“What’s This Worth?” Thread

[mmmguitar]

I see lots of listings follow the same trajectory you’ve mentioned and end up in the $2500-ish area.

Concerning that, I’m curious to know others’ thoughts on this conjecture of mine:

I see a fair number of inaccurate listings and FB group posts from people complaining about the apparent lack of available spare parts and/or repair avenues for a guitar they decided to sell yesterday. Between those instances, I’ve gotten the impression that the portion of the market we tend to see is largely comprised of people who don’t seem to know much about “Parker”-branded guitars, other than that some of them are selling for big bucks on Reverb. I suspect this is because the owners we see singing the praises of Ken’s creations on a level demonstrating nuts-and-bolts familiarity with the guitars become unlikely to sell their favorite guitars as a consequence of recognizing their (subjective) superiority/irreplaceability.

To whatever extent that may be the case, however, I always hope more players with 101-level knowledge to do with setting up and maintaining electric guitars in general come to own Parkers. Because the owners complaining that “no local store is willing to resolder my one loose wire”, “I have one fret buzzing AND AM LOSING MY MIND”, “My brand-new 1994 Fly won’t stay in tune with my preferred 12-54 set sitting on the nut”, “stereo output not working with mono cable?”, “No power when battery removed?”, “HELP: can’t use trem I refuse to read how-to guide for”, etc. seem to be the same people deciding their guitars with the one dead piezo and “set up as hard tail because the non-included spring is somewhere around my house I guess” are worth $5,000+$161 shipping.

In short: My daily research and rantings to do with this topic have informed a jaded opinion that the current market and subculture manages to be both niche and largely predicated upon consumer ignorance in respects I find reminiscent of Beanie Babies.

[mmmguitar]

Disclaimer: Potential scam; posting to see if listing disappears:

'05 majik blue Deluxe sold by zero feedback store in Yamagata, Japan for $1900+tax. For reference, Ishibashi and many other international stores legitimately do this for worldwide advertising - but then scammers clone those listings. Best case scenario, someone willing to do their diligence in communicating with the seller gets a Fly for a decent price.

Update: Marked as sold after one offer (sub-$1900).

This guitar is back, at a much increased price. It seems the Japanese listing was fraudulent after all; as the seller’s account was suspended after the one “sale.”

The fraud of this other Japanese listing is more blatant: It’s a clone of this concurrent eBay listing, with the country changed and all identifying info censored. Note the tell-tale clone indicator of the lower resolution images saved from the eBay listing having been uploaded to Reverb in even lower resolution; because the scammer had saved the smaller preview thumbnails out of sheer laziness. Also: Rather than take the time to MS paint over the fake Sweetwater receipt, how about just not uploading it?

On a different note, Reverb is once again increasing their fees in order to maintain the inverse relationship to their ever-declining quality of service. This affects the Parker Guitars community because Reverb collecting increasing amounts of sales tax each time the same guitar is flipped in worse condition for a higher price every three weeks is largely to blame for the Parker speculator bubble forming in the first place.

Other than Facebook Marketplace and guitar forums such as this that take no commission off private transactions between members, what alternatives to Reverb are you folks perusing? I don’t count Craigslist due to it being region/city-specific in its hosting and selling formats.

[vjmanzo]

Rather than take the time to MS paint over the fake Sweetwater receipt, how about just not uploading it?

[Patzag]

I don’t buy or sell enough to have a method.
My last sale was on the old Parker Forum itself.
Now I’m just looking for an Artist so I can put my lust to rest.

I’ve sold a few instruments on EBay and Reverb with no issues.
The sales tax thing is a new twist that was not in force when I dealt with sales.

[vjmanzo]

Other than Facebook Marketplace and guitar forums such as this that take no commission off private transactions between members, what alternatives to Reverb are you folks perusing?

If I was looking to sell a Fly, I’d try to go for a private sale through a community like this forum (via a PayPal or cash transaction) as opposed to Reverb or eBay. I’ve bought two Flys through our forum here and, IMO, I felt/feel better about buying from people that I know in some capacity, and, as a seller—since I’m not trying to rip someone off—I’d rather sell directly to someone who’s going to approach the transaction in a serious manner.

[mmmguitar]

@vjmanzo Make my own site. Got it.

[vjmanzo]

I see now that you said “other than this site and other forums”

[vjmanzo]

For reference, this seemingly “Excellent” condition Fly Deluxe was listed for $3,300, lowered the price to $2,700 and sold just now for an offer under $2,700. I do wish Reverb allowed you to see the actual selling price. It would also be helpful to see what the other four offers were—I know there’s often one person with the $800 low-ball offer

Seems to be consistent with the “about $2,500” answer to the question of “What’s this Worth?” as of late.

[mmmguitar]

This ‘09 natural Mojo with two (included) missing frets and the cheap-o USM selector switch crapping out is being sold for the “fixer-upper” price of $2k.

This is what I was getting at in an earlier post concerning the common practice of owners unwilling to service their guitars setting the market price based on how much of a cut Reverb is finagling, rather than what they paid for the guitar.

For context, this is how I’d hypothetically repair the guitar:

1. Clean residue from the fingerboard surface where the missing frets will be replaced by wiping with a glue-removing solvent, then allow the area to dry.

2. Reseat one of the frets, ensure it’s clamped properly, wick in the prescribed thin CA, clamp in place, follow Ken’s advice and quickly wipe away any excess glue with acetone on a Q tip, then spray with an accelerator if included.

3. While leaving the first fret clamped, remove rear cavity cover (taking care not to break the battery wires) and replace the crappy USM selector switch with any generic one of superior quality. With my ‘11 Supreme, I just replaced all the switches and pots because everything other than the Powerchip was garbage (new from the factory with scratchy pots and switches with leaf-springs that didn’t switch properly - embarrassing). If you’re just replacing the mag selector switch, it’s quick soldering work to swap three or four wires over one at a time (factories don’t always bother to ground the switch casing if there’s conductive paint or foil in the cavity).

4. Retighten the nut on the new selector switch, replace the rear cavity cover, and test to ensure nothing else under the hood requires work. Then reglue the second fret.

5. Give the guitar a proper setup to see if there are any neck issues and if the frets require releveling. Proceed from there as one would with any other guitar requiring setup or fret work.

But I’m not going to pay $2,000+tax for the opportunity to repair a guitar the seller would probably be trying to get $3k+ for if the frets were “only” loose. How about this suggestion: If you really believe your guitar is worth $2k in unplayable condition, then wouldn’t it be worth it to pay someone to get it in playable condition? We both know you’d be adding way more than the repair overhead to your resale price if it was in better-than-unplayable condition.

I just don’t understand these fickle Fly owners - Did the plasma center cut them off from donating? Some of these listings come off like a ransom needs to be paid. I know the feeling of looking at my guitars and feeling like I need to pick one to sell - But how bad do things need to be to try to sell the worst version of your best guitar?

For comparison, GC has a beater prerefined Fly in need of refinishing (though nonetheless in better condition) for $1799. You can read more about that Fly here.

Update: The linked GC listing for the beater Fly sold for the first time since Gregsaab returned it, and the Mojo with missing frets sold for an undisclosed amount after seven offers.

[mmmguitar]

Apparently, a Parker "Taxi Drive" is worth Belew numbers; for anybody who can see the money in pretending a Mojo MIDI is something else. I don't get how adding $200 in electronics to your $2,000 guitar makes it worth $10,000 - but I guess one pie-in-the-sky listing is all that's needed to ordain that every one of my 13 pin-outfitted Flys are worth $7-8,000 more than I paid for them.

Update: The Mojo MIDI sold for an unknown amount after receiving a single offer. Being as it was a Canadian dollar listing, I’m hoping the buyer didn’t overpay in comparison to the other Mojos generally listed for $5,000 less (USD).

March 22, 2023 update: The "Taxi Drive" Fly was relisted by the same seller.

[Patzag]

Apparently, a Parker "Taxi Drive" is worth Belew numbers; for anybody who can see the money in pretending a Mojo MIDI is something else. I don't get how adding $200 in electronics to your $2,000 guitar makes it worth $10,000 - but I guess one pie-in-the-sky listing is all that's needed to ordain that every one of my 13 pin-outfitted Flys are worth $7-8,000 more than I paid for them.

That’s actually both hilarious and sad.
Oy Vey!

[mmmguitar]

A seller listed a NiteFly as a Fly and likely changed the title after receiving a few messages. But they (of course) didn't decrease the asking price from Fly value. I'm posting this due to the cynical way Reverb sellers operate: It requires only a single person overpaying for a NiteFly before every other seller on the fence about listing one of their dusty guitars decides the divine market has spoken; and wants them to get even more money for their NiteFly in worse condition.

Update: The llsting was removed from Reverb and posted as a charity auction on eBay for the same price (with ten whole percent pledged to "end human trafficking") - Despite no mention of the charity in the Reverb listing. Whatever the pretensions, prospective buyers appear to still be of the opinion that a NiteFly isn't a Fly in market value: The guitar has since been relisted twice due to receiving zero bids at the arbitrarily high starting price.

[Patzag]

A seller listed a NiteFly as a Fly and likely changed the title after receiving a few messages. But they (of course) didn't decrease the asking price from Fly value. I'm posting this due to the cynical way Reverb sellers operate: It requires only a single person overpaying for a NiteFly before every other seller on the fence about listing one of their dusty guitars decides the divine market has spoken; and wants them to get even more money for their NiteFly in worse condition.

Spot on.
I sold a Single 2 in 2000-something. I listed it on EBay for 1200 I think with no reserve. 2 guys from Kazakhstan and somewhere else decided to battle it out and the selling price went from 1700 to 2450 in the last 2 minutes!
I cashed in, quite surprised.
I then contacted another seller as I was looking for a Deluxe, he had increased his price because “just last week one sold for $2450!”
Hoisted by my own petard!

[vjmanzo]

[jb63]

I am just so happy to hear "Hoisted by my own petard!" in the proper context!

[Patzag]

I am just so happy to hear "Hoisted by my own petard!" in the proper context!

We really need a “like” button!

[Gregsaab]

Update: The linked GC listing for the beater Fly sold for the first time since Gregsaab returned it, and the Mojo with missing frets sold for an undisclosed amount after seven offers.

I had not noticed that it finally sold, I was checking in on it every now and again. While that particular one was not for me, it really gave me an appreciation for the pre-refined version.

[Ondoid]

Yeah GC dropped the price to $1999 and it finally sold.

[mmmguitar]

Unknown year prerefined Classic in natural, with no bar or accessories other than shipping in what is presumably a Parker case (the guitar seems to fit into it), and mysteriously rewired so that now the piezo-out is through an extra jack installed in the face of the guitar. Seller is asking $2,709+tax.
[...]
Update: Sold for full asking price, then relisted after sale presumably fell through, before selling again for same asking price.

This one is back up from the same seller, with the shipping jacked up from $49 to $99 for a total of $2,749+tax. Apparently, sales either keep falling through or people are returning it. In either case, the failure to sell the guitar three times in a row has ostensibly caused its value to increase. Note that the "No repairs or broken parts" claim in the listing body is simply untrue; due to the extra jack installed on the face next to the knobs for who knows what reason being the result of a creative rewiring/jury-rigging of the guitar following an internal component failure of some kind.

And here we have our favorite Guitar Center beater Deluxe in need of refinishing relisted for $1799 at the East Brunswick, NJ Guitar Center. Perhaps someone in NJ bought it from PA and was approved for a return to their local store?

[kmadd]

This one is back up from the same seller, with the shipping jacked up from $49 to $99 for a total of $2,749+tax. Apparently, sales either keep falling through or people are returning it. In either case, the failure to sell the guitar three times in a row has ostensibly caused its value to increase. Note that the "No repairs or broken parts" claim in the listing body is simply untrue; due to the extra jack installed on the face next to the knobs for who knows what reason being the result of a creative rewiring/jury-rigging of the guitar following an internal component failure of some kind.

I took a shot at that Classic Mahogany with a low offer and betting on Reverb offering solid buyers recourse, and thankfully they did. The seller is not representing the condition or the lengths of the modifications made to the guitar. Besides the additional jack on the front, a LP style football chrome football jack has been added to replace the original TRS jack and cover the stereo/mono switch.

I was optimistic that the wiring mods were recoverable, but with the undisclosed body mods and the fact that I could not get a strong output on the piezos no matter what jack led to a prompt and disappointed return.

Caveat emptor, folks

/Separately I did also acquire the Fly Mojo in Lime Gold with the Roland MIDI pickup mentioned a few post previous. While the listing said it was a 7lb guitar, it "only" weights 6.4 w/o the MIDI pickup. So, while still light for a solid body guitar, a 6.5 lb Fly (I have 2x other pre-refined) is a fat-boy and does not help me believe there was any true "refinement" whatsoever. In isolation the Mojo is still a fine instrument, but next to a proper-Fly (nee, pre-refined) it feels closer to a $300 Chinese made fly clone than it does a Proper-Fly.