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Location: big island | http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=001&sspagename=STR... |
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January 2007
Posts: 12
Location: Portugal | :o
You are so lucky to live in America... the guitar are so damn cheap. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | While the SMT's may not be considered by some to be a "real" Adamas, someone just got themselves one hell of a guitar for a riduculous price. |
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Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 2487
| Funny, I would say this is typical lately. This is the true retail value of these guitars in case you guy's were wondering. I find it very hard to sell two very nice Ovation instruments lately and for some time now. Yet we have an Adamas 2 sell for a "Reported" $1,500. That is the first sale of it's kind in the past 6 months, perhaps more. And it only took a couple of day's. While recently there have been adamas 1's going for less than this on Ebay. I am not sure this makes any logical sense.
I'd say by ebay's new standards, my Custom Legend is now worth about $600 perhaps less, and I just found out my 5 string acoustic bass is worth $810. Man I should be buying not selling. Very frustrating. I have learned that Ovation Guitars have not held there value at all this year.
Randy |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I have said this many times, ebay is not, never has been and never will be an accurate, reliable or reasonable barometer of the value of anything. As a path to market it is truly unique and does not adhere to any predictable business model.
Here's an example. My company bought a shipment of guitars from China. 1 carton got damaged in transit and 6 guitars received cosmetic and/or minor structrual damage. We auctioned the damaged guitars on ebay at the same time as we were selling perfect examples on BIN. The damaged guitars invariably reached the retail price of a perfect example and a couple went significantly over. Go figure. |
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December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | As Paul stated... the "eBay model" is in fact the complete lack of a model. Why something sells or doesn't sell, and the price it garners, is for all intents and purposes, based on whim. Who happens to be looking at what, when. |
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April 2006
Posts: 32
Location: Bay Area, CA | I was watching that Adamas SMT on the evilBay. But read the description, she's been rode hard and put away wet. Sure, we wish she'd gone for a higher price, but don't be too dismayed. An SMT in good condition (and you know these take a lot of wear and environmental changes without showing it--that's one beauty of an Adamas) will fetch a higher price.
No one should buy an Ovation or Adamas (or sadly even a Hamer) thinking they will increase in value. They depreciate painfully bought new. But get one used and they hold their value very well--and deliver a whole lot of enjoyment doing it. That's sure true for my 1972 Balladeer--I think what a Martin D-28 from that year in the same conditon would bring. Ouch! My Collings on the other hand...well that's another story isn't it! |
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June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | I beleive this one was on this site at one time. The member (can't remember his name) said his friend was going to sell it, and as he said, "didn't balk when I told him it was worth about 400.00" I think he ended up buying it for even less than that (300 and change) and fliping it on the bay. |
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February 2004
Posts: 2487
| Odd, I feel a place where you can go and browse tens of thousands of guitars, and hundreds of thousands of items in the musical instruments category would more than be a gauge from which one could set a going value but any store that was that big would set the price. I know guitar dealers do not like ebay. It is impossible to compete with something like this. In the end it will be the guy who is willing to take the biggest hit in profit that will sell guitars.
Now this does not hold true for some of the rarer used/vintage equipment. Some of this is hard to find even on ebay and the prices can be held easier. But if what you want is available through this monster site then how do you compete with it?? But overall I think it is foolish to think there is some better way for a guy who is not a dealer and going to buy a guitar or sell one to go by anything other than Ebay.
Paul, I know you do not like ebay, I do not know any dealer who does. The logic follows, I have no love of monopolies or giant complaies that hurt the little guys all the time but when it comes right down to it if you could buy a guitar for nearly half of what yourlocal dealer wants then what do you expect someone to do.
SO for a guy like me, I do not see anyone defending my thinking that my CL guitar is worth somewhere around $1,000 US. I see no one in the past 4 months make me an offer over $600 for it. Now you tell me Paul..........I want to know if EBAY is not the price setter just what is my friend?? I have seen the same guitars for sale in some websites from dealers for the past 4 or so years I have been back into music and yes the same guitars are still there. Not a dig just a simple fact. If this is the price setting system your refering to then this is not acurate either.
Just how I see it lately Paul; Not trying to piss anyone off. I am just trying to sell a high end Ovation Custom Legend and if you had it in your store you'd want as much for it, or more, than I am asking. How long would you keep it to prove your point.
Randy |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Randy, I don’t know where you get the idea I don’t like Ebay. My company turned over in excess of three quarters of a million dollars on ebay last year, so what’s not to like? And we didn’t do that by selling product at knock down prices, that’s a good way to go bust.
The reason Ebay is not a reliable yardstick is because there are too many variables. The time of day an auction ends can be the difference between a high or low price. Poor pictures and/or a poor description can knock hundreds off a final value. USA sellers who refuse to ship internationally are missing a huge potential market. A grand $US for your Custom Legend is a bargain in the UK and Europe even with shipping, sales tax and import duty, especially at the current exchange rate.
There’s a huge difference between a private individual who quite reasonably wants top dollar for a prized guitar and a dealer who needs to liquidate slow moving lines or dead stock. But while that is a common practice throughout ebay it does not by any means define the true value of those items, just their value at that particular point in time, to that particular seller. Ebay auctions are a game, and you just need to play by their bizarre rules. |
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July 2002
Posts: 1900
| Yep, ebay is becoming a saturated market on many items. The collectibles might tend to compete for more, but the average guitar prices seem to have come down. I've recently seen many high-end O's and A's go for hundreds less than a year ago... |
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April 2006
Posts: 1138
Location: CT | Ebay is a price setter, whether we want it to be or not. I wish my Custom Legend were worth what I paid for it 23 years ago, but it's not. Why? Because if I try to sell it with a paper ad, or to a guy down the street for $1000.00 he's gonna say "why would I pay that much for a guitar that I can get for 650 bucks". Thats what good condition used C.Legends go for on ebay NOW, so that's what they're worth - NOW (in 5 years, ebay will set different prices-all that supply and demand stuff). If you need a brand new Custom Legend with warranty and case candy, there are plenty to choose from, and the guy who takes the biggest hit on profit is the one who is going to move the most guitars. If someone else wants to move as many guitars, they will need to price them similarly. Of course there will always be people with wads of cash who just go to G.C. and plunk down money on what they like. |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | each instance on e bay is independent of each other. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | You're all wrong. The reason guitar prices are low now is that I'm not in the market. They were high for awhile because I was buying. If I started selling they'd really drop. It's just this curse that I have. If you ask me for stock advice and do the opposite, you'd all be rich. |
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June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | Mark, I'm begining to beleive we have more in common than I would like to think. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Maybe that's why people always mistake me for someone else. Just Average Joe. |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Lucky for me, I never sell any guitars. I just couldn't stand to part with any of them, even the crummy stuff. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | My wife thinks I have the same problem, but I just really "need" 12 guitars, so far. I have sold a few. One of those I regret selling. That was 30 years ago. |
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February 2004
Posts: 2487
| I am just frustrated. It has been nice to own some nice guitars this time around, it has also been nice until last fall to be able to just offer one of these great guitars up for sale for what I paid for it and to have it sell so I can find my next guitar fit for the function I am involved with at the time. I have 7 guitars now that will always be my go to guitars for what I do. But the band projects I am getting invloved with can change the need for some of my less used guitars. So I offer them up and for 6 months I find they have lost 50% of their resale value. That hurts.
Unless one of the dealers in here would like to offer me their previous ebay and elsewhere resale value then I only have Ebay to turn to. So ebay sets the price for me (WRONG OR RIGHT) Until Ebay returns to normal with the American Ovation market then I do not stand a chance selling it in here or anywhere else I know of.
In case this does not add up it means it is not just my auction that is not selling as high as it should, it's all of them. So they all can't be "Bad Photo's" or bad luck on the "Whim" factor.
Just so you know I have been watching the Taylors as well. Looking for one of the 800's as a possible new acoustic. I like my partners.... They seeem to retain their value quite well in comparison to the high end Ovations?? I do not understand it. I do not like it. I do not agree with it. But this is the way it is.
I sure hope it changes soon.
Randy |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | I don't mean to rub it in, Randy, but thanks again for the 30th Anniversary CL. |
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March 2003
Posts: 555
Location: Wooster, Ohio | Though I am sure any individual auctions can have issues, ebay should on average produce the actual market price for any item. With Ovations it is a two edge sword. They are not "in" and that gives us great bargains in the used market. I have seen ebay prove value the other way. I have a Yairi doubleneck that has a blue book of $500.00. I have always seen these bring $1000 on ebay, which is the closer to the true price.
Steve |
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February 2004
Posts: 2487
| No Mark, I am kind of embarrassed that you bought the last fairly priced guitar I sold. Right after that things went nutty everywhere else. Again, watching Adamas guitars sell for nearly HALF of what you bought my Legend for is an embarrasement to me.
Randy |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Randy, I have no regrets either way. You asked a fair price, gave me a straight story on the ding and my wife paid for the guitar. The ding bothers me, but not enough to matter. If it was perfect I might be afraid to play it. It plays, sounds and looks wonderful. |
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February 2004
Posts: 2487
| Thanks, and I am glad. That is a great guitar no doubt. Things will come round. By the way that is quite the Ovation guitar list you have going there man, I have not looked at it in some time.
Randy |
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OUCH!
