Buy online or local?

Hello all. I'm a new ukulele player and want to upgrade to a decent one up to $500. I've been to my local music shops in the DC metro area to check out the limited selection. Do I just get stuck with what these shops carry or should I look into buying online to have a better selection? But the thought of spending $500 for a ukulele online makes me feel uncomfortable because I just don't know how the instrument really sounds and feel like in person. Any advice would be appreciated.
QT

House of Musical Traditions in takoma Park has some of the nicer Kala ukes on their website. You might want to try looking there just to see what a better ukes entails in build, finish etc.

My first ukes came from The Ukulele Site because in my area, for better ukes buying online is the way to go. As I learned about setup etc. I knew what to look for in online vendors.

Always better to try in person,so you can be sure you like the sound and setup, before dropping the $. Or, at minimum, if you need to buy online, get from a dealer who does a nice setup first, like HMS, MIM, Uke Republic, etc. you can ask them to pick the best sounding example from their stock. Also check return policy & potential restocking fees.

Ukecaster said:

Always better to try in person,so you can be sure you like the sound and setup, before dropping the $. Or, at minimum, if you need to buy online, get from a dealer who does a nice setup first, like HMS, MIM, Uke Republic, etc. you can ask them to pick the best sounding example from their stock. Also check return policy & potential restocking fees.

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^ That.
If you're like me, and simply have no selection locally you may have to buy online. In addition to the ones mentioned already I'll add Elderly Instruments to the list. Definitely get someone who does setups and has a good return policy.

I think MIM's ukes is based in VA. I know she's a member here. I've never dealt with her personally yet, but may in the future based on her stellar reputation. Maybe you could take a road trip if you'd rather do that than have it shipped. From a quick check, it looks like she's maybe 5 hours from your location.

Also, there's a place in Richmond, VA that seems very uke friendly: http://www.uke-fan.com/
I haven't purchased from them, but they seem legit.

I hope you find what you're looking for.

All my ukes have been bought online, just don't have any shops around here, listen to as many sound samples online as you can find to get a good idea of how they will sound, then buy from a respected dealer, (as above).

stllinglama said:

Hello all. I'm a new ukulele player and want to upgrade to a decent one up to $500. I've been to my local music shops in the DC metro area to check out the limited selection. Do I just get stuck with what these shops carry or should I look into buying online to have a better selection? But the thought of spending $500 for a ukulele online makes me feel uncomfortable because I just don't know how the instrument really sounds and feel like in person. Any advice would be appreciated.
QT

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How much you spend is up to you but I would question whether all of your budget is needed to achieve your ends. I don’t know how good a player you are or may become or whether looks are really important to you.

I have bought all of my Ukes either off of a well known auction site or from supposedly good on-line traders. Nothing has arrived set up as it should have been so I had to do that work myself; hopefully you will have a better experience than me.

I have discovered that there are a couple specialist Guitar stores local to me and that they, as a side line, stock a limited range of Ukes. In hindsight I should have visited them to really check out their stock (little if anything was listed on line by them) as friends in my local Uke Club have made reasonable basic purchases from them. Visiting takes time but you do get to test out and listen before parting with your cash - assuming that some sales ‘assistant’ doesn’t manage to spoil the process and that the shop is happy for you to play their instruments. The instrument will likely be dearer than the same model bought on line, visiting in person will use up your time and you won’t necessarily get exactly what you had in mind before entering the shop; however friends have come away with either pragmatic choices that work well for them (no repeat purchases needed) or valuable confirmation that particular models aren’t for them.

Just to add a few of my own observations to the discussion, I also do not live close to many music stores with a decent collection of ukes to try. There is one though, that is only forty five minute drive, and even though they have a nice variety, they do not have a particularly great selection. I mean, they must have thirty or more ukuleles on the wall, but if one is looking for a particular ukulele, like a soprano scale solid wood with a spruce top, they might have one of those in amongst all the other imaginable combinations. I went there the other day looking for a selection of just that, and they actually had none among the wall full of ukuleles. If I had just been looking for a ukulele, and not a specific ukulele, it might have been a more fruitful trip. So I find that the ever present advice to go out and find one to try out is usually not practical advice. I have been to several ukulele festivals though that had vendors with a great selection of ukuleles in the middle price range. Of course, that does not help if one is anxious to get a particular ukulele and start getting to it. Also, it doesn't solve the problem if you have to drive three hours to get to said ukulele festival. I find myself starting to ramble so I'll quit right here.

The responses give, I think, an interesting mix of answers and experiences. As I read it neither of the two options is consistently always the better or the weaker choice, there’s too many variables for that and then add in how lucky you are on any day.

Ringing the physical shop before you travel and the online shop before you buy seems like a good idea. However that only works if there’s someone helpful, knowledgeable, honest, reliable and available at the shop and that they also take your call. Perhaps I’ve been unlucky but mostly that seems too much to ask.

Thank you all for offering your opinion and advice. The more I read your responses plus the ones from some other similar threads, the more I lean toward buying online from one of the suggested shops. It's true that nothing beats trying them out in person, the selection available to me is just too limited. Also if a shop that sell just a few ukuleles, I wonder how much knowledge or experience they have to help me set it up as perfectly as possible. Not to say that some can't but since I'm actually willing to spend up to $1000 I just have to be sure. I'm new to the ukulele and don't want to do the set up or adjustment myself because I will mess it up. So even if I don't get to try them out in person, knowing a shop like https://www.theukulelesite.com/ that sells nothing but ukuleles, they must have all the knowledge and experience, and that makes me feel more comfortable.

Yeah, I guess it’s a sign of the times. Neighborhood music stores are becoming scarcer and scarcer. My Ukes were bought in stores, but they had what I wanted, or I wanted what they had. I did hafta buy my some of my banjos on the internet though.

A lot of stores in the malls where I live are closing. I guess people no longer like to shop or hang out in ‘em. Things change. I suppose we’ll just hafta change with ‘em.

I usta love to hang out in music stores just looking at stuff and maybe trying out instruments—just being there. ld:

Down Up Dick said:

Yeah, I guess it’s a sign of the times. Neighborhood music stores are becoming scarcer and scarcer. My Ukes were bought in stores, but they had what I wanted, or I wanted what they had. I did hafta buy my some of my banjos on the internet though.

A lot of stores in the malls where I live are closing. I guess people no longer like to shop or hang out in ‘em. Things change. I suppose we’ll just hafta change with ‘em.

I usta love to hang out in music stores just looking at stuff and maybe trying out instruments—just being there. ld:

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I think that back in the day there wasn't such a huge selection out there to pick from and a store could carry pretty much what was out there. Now though, there is just too much for them to stock everything imaginable.

Try living in a country like Australia with no decent ukulele shops! Well maybe one of two ok ones.

As others have said, if you can get to play a few ukes it certainly helps.

I usually have to wait for a decent second hand uke appears nearby or on ebay and take a chance. It has meant that I own 4 ukes but I've bought and sold 10+ in a two and a half year period. There's been times where I thoguht I knew exactly waht I wanted and listened to a dozen sound samples just to get the uke and realise it wasn't for me.

Good luck!