Haggling

57Deluxe

I haven't seen The Haggling - I enjoyed The Killing...and The Bridge though...

FreddieVanHalen

I think it probably depends on the guitar but by means of example of margins, I bought a Gibson Custom Shop 330 for about £700 more than I needed to spend - I saw several retailers putting them out that much below what I'd paid just about 12 months after I'd bought mine.

I've previously, easily, gotten 10% to 15% off advertised prices.

After my shafting, I would now *never* buy a new guitar unless I thought I was going to keep it until death :-)

fretfinder

FreddieVanHalen said: I would now *never* buy a new guitar unless I thought I was going to keep it until death :-)

Me too - I could never say for sure that I was going to keep a guitar until death, so I would never buy a new one. Why throw money away? 

underdog

I don't buy to think what if , I buy to enjoy and hope it's one of the keepers, and sometimes what you want isn't available used, though yes I do often buy used.

crunchman

Definitely worth haggling, although as has been said above, what you can get in cash may be limited.  I once got 10 sets of strings chucked in, and another time I get £100 worth of work in the shop's workshop. - which I used on work on a completely different guitar.

p90fool

underdog;159580" said:

I don't buy to think what if.

Me neither, I only buy guitars I actually like.
I was told I was a mug for buying a new Gibson, but that money is long forgotten and the resale value of my (now fairly battered and gig-worn) Goldtop is irrelevant to me.

Take a Saturday afternoon off work, Cranes has some lovely stuff on your doorstep.

underdog

Can't do a Sat busiest day of the week for me (I'm a body piercer so non school days are where the money is to be made) May try and nip off one morning in the week and take a look though. Pmt have got back to me and said they will negotiate on price but no indication of how much.

pmg

Always get a discount when buying new and not on an installment plan. It's a buyers market as someone said earlier. Try it, play it cool, haggle and then if the price is right and you're happy, buy it.

viz

The one who sets the price is the one willing to walk away from the deal.

underdog

I saved myself the effort in the end and bought from someone directly importing them and saved close to £500

mart

impmann said:

I heard Cranes had gone bust... Was my info wrong?

No, they're still going, fortunately.

Skipped

I think it is well worth supporting your local dealer. If you have a local dealer worth supporting.
If Coda Music was my local dealer I would be supporting them. They fit my definition of a Proper Guitar Shop. They take trades (formerly known as Part Exchange) and they sell that used gear in the shop.
Yes! They actually have used gear in the shop!
I have been browsing through their used stock on the website and there is loads of droolworthy amps and guitars. If I lived anywhere near I would be in there Right Now. If you live near Coda - cherish them.

So am I saying that a dealer who seems to be not interested in Trades is not a Proper Guitar Shop? Yes I am.
Any nominations? I am very suspicious of the fact that Dawsons Music have never had a second hand guitar on their website ever AFAIK.

 When I was at school we were taught that matter cannot be destroyed - it can only be turned into a different form of matter. Maybe something sinister is happening to part ex guitars in the North West.