Author Topic: Need your advice again (Read 227 times)

smithtekk · « **on:** March 01, 2009, 01:27:22 PM »

Hi all. You've been so great to offer advice on selling my brother's items, but I have another question: How does one go about selling a big item (Marshall half stack)? I wouldn't begin to know how to ship something like that. Any tips would be appreciated. Hope everyone's enjoying the weekend and for those in the Northeast, batten down the hatches it's gonna be a snowy night!

lidon2001 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 01, 2009, 02:14:24 PM »

Hello Elizabeth,

I would suggest putting an ad in craigslist.com and seeing if you could sell it locally first where shipping would not be an issue.

Good luck with your sale,

T

bsee · « **Reply #2 on:** March 01, 2009, 03:02:52 PM »

Craigslist is the best way to make a private sale locally. You might also try eBay and set the shipping to local pickup only, though that will cost you fees and risk some idiot who doesn't read expecting you to ship across the country. Minor annoyances in the grand scheme.

If overall profit isn't a critical point for you, you could also try some local music store and see if they will offer you something reasonable for it. If you're not in a tremendous hurry, a smaller store might even sell the items on consignment to get you a little better price than they would offer to just buy it from you.

Personally, I am always cautious about local pickup deals as I don't like inviting complete strangers into my home. What can I say, I grew up in NY and had my house robbed a few times growing up plus a couple more times while at college in Worcester.

-bob

lbpesq · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2009, 06:07:47 PM »

Elizabeth:

If you bring it to a UPS store, they'll do the packing. I prefer to have them pack stuff for shipping anyway. If there is any damage, they can't wiggle out based on inadequate packing. When packing a tube amnp, it's a good practice to remove the tubes and wrap them separately. Good luck.

Bill, tgo

smithtekk · « **Reply #4 on:** March 02, 2009, 06:38:04 AM »

Thanks for the input. I'm not too keen on people coming to my house -- I too was robbed a couple of years ago. Not an experience I'd care to repeat.

glocke · « **Reply #5 on:** March 02, 2009, 07:39:56 AM »

With few exceptions, I never have anyone at my house when selling stuff.

Elizabeth, one option I havent seen mentioned is to put it up for consignment at a local music store.

barryr1 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 02, 2009, 07:52:46 AM »

I bought a half stack on ebay. It really depends on whether yo have a tube older stack or the electronic stuff. I paid to have mine shipped and it wasn't to bad

smithtekk · « **Reply #7 on:** March 02, 2009, 09:04:51 AM »

This stack was bought new a year ago; well actually, January of last year. It's a JVM410H... does that have tubes?

lbpesq · « **Reply #8 on:** March 02, 2009, 09:30:27 AM »

Elizabeth:

The Marshall JVM410H is, indeed, a tube amp. Since it's a new one, you can probably get away with shipping without removing the tubes, but if you can get to them easily enough (on some amps you can just reach in the back, others you may have to remove a panel first), it makes sense to just pull them out, wrap in bubble wrap, and pack in a small box to be included in the big amp shipping box. The consignment idea may be the best way to go.

Bill, tgo

bsee · « **Reply #9 on:** March 02, 2009, 11:48:43 AM »

Well, apparently that amp head is on the order of $2K new. I saw a floor model new in the box offered at $1550 shipped. Daddy's has two in their computer at $1400 and $1550 used. You will probably have to bring the price down pretty low to move the item quickly.

As far as consignment goes, I'm not sure who in the Boston area still does consignment sales. I don't know if Daddy's or Guitar Center do, or if I would trust them if they did. Both chains get a lot of traffic, but don't really police themselves all that well for the gear to remain in the original condition until sold. I don't think they take responsibility for your gear getting trashed on their floor either. Consignment is a trade off between the better care of a mom-and-pop shop vs. the better traffic of a big chain. Maybe try Boston Guitar Works (in Brockton) if they are close enough to you. They appear to carry some good stuff that might be in keeping with the level of gear you're selling.

Another down side of consignment sales is that they are open-ended. A high-end item trying to get fair value, especially if the dealer is going to take 20% off the top, might sit quite a while before catching someone's interest. It may be a question of whether you want $1000 guaranteed today or the chance of $1300 at some point in the future. You'll have to look at the actual numbers and make the best decision for you.

Best of luck, and feel free to keep asking questions!
-bob

barryr1 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 02, 2009, 01:06:09 PM »

I have bought both a number of heads (plexi,fuchs, 60's hiwatts) and bottom of marshall stack off of ebay. On the amp you just need to pull the power tubes and mark them. (wrap them in bubble wrap and stuff em back in the cab so they won't bounce). On the speaker cab, they are pretty resiliant and inside of a decent cardboard box they hold up pretty well...and you can list on ebay for local pickup only making the other party responsible for transport and packing.

br