Here are 4 simple tips to follow for how to sell a vintage guitar for the the best price. After 15 years of selling a couple of million dollars of vintage guitars online, these principles have always ensured that the value of the guitar was presented properly to a buyer. Most sellers resist the last tip, and so did I for a long time, but I assure you that you'll be glad you followed it.
Here's how I sell vintage guitars for the best price: Identify accurately, compare value to similar guitars, take great photos, and offer a return policy.
You can reach out to me here for help with pricing: Sell My Vintage Guitar. We can give you a price quote for your vintage Gibson or Fender guitar with no obligation to sell if it doesn't work for you.
1. Identify the year, make, model, and important features: Before I dial in on the right listing price for my vintage guitars, I'm always careful to determine if I've accurately identified the year, make, model, and important features which may affect its value. For example, the Fender Stratocaster was offered with tremolo tailpiece, without tremolo tailpiece, with or without gold hardware, and with or without a custom finish. The year, make, and model of guitars with each of these features would stay the same, but the values would be different for each variation even in the same condition.
Tip: You can find the year of your Gibson or Fender guitars here: Gibson serial number lookup or Fender Serial Number Lookup. Those pages will help you determine the year it was made, and you can contact me there if you'd like help to identify the model and important features. You can also check the manufacturer's catalog for that year to see what options were offered.
You can also contact me here for a free identification of a vintage Fender or Gibson guitar: Sell My Vintage Guitar.
2. Compare values with similar guitars for sale: Use the identification of the guitar you discovered in step 1 to compare your guitar to similar guitars currently offered for sale. It's important to benchmark your pricing with guitars in the same category as the one you're selling. This step is where the accurate identification really pays off: if you have a guitar with low production or rare features, you'll want to find past sales for similar guitars instead of comparing to more common guitars that are currently available.
Tip: Look for both current asking prices and previous sold prices for guitars that match your guitar's year, make, model, color, and features. You can access price guides for vintage guitars on Reverb.com or HA.com.
I'm also happy to offer appraisals for vintage Fender and Gibson guitars here: Vintage Guitar Appraisal.
3. Showcase its beauty with great photos: Great photos of your vintage guitar should be pleasing, descriptive, and succinct. Pleasing photos will draw more eyes to your sale. Descriptive photos show enough detail to reassure the buyer that they know what they're buying. Perhaps the most important: a succinct collection of photos achieves the goal in as few pictures as possible. The goal is to assure the customer that they know what they're buying. A collection of too many photographs leaves the buyer lost, confused, and with too many choices.
Tip: Place your guitar near a window on an overcast day so that the light passes sideways over the subject. If you don't have the latest smartphone, then ask a friend or family member for help.
4. Offer a return policy?! Yes!: The goal here is to sell your vintage guitar for the best price, right? Here's a hint: a fair return policy gives confidence to your buyer that the guitar is worth the price you're asking. We like to call it an "approval period", since we don't ask questions if the buyer is not satisfied with the guitar they bought. The approval period ensures that it's in my interest as the seller to deliver a great guitar at a fair price. Vintage guitar buyers don't often return great guitars sold at fair prices.
Tip: Offer a 48 hour approval period to your buyer with no restocking fee. It's fair to ask the buyer to pay for shipping both ways in the case of a return.
About the author: John Shults is a vintage guitar collector, appraiser, and guitar dealer with over 15 years industry experience and millions of dollars of vintage guitars sold. This website, Truevintageguitar.com, is a site vintage guitar sellers, players, and enthusiasts.
You can contact John here: Sell a Fender guitar or Sell a Gibson guitar.
