Help! Looking for value of my Kamaka HF-2

2JAYZ

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I was wondering if anyone could help me find the value of my Kamaka Concert HF-2?

I was given my ukulele brand new in 2005 of December as a little kid in intermediate. :eek:

It looked so pretty and expensive i didnt play it really...had my little Lanikai beater. The Kamaka sat in a case in the closet for years so condition is very good. It has some light strum marks, im pretty sure it can be buffed out. Couldnt capture it on the camera (the strum marks).

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Sorry if this is not in the right section! Move if have to.
 
Haha, we are/were in the same boat. I listed 2 of mine on Ebay at 899 but it ended without bids (John M that was mine!). There were 5 watchers. Before the last run that just ended, I had put it with a Best Offer option. Got some low-ballers, like 595, 600. One guy offered 700 including shipping. I just couldn t do it that low, and have not relisted it since. IDK, they are perfectly fine instruments and they do have a unique sound. I guess you just need to find out how important it is to sell vs loss. Unfortunately for older Kamakas, the new thing is the 100 anniversary batch, which may be more attractive to those looking at this K line. Anyways, you may want to check out Reverb as well. Good luck... would buy yours, but I already have 2!
 
Best way to get value is to check the sold listings on ebay. A few there listed at $1,000.00, another was listed at $899.00, none of those sold. One HF-2 longneck sold for an offer that was less than $875.00. I bet the value of yours is $800-850, based on these listings.

Thank you thats what i was trying to do, searching every where online haha. I was thinking the same about the $800 range.

I've bought and sold a couple of mid-2000s HF-2s over the last few years, all within the $550-$750 range.

Seems pretty reasonable thank you.

Haha, we are/were in the same boat. I listed 2 of mine on Ebay at 899 but it ended without bids (John M that was mine!). There were 5 watchers. Before the last run that just ended, I had put it with a Best Offer option. Got some low-ballers, like 595, 600. One guy offered 700 including shipping. I just couldn t do it that low, and have not relisted it since. IDK, they are perfectly fine instruments and they do have a unique sound. I guess you just need to find out how important it is to sell vs loss. Unfortunately for older Kamakas, the new thing is the 100 anniversary batch, which may be more attractive to those looking at this K line. Anyways, you may want to check out Reverb as well. Good luck... would buy yours, but I already have 2!

Yeah theyre beautiful instruments and trying to get top dollar back is difficult because its a pretty luxury price. Why buy the bmw when the honda works lol but yeah i wouldnt mind keeping it because theyre worth more than 700 shipped. Thanks, good luck with your sell as well!
 
There were 5 watchers. Before the last run that just ended, I had put it with a Best Offer option. Got some low-ballers, like 595, 600. One guy offered 700 including shipping. I just couldn t do it that low, and have not relisted it since.

I'm not sure those were low-ball offers. It's half the price of a brand new anniversary model. For something relatively common (in the sense that there is no shortage of them, either new or used) and that is some years old (not vintage)—, it's not unreasonable. Maybe a little at the lower end of the spectrum, but not in the insulting zone, I feel.

When I buy a new ukulele, I usually expect that it instantly loses 40% of its value. That's also about the loss I took on the ukuleles that I sold (Kanilea, KoAloha, Pono). I'd probably not pay more than 70% of the new price, myself, unless it's something that is rare or limited, or I want it very badly. A smaller discount and I might as well buy new and get the benefits of warranty, return option, etc.

I do understand not wanting to let it go at a lower price and that's fine. It's why I sat on some of my ukes for longer than I wanted to. But then I figured I'll have more fun with the money than the unplayed ukes and let them go. Most modern ukes won't gain value for many decades yet, unless it's very specific custom ones (MB, Glyph... can't think of others).

Buying used is really the smarter option. I only did that with half my ukuleles, though.
 
I'm not sure those were low-ball offers. It's half the price of a brand new anniversary model. For something relatively common (in the sense that there is no shortage of them, either new or used) and that is some years old (not vintage)—, it's not unreasonable. Maybe a little at the lower end of the spectrum, but not in the insulting zone, I feel.

When I buy a new ukulele, I usually expect that it instantly loses 40% of its value. That's also about the loss I took on the ukuleles that I sold (Kanilea, KoAloha, Pono). I'd probably not pay more than 70% of the new price, myself, unless it's something that is rare or limited, or I want it very badly. A smaller discount and I might as well buy new and get the benefits of warranty, return option, etc.

I do understand not wanting to let it go at a lower price and that's fine. It's why I sat on some of my ukes for longer than I wanted to. But then I figured I'll have more fun with the money than the unplayed ukes and let them go. Most modern ukes won't gain value for many decades yet, unless it's very specific custom ones (MB, Glyph... can't think of others).

Buying used is really the smarter option. I only did that with half my ukuleles, though.

excellent reply.

my experience from buying here and ebay is, you have to find an honest and reasonable seller.
which, i am lucky to have bought a few from a long term member here. very happy.

As for ebay, sometimes, some ebay seller are highly optimistic of their prized uku, or they are stuck with a high ebay fee, and they overpriced their listing resulting in very little interest.

one story i liked to share: so this seller had been trying to sell his relatively new larrivee flamed koa concert on ebay. he listed it for over a year with zero bids (no, he was not even taking best offers, only auctions). he started at $1300.... and even raised it to $1400...

after dropping his listing price multiple times, until ended with only one single bid of $749.
This is a year after he originally listed on ebay.

would he have sold it a bit sooner or better priced if listed here? perhaps. at least the forum owner is not charging people for listing fees and many pays paypal direct, so effectively the seller would have kept a bit more money. also, i would imagine there would be more interest and honest discussions here by other members. ebay is very unilateral in the listing. the seller was way too optimistic in his prized uku.

is the ebay price an accurate reflection of the item? may be... i am sure people look on ebay or at least set some automatic searches.
considering it was listed over a year and no one cared, yeah, it was what the market would have paid.
 
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I'd say you would be lucky to get $700. 2 years ago, I decided I wanted a Hawaiian made uke, so went to a shop that had Kamaka, Kanile'a, Koaloha and Martin and could compare them all side by side. At the time I had a Martin C1K and sound wise none of them had anything on my C1K!

Anyway, I decided I liked Kanile'a, so looked around and found a K-2 CP on ebay and watched it or a while, it was listed for $1200, I think. I was thinking of offering $1000. Well, the listing expired and it was relisted at $750! I was the only bidder, I got the uke which was about 2 years old, but not hardly played with a Snark, 2 sets of Aquilas, oasis humidifier and a Uke Crazy canvas hard case. Might have got a smoking deal, but I was the highest bidder on a basically brand new instrument...

PS, I think you should keep it and play it, that's what they're made for!
 
I'll give you $75. (you pay shipping)
 
I'm not sure those were low-ball offers. It's half the price of a brand new anniversary model. For something relatively common (in the sense that there is no shortage of them, either new or used) and that is some years old (not vintage)—, it's not unreasonable. Maybe a little at the lower end of the spectrum, but not in the insulting zone, I feel.

When I buy a new ukulele, I usually expect that it instantly loses 40% of its value. That's also about the loss I took on the ukuleles that I sold (Kanilea, KoAloha, Pono). I'd probably not pay more than 70% of the new price, myself, unless it's something that is rare or limited, or I want it very badly. A smaller discount and I might as well buy new and get the benefits of warranty, return option, etc.

I do understand not wanting to let it go at a lower price and that's fine. It's why I sat on some of my ukes for longer than I wanted to. But then I figured I'll have more fun with the money than the unplayed ukes and let them go. Most modern ukes won't gain value for many decades yet, unless it's very specific custom ones (MB, Glyph... can't think of others).

Buying used is really the smarter option. I only did that with half my ukuleles, though.

Fully agree with you. But sometimes here on uu I get the feeling some people think 85-90% is a good deal. I really cannot fathom why, for that price Id just buy it new.
 
Fully agree with you. But sometimes here on uu I get the feeling some people think 85-90% is a good deal. I really cannot fathom why, for that price Id just buy it new.

Agree completely, which is why when I re-sell ukuleles I never try to make money (I tend to find great deals in the first place so I buy low) or break even - I try to consider a reasonable price for what it is, a used instrument that does not have collectible value. My sales of Kamakas in the past have always been really fast, with no low-balling or negotiation involved - just a quick, easy, fair sale.
 
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