Periodic eBay sweep

[pete]

Consignment is great, provided you don't mind waiting for awhile. Especially in this market.

I've mentioned this before: the model instrument that takes the biggest percentage hit over new is the beginner/intermediate horn. Case in point. A YAS-23 (Yamaha student alto sax) is $1759 new. On eBay, the highest price for a used one was $750, with an average of around $400 (the cheapest non-parts horn was $185). Pro? A new YAS-82Z is $3435. The highest one has recently sold on eBay is $2100 -- and around $2000 is the average price they're selling for.

If you're looking to maintain value, you need to by pro.

Now, there are a lot of "not well-known" pro horns that are out there that can be considered to be undervalued. I could tell you what they are, but I think that'd eat into my eBay profit margin .

 

[clarnibass]

If you're looking to maintain value, you need to by pro.

I think that depends on what it is and what you want. I checked some locally (in general prices here are higher than USA).

YTS-62 new is about $3,400. Used I found one (supposedly in very good condition) for $2,500 and another for $2,400.

We don't have YAS-23 new but we have the YAS-275. It's about $1,700. Used 23 one is trying to sell for $700. A 275 would probably be a bit more. OTOH a YTS-32 for $670 (though that one says good condition but needs new pads).

Only a limited number of ads but although %wise it's different, both are about $1,000 loss.

But I guess you could buy a very decent Chinese model for about $700 new here. You could probably sell it a year or two later for around half, sometimes more. Loss of only about $300-$350, maybe even less if you are lucky. I've seen people lose more than that even on resale of pro models they bought used.

So then it depends on how important it is to play a certain instrument and noter another regardless of how long you plan to play it.

 

[Groovekiller]

Musical instruments tend to hold their value more than most other used items. Yamaha and (old) Selmer items seem to do better than most.
Saxophones are, for me, the best investment, but one must be judicious in selecting the item to be resold later.
Watch the market, not your emotional attachment. Buy popular horns when they are 1/2 the market value, regardless of whether you like them or not, and then sell them at face value.
By the way, this is not the way I buy horns. I buy them when I love them, and they are half price. I haven't found many Selmers (only two) and I really like them both, so I won't sell them. They're worth more than money because the value of the U.S. dollar tends to go down, while horns go up in value (for really good ones).
In short, I buy saxes because they play great and are a good deal. Yes, I can repair them, but the best of my purchases have needed only minor repairs that are affordable by anyone.

 

[SOTSDO]

...whereas I have found two Selmer horns (Mark VI in both cases) that I was able to buy for pennies on the dollar (one, a "good period" Mark VI tenor in near mint condition for all of $400 back in the middle 1980's), and then turned around and sold them for a huge profit.

Since running into the Yamaha way of doing things, I have not seen the necessity of buying a Selmer saxophone (other than with an eye to reselling it to those still enamored of the Selmer way of saxophoning). Those who love them are my target audience when selling a horn, and I have enjoyed the thousands of bux that I have picked up in the bargain.

Selmer clarinets? Now, that's a different story...

 

[pete]

Just makin' sure y'all got my point: it's not that someone once was able to buy a gold-plated Selmer Mark VI for a $1.50, but that on average a pro horn holds its monetary value better than a non-pro horn.

Couple other points: I do and have submitted that some non-pro horns can be as good as or better than pro, such as the YBS-52. However, that doesn't mean that the market will value the horn as much as a "pro" YBS-62 (for instance).

I'm also like Groovekiller in that I didn't and don't buy horns based on trying to turn around and make a quick buck: I've always tried to get the best available horn that I felt was worth the price -- and could fit into my budget. All that being said, that doesn't mean that a horn I don't particularly care for, like a Conn New Wonder, magically shifts its monetary value on the general market up or down based on my opinion.