When bringing your guitar to a store for an estimate, a store associate will check the gear to assess its condition. Usually, Guitar Center offers between 40% – 60% of its current retail value for your used equipment.
Sometimes, it’s better to sell your guitar directly to another end user to get a slightly higher price, but the convenience of selling at a local music store is hard to beat. For more guitar trade in deals, check this out.
You Get Cash
Selling or trading your guitar or other gear to the Guitar Center is an excellent way to make money quickly. They will give you cash or store credit. Usually, you get better prices for clean, working equipment in good condition. Don’t be rude to the sales staff; it will just ruin your chances of getting a high value for your gear.
It is straightforward to sell your gear to GC, but it might not be as much as you would get selling it to a private buyer or through an online classifieds site. Be sure to check online what specific equipment is worth using, paying attention to shipping costs and fees the seller incurs. Also, remember that old and dated gear loses value, so consider that. For example, that ’65 J-Bass you saw sell at auction for $5k will probably only sell for about 40% of that now at GC.
You Get Credit
Guitar Center gives you a gift card or store credit when you trade in an instrument. That credit can then be used to purchase a new piece of equipment. This makes the whole process very convenient but has some drawbacks.
One major drawback is that you won’t get the total value of your gear. GC (and any other music retailer) wants to profit when they resell your equipment, so they will not offer you the total used market price. For more guitar trade in deals, check this out.
This is especially true if your gear is in good or even mint condition. A few scratches will not significantly decrease the overall value, but significant cosmetic damage may reduce it. Homemade instruments and gear like pedals or small mixers may also have less resale value. These items are often a labour of love that will not appeal to many buyers. Also, outdated technology, such as old sequencers and 8-track recorders, will likely have very little resale value.
You Get a Gift Card
Guitar Centre makes it easy for those who want to skip the hassle of finding a buyer by offering store credit. Once your gear has been assessed, they will either give you cash or in-store credits that you can use to purchase new equipment at their stores. It’s important to remember that the purpose of their trade-in program is to encourage people to buy new gear. This is accomplished by lowering the price of used guitars and other equipment so that they can make a profit.
It’s best to prepare for this in advance so that you don’t get disappointed when they offer less than what your gear is worth. Research the internet to see what your EXACT equipment sells for used (and pay attention to shipping). Especially with vintage gear, GC will probably have to do extra research before they accept it in their store.
You Get a Check
The advantage of trading in equipment at Guitar Center is that you can walk in with your old gear immediately and walk out with cash or credit. However, remembering that the store will not give you nearly total retail value for your used equipment is worth remembering. For more guitar trade in deals, check this out.
Clean up your equipment before handing it over if you want to get the most bang for your buck. A fresh set of strings, a new gig bag and a clean amp, can add value to your gear. And don’t bring in that homemade pedal or old 8-track recorder. Unless it’s been a labour of love, these DIY and handcrafted instruments rarely fetch much money on the used market.
Another essential thing to remember is that the music store will not take in anything that can easily be found on the used market, such as guitars already in high demand. This helps them keep their inventory of used equipment in good shape and allows their customers to quickly find what they are looking for.