Worst Guitar Sale (or Purchase) of your life

[dogrocketp]

So…those of you who have been on here for a while know that during my “lean” post divorce years, I bought and sold PRS guitars to be able to stay afloat and also buy more PRS guitars. This was in addition to my regular job. I was able to quit selling about 2 years ago, except for one last guitar I had two of. I finally realized it was time to put it up for sale, and posted it on the usual places.
I get a message from a guy two hours away. First, he wants to chisel me down a lot. We compromise, agree on a price and I only have to drive to drop it off and collect the money. I can avoid shipping and whatever so I adjusted the price. Somehow, my spidey sense kicked in. I text him, make the two hour drive, wait 45 minutes, and text him I’m leaving. He messages me that he had car trouble, and asks me to drive an additional 4 hours and he’ll give me $50 more. Does this smell funny to anyone? Of course, if he’s had car trouble and is getting it fixed there’s less money to pay Paul. I drove back home, feeling like I came within an inch of a total con game. This is the worst I’ve experienced since I sold my first guitar 50 years ago. How about you? The buying story will come later.

 

[Rosewoodsteel]

Wow! I think you did the right thing. It was good of you to drive 2 hours to begin with. I never would have done it. -An additional 4 hours? No freeking way.

 

[Nick_S]

That's pretty bad times. I'd agree with you and not have sold it.

Me? It's sellers regret every time. I sold my Stratocaster Deluxe (MIA), was a beautiful guitar. Couldn't be there when the guy bought it, so my wife handled the transaction. Sold my Les Paul Standard as needed some money years ago, I do miss that guitar still dearly.

Now, I do miss my old Taylor 810ce, but that one was sold to fund my honeymoon. The beautiful irony? The guy buying it bought it as a divorce present to himself

 

[helmi]

Sorry to hear. most people anymore are just scumbags!

 

[Prina]

I'll give you $100 to drive to here to the West Coast.

No bad sales stories since I've never sold. Gave some away though, the receivers were very happy.

 

[RickP]

I’ve had good experiences selling and buying. It seems that the more expensive items go smoothly and the sub-$100 stuff always brings in the nit-pickers and d-bags. I mostly give that stuff away now! I’ve lost money on a couple of my sales, but mostly break even or better. Buying for a good price in the first place makes selling later a less iffy proposition. Overall, I’d say the vast majority of people you deal with are just like you and easy to work with. The few that are a-holes tend to overshadow the 99% that are good trading partners.

I was recently hoping to find a deal on a Nord Stage 3 88 keyboard, and kept running into ads that were something like “new, with case, never left my home, $1500.” Over and over… like people sell at less than half price all the time. I just pass that by. It appears keyboard players deal with scammers more than we do!

 

[veinbuster]

I get having car trouble, but would have sent a message as soon as I knew I couldn’t make it - long before you sat there long enough to give up.

 

[Maertl513]

I undergo currently my worst procurement.
Owning a Strat copy with a pickguard with handwound SCs, I had the intent to make it more unique. We have a guitar maker specialized for aluminum guitars, aluminum replacement necks, and even pedals.
Prior my order I spoke him through my intent, he was willing. The annouced a period of three months for the whole making. I dropped the order in the beginning of FEB last year, paid the bill and waited. Nothing happened. Frequently I asked for the watermark report. Sometimes he replied. By summer he replied I should send the body that he could ensure a perfect fitting. He reported the successful delivery of the body.
Nothing happened. End of September he planed to exhibit on a big guitar exhibition. He promised the guitar will be ready the week before or after the venue. No report. By end of the year rumors spread in forums that his in insolvency, and he's mentally sick. But he would execute the open orders or reach the customers for an agreement.
This week I did a check concerning judically insolvency reports, and found the announcement of the respective court house by mid of FEB 25.
In this announcement his lawyer was mentioned. I sent him a letter with my demands.

Answer is pending.

 

[Maxime Bousquet]

You've been more than good at this!

When it gets too complicated I move on to the next one..
Sorry for you to have invested time for nothing, dear me they are called big dreamer on a low budget!

 

[Juan Luis Vidal]

I have never sold a guitar that has stood in my stable for more than several months, so no regrets in that sense (well, I did sell a crappy bass guitar and a crappier acoustic guitar...I can't even remember their brands, go figure).

Buyer's regret? I jumped on the train of Kemper hype years ago, but it was not my thing.

 

[AP515]

We have one part of the story in common. When I divorced, I had to buy and sell guitars and amps as a side hustle to settle with my soon to be ex. It was really hard, but it worked out.

My worst story isn't exactly about selling, but I did have to let go of a PRS bass. I play bass as well as 6 string, and I wanted a PRS bass just to say I had one. This was back when the only basses were made in the 90's. I found one near me and it was only about $1000. I jumped on it and brought it home and had a ball playing it. The next day some guy posted an add on CL saying he had many of his PRSI stolen and he was asking folks to let him know if they see any of his guitars being sold. That bass was one of the guitars on his list. I knew what I had to do. I called and told him I had his bass. Turns out it was his drug addicted son who stole them for drug money. He offered to buy it back at the price I paid so I didn't lose money, but I did lose a great bass guitar.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I once sold this SE CU22 semi hollow to this dude…

 

[dogrocketp]

Hmmmmmmmmm………….sounds like the guy was a PRS addict………………

 

[Maertl513]

@sergiodeblanc, it is to read as: I once sold my soul... at Crossroads.

 

[László]

There are always wonderful new guitars and amps out there to discover and fall in love with. I've never been bereft of the opportunity to acquire some really good ones.

None of the sales have affected the ability to earn money via my music, and many of them have helped to put useful gear into the studio.

As a result, the regrets have been comparatively minor. And it's not like PRS has suddenly stopped making fantastic guitars! So good options abound.

 

[bodia]

I don't really have any bad stories. I've gotten some good deals, and have had generally positive experiences buying. I'd say one that "touched" me a little bit was the '98 McRosie I bought last year. It was a widow selling her late husbands guitars so she could go back to college. I had to do a little homework cuz I thought it had the potential to be fishy. Turns out it was as stated. Price was maybe a touch high, but my soft side kicked in and I just bought it for what it was listed for. Near mint condition, to boot.

 

[PeteRS]

Sold my ESP Horizon FR (Black) to a guy. I took the strings off but left the Floyd Rose in the rout suspended at level by a wood block + the springs installed in the back. "That's not going anywhere" I said. It definitely went places. It moved in shipping and took some giant chips out of the finish. Nothing makes your heart drop faster than the guy sending you pictures of the guitar you sold him with giant chips out of the paint, knowing it was all your own fault. I reimbursed him and he even gave me a few shekels back because he felt bad. Nice guy and I think he enjoyed the guitar. My advice is ship the guitar with the strings on or just remove the strings and the Floyd Rose entirely.

I'm sure I'll have way worse transactions in the future. I've bought a lot of guitars sight unseen off the internet and I've been pretty lucky that they've all been great guitars. RG550 20th Anniversary? Awesome. RG2820QZ? Awesome. ESP Horizon FR? Awesome. Caparison Dellinger? Awesome. Suhr Standard Legacy? Awesome. But I digress...

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

I’ve told this story here before, but I’ve had more than one Craigs List sale that had scammy behavior but one in particular was legit trouble. I made a deal on Craigs LIst to purchase a speaker cab. It was going to be about $300 and “cash” pickup in person. At the advice of a cop friend, I’ve always asked for the cell phone number of the person and at least their first name, and I demanded that we meet in a public place. I also ask what color and make of car I’ll be looking for. I had to ask 3 times and finally got a first name and a cell, then “white Toyota.” Of course, I told them what my car was so they could look for me.

I chose a large gas station to meet at. The Seller OK’d this, but said “pull around to the side so we aren’t blocking parking spaces for people actually doing business there.” When I pulled in, a cop pulls in right next to me. When I get out he starts chatting with me (I’m a friendly sort in person, unlike my online persona ). After a minute, he’s says “aren’t you going in” and I told him why I was there. His words. “Be careful!” He goes in and a minute later I see some guys checking me out… 4 guys… in a white Toyota. They cruise by very slowly, CLEARLY checking me out and apparently looking for the cop who’s parked next to me. But they slowly drive on by.

A couple minutes later, the cop comes in with a cup of coffee. I told him what I saw and he said he’d stay there for a minute to see if they came by again. Well they did. This time they pulled in, and as soon as they saw the cop standing right by my car talking to me, they don’t even slow down (although we both saw them look) and drive right past, out of the parking lot and disappear. The cop said he was convinced that they planned to rob me. When I told him I had a cell number, he said to text it and see what happened. When I got the message that “this cellphone is no longer accepting texts” he went to his car and called it in for them to check. It was a burner and had been deactivated an hour before the pickup was scheduled.

 

[dogrocketp]

It’s cathartic knowing I’m not the only one.

 

[Anachronism]

I don't have many regrets about buying because I've always been able to resell mistakes without taking too much of a loss (sometimes I even make money). And I don't really regret any of the PRSi I've sold because, excellent as some of them were, I'm very happy with my current core PRS lineup (Westie, 513 Rosewood, HBII w/piezo) and wouldn't trade any of them for what I've let go.

What I do regret is selling a Fodera Monarch Standard P bass, which was the most perfect P I have ever played (and likely ever will). It went to fund another Fodera I still have and love, but I miss it and wish I'd found another way to raise the money.