Mandolins and the economy

[Goodin]

Has anyone else notice that no one is buying decent mandolins since the economy has soured? The classifieds and ebay is flooded with exceptional mandolins at "reduced price" and no one is buying them! I just wanted to point this out and see if anyone else noticed.

Goodin

[Chris Biorkman]

Yes. Not surprising.

[pjlama]

It's very soft right now. Good time to buy though.

[Danny Clark]

this topic seems to come up often,i think talking about it even makes it worse,ask me if its soft ,last month i sold 2 Paganoni F-5s at $12500 ea
1 Gilchrist A $11500 ,1 Gibson MM at $12.5
the two Pags sold overnight as did the Gil,i did not even have time to put them on the webite,and plenty others expressed interest if the buyers fell thru,

[Tim2723]

I'm not sure if mandolin sales can be a reliable economic indicator of anything. They come, they go, they sell high, they sell low. (Hey, that would be a good line for a BG tune.)

[MandoSquirrel]

What do you mean by "decent mandolins"? I just got a Breedlove Cascade, & sold a Breedlove KO.
As always bunches of Cafe members are awaiting completion of custom orders.
The higher dollar items will often take awhile to find buyers, but even Loars & Gils sell eventually as can be seen in ddmusic's post.

And, as has been noted in other threads, often the items that sell from the classifieds are on the "back pages", not the front page; my recent Cafe classified purchase had actually rotated off the list before I ever contacted the seller, & my sale was moving toward the back before I got more than nibbles.

[phiddlepicker]

I just bought a new Gibson, and I've had quite a few nibbles on the blonde F-5 mando I have posted on the classifieds. I had it on hold, but it's back up for sale now.
I've seen them moving reasonably well on some other sites as well. You could be right though of course.

[MikeEdgerton]

this topic seems to come up often,i think talking about it even makes it worse,ask me if its soft ,last month i sold 2 Paganoni F-5s at #$12500 ea
1 Gilchrist A $11500 ,1 Gibson MM at $12.5
the two Pags sold overnight as did the Gil,i did not even have time to put them on the webite,and plenty others expressed interest if the buyers fell thru,

In a down economy high ticket items will continue to sell because those with money generally still have money. If a soft economy was going to stop sales they would be the sales to people that were stretching to get to the next level. In other words, $12,000.00 mandolins aren't really indicative of the condition of the general mandolin market.

[RandyMolson]

Vintage instruments still a smart investment because no matter what the market looks like, you can still pull it out and

[Eddie Sheehy]

I buy and trade in the Classifieds. I haven't had much luck selling there....

[Coffeecup]

There's an alternative point of view, not sure if I read it somewhere or heard it on the radio. The idea was that when the economy goes sour buyers can't go for big budget items,such as a new car, so go for lower cost items which for the likes of us may mean a new instrument.

[BlueMountain]

Recall that sales also tend to be slower in the summer when lots of people are on vacation or trying to pay for them. You are right, though, that lots of nice mandolins aren't selling too well. If you doubt it, go to the eBay mandolin pages and click on Highest First. Note how few of the highest-priced twenty or thirty mandolins have bidders. Hardly any. Of course, this is partly a function of their being overpriced with only Buy It Now prices. I generally start bids at $1 with no reserve, but out of the last half dozen mandolins I've sold, I'm still a bit in the red, and I've lost more often than gained, despite having put a lot of time into repairing the things I've sold. I guess part of the problem is that I try to advertise instruments accurately, and I tend to buy from people who don't mention cracks, bowed fretboards, loose tone bars, etc. Oh well.

[Keith Erickson]

I'm sorry folks, I'm not partipating in this recession nor will I have negative mindset that says the markets are "down for the count". Believe what you want to believe and let the rest of us live and enjoy life each and every day.

Speaking for myself, I have placed an order with Dale Ludewig. I have had my eye on that Emory Lester Model for quite some time and I finally decided to pull the trigger last year.

oh yeah........one more thing.........don't even think about calling the bluegrass police on me either

...at toast to all mandolins world wide

[Steve Ostrander]

I did my part: I bought a Colings MT last month. I'm broke now, though.

[MikeEdgerton]

If you doubt it, go to the eBay mandolin pages and click on Highest First. Note how few of the highest-priced twenty or thirty mandolins have bidders.

It was generally like that last year and the year before as well and the year before that too.

[F5GRun]

I want a new mando sooo soo bad. But just cant afford it yet. Its not due to the economy.(Im single, have a great job etc.) Its just the whole college loan thing thats keeping me down. I know one of these days im going to break down and drop and few grand on a good olde USA made mando. I cant wait for that day! I guess I could just use the handy platinum card, but thats not always the best thing to do.

[Ken Olmstead]

My quick survey on ebay doesn't reveal any higher end mandolins priced at a point that would move them fast in a good or bad economy. Minimum bids are starting pretty high. If the economy was a factor, I would think that more folks would be "dumping" some great mandolins at real nice prices. Like the housing market (in my area,) I have noticed marketing time is longer but prices have not come down all that much.

Gibson ovals seem to be the best movers at the moment.

What about the idea that we have just gone through a significant mandolin boom and folks have settled down into the instruments they like? That is true in my case. Ukeleles seem to be enjoying a current boom (that may be waning now I really don't know.) Anywho, fun to watch an speculate!

[Keith Erickson]

Just my observation...

...It would be safe to say that checking how fast items move on e-bay says more about e-bays business than it does about the economy as a whole.

I personally do not frequent e-bay because it is pretty well known about the fraud that takes place there.

This article talks about the e-bay fraud that is originating out of Romania.

[terrierguy]

First of all by the strict definition of a recession, we are not in one. Second of all in actuality very few people are negatively affected by a recession. So, that would mean that very few mandolin players are selling and or not buying due to the current "slowdown" in the economy. Sure if you watch the news and listen to the media you get the impression that we are on the verge of disaster-it's just not the case. My guess would be that higher end mandolins are for sale due to some form of MAS setting in to those who want some sort of different instrument. Just my $.02

[JeffD]

I really doubt there is any meaningfull correlation between mandolin sales and the economy itself. The topic has come up before. The economy goes up and down in cycles, as does the sale of high end mandolins, but in all liklihood for its own reasons, having nothing to do with the economy. Any correlation is more likely to be coincedence than causitive. We are such a special small niche of folks that it would not be accurate to generalize.

[527]

I have seen some great deals lately so I am buying. It's hard to judge the economy by the price of a banjo but it wouldn't bother me if prices came down a bit. Vintage guitars have taken a drop lately as well.

[Jkf_Alone]

If you look at posts on the cafe, they have slowed down as well over the summer. if that indicates less veiwing, it would be natural for mandos to sell a bit slower. I think its only 30% economy, and the rest is summer activities. also, since the majority of festivals are in the summer, maybe people are buying and trying things in person more than over the net.

[David Zaruba]

First of all by the strict definition of a recession, we are not in one. #Second of all in actuality very few people are negatively affected by a recession. #So, that would mean that very few mandolin players are selling and or not buying due to the current "slowdown" in the economy. #Sure if you watch the news and listen to the media you get the impression that we are on the verge of disaster-it's just not the case. #My guess would be that higher end mandolins are for sale due to some form of MAS setting in to those who want some sort of different instrument. #Just my $.02

Not in a recession? Ask someone who's house price has declined by 28%...like in some markets (Miami). If thats not a recession, what is? Housing is usually the largest investment a consumer can make...when house prices decline consumers tend to curtail spending and that hurts the whole economy. The market for higher end mandolins and everything else "non-essential" will tend to be affected.

[allenhopkins]

Hard to judge the overall economy by mandolin sales. A few thousand transactions annually is a very small sample. However, looking at larger areas, such as home sales or automobile sales, one gets the impression that buyers are more cautious than they were a year or two ago. A steady drumbeat of bad financial news will cause that.

When talking about high-end mandolin sales, we're in a market so small and specialized that individual events, such as a Loar going for a record price or for less than expected, become well-known and appear influential. It does take a certain willful myopia not to recognize that there's a general "softening" of the economy, call it what you will, and in a time when certain staples (food, motor fuel) are showing significant price increases, it makes sense that some would defer non-essential purchases.

[Eddie Sheehy]

"non-essential purchases" i.e. guitars and banjos.