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It's an interesting time to be testing the market as a retailer. Based on GC, of the first two pages of classifieds under Electric Guitars there's a total of 70 ads and only 10 of them are "sold". Market has slowed down and I'm thinking vintage market is due for another price correction.
Market is definitely very slow at the moment.

I'm sure it comes down to a multitude of factors - tax season, current state of interest rates, and the potential of recession looming. In general however, this time (as well as the holiday season) are always the slowest of the year.

That being said, I do think that the COVID period dramatically inflated the market in many ways. Whether it be that people had less things to do so had more disposable income, or we know some people very much profited from the global situation. Regardless, people were definitely buying a year ago much more freely which also seemed to inflate prices due to demand. Couple that with things like Reverb and it's fees becoming completely ridiculous you now have people listing a 500$ item for 750$ to try and make up for the increase in shipping/reverb fee costs which is making things just sit.
 
I sold some guitars in the last 6 months and it did take longer than usual. Now I'd like to just buy one but in the last year the price increases on that model have jumped just over $500. It would be nice to see a correction but I doubt it would be on new products through retailers.
 
I don't mind, I was going to post a 1970 gibson SG that I saw for 2k in Nanaimo this AM, because I don't want it, great deal though.. Its facebook market place so I do not think I can. Im guessing if I had there is a chance a reseller would have gobbled it up, still one of our own though.
 
It's an interesting time to be testing the market as a retailer. Based on GC, of the first two pages of classifieds under Electric Guitars there's a total of 70 ads and only 10 of them are "sold". Market has slowed down and I'm thinking vintage market is due for another price correction.
Anything somewhat rare, one of the big manufacturers and priced fairly is gone the same day.
 
It's an interesting time to be testing the market as a retailer. Based on GC, of the first two pages of classifieds under Electric Guitars there's a total of 70 ads and only 10 of them are "sold". Market has slowed down and I'm thinking vintage market is due for another price correction.
I moved 300+ total threads that were deleted/sold from each of Elec Guitars, Amps, and Pedal subforums this morning.. ;)
 
Yeah you could tell he was definitely getting testy in his replies. Dude, if you don’t want people’s opinions….don’t ask for people’s opinions.
People seemed to take it personally in that thread. Yes, he asked for opinions and got them but when he responded and people didn't like what he had to say the posters took it way too personally. I mean, c'mon, we deal in US dollars all the time as it is just the nature of things. I also see plenty of recommendations and positive feedback here for retailers that are north of the border and by default deal in US currency. It isn't as big of deal, or dealbreaker, as people made it out to be.
 
I mean, c'mon, we deal in US dollars all the time as it is just the nature of things.
We deal in US dollars with US sellers - which makes sense. The Twelfth Fret doesn't seem to have an issue with posting their prices in Canadian dollars, and they're not adjusting prices with every blip in the exchange rate. (and also, they listed a 1976 Les Paul as Vintage, so bring on the flame wars...)



I also see plenty of recommendations and positive feedback here for retailers that are north of the border and by default deal in US currency.
I've never noticed this - can you point out an example?
 
It's an interesting time to be testing the market as a retailer. Based on GC, of the first two pages of classifieds under Electric Guitars there's a total of 70 ads and only 10 of them are "sold". Market has slowed down and I'm thinking vintage market is due for another price correction.
Agreed....That said, the unmolested highly desireable pieces aren't going to go down at all....just the story-time pieces and less desireable models will.
 
We deal in US dollars with US sellers - which makes sense. The Twelfth Fret doesn't seem to have an issue with posting their prices in Canadian dollars, and they're not adjusting prices with every blip in the exchange rate. (and also, they listed a 1976 Les Paul as Vintage, so bring on the flame wars...)

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I've never noticed this - can you point out an example?
It's a website, on the internet, it's international. The US currency happens to be internationally preferred. We cross border shop, we buy online and most of us keep accounts with US funds. I don't think this is a big deal. Is it nice to have a specialty store like this on this side of the border? I say yes and if I find something I want I'll support it.

The Tube Store in Hamilton was US currency and still is by default. Now you have to hit a button to show CND pricing, before you had to log in with an account and set a preference. I'm not sure what it was before that.
 
It's a website, on the internet, it's international. The US currency happens to be internationally preferred. We cross border shop, we buy online and most of us keep accounts with US funds. I don't think this is a big deal. Is it nice to have a specialty store like this on this side of the border? I say yes and if I find something I want I'll support it.

The Tube Store in Hamilton was US currency and still is by default. Now you have to hit a button to show CND pricing, before you had to log in with an account and set a preference. I'm not sure what it was before that.
I don’t have a U.S. funds account, and having a business in Canada that operates in US dollars and asks for payment in US dollars is technically not allowed. As in not legal.
 
We cross border shop, we buy online and most of us keep accounts with US funds
There are people in Canada who live more than 60 minutes from the US border. I rarely order anything from the US, and don't have a US bank account. I'd bet my circumstances are actually "most of us".
 
Yes, he asked for opinions and got them but when he responded and people didn't like what he had to say the posters took it way too personally
I don’t think he was understanding the problem, and kept repeating the same things; but we will accept CAD, and “the market is pegged to the US”. I don’t think accepting CAD was ever an issue, and the second statement has no basis no matter how many times you say it.
The Twelfth Fret doesn't seem to have an issue with posting their prices in Canadian dollars
In one of my first posts I mentioned that Folkway, Twelfth, and Capsule all post their prices in CAD. I also pulled up two other international dealers both of whom don’t “peg” their prices to the US.
 
There are people in Canada who live more than 60 minutes from the US border. I rarely order anything from the US, and don't have a US bank account. I'd bet my circumstances are actually "most of us".
I'm about 45 minutes from the border. I still don't cross border shop very often. The time investment rarely makes it worthwhile to me. Ordering across the border rarely bothers me, but I do try to seek things out on this side of the border first.
 
It's a website, on the internet, it's international. The US currency happens to be internationally preferred. We cross border shop, we buy online and most of us keep accounts with US funds. I don't think this is a big deal. Is it nice to have a specialty store like this on this side of the border? I say yes and if I find something I want I'll support it.
If I'm willing to pay full jam U.S. prices there's more of an advantage to just buying out of the U.S.
 
There's been a lot of profiteering around vintage instruments for years now and it's a shame.

Yes, driven by collectors with deep pockets.

Fortunately for me, my tastes lean toward modern innovation and assessing a guitar's sound and feel and I have no desire to own instruments with values inflated mostly due to rarity and/or antiquity.

So, really, I'm pretty much unaffected by this.
 
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