What Percentage $$?

Jerryc41

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When you're selling a ukulele or buying used, have you ever thought in terms of percentages? If a ukulele sold for $500 new, and you were willing to pay 65%, that would make your limit $325. Looking at some sales vs street prices new, it seems that many are in the 60 - 75% bracket. This might help me to resist paying or bidding more than I should.

I'm watching one on ebay now. The currest price is $959, and it's bid up to $577 with nine minutes left.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302653649593?ul_noapp=true

Of course, if you just fall in love with a uke, and you must have it, then the sky's the limit. : )
 
From what I see you can’t usefully expect a particular mark down for second hand, it all depends on the make and model, etc. I wouldn’t recommend it as an investment strategy but some Ukes even improve in price.

To an extent it’s all a matter of supply and demand plus desirability. The cheaper mass produced Ukes tend to take a hammering, but something ‘nice’, rarer and in really good condition fairs better - well that’s just my observation. Trust has a value too, folk on here tend to be straight with each other and that gives confidence (which has a value).

Good luck with this. At the end of the day a Uke is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it .
 
From what I see you can’t usefully expect a particular mark down for second hand, it all depends on the make and model, etc. I wouldn’t recommend it as an investment strategy but some Ukes even improve in price.

To an extent it’s all a matter of supply and demand plus desirability. The cheaper mass produced Ukes tend to take a hammering, but something ‘nice’, rarer and in really good condition fairs better - well that’s just my observation. Trust has a value too, folk on here tend to be straight with each other and that gives confidence (which has a value).

Good luck with this. At the end of the day a Uke is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it .

Well said, and seconded.
Looks like the final price was $555, and for that ukulele someone is going to be happy.
 
Well said, and seconded.
Looks like the final price was $555, and for that ukulele someone is going to be happy.

I think that was a reasonable price for buyer and seller. I'll keep percentages in mind when I buy and sell in the future, since that's where I plan to be living. : )
 
Hey, I was looking at the same uke up for auction. I just didn't want to go higher in price as the case listed was actually a gig bag, not a hard case. Once you added in the $40+ for shipping, and then buying a fairly acceptable hard case for it, it would come to over $650 - still better than the cost of a new model without a case, though!
 
You can't really rely on percentages, any instrument is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. In my case, they're always worth more when I buy them than when I sell them...:(:shaka:
 
I agree with UkerDanno. The marketplace can be affected by many variables. I try to list at a fair price because if you list too high, no one will even read the listing. Some people will never pay the listing price even if it's fair. I've bought and sold on ebay. I've got bargains and also sold an instrument once for a low price because I didn't set a reserve. Supply and demand come into play, but sometimes it's just plain luck that your in the right place at the right time.
 
Pricing of a used ukulele is determined by so many factors. If it is a high end uke like one of the K brands, less then 2 years old and in excellent shape then 25%-30% below retail is fair. If it is a very common brand that is low priced and abundant like a Kala or Ohana then 30%-40% off is more the norm. But the sellers idea of "excellent" condition and the buyers idea could be very far apart.

Then you get into time of year. If I am listing a Pono pro classical that sold new for $1200 in January when everyone is in debt from Christmas I will have to discount it farther then in April when people have their tax returns and have money to spend.

Because of this when I sell a uke here I always remove the price from the listing. Some people have been vocal in their disaproval of this practice. But each transaction can be different and if I listed it for $950 and agreed to a private offer of $850 then the listed price is no longer relevant.
 
Pricing of a used ukulele is determined by so many factors. If it is a high end uke like one of the K brands, less then 2 years old and in excellent shape then 25%-30% below retail is fair. If it is a very common brand that is low priced and abundant like a Kala or Ohana then 30%-40% off is more the norm. But the sellers idea of "excellent" condition and the buyers idea could be very far apart.

Then you get into time of year. If I am listing a Pono pro classical that sold new for $1200 in January when everyone is in debt from Christmas I will have to discount it farther then in April when people have their tax returns and have money to spend.

Because of this when I sell a uke here I always remove the price from the listing. Some people have been vocal in their disaproval of this practice. But each transaction can be different and if I listed it for $950 and agreed to a private offer of $850 then the listed price is no longer relevant.

I'm one of those who prefer sellers leave the listing price (and add the sales price). I look at prior listings to help price anything I want to sell, and I take time of year, location, etc. into consideration as well as listing and sales prices.
 
I am with DownUpDave on the practice of removing prices from listings. I may sell a uke for well below its market value because I was lucky enough to get a great deal when I bought it. That doesn't mean it's not worth more, it just means I'm paying my good fortune forward. I might offer a uke for a very fair price, but if someone previously listed a similar uke for less than the going rate, it can give potential buyers a misinformed impression of the instrument's actual value. In some cases I may have paid too much for a uke (God knows), and list it optimistically, hoping that someone wants it enough to minimize my losses.
I understand why one might find it helpful to peruse the prices of closed listings, but I don't understand when they criticize someone for removing the price after the fact. When it comes down to it, it's no one's business except for the two parties involved in the transaction, and it's their decision whether or not to leave that info up.
As to the original question of the post, it seems to me there are way too many variables (emotion, timing, quality of photos & description, etc.) to depend on any consistent percentage expectation (but then I'm really not a spread-sheet kind of a guy).
 
You have the right to do what you want with price listings, but it does help others to know what similar instruments have sold for in the past—or even the same instrument on the sales block a second (or third) time by different parties. Original MSRP is of no value whatsoever on any instrument other than the K brands (and Martins?) that sell at that amount, and there is no KBB for used instruments. And most of these instruments do not appreciate over time. Yes, there are exceptions.

I can understand a seller not wanting to list a final selling price, but I do wish that the initial asking price at least would be left behind.

In the context of the thread, when I am looking at a used “late” model ukulele, 70% of the street value is a starting point for me.

The other thing I wish is that all sales here on UU included shipping (in the seller’s country) in the price rather than adding it on. I have skipped a couple of instruments because the sale would have added another $30 to $45 to a already significant purchase.
 
You have the right to do what you want with price listings, but it does help others to know what similar instruments have sold for in the past—or even the same instrument on the sales block a second (or third) time by different parties. Original MSRP is of no value whatsoever on any instrument other than the K brands (and Martins?) that sell at that amount, and there is no KBB for used instruments. And most of these instruments do not appreciate over time. Yes, there are exceptions.

I can understand a seller not wanting to list a final selling price, but I do wish that the initial asking price at least would be left behind.

In the context of the thread, when I am looking at a used “late” model ukulele, 70% of the street value is a starting point for me.

The other thing I wish is that all sales here on UU included shipping (in the seller’s country) in the price rather than adding it on. I have skipped a couple of instruments because the sale would have added another $30 to $45 to a already significant purchase.

Yes, I would like to know how much a uke has sold for just - just for comparison purposes. Shipping charges are tricky. The best is free shipping, but it's not free for the seller. Shipping has gotten very expensive, but some sellers must be charging for the box, the tape, their time, mileage to the post office, etc. I charge the actual shipping cost.
 
Just adding my humble opinion, the Pono ATSH-PC Uke that started this thread have just arrived in the house of Crazyguitar. Cost $555 + $9.85 shipping; $564.85 final price. This came with a gig bag, probably cost about $12. Total $$ $576.85

Current version of the ATSH-PC listed in HMS is $959 and it comes with a hard case, cost $69.99. So, my used ATSH-PC is exc ++ to mint condition and if I add a hard case, will now cost me $576.85 + $69.99 = $646.84. This is about 67.45% of the current HMS price, a savings of $312.16. I now have a ATSH-PC, a gig bag and a hard case. BTW, there was another ATSH-PC listed in Reverb.com and sold for $700 + $50 shipping, it included a hard case with a faulty lock.

This is my 1st. uke. I am a guitar guy who just recently caught UAS. I have bought and sold guitars and currently have over 30 guitars ranging from solid body electrics, acoustic guitars, both classical and steel strings and custom builds. In my opinion, the criteria to the worth of a guitar or a uke is: the manufacturer or luthier, its rarity, looks and obviously its condition. As for this Pono ATSH-PC, my justification was: Pono, a very respectable manufacturer, definitely not rare or a collectible; the looks: not all acacia are the same, this one have a nice set of acacia, both in grain and color. Current versions have a wood rosette instead of a abalone rosette.

At the end of the day, it is truly what we want. It depends how bad your UAS is. We can rationalize all the tangible variables, and finally, we still do and get what we want.

My apologies, what do I know, I am just a newbie in the uke world. My better half, my wife, do not call me crazy for nothing.

I recently made a couple of new uke friends here, DownupDave and Slackkey007 and would like to say a big mahalo for all their guidance and help.
 
Very interesting - the shipping had been listed at $43.35 for expedited service. I didn't think shipping costs were negotiable after an auction was won on ebay, but I reckon you asked for a different method? Less than ten bucks to ship a well-packed tenor is pretty cheap. Had I known that I might have continued to bid a little higher!
 
I know generalisations are only that - but I used to work in a music shop and we took in a lot of second hand stuff on sale or return.

This doesn't apply to anything with rarity or collectable status.

But as a general ball park, a second hand instrument in good condition would be worth roughly 50% of the current retail value. If pristine condition perhaps up to 70%. Above that its going to be why not just buy it new and get the warranty and peace of mind?

There are always exceptions, but this was our advice.
 
:agree:

I realise that Ukes might not follow the trend of all instruments but Iulia’s comment above does generally chime true with my buying and selling experience - it’s a helpful rule of thumb. Other and older instruments can actually end up being bought and sold for a small fraction of their new price - potentially some excellent value there for the buyer - and due to market sentiment once sold the resale value of some good new instruments can drop like a stone.

It is important to view instruments as investments because at some stage we will sell them again, but before that we incur costs due to repair and renovation and benefit from the utility that they give us; that mix ends up as a difficult cost benefit sum to calculate. I think that percentage lost can be misleading too, a large percentage loss on a cheaper instrument can be a much smaller loss in real terms than a small percentage loss on an expensive instrument.

Scarcity versus demand, and fluctuations in them too, plays a big role. One particular Luthier’s work can near double in value if he or she suddenly has market sentiment behind them, but beware that that same sentiment can flow away and leave you with a large loss too. Some items, for which purchasers are placed on a waiting list, can be worth more second hand because the second buyer is offered an instantaneous purchase. So bispoke and small trading volume items can have a different second hand value to mass market products.

At the end of the day a Uke is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it and that something is determined by a very mixed basket of factors.
 
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I have a friend that runs a musical instrument store that handles new and used instruments. Their rule of thumb for selling used is to start at 15 - 20% off it it is in MINT condition and increase the discount from there for damage.

I find it’s a good rule of thumb, but of course you can’t account for selling something rare. I’ve seen hard to find used ukes go for more than their new price
 
...cost me $576.85 + $69.99 = $646.84. This is about 67.45% of the current HMS price...

Current versions have a wood rosette instead of a abalone rosette.

That 67.45% is right in the middle of the range I've observed from examining sales online. Of course if someone is desperate for an item, all logic goes out the window.

Why is it that wood has replaced abalone?
 
Hi Rob G.
Paid the surprisingly low as per listed shipping cost and the Pono was well packed and shipped via USPS 2 day priority mail. It would have took only 1 day, shipping from NJ to NY, however, this was delayed by the nor'easter snow storm and was delivered yesterday at noon. I kept the package in my man cave, hifi and music room until 8 pm so that it stabilize in temperature. Finally unpacked, did a good inspection, checking for any "cold damage", yes it survived the storm!
Out came my guitar polish and lemon oil, a good cleaning and conditioning. Finally, played a few notes and chord progression...Ahh..sweet..:)s-l1600.jpg
 
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