A few years ago, if you wanted to buy an antique guitar, you could only search for inventory in various pawn shops, find inventory catalogs of various home musical instrument stores, and hunt for treasures in countless classified ads. The emergence of eBay has changed everything. Nowadays, almost all guitar sellers, including physical stores, will hang the guitars they sell on public network auction websites. The impact of various trends is that you can browse guitars sold from all over the world on your screen at home, and each guitar has countless potential buyers. If you are not familiar with online guitar auctions and have not had time to indulge in it, this article will take you into this new world of music business that is brave enough to lead the trend through practical introductions. What are the types of online guitar auctions in
?
In addition to the most familiar online guitar auction types, there is another type of auction of national or regional nature, which is only held in South Korea, Vietnam and EU countries. The platform for such auctions is a public auction website similar to eBay. Anyone from the country where the auction is located can sell guitars on the auction platform, and anyone in the country can bid for auction. As far as I know, Buyee in Japan is the only national auction site for international auctions/purchases. (Buyee is actually an intermediary for Yahoo auctions in Japan.) The items successfully purchased by the buyer are shipped by the seller to Buyee’s Osaka warehouse and then repackaged and shipped to the buyer. Depending on the shipping method chosen by the buyer, the shipping time ranges from four to six days, six weeks, or longer.
In addition to Buyee's special circumstances, there is also the third type of online auction method with the lowest threshold. It is a public auction website that is open to almost everyone, including eBay.com, the world's largest department store auction website, which displays the richest second-hand guitars and antique guitars; and Reverb.com, which focuses on music equipment (please note that many guitars are often sold at different prices and are on both eBay and Reverb platforms.) What is the operating model of
online guitar auction?
The way to participate in this type of online public auction is very simple. Just register your username and email address, then set up a payment method, use PayPal (both bank accounts and credit cards are applicable, this method is highly recommended) or just a credit card. After the above simple operation is over, you can start bidding.
In addition to the conventional methods, guitar auctions are also carried out in many other ways. The easiest one is the "no bottom price" auction. The seller sets a starting price for the guitar and agrees that the final amount of the auction price must be completed. The starting price may be low, like $9.99, or a market price of $1,200 or something like that. A higher starting price will prompt participating bidders to carefully compare their psychological expected prices. If it is a fairer market price, then go and take a photo. You may not encounter too many competitors, but if you miss this auction, you may regret it.
For sellers, auctions without bottom prices with very low starting prices are very risky, and they often trigger crazy auctions and sell at higher prices than market prices. The reason why this method of starting at low prices successfully triggered a boom is based on the buyer's desire to buy a guitar at a low price. After the auction starts, this demand will turn into an urgent desire, prompting buyers to achieve their goals at any cost. This kind of fanatical auction phenomenon is very common and real, so as a buyer, it is best to determine a psychological bottom price and stick to your own low price to avoid falling into a crazy bidding model. Do a good job of mental construction in advance, and give up this guitar if the price is too high. It doesn’t matter.
In a reserved auction, the seller will put the item on the shelves at a lower price (such as $0.01), but it will not be sold until the bid reaches the reserved price (such as $450). This can play a basic role in protecting the seller and hope to trigger a bidding boom. However, this situation is relatively rare. Buyers are often more cautious about bidding with a reserve price. No one wants to be the first to touch the reserve price, because in this way, everyone knows the seller's psychological price, which greatly reduces the possibility of bargaining.Auctions with a base price often trigger a series of bids at the last moment of the transaction. The best way to deal with it is to honestly determine your psychological price and seize the opportunity to bid at the end. It doesn’t matter if you don’t succeed, there will always be the next guitar that suits you.
Bin Auction (BIN) is a relatively comprehensive auction method. The starting price can be high and low, but sellers often set a Bin option, and the price settings are generally within the reasonable premium range. Buyers can click the one-price button to end the auction at any time and pay at this price. If you know how much the guitar is worth and really want it, a one-price auction is the most convenient and worry-free way. Just pay at the price you set and the guitar is yours!
Through the discounted price (OBO) auction mode, you may buy the item at a bid lower than the current one you want to add. If the seller offers a discounted price option, it means he is willing to accept a transaction at a lower price than the current price tag. But don’t be too greedy, sellers still need to make money. It’s a bit too much to get a 50% discount. The 100% discount is generally within the acceptable range, and there is room for bargaining. If the seller originally asked for a reasonable shipping fee, then trying to convince the other party to have free shipping will usually succeed. (The seller can deduct freight as business expenses when paying taxes.) Even if there is no discounted price option, you can contact the seller at any time to ask if the other party can accept a lower price. Sellers often encounter situations where they need to sell at a lower price, especially when the guitar has been on the shelves for a while but has not been successfully sold.
Japan's Buyee/Yahoo auction platform provides a unique Snipe feature that allows buyers to enter bids in advance and issue them five minutes before the auction ends, which gives plenty of time to bargain, which is very convenient. So be sure to enter your highest quote.
auctions usually last three to nine days, sometimes shorter or re-listed for auctions multiple times. But bidders cannot determine whether a product will be re-listed for auction, so if you prefer a certain guitar and are a little hesitant, it is better to try it boldly. After successfully purchasing the product, payment usually needs to be made within three days. How much should
bid?
When you bid for an auction, you are morally obliged to complete the transaction at the bidding. The buyer should fully weigh the value of the guitar and the cost of purchasing before bidding. You can use the price guide feature on Reverb or use eBay to search for sold prices to determine the value of the item you are shooting for. If you want to buy a higher priced guitar, you can get relevant information through the annual price guide released by Vintage Guitar Magazine or register for the Blue Book of Guitar Values. Search engines can search
to find out the current inventory of some dealers.
The final price for participating in public auctions in the United States will be the transaction price plus shipping fee. Unless the seller has free shipping, the guitar shipping fee is generally between $35-100. If the buyer comes from abroad, the shipping fee may be more expensive. If you want to buy at Buyee in Japan, please note that you will need to pay the transaction price, taxes, a percentage of transaction fees (the guitar transaction fee of about $50 for $250), and finally the shipping fee, which is about $150 or more depending on the size and weight of the package. I bought a Japanese classical guitar for $27 on Buyee and ended up counting all the taxes and fees to total $200. What should I do if I encounter problems with
?
Guitar auction process generally goes smoothly, but occasionally encounters problems. To avoid problems, it is best to be vigilant at all times. The most common problem comes from the gap between buyers’ imagination and actual items. Be sure to pay attention to product description and carefully read product information and observe all picture details. Even if you have a small concern about details, you must ask the seller clearly before bidding. Not sure if you carry a guitar case? Just ask. As a potential seller, you have the right to confirm whether the guitar has experienced repairs or parts replacements that affect the value of the guitar. If you are not satisfied with the answer, look for other guitars. If you do not conduct a good investigation yourself and the seller does not have malicious and false descriptions, then there will be little room for you to make reasonable claims.By the way, all veterans in the guitar auction market have inevitably made this mistake once or twice.
occasionally encounters accidents during shipping, but because there are now a large number of guitars traded and transported around the world, freight companies have promoted the improvement of shipping quality. If you find that the guitar is damaged, take a lot of photos of the guitar and the packaging immediately and send it to the seller. Be careful to be polite and kind. The seller will likely declare that it is damage caused by the shipping process, and the shipping company may accuse the seller of unqualified packaging. If the damage is not serious, it can still be repaired and you really want this guitar, the seller may refund you part of the payment for compensation. Websites such as eBay will arbitrate the claims. If the responsibility is on the seller, you need to send the guitar back and receive a refund. If the responsibility belongs to the shipping company, I can only wish you good luck.
In rare cases, sellers intentionally and often accidentally inaccurately describe guitars, such as those obtained from someone who found a guitar in his grandfather's loft, or from someone who knew nothing about the guitar (you didn't ask). In this case, some sellers will allow returns, and the auction platform has standard procedures for handling related complaints, and will also arbitrate conflicts. Please prepare the complaint materials carefully. If the materials are complete, you will likely get compensation, because the auction platform policy is tilted towards consumers.
Evaluation
Similar to eBay, Reverb and Buyee platforms will use user evaluation as a major criterion for measuring sellers (eBay will also grade buyers). This evaluation mechanism allows users to rate the purchase experience and leave a brief review. For example, the eBay platform stipulates that sellers must maintain 100% five-star praise before they can continue to sell on the platform. User reviews have a direct impact on the seller's business income, so buyers should also adhere to a more serious attitude when evaluating. If you are satisfied with the overall auction process, leave a good review. When the seller is unreasonable and you have tried all the complaints and have not received a satisfactory response, you will leave a bad review. Although most of them are not very satisfied with, but there is no obvious deceptive behavior in the auction process (maybe because my consultation before purchasing is not detailed enough), I simply don’t comment, which is equivalent to a middle review, which is better than a bad review.
is not romantic enough to buy guitars on public auction websites compared to past experiences in advertising and pawn shops. However, the format of online auctions allows your choices to expand to all corners of the world. If you love playing antique guitars, online auction of this brave new world is a golden age for you.
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