[2manyGuitars]

Two things right off the bat…
1) I don’t mind guitars with some wear and tear.
2) When I describe the condition of an item, it IS described accurately! It’s not that hard.

The condition of a guitar doesn’t bother me one way or the other. Minty fresh or “well loved”, it’s all good. As long as it’s not abused/damaged and it’s priced accordingly. But it pisses me off how often I go to see guitars described as “like new” or “not a mark on it” only to find dings, dents, scratches, buckle wear, etc. I went to check out a mint condition Gibson once that had about 50% of the gold worn off the hardware and pickups, and around a half-dozen dents that were at least a quarter inch and through the finish. His justification for using mint was because “nothing was through to the wood”.

This is the one that set me off as I was browsing this morning.
A Gibson Les Paul

Again, none of this is a deal-breaker but here’s a tip…

If you can feel it with your eyes closed and/or can see the bare wood underneath, IT’S NOT A MINOR SCRATCH!!

Thanks. Now, I go need to yell at some kids to get off my lawn. 😡

 

[Mark Brown]

Seems like everything is mint condition.

Maybe it's describing the taste?

 

[paraedolia]

ALL ORIGINAL
(Except pickups, tuners, refinish, pickguard, pots, jack and the switch needs to be replaced)

 

[Oho]

I hate seeing something described as mint to find dings and scratches throughout. I make a point of describing a mint guitar as having micro swirling and light impressions. Because someone is bound to find something and almost nothing is truly mint. I have a very discerning eye when it comes to looking over guitars. But, with that said, I don’t mind signs of use on my guitars. I’ll just describe them as such when listing them.

 

[guitarman2]

I am not one to agonize over dings and wear and don't even notice most. If it wasn't for the Internet and guitar forums telling me how important it is to analyze the guitar with a magnifying glass I'd probably be one of those guys that would list a guitar as mint when infact by the standards of certain players that care about that stuff it wouldn't be mint.
I once did have a mint guitar I was selling. I bought it new and only had it a couple months and it didn't work out. It was mint. How I knew is a guy came to buy it and took 3 hours trying to convince me there were dings on it even though we went over it with a big magnifying glass with a light and couldn't find any. To which he said "Yeah you can't see it but you can feel it". Which of course I couldn't. His ploy was, of course to get it cheaper. I refused to budge on price and finally he did walk with it. If it wasn't for the fact I needed the money for a guitar purchase I was making the next day I'd have refused to sell it to him. This is one more reason I love about artificially aged guitars.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Mint means it's brand new. Like basically showroom condition.
Great condition means it's been played and shows signs of use. Maybe a couple small dings, pick scratches, etc. Used but not abused.
Good condition means it's functionally all great but has more significant wear or damage that is purely cosmetic.
Poor or Fair means it's pretty beat up and may need maintenance or repair.

That's how I'd take those terms.

 

[Rollin Hand]

I hate this too. I once went to look at a car with "no rust". That's because a goodly portion of the it had already flaked off the car, leaving large holes.

I strive for honesty and accuracy in my Kijiji ads, and I try to price fairly, with the caveat that I am not a market expert. I don't want someone coming back to me with complaints.

 

[2manyGuitars]

For me, light scratches mean “you have to turn it the right way in the light to see them”. If you can see wood, that’s not “light”.

 

[Mark Brown]

For me, light scratches mean “you have to turn it the right way in the light to see them”. If you can see wood, that’s not “light”.

What if the wood is a lighter shade than the finish?

Light (er) scratches. No wonder you get so upset

 

[guitarman2]

Seems like everything is mint condition.

Maybe it's describing the taste?

A few years ago I sold a Master built heavy relic Nocaster that was mint like the day it left the factory. Honest.

 

[Parabola]

I write my kijiji descriptions with the Reverb condition guide as a standard. I also take pictures of and describe any defects, because I learned that a huge number of people don’t read past the price and location, and even then…

 

[jbealsmusic]

This is a mint condition natural relic. Seller should boost the price up a few hundred dollars.

 

[BGood]

I once did have a mint guitar I was selling. I bought it new and only had it a couple months and it didn't work out. It was mint. How I knew is a guy came to buy it and took 3 hours trying to ...

What ? You let him stay in your house for 3 hours ? I would have kicked him out after 3 minutes of that. You OCD buyers be warned.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

I write my kijiji descriptions with the Reverb condition guide as a standard. I also take pictures of and describe any defects, because I learned that a huge number of people don’t read past the price and location, and even then…

I have found that the more detailed and descriptive I am in Kijiji or FB Marketplace postings I am, the fewer replies I get. And of the replies I do get every single one asks a question that's already answered in my description so they didn't bother to read it. I'm not saying hide or be dishonest, but going through and chronicling every feature, the entire history of the instrument, everything that's ever happened to it, and every mark on it is overkill on a local sale ad where the buyer will have the opportunity to inspect and handle the instrument prior to making the deal.

However on a remote transaction like on GC or Reverb, I will try to either describe everything in detail and/or illustrate it with photos. I put way more info in my GC listings than in my local Kijiji listings.

And as buyers sometimes we have to temper our expectations. I'm buying a used guitar via private sale - it's not "mint" no matter what the ad says and it's not realistic to expect any used guitar to be 100% blemish free.

 

[Mark Brown]

I have found that the more detailed and descriptive I am in Kijiji of FB Marketplace postings I am...

But what did you find out about posting on Kijiji and FB?

Also, is this still available?

 

[Steadfastly]

Yes, many ads are very poorly written. It's no wonder considering the English education. A large portion of people don't know how to spell or write proper sentences any longer.

They also are amateurs who may have only written one or two ads in their lives. In some cases some people's brains work more on the math side rather than one the literary side. This makes it more difficult for them when writing ads.

However, a bit of a review of good ads would help these people tremendously.

 

[guitarman2]

What ? You let him stay in your house for 3 hours ? I would have kicked him out after 3 minutes of that. You OCD buyers be warned.

Yup thats me. I'm a bit too easy going and maybe more patient than I should be. It was a Friday night and my wife was waiting to watch a movie with me. She was pissed.

 

[BlueRocker]

I generally over-disclose condition. I have dealt with a few people that based on their questions I decided not to sell to them, this is the electron microscope gang. More of this type here than on Kijiji unfortunately.

 

[Stephenlouis]

I use "Players Grade" a lot, most people are pleased with what they see because they picture the meaning of that worse than I am describing. I try to take photo's that kind of shine a light on cosmetic faults, just to make my life easier in the long run of a sale. I know mint has a range of unusual meanings now days, even new is not mint, it is new. Necks and pickups, rest is icing on the cake for me.

 

[Parabola]

I have found that the more detailed and descriptive I am in Kijiji or FB Marketplace postings I am, the fewer replies I get. And of the replies I do get every single one asks a question that's already answered in my description so they didn't bother to read it. I'm not saying hide or be dishonest, but going through and chronicling every feature, the entire history of the instrument, everything that's ever happened to it, and every mark on it is overkill on a local sale ad where the buyer will have the opportunity to inspect and handle the instrument prior to making the deal.

However on a remote transaction like on GC or Reverb, I will try to either describe everything in detail and/or illustrate it with photos. I put way more info in my GC listings than in my local Kijiji listings.

And as buyers sometimes we have to temper our expectations. I'm buying a used guitar via private sale - it's not "mint" no matter what the ad says and it's not realistic to expect any used guitar to be 100% blemish free.

I should have mentioned, my stuff is usually in pretty good shape so my listing might look like this:

2008 Gibson Standard - Excellent condition, minor ding on back as pictured, slight swirling on pick guard as pictured. Includes original case and papers.

That’s about as detailed as I get.