How to buy a decent musical instrument on Ebay!
Written: Feb 16 '07
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| Full Review |
How to buy musical instruments on Ebay
Pros: deals are there to be had
Cons: There are plenty of rip-offs out there, too
Bottom line: If you are careful, you might get a bargain
I’ve bought and sold instruments on Ebay several times. I’ve generally been happy with them. One, I’ve performed publicly with. Others have been solid. A few weren’t worth the money.
For this lean and mean review, I will provide some tips.
1. If the deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. The likelihood of getting a professional quality sax for $300 is nearly zero. On the other hand, I got an off-brand soprano sax good enough for professional performance for $900.
2. Stick to name brands. Get advice from a professional. Selmer is the top professional model. Selman sounds the same but is hardly the legendary model that one seller claims.
3. Buy from sellers who have lots of transactions and a feedback percentage of at least 99.5 positive.
4. Make sure the instrument has a right of return. Even if you’re out shipping both ways, you can get most of your money back if the instrument is bad.
5. Make sure the instrument is billed as in “good playing condition”. That means the instrument can be played successfully right now without repairs. Sometimes an instrument deal is a not a deal because the needed repairs are very expensive.
6. Check prices available elsewhere on the same brand and model. Online stores such as Music123 can provide a reference point for pricing.
7. Offer an offline deal. Sellers can be open to ending an auction early in return for a bid substantially higher than the present price. This could make sense on an item that doesn’t many early bids.
8. If you don’t do that, figure out your maximum price and use a snipe service. Snipe services place your maximum bid late enough so other bidders cannot counter. Ebay says to bid your highest amount and not wait. Wrong-o. What that does is give other bidders a chance to counter. Sniping works. It minimizes the price you will pay, if successful. However, sniping will not help if someone else has done #7 and the auction has ended. Sniping also does not work if someone has bid more. Send me an email and I will refer you to the snipe services I use.
9. Pay by Paypal if the seller qualifies for the buyer protection program. This gives you the ability to dispute bad transactions. If the seller does not accept Paypal or does not qualify for buyer protection, do not bid.
Thanks for reading. God bless!
Please check out my related reviews:
How to start your child on an instrument
Rent or buy your child’s first instrument
Music123.com
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? saxophones, clarinets and accessories
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