But it doesn’t affect the sound...

[edsel585960]

It's big and heavy, therefore expensive. I agree. I wonder what some of the sellers are smoking with their prices.

[bone-a-phone]

The problem with trying to use a public forum as a record of market value is that the actual sales price is usually negotiated in private, and it's often lower than what's on the last post. Some exchanges may involve some sort of a trade or special circumstances. And then there's the eBay effect on pricing. On eBay, you price your horn low, and hope there are more than 2 people who bid on it. On the forum, you have to start high, and then over time and with negotiation, the price comes down. If you don't like the price you see, either don't buy it or propose a price you'll pay.

You also have those people who will lowball you for just about anything. Some people find this insulting, some think it's just part of selling online. To me, people who lowball are the ones to blame for sellers offering horns at unrealistically high prices. If you could list an instrument for a realistic price and sell it for that price, you'd see more instruments listed at realistic prices. Too often, you'll get an offer of X/4, which is not really a good faith offer, it's just hoping to take advantage of impatience.

Some people factor the risk of buying without being able to try or return the instrument into an internet sales price. Or you might compare a player-to-player used price with the Dillons-20%-markup-for-real-estate-near-New-York added cost. The most important factor is how it sound and/or how it feels to play, and that's something you can't show in a photo. As a trader of used horns, I've come to prefer horns without a full coat of lacquer. They play just as well or better, and you're not afraid of scratching them. Trombone players are a little more dent sensitive than tuba players. And then there's the idea that the value of money and objects have a time component. If you can get something now or quickly, it is worth a little more. You might pay more now for a rare dented horn because you don't know how long you're going to have to wait for a pristine one to come available.

[Donn]

Am I the only one who scratches his head and wonders what the heck sellers are thinking?

Sellers, or buyers? I think I know what the sellers are thinking, at least the key part.

[Worth]

I listed and sold my lacquer Mack TU410 here on Tubenet in 2017 for $1200 plus Greyhound shipping. The leadpipe was unsoldered in one place, a small ding on the MTS from my Hercules stand (before I hacksawed the stupid nub off) and there was a small bell ding, disclosed and purchased as such from Tom. No haggling and a fast sale. The buyer got a decent deal and I sold my tuba. I had no misconceptions about what it was worth when I bought it or sold it. With what you could buy one new at the time how could I justify asking something close to the price of a new one for an instrument that was neither a classic, custom built, nor a collectible.

[Three Valves]

You mean Yuba?? He’s real popular in Havana!!

[The Brute Squad]

I've heard he can play quite the rumba.

[Three Valves]

See, not EVRYTHING is bad there...

[anotherjtm2]

I listed and sold my lacquer Mack TU410 here on Tubenet in 2017 for $1200 plus Greyhound shipping. The leadpipe was unsoldered in one place, a small ding on the MTS from my Hercules stand (before I hacksawed the stupid nub off) and there was a small bell ding, disclosed and purchased as such from Tom. No haggling and a fast sale. The buyer got a decent deal and I sold my tuba. I had no misconceptions about what it was worth when I bought it or sold it. With what you could buy one new at the time how could I justify asking something close to the price of a new one for an instrument that was neither a classic, custom built, nor a collectible.

There are other sellers with this attitude, fortunately. In the past year, from this board, I got a pretty nice old Bb 186 for $2000 (I think Joe advised the seller for that one) and then a delightful 5v C B&S stencil for $2000. Realistic or not, these have set my expectations when I look at tuba listings now.

[pgym]

in the guitar world, there is a book, like the automobile industry bluebook that one can look up prices, for a fee. is there one for tubas?

Never heard of such a thing.

On some of the bass websites, you are not allowed to erase/delete your ads once your instrument has sold. You’re not allowed to erase the asking price either. This establishes a marker for everyone else regarding the going price vs. condition/features/etc. I was told that kind of business model was garbage and would never happen here on Tubenet. I was told, “Privacy!!!” My response was, “Market value!” (Actually, my first thought was, “Illogical bull——!” but we are trying to be a kinder, gentler TNFJ.) Perhaps that’s why people ask too much for instruments that are in less then top condition? They just don’t know, and many of the sale records they could reference are deleted.

https://www.guitarhive.com/guitar-blue-book.html" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

I suspect Doc was replying to your question, not professing ignorance as to the existence of a guitar blue book.

[Worth]

I would think that if someone PMd one of the respected TNFJ, that's about as close to blue book as you're going to get. There's a lot of knowledge here and I bet it would be pretty spot on. The issue is that like in A Few Good Men, sometimes "you can't handle the truth"

[MaryAnn]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that there is a fool born every minute. People will pay astronomical prices for junk (of all kinds) because they don't know any better and get taken. See those "we'll buy your house as is" ads on TV? In that case it's the seller who is getting taken, but whatever. Same stuff.

I've sold three tubas now, all of them excellent examples of what they were, and all sold easily because I priced them that way. Could I have made more money? Probably but I didn't have to mess with dickering, which I do not enjoy.

[vespa50sp]

[quote] I've sold three tubas now, all of them excellent examples of what they were, and all sold easily because I priced them that way. Could I have made more money? Probably but I didn't have to mess with dickering, which I do not enjoy./quote]

Exactly. I sold three tubas in three weeks because they were priced right and actually played ok. It was a bit like giving shelter dogs good homes with good conscience.

You can go out to ebay and search for "sold" items. That can give you an approximation of cake since they list an actual sold price. Like for a Miraphone 186 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... Complete=1