Why try-before-you-buy?

This is in response to a comment in another thread:

janeray1940 said:

I feel so strongly about try-before-you-buy. At least for me, it's essential, and now that I know this, it definitely helps keep the problem of "too many ukes" from arising very frequently since I really want to avoid the hassle of re-homing those that turn out to disappoint.

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But I had an observation that probably belongs on its own. Here it is - looking back at all my uke purchases, I have NEVER bought a uke that I had played before the purchase. The only ukes in reasonable driving distance to me are at Guitar Center and Sam Ash and I've never had one remotely "speak to me". So I've ordered in ukes from all over - Virginia, Texas, Missouri, Michigan, California, Oregon, Germany, Nicaragua, China. I don't regret any of them. As I said in the other thread, even the ones no longer here taught me things that could not have been learned any other way.

So for me, try-before-you-buy has no bearing whatsoever on a purchase decision whereas others feel it is absolutely critical.

I haven't tried any before I've bought them either. I haven't even been in a music store in years and I live in a big city. Sometimes it's because I don't (yet) know how to play the instrument that I'm buying and many times it just because I don't like to go in retail shops.

The selection isn't as good as the internet and the pricing is often higher. I sometimes buy something used as well and sometimes I'm looking for something specific and I don't want to spend all day driving all over town only to still not find what I'm looking for.

I could care less about "supporting" my local music shop because I don't use them for anything.

I can go into a local shop and buy an American Standard Strat for $1,000 or more and it will be white, black or red or I can find a like new older MIM Strat in Sage Green for $345 shipped.

Local music shops just aren't relevant for me. I do understand that in a perfect world it's nice to trying something first. However, it's also not hard to sell something that you later decide that you'd like to try something else.

Oftentimes the decision to sell isn't something that I would have felt at the time of purchase anyway.

I'm pretty sure that the people who say to always try it out first still go through as much equipment as the rest of us.

Early in my uke journey I bought several sight-unseen, and they all got re-homed pretty quickly: two for less than perfect intonation, one for inability to stay in tune, and one - my only custom - because what I thought I wanted turned out to not be what I wanted at all. That last one was when I imposed my try-before-I-buy rule.

I can see both sides though. I'm lucky to be around a lot of uke players and to have a shop five minutes away where I can try just about anything I'd ever want (the custom being the sole exception to this). But for those who aren't surrounded by ukes, you may not have this choice.

Being able to try in-person has saved me from a few ukes that I now know would have been re-homed had I bought them sight unseen: a couple of brands (Kanile'a, LoPrinzi, Flea/Fluke/Firefly, for the curious, not to mention the Martin koa tenor that a fellow player loaned me for a few weeks) because I didn't like the size/shape/feel of the neck, a couple for less than stellar intonation.

But the flipside? If one has no basis for comparison, there's probably less chance of disappointment or dissatisfaction. My first Kamaka was less than perfect, but I didn't know it until I had two more to compare it to - had that not happened, I'm sure I'd still be happily playing away on that thing

I can't try before I buy unless I drive for several hours or just want a Kala/Lanikai/Cordoba.

Awesome idea for a thread Jim, I have often just bit my tongue on this topic. I have in my possesion 15 ukes and I have played exactely two of them before purchasing. Most of us are not fortunate enough to live within reasonable driving distance of a music store with a great cross section of quality ukes.

I do my homework then I just buy it. If it is not the one for me I sell it. This does not mean those ukes are bad. A uke jam friend has bought two of mine and they are his "grail" ukes, keeps thanking me for them. So it is a good journey of discovery.

Buy it, try it, if it sticks excellent if not move it on to someone who will love it.

TLDR; two early ukes were try first, all the rest were bought online, expensive ones or weird necks I might have to try first.


My very first uke purchase was a try-before at a local B&M store. I knew exactly which brand and series I was going to get after extensive research here on UU and elsewhere, but coming from 35+ yrs of guitar I had no idea what size from concert, tenor or baritone would feel most comfortable.

I ended up with a tenor, since that felt right. I played the snot out of that uke, like 4 hrs a day for 3 months before I bought another, direct from Amazon (oh the blasphemy LOL) because there was nowhere else selling it.

The only other uke I had hands on before purchase, kinda, was when I went to UKE NJ 2013 (Thanks Scooter!) and during the concert, while waiting for things to get started, a kind gentleman sitting in the row in front of me had a tenor Fluke and was kind enough to let me try it. YES, it lived up to ALL the hype and praise.

So Nov 2013 I bought a concert Flea from Uke Republic. I was BLOWN away.

In Jan 2014 I bought a tenor Fluke from another UU member in the marketplace here. Impressions from the concert Flea were confirmed, and also fell in love with the Fluke.

Later during my feverish UAS craze, I picked up a Walnut tenor Flea, and a Hibiscus red tenor Flea to round out all the different tunings I want to use.

The only ukes I've been motivated to want to try in person prior to purchase were the Kala KA-ATP-CTG, and the Martin IZ Tenor. I had a chance to test them out at Curt Sheller's Funky Frets vendor display this past August at UKE NJ 3 in Morristown, NJ.

I loved them both, for different reasons. These two ukes are still on my radar.

I dont have the stones nor the budget to want to spend more than ~$500 or so for a single instrument, but if I do later on, I might want to get some hands on with those instruments, since for me, that is a LOT of money right now.

Of the MANY ukes I own, only two were hands on before purchase. I've been lucky that I was happy with both first impressions and also how they are over time.

However, I should mention that many of the instruments I have purchased, were purchased with the INTENT that I could modify them slightly to suit my exact purposes, and the ability to be easily modified dictated which instrument(s) I selected more than other factors.

What scares me, and would maybe require to have hands on first is that some folks talk about the neck being too fat or too thin, and I've tried to get clarity if they are talking about the width of the nut vs. the thickness of the fingerboard to the back of the neck to no avail, so on these ukes, I'd have to try first.

I like a wider nut, and hence wider string spacing vs. narrower, but I have little to no experience with 'fat' necks vs. 'thin' necks in that with all of my ukes, I do not see or feel any difference across a spectrum of instrument makers.

To me, buying an instrument is a personal thing that nobody can decide for you. I advocate trying before you buy, or at least having a trial period if you have to do it via mail order. I did that with my guitars and ukuleles.

Edit: Some people seem to know what they want before they see it. Such people can successfully order custom build instruments. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I don't have that sort of vision. I know it when I play it, so try before I buy is a necessity for me.

It is almost funny when I think about it. When I was growing up, the Sears catalog was a very common means of shopping. Then, as an adult, I have been going directly to stores to purchase what I need. Now, later in life, I am often back to what is essentially shopping from a catalog again. Instead of the Sears catalog, it is web sites such as Amazon. I seem to have come full circle.

Fortunately for me, I live in an area with a rich musical environment so we have lots of music stores and the need to do my shopping for these kinds of items is not done via catalog/web site.

Tony

The majority of ukuleles that interest me aren't available for trying before buying. Either they are not offered in my country at all, they are customs, or they are not stocked by any places close by.

In Europe, I can return anything that I buy online within 14 days, and the seller has to pay the return-shipping, so this would be one way of trying before buying some instruments, but I always felt this was abusing the system, so I only make use of it when I buy something that is genuinely not working as expected. I don't order things with the intent of probably returning them (too much hassle, too).

I wish I could "try before I buy" but all I have within a two-hour-drive of here is a few chain music shops. If I want a cheap, dull-sounding, flashy, laminate ukulele, then it's no problem. Otherwise, it's the Internet for me.

mostly the same as everyone else. Would love to try before buying, but mostly do a lot of research here and on the internet in general and kind of take the Leap of Faith... most have worked out well though in terms of me liking them.

While I'd like to try every uke before buying it, I'm not in an area with a lot of well-stocked music stores within easy travel distance. I've managed to try quite a few in my travels, always stopping in at stores to do some test playing when I can. With that strategy, I've found a lot that I didn't like and so avoided buying. I currently have (only) 3 ukes, two of which (including a custom) were bought without playing them first.

Yep, good to know there are plenty of others in the same situation as me. I don't know if there are even any shops with a decent uke selection within Australia, let alone Tasmania. I would love to be able to try some really nice ukes before buying (if I had the money, of course).

All my ukes have been bought online, through ebay, HMS, and UU Marketplace. Oh and my Firefly through an Australian distributor.

I rest drove two of my four ukuleles before buying. Pono At at HMS while on holidays 2.5 years ago. Great store and fantastic people. I played four different Moodyville customs at builders shop before selecting woods and getting it build. The other two production ukuleles I trusted MFC and HMS once more.

Now, moving forward I want to try each one before I buy.

Most of my ukes I've bought have been without trying and have turned out well for me without regrets. The only uke that I spent over $1000, I tried it before I bought it. There is a threshold where I don't just want to buy and then sell a $.50/$.75 on the dollar. I didn't vote because there wasn't a good category for me.

I have access within a couple hours drive to be able to try a number of different makes of ukes, and that is nice.

I will also check out stores when I am on vacation and that has given an opportunity to try a lot of different makes. I did buy an old Harmony baritone a week ago while on vacation in Santa Barbara. Since these ukes can be hit or miss, I probably would not have bought it sight unseen.

John

Our first uke was from the local shop. Of course we had no idea what we were looking for, so it didn't do us any good. The second was sight unseen off the net, and I think we did very well considering we didn't get to try it, but like Katz said, Tasmania is not an easy place to try a large selection. Our most recent one was when we visited Hawaii and we got to try out a whole bunch. It was a really eye-opening experience, and I really didn't like some that I was expecting to like (such as the mango Pono), and I liked some that I didn't expect to (for example the Koaloha Opio Sapele was beautiful). Given my last experience, I suppose it is always best to try before you buy, but we aren't always afforded that luxury.

Back in the old old days of my uke playing, most of the ukes were vintage ones. There were no way near the quantity of quality ukes available that there are now. So I was "forced" to buy mostly vintage Martins. More recently the only uke I have bought has been my Kala concert and I had tried one at my local Sam Ash music store. I was impressed but not ready to spend a lot of cash. Then Elderly had one slightly used but with a HSC that was hard to avoid, so I bought that.

OTOH many of my other instruments bought in the last decade or so have been sight-unseen thru eBay. So I am not sure how to fill out the poll.

As many already have said, there just is not an opportunity to try before buying around me. That is unless you want an entry level Kala, Lanikai, or Cordoba. It must be awesome to be able to pick up a variety of ukes to play, to see what feels good and connects with you.

In the end, most, if not all, online merchants have return policies. You can always return an instrument if it is not to your liking. Unfortunately, you still can not compare side to side with another uke, but it has worked out for me so far.

Buying online is the only option for me.

(I did ask for recommendations on a forum when I first started.)

I look online, (usually S.U.S.), then go to Youtube to listen to them being played, as many samples as possible, & decide from that.

So far, I've had very good service, & no duff ones.

On The Mandolin Cafe Classifieds (their version of our marketplace) it is standard practice to offer a 48-hour trial period but the cost of shipping must be paid (both ways) if returned.

You can't try before you buy if you order a custom. It has worked out for me because I've bought from very experienced and reputable builders.

I purchased three ukes from Mass Street Music that I tried first and then a vintage Martin that I found at Schoenberg Guitars. But I don't have a personal try before you buy rule.

I will say I was able to play a Kamaka HF-1 before I bought my HP-1, which provided useful information about how the neck felt and whether I wanted to hold out for the Gotoh UPTs. Still, that tryout required a 3-hour drive and was only feasible because Willcutt Guitars in Lexington, KY is close to the family we were visiting in Frankfort. My other best option is Elderly in Michigan, but that's a 4-hour drive in good weather. And what if I go all the way there and come back empty-handed? I feel like if I drove all that way I would have to buy something. Ordering online with a return policy makes me feel less obligated, and I have made a return on a uke that turned out to have a defect. I hated doing it, but I just couldn't keep it. Shipping was free, too--I wasn't out an 8-hour drive or gas money just to buy it. And it was a defect that I may not have noticed in the store (I would now; checking for a neck twist is the first thing I do when I get a ukulele).

Trying before you buy is ideal, but not always practical. And it doesn't always give you the best picture of the uke, just a first impression. There are plenty of people on UU who did try a uke out before they bought it only to sell it later. Maybe they bought something they liked more, maybe they discovered they couldn't get used to the size, or just preferred the sound of another scale. Some things aren't apparent in a few minutes of playing in a store, especially if the strings aren't bringing out the best in that particular uke.