Need some advice on selling a vintage Kamaka Ukulele . . .

mcquillian

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I am new to the board and was hoping I could get some advice from the "pros" around here . . .

I currently own a Kamaka ukulele that I purchased many years ago on a high school trip to Hawaii in 1980. It was purchased as a memento from the trip and has never been played professionally, in fact, It really has spent most of its time sitting on the shelf as a conversation piece because of its beautiful design and "flame" in the wood. There is a sticker inside which read "kkamaka ukulele Made in Honolulu, Hawaii U.S.A." I purchased it from a reputable music store, but do not have a receipt.

I am looking to sell this ukulele, as I have no use for it anymore, I was hoping someone could give my some advice regarding what I can realistically expect to get for it, as well as the best forum to try to sell it.

I have attached some photos of the uke. I really appreciate any input that you can provide. Thank you in advance for your time . . .
 

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I am new to the board and was hoping I could get some advice from the "pros" around here . . .

I currently own a Kamaka ukulele that I purchased many years ago on a high school trip to Hawaii in 1980. It was purchased as a memento from the trip and has never been played professionally, in fact, It really has spent most of its time sitting on the shelf as a conversation piece because of its beautiful design and "flame" in the wood. There is a sticker inside which read "kkamaka ukulele Made in Honolulu, Hawaii U.S.A." I purchased it from a reputable music store, but do not have a receipt.

I am looking to sell this ukulele, as I have no use for it anymore, I was hoping someone could give my some advice regarding what I can realistically expect to get for it, as well as the best forum to try to sell it.

I have attached some photos of the uke. I really appreciate any input that you can provide. Thank you in advance for your time . . .

Hey there, that uke looks excellent, the wood is incredible and it looks brand new. The decal on the headstock looks like it's come straight from the factory. I think you'll make a decent figure for this uke. I think it's a standard size or soprano from the photos. I'll let someone with more experience give you a price for it but I just wanted to say how nice it is.

Also from the photos it looks like the label inside is white, is that right? As far as I'm aware the wide label era of Kamakas is seen by many as the best age of uke.

P.S welcome to the forum!
 
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Indeed, the label on the inside is white . . .

Thanks for your help . . .
 
My guess is that it's "worth" a little over $1,000. Whether or not you'll find a buyer at that price given current economic conditions is a different question.
 
More realistically speaking,
while there does seem to be a bit more of a premium on white label Kamakas there isn't really much of "vintage" value added to examples that aren't stuff like the 30's pineapples or other rarer special ukuleles. They've made tons of them for nearly a hundred years, so it's not like a Kamaka ukulele is exactly a scarce commodity.

From what I've seem from watching countless Ebay auctions over the last year has been that the range is somewhere generally between $270-$450 for a Kamaka depending on condition and who's looking to buy on any given day. In general though it seems like decent players in good shape come in at about $325-350 or so.

But based on the unplayed condition, the sweet koa grain and that it is a white label, my personal guess is that you'd be on the higher end of that scale with a possibility that it could go even a bit higher. If you've got the original case that's also a plus.

I mean, I'm not an expert by any means, but I'm an avid window shopper & bargain hunter, so take my estimation with that caveat. By all means, do some research yourself. The more info you've got the better.

As it stands, my In-Laws have essentially the same uke that they got for my wife's brother for middle school. It's a sweet instrument.
 
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I agree with Lanark. Nice white label Kamakas on ebay usually sell around $300 to $400. That is a fine looking uke and given it does not have any cracks you could fetch a little more. I think $1000 is pretty steep for that ukulele.

As for selling it if you have a price you want for it you could post it here in the marketplace. Flea Market Music has a pretty nice marketplace to sell ukes too. Or you could always go the ebay route and just set a reserve for the least you would like to get out of it.

Oh yeah that is a fine looking ukulele. And i really don't know what it will go for but those prices are pretty normal on ebay.
 
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Thanks for all of your guys input. I really appreciate it. I did notice that this formum has a buy/sell section, so I will attempt to put it up there and see what happens . . .

The uke does come with a case, but is is nothing special, just a simple uke case . . .
 
Well, I have placed the ukulele for sale on the Ukulele Underground site. Please take a look when you have the chance . . . Thanks for all of your help . . .
 
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