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Surprised guitar is not selling
Kenny B
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Maybe you guys can help here. Quite frankly, I'm surprised I've had little offers on my Shelley Park Elan guitar in the classified. I think my price is right, I think she is a top builder with a backlog of people wanting to buy a guitar from her. Yet, with 1500 views, not many seem interested in buying. I am perplexed. I wish I did not have to sell, and wish I would have learned to play this style of guitar... but alas, I find fingerstyle guitar more appealing and too challenging for me to devote time to learning gypsy jazz.
Anyone have any insight here? Perhaps there are not that many players of this style or perhaps my Elan is not a sought after guitar style or body shape.
Anyone have any insight here? Perhaps there are not that many players of this style or perhaps my Elan is not a sought after guitar style or body shape.
Comments
It may just be that guitar sales slow in the summer, or maybe Saga has flooded the market. I have also had a very reasonably priced guitar in the classifieds, along with others (like that Collins), and nothing seems to sell. Ebay sales seem slow to me too, even with low prices.
Charlie
It may be the interest level has dropped off.
Much like home sales, there are cycles.
Expand your advertising... how about RMMGA on Google groups.. or the Acoustic Guitar magazine forum under trading post or the Mandolin cafe advert section.
Selling is a game of numbers...exposure to the greatest number of people
and or hitting the "target" audience....
My guess is that newer players or those wanting to experiment with a second guitar will want to spend much less, ie SAGA or similar.
Those wanting an upgraded instrument go to places like Elderly and see LeVoi and Dupont and Dell Arte...... Ms. Park is not as well known outside the small circle of gypsy jazz music.
A thought would be to consign the instrument to a place such as Elderly Instruments ( my choice but use your own judgement) They have a huge audience and charge only 15% on instruments over $500... you may make a bit less.. but that can be somewhat solved with an adjustment in the price...
I also note that you missed an earlier opportunity as you were "fishing"
I can see where your priorities were : ) ! !
I would also recommend a link on your post to Ms Parks web site.
You may want to try www.archtop.com for consignment. They routinely sell high quality GJ guitars and according to their website they do setup and repairs where necessary.
-Grim
By the way, does anyone know much about the Triggs oval hole there? He's listed as a famous luthier, but this is the first I've heard of him making a Selmer-style.
Kenny, I think there are probably a few reasons your guitar is still up for sale. Part of it is surely the Gitane effect: new players who not so long ago didn't have an inexpensive option for exploring the style have flocked to those guitars. A few years ago your Park probably would have found many more interested parties.
Then too part of it might be the 12-fret effect: almost everyone I've known who's been interested in these guitars seems to gravitate to the 14-fret models; why, I'm not sure. I see the archtop site recently sold an Elan, though it was a 14 fret:
http://www.archtop.com/ac_00park_elan.html
As said above, it's probably still a good place to advertise.
Finally, there's simple economics...even if it's a good deal at $2700, that's still a lot of money, and many players would rather spend it having a guitar built specifically for them, possibly for even less. Also, if they're buying from a dealer they'll probably have a good warranty, etc.
If it makes you feel any better, I've had a guitar in the classifieds for months without much interest, and it's dirt cheap:
viewtopic.php?t=1366
At any rate, who can say? Maybe gas is getting too expensive, maybe interest in the style is on the east side of the curve, maybe it's something else entirely. Good luck with it!
Best,
Jack.
One more thing, Kenny!
A quick look shows that the original post about the guitar for sale was back in April-over four months ago...so if Grim bought two Duponts since then, but says he would've jumped at it, I'm guessing some people are simply missing the post as it gets moved further down the line with every new post. Maybe you need to bump it up to the top now and then-just not every day, please!
Best,
Jack.
Cheers,
Josh
I suspected that would be the case. They do have a 2003 Shelley Park Encore for sale at the bottom of the page (no picture) as well as a nice looking Dell Arte. They had a '96 Dupont MD30 a while back that sold. So they are definately moving the merchandise.
I got my Duponts on Ebay, a little risky but I think I did ok. I have been watching GJ guitars on Ebay for months and noticed that the high quality models sell very quickly and fetch a decent price.
-Grim