How to value a tuba

[Trevor Bjorklund]

For all you wheelers and dealers, people who shuffle tubas regularly, who repair and resell, who collect...
How does one value a used horn for sale? Naturally, I have an instrument in mind I'm preparing to sell. But it seems that between the For Sale section on TubeNet, Ebay, and even the local Craigslist, there is a really wide variety of prices for seemingly similar horns.

I would assume that things like lacquer wear and dents would be taken into consideration, but can one assign value to things like "playability" (ease of blowing, even intonation, etc.)? Age? What are the key factors to address?

In other markets, pricing an item too high and then gradually lowering it over time imparts a certain "staleness." On the other hand, letting something go for nothing is no good either!

Your thoughts, please.

EDIT: my 188 is not for sale, by the way!

[tclements]

For me, it always comes down to, how much is the tuba worth TO ME? Would I rather have the instrument, or X dollars? If I really HAVE to sell the horn, that number comes down, sometimes considerably. As a buyer, I have a figure in mind for how much I am willing to pay for such and such a tuba. If I REALLY want something, I usually end up paying a figure that is close to the seller's asking price. If I have a mild intrest in an instrument. I will make the seller an offer. If (s)he wants more than I am willing to pay, then I assume the above (the instrument is worth more to the seller than the X dollars I have offered). Many times, there is an instrument that is in high demand, and a seller can get more for it, than when there is a glut of that particular model on the market. Many times, early summer, and around Xmas time, tubas sell for more money than other times of the year. Frequently at TAX time, the tuba market varies. Either because some folks need to PAY taxes, or they have gotten a return. So bottom line is, IT DEPENDS.....

[Dan Schultz]

It's really not too tough to figure out. Of course, condition means a lot. Besides from that, it's more-or-less a matter of how much you want for the horn and how much the market will bear.

[The Big Ben]

This is a method Bloke has described elsewhere on TN:

Put it up with good pictures and a really high reserve. (An amount which you would be very satisfied receiving.)

Use a 7 day sale and, whatever the highest bid is, that's about how much it is worth on eBay.

Remember, if a repair tech gives a value, you owe a fee. Knowledge is the only thing they have to sell...

[Michael Bush]

that's about how much it is worth on eBay.
...

...that week.

I don't have any data on it, but my personal experience with higher dollar items on ebay is that if I start it with a ridiculously low bid and just let it run, I will be more satisfied with the outcome than if I try to protect myself with a high starting bid or reserve. Once in a while, that strategy leads to a regrettable result, but not often. Not nearly often enough to stop doing it. I think people start bidding hoping to get a deal, then they get involved and the price climbs.

[Trevor Bjorklund]

Some great advice here - thanks for your input!

Having peeked over at the "For Sale" forum, I guess you price them about the same-as-new, and bump the thread for a year or two.

Exactly. Nothing says "no one wants my [tuba]" like an ad that runs for months at a time. I regularly scan the local Craigslist and seeing the same unloved instrument showing up over and over again makes me hate it (and the poster) a little.

Use a 7 day sale and, whatever the highest bid is, that's about how much it is worth on eBay

I'll have to try that one. In my experience with other instruments, Ebay's prices are typically +/-5-10% of local sales. Would be a good starting point.

how much is the tuba worth TO ME?

This is a good consideration and will require some serious thinking. Do the advantages of having a CC and a BBb outweigh the inconveniences of being poor and wading through cases/gig bags in a limited-space living situation?!?

The horn, by the way, is a 1960s Miraphone 186 BBb: "ugly," super easy to play, and has proven to me why so many people really love these tubas.

[hup_d_dup]

This is a method Bloke has described elsewhere on TN:

Put it up with good pictures and a really high reserve. (An amount which you would be very satisfied receiving.)

Use a 7 day sale and, whatever the highest bid is, that's about how much it is worth on eBay.

I consider it time waster to bid on any item that has not exceeded its reserve. There must be other people like me, and if so, the highest bid may not indicate the highest price that the item could sell for.

Hup