Wonder why you see so many AnueNue ukes for sale?
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I think it was last year that there was buzz about Anuenue, both here amongst some more "serious" hobbyists and amongst ukulele musicians online. For a while, it felt like I was hearing about them more frequently than any other brand. Particularly their Moonbird tenor, though apparently, their instruments are good quality, from low to high end. I think that kind of popularity created a lot of interest in their ukes, and as happens, more people bought them than were going to keep them, and months later they started showing up in the marketplace.
As Bill1 mentioned, this happened with Collings prior to that. When I first started lurking on these forums, I remember hearing that Collings' uke production was coming to an end, and there was quite a bit of hype about them. After a while, lots of Collings started showing up in the marketplace.
It seems like whenever there's hype about a brand, you'll see their models show up a few months later. I'd guess more hype results in more future listings. And regardless of the brand's quality since no ukulele fits everyone's taste.
As Bill1 mentioned, this happened with Collings prior to that. When I first started lurking on these forums, I remember hearing that Collings' uke production was coming to an end, and there was quite a bit of hype about them. After a while, lots of Collings started showing up in the marketplace.
It seems like whenever there's hype about a brand, you'll see their models show up a few months later. I'd guess more hype results in more future listings. And regardless of the brand's quality since no ukulele fits everyone's taste.
kissing
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Anuenue come across as low to mid range instruments in terms of price and quality.
They're not quite up there on the high end like the Hawaiian brands.
Hence, maybe people grow out of them and sell them to upgrade to something more expensive.
They're not quite up there on the high end like the Hawaiian brands.
Hence, maybe people grow out of them and sell them to upgrade to something more expensive.
Maybe it’s the more modern look of the AnueNue compared to the traditional Hawaiian style uke that is a selling point.
The Moonbird looks quite different and comes with a blue case, maybe a selling point.
AnueNue does have traditional looking ukes but it’s the Moonbirds you see a lot of for sale.
The Moonbird looks quite different and comes with a blue case, maybe a selling point.
AnueNue does have traditional looking ukes but it’s the Moonbirds you see a lot of for sale.
I'm not sure where you might distinguish between mid and high end, but I tend to think of somewhere above $1000 as high end. A quick glance at their U.S. website shows a number of ukes between $1000-$3000 and a one off "custom" for $9000. Their prices seem similar or higher than comparable KoAloha models. Even Kanile'a models, if Anuenue's list prices are to be believed. Off the top of my head, they're the only brand that comes to mind when I think of high end Chinese ukuleles.
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As a seller of as-new soprano and concert Moonbirds, and most recently a buyer of an as-new tenor Moonbird, I can tell you that the Moonbirds are absolutely awesome!
Much of what's listed in the marketplace is difficult to understand thoroughly without knowledge of volume sales. For example, I'd say (anecdotally) that the tenor Moonbird comes up for sale the most often. Does that mean that it's the least liked - or - actually is the most popular model by size?
Very true also that ukes - like other objects of desire bought and sold - have their trends. Some folks in continual search of the latest n' greatest may have gotten on board with aNueNue and now are off to the next craze. Also, the fact that aNueNue's quality control is precise enough (that's actually a good thing) that one Moonbird looks almost identical to the next, probably contributes to the belief that a particular example can be bought and sold without fear of letting "the one" get away.
Much of what's listed in the marketplace is difficult to understand thoroughly without knowledge of volume sales. For example, I'd say (anecdotally) that the tenor Moonbird comes up for sale the most often. Does that mean that it's the least liked - or - actually is the most popular model by size?
Very true also that ukes - like other objects of desire bought and sold - have their trends. Some folks in continual search of the latest n' greatest may have gotten on board with aNueNue and now are off to the next craze. Also, the fact that aNueNue's quality control is precise enough (that's actually a good thing) that one Moonbird looks almost identical to the next, probably contributes to the belief that a particular example can be bought and sold without fear of letting "the one" get away.
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aNueNue ukuleles became popular because they are a very good quality for the price. The MoonBird had a fresh and different look to them and sounded equally good. Players tried them and liked them and touted their positive qualities online in the various forums on social media.
The MoonBird popularity caught on and the demand is still very high for them, while the supply has stayed somewhat low. So, people wanted them and jumped at the opportunity to buy one when it arose.
aNueNue has introduced other model and extensions of the line and the quality has remained high for the items they produce.
Are their top of the line ukuleles as good as a K-Brand uke. Well in my opinion, no. But they are close to the base models of the big 3. And they sound and fell different from the small production makers in Hawaii. I like my MoonBird UT200 spruce-Rosewood tenor a lot. It's easy to play, has a nice sound and looks great. The quality is quite good for a mass produced ukulele. But if I had to choose between either a Ko'Aloha KTM-00, Kanile'a K1-T or Kamaka HF-3 koa tenors and the MoonBird, I'd keep the K-Brands. (I don't know if the same would be true with the aNUeNue Koa tenors because I haven't owned one.)
I think that the instruments have come on the market because now is a good time to sell used ukes, and the aNueNue ukes are very popular right now. So, someone wants or needs to sell one of their instruments, the aNueNue would be a good one to sell. The same sort of trending thing happened with Ko'Aloha and Kanile'a ukes a couple of years ago. Ditto Martin IZ 1Ts and Farallon ukes. I'm sure others as well.
The MoonBird popularity caught on and the demand is still very high for them, while the supply has stayed somewhat low. So, people wanted them and jumped at the opportunity to buy one when it arose.
aNueNue has introduced other model and extensions of the line and the quality has remained high for the items they produce.
Are their top of the line ukuleles as good as a K-Brand uke. Well in my opinion, no. But they are close to the base models of the big 3. And they sound and fell different from the small production makers in Hawaii. I like my MoonBird UT200 spruce-Rosewood tenor a lot. It's easy to play, has a nice sound and looks great. The quality is quite good for a mass produced ukulele. But if I had to choose between either a Ko'Aloha KTM-00, Kanile'a K1-T or Kamaka HF-3 koa tenors and the MoonBird, I'd keep the K-Brands. (I don't know if the same would be true with the aNUeNue Koa tenors because I haven't owned one.)
I think that the instruments have come on the market because now is a good time to sell used ukes, and the aNueNue ukes are very popular right now. So, someone wants or needs to sell one of their instruments, the aNueNue would be a good one to sell. The same sort of trending thing happened with Ko'Aloha and Kanile'a ukes a couple of years ago. Ditto Martin IZ 1Ts and Farallon ukes. I'm sure others as well.
I've not seen any AnueNue ukes, but have seen many aNueNue ukes, like eternal tinkerer and Kenn mentioned. (Sorry, just beating my dead horse.)
This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 36)
Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 36)
Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
While aNueNue does have a range of low end models their high end models are, in my opinion, every bit "up there" with the Hawaiian brands. My UC200 Moonbird concert is exquisitely made with incredible tone, volume, and sustain. It goes toe-to-toe with the K-brands I own (and handily beats at least one of them in my opinion...)
Their low-end stuff (I own a UC-10 color series and C4 Hawaiian dream series cedar topped concert) competes quite favorably with similar price-class brands (like Kala.)
I agree. I’m amazed by the sound coming out of my Lion. My wife and I did blind tests with our high g tenors & concerts, and the Lion was the preferred sound every time. The tests included two Kamakas, two KoAlohas, and two Ohanas. I’m sure size and, to some degree, string choice had a role in the outcome, but we both noticed the Lion sounded more full — like there were always more than 4 strings playing at once — than the others. Perhaps expected compared to concerts, but individual notes on the Lion also seemed to resonant more and with a quality that is hard to describe.
cayuga red
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Fine ukes for sure. Best guess - people want to move up in quality and get a more prestigious instrument.
richntacoma
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Another thought. They become trendy (for good reason, it seems) and so there were many impulse buys. These usually lead to sales. Many of us also buy and sell to try new things, so lots of new buys means a certain amount of sales regardless of quality.
Highly disagree. I've played and owned all of the three K brand ukes. I still have two Kanile'as and one KoAloha but I would definitely sell them before my two aNueNue Bird ukes, such is their quality.
I would guess that this is one of the reasons if one is seeing many aNueNue ukes for sale. They've seen a nice rise in popularity so it would make sense to see many resales as well.
Corey and Kalei from the Ukulele Site also run aNueNue USA who stock more of their models. That being said, I don't really get why they even stock a few models on the Ukulele Site at all...
aNueNue USA is the only "authorized" dealer in the USA listed on the aNueNue website. The Ukulele Site was the first, and maybe only, seller to offer them for sale here (I bought my Moon Bird from them over two years ago). It is unclear what transpired between the company, TUS, and aNUSA to arrive at this arrangement. For example, it might be a requirement that they only carry aNueNue products which would exclude TUS. So maybe this is a great workaround to have Corey and Kalei set up their separate aNueNue USA "store" and promote the product (and receive revenues) while maintaining a contractual relationship with TUS (or maybe there is a length of time on this contract). Result seems to be beneficial to all involved and likely results in more aNueNues being sold in the states.
Gotta love the forum where someone can post their speculations about things they really know nothing about... (talking about my post, not others)
I think the website with authorized dealers is out of date. Terry at ULTPs announced he was an authorized dealer recently (and actually has a bunch in stock right now).
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