $1000! the market sets the price, not the manufacturer. Supply and demand, it matters not if you are a capitalist or not

  22. #41

    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    The wait time on a new MT2v is more than a year, so if the rule of supply and demand applies, the OP should have been able to recoup much more than $4500. But there are other factors that play in here. Sometimes it’s not what you are selling, but how you are marketing it. At the right dealer, with the right pictures, the mandolin would have sold before even most people saw it (a good dealer has a great Rolodex of prospective buyers) for just a bit over $5k.

    These instruments are considered luxury items, and the buying and brand behavior is not that of selling widgets. The manufacturer sets the price, and controls the distribution of the goods. The stronger the brand, the tougher the dealer terms and pricing guidelines. Buyer behavior online is also different than buyer behavior in a store. YMMV.
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  23. #42
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Gunter View Post
    Very true - but at any rate, warranty or no warranty, I’d buy new if used was the same price in most circumstances; what’s the incentive for buying a used piece of equipment if it costs as much, or virtually as much, as new?
    Having the item. If a person, say, wants a Wayne Henderson or James Olson guitar, they are probably going to pay the price for a used one, which is usually more than new. Because the wait time to get new is very long. As other folks have said, supply and demand. Of course, those are individual builders and not small shops or factories.
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  25. #43
    Registered User Frankdolin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    So Mandolins are just like cars and I shouldn't buy one new. OK. Lesson learned.

  26. #44
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by Frankdolin View Post
    So Mandolins are just like cars and I shouldn't buy one new. OK. Lesson learned.
    If you add “as a financial investment” to the end of that, I’d agree in most cases. Fortunately, there are other reasons that are way more important.
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  27. #45
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    This is the reason I don't buy a new vehicle anymore ! I don't like to drive it off the dealer parking lot and instantly lose ten grand ! There are exceptions in cars depending on how long you keep it and your age and the same with musical instruments. I paid twelve thousand for a new Peresson violin back in the 1980's. They now sell for around fifty thousand and my daughter has it. I have bought three and soon a fourth new mandolin and I don't regret these purchases as all mandolins will be distributed to my musically inclined daughters/grandchildren when I'm through with them.So, it just depends !

  28. #46
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by Frankdolin View Post
    So Mandolins are just like cars and I shouldn't buy one new. OK. Lesson learned.
    The only difference is that some people believe that mandolins actually improve with age and use while they depreciate in price. I generally don’t buy new unless what I want does not otherwise exist in nature and would not turn up in the classifieds with a little patience.
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  30. #47
    Registered User Doug Brock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Buying used mandolins has three issues for me.
    - The used mando generally doesn't have a warranty. I like a warranty!
    - Like buying a used car, buying a used mandolin carries the risk of buying problems that the original owner didn't want to have to deal with. Those problems may or may not be easily detectable (especially by me, a relatively inexperienced mandolin player. Yes, a checkup by a good luthier would help with that.)
    - Buying used from a seller in a distant locale carries some risks of being scammed that you don't have when you buy new from a reputable dealer. (Buying used from a reputable dealer costs more, but at least you don't have to worry about being scammed)
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  31. #48
    Registered User Doug Brock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by pheffernan View Post
    The only difference is that some people believe that mandolins actually improve with age.
    Age does generally include some negative effects, though. Fret wear can be a significant issue, especially in lower-priced mandolins. If you're paying a lot for an old mandolin, $200-300 on fret replacement is less of a concern. Neck problems and cracks can also develop and require repair. Again that has more significance on lower-priced mandolins. Do you want to put hundreds of dollars of repairs on an $800 mandolin?
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  32. #49
    My Florida is scooped pheffernan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    Quote Originally Posted by flatpicknut View Post
    Age does generally include some negative effects, though. Fret wear can be a significant issue, especially in lower-priced mandolins. If you're paying a lot for an old mandolin, $200-300 on fret replacement is less of a concern. Neck problems and cracks can also develop and require repair. Again that has more significance on lower-priced mandolins. Do you want to put hundreds of dollars of repairs on an $800 mandolin?
    You’re describing issues of use, not necessarily age. And all of them can be identified and considered through the purchase process, even at a distance.
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    Default Re: Not all Collings hold their value

    I bought a used Collings MT, and based on the asking prices in the classifieds, I would likely get what I paid for it if I sold it today, and I have had the joy of playing it for a year (but it's not for sale.) I bought my Pava and my Weber new, and I have had them for three years (also not for sale,) I would lose a little from what I paid, but again, I have had the joy of playing them for three years. Basically, if I consider the cost per day as rental, if I keep them long enough, they have cost me nothing. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

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