Tips for Selling a Bass
The New Year tends to be a time for fresh starts and clear outs (happy new year by the way!). It is for me, time to thin the bass stable and find a new home for one or two basses. I’m very blessed to own more than one bass – I know that not everyone has or does. I have my main two basses (a fretted and a fretless), but there is a little orbit of others that changes and gives me the chance to try out other basses and get to know them.
The most recent departure is the custom Moses job featured in the “graphite bass” post. So, buying and selling basses has been part of life over the last decade. Here are some tips when selling your bass…
- Try to get an idea of a ‘fair price’ for the bass – with ebay and on-line sites, this is much easier than it used to be. Have realistic expectations and know what reasonable bounds of negotiation are.
- Put on the bass’s best face – give it a good wipe down with a soft cloth to get it clean and free from greasy finger marks. Check it is set up as best as it can be, and that nothing is about to come loose.
- Get some good pictures of the bass – good lighting is more important than a good camera here, use bright, natural day light, or collect together some angle poise lamps – don’t use a built-in camera flash. Get a number of shots, most basses are just too good to fit into one picture.
- Be clear and honest about the condition of the bass – anything less will come back at you, one way or another. Are there bumps, scratches, buckle rash?
Last, but not least, I’ve met some great people through the basses that have come and gone over the years – be friendly and keep in touch!
What tips would you add?
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Hi Benjamin,
I’ve been checking out your site for a while, great stuff. I have a similar site (but I’m Canadian so I’m an ocean away from you)and wrote an article your readers and yourself may wish to look at that also deals with selling bass guitars, here’s the link http://bassguitarrocks.com/2008/07/sell-your-bass-guitar-online/
Keep up the great work – I loved the video about the beginner bass guitar and amp package, I’m hoping to get around to shooting some video myself soon – perhaps a sales one for the next bass guitar that I have to sell! Be well.
Hi Michael – thank you for the pointer and the encouragement – great blog btw!
One really good tip is to use CRAIGSLIST – where you can buy and sell musical instruments via Classified ads for no charge. These ads are free and are read by MANY MANY people looking to buy or sell basses. Another advantage is that you will probably not have to SHIP anything. I hope this helps someone. I have no pecuniary interest in Craigslist.
Bry