Guitar Listing Pet Peeves

[jp]

I get pretty perturbed when someone has something old and assumes it's worth more just because it's old. Even worse is when they don't really know what they have. I pointed out to a Reverb seller (tactfully and respectfully) that the "vintage" Guild Bigsby he listed for $500 was a NS Korean repro. He then corrected his ad, but not the price. I also told him that new repro Guildsbys sell on the Guild website for under $200, and he sent me back "Not this one!"

Nice.

 

[Roland]

I get pretty perturbed when someone has something old and assumes it's worth more just because it's old. Even worse is when they don't really know what they have. I pointed out to a Reverb seller (tactfully and respectfully) that the "vintage" Guild Bigsby he listed for $500 was a NS Korean repro. He then corrected his ad, but not the price. I also told him that new repro Guildsbys sell on the Guild website for under $200, and he sent me back "Not this one!"

Nice.

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[Sal]

I'm bothered by a sale with full shots of the body, and full shots of the neck and head stock, but no shots of the whole guitar. It wouldn't stop me from buying something I wanted, it's just less gratifying as someone browsing the ads. Imagine a photo series of a glamour girl that only showed the individual bits with no centerfold.

 

[mavuser]

I pointed out to a Reverb seller (tactfully and respectfully) that the "vintage" Guild Bigsby he listed for $500 was a NS Korean repro. He then corrected his ad, but not the price. I also told him that new repro Guildsbys sell on the Guild website for under $200, and he sent me back "Not this one!"

Nice.

I would have replied to that last message "OK whatever u say, just make sure to let me know if u ever have a real vintage Guildsby for sale, because I really need one, and would pay SIX hundred for it!"

Then when he replies 4 months later that he has a real vintage Guildsby for 600, I would reply "shucks I just bought one on craigslist for 675, three days ago..."

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Then when he replies 4 months later that he has a real vintage Guildsby for 600, I would reply "shucks I just bought one on craigslist for 675, three days ago..."

"...and he had two, so I bought 'em both".

 

[MLBob]

I get pretty perturbed when someone has something old and assumes it's worth more just because it's old.

+1 - But perhaps more amused & confused than perturbed.

 

[West R Lee]

I'm bothered by a sale with full shots of the body, and full shots of the neck and head stock, but no shots of the whole guitar. It wouldn't stop me from buying something I wanted, it's just less gratifying as someone browsing the ads. Imagine a photo series of a glamour girl that only showed the individual bits with no centerfold.

And when zero pictures of saddle height and action are included. Probably one of the best indications of the overall condition of a guitar, but many, maybe most neglect to include it.

There was/is a place in Dallas called Zoo Music. I've visited the store, or one of them, but it's been years. At the time they had several of the more rare Guild guitar they advertised as "new old stock", and had some of them listed as "mint" condition. When I visited there I saw a D130, maybe 3 DV72s, one with malachite inlay and an F50. None of them had any dings or scratches, so I suppose from that standpoint or using that criteria you could say close to mint. The problem was that the store was very cramped and dirty and hot, Each and every one of those guitar's action was about 3/8" at the 12th fret........just a shame. It just took a few seconds to look at them and know they had been kept in all sorts of cold, heat, wet and dry condition condition. The environment had really taken it's toll on what could have been some very nice guitars. "Mint"?..........not even close.

West

 

[mushroom]

When people list something on a 6 day auction and pull it after 3 days. Grrr!

 

[HeyMikey]

Sellers who only consider cosmetic condition as important. I’ve been told a few times when I asked for basic measurements that in essence I was just fishing for something to get a lower price and to stop wasting their time.

 

[West R Lee]

And this was probably mentioned earlier, but I've just looked at a listing in which all of the pictures are so dark, you can't see the guitar.

West

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yeah, occasionally you'll read that a guitar is the finest guitar they've ever played. It makes you wonder why they are selling. The ones that do tug at my heart are the ones in which a seller says he can no longer play due to hand or shoulder issues. I'm a pretty trusting person, so I generally take them at their word. Maybe because I've had hand issues and can sure see how it can happen. Our member Scratch is going through that now.

West

Yup. They usually say they're "thinning the herd." I'd get rid of the unheard!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Modified Fender amps...I guess Tony from Rockaway Beach has it all figured out, but Fender was it doing wrong for 70 years

I get it. But I must say, my all-original '65 Bassman sounded like it was choking on a chicken bone when I got it (cheap), but now, highly hotrodded, rocks all night.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I have three. One is highly annoying, two others I don't even read:

- Highly annoying: Not saying where it was made. I don't care how great it is if it was made in a Third World dungeon. So that's always, always, always my first question. Why make me do the work? If I have to ask or look it up, the seller is in danger of losing a friend.

- Don't even read, #1: ADS IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Why, oh, why?

- Don't even read, #2: Lying about the brand in the headline. Don't say Gibson if it's an Epiphone or Martin if it's a Sigma or Fender if it's a Squier or Guild if it's a Madeira or Ovation if it's an Applause.

 

[tonepoet]

I think my biggest pet-peeve is "Excellent for it's age"

I learned to contact the person and ask them to give the condition a number from 1 to 10.. "10" being new and "1" being thrashed.

They reply with a "6" or a "7". Sorry, but 6 or 7 is "Good", that is not "Excellent". Excellent is 9+ or 10.

 

[RBSinTo]

I just saw a current listing on kijiji that is appropos to this discussion:
it is titled "Looks like a Martin guitar", and the guitar does indeed looks like a D-42, or D-45, and even has the vertical Martin logo on the headstock. The seller says that the instrument was made in China " as are all guitars at this price point ($850.00 CDN.) and is not a name brand", which is a way of stating without actually stating that it is a counterfeit Martin, (which I believe, would make its sale subject to criminal prosecution).
Sales of these Chinese knock-offs come up from time to time on the sale and auction sites, and to my mind constitute fraud, or the potential for future fraud, and shouldn't be permitted to take place.
RBSinTo

 

[Sal]

People who leave their shopping cart right in the middle of the aisle and go looking for something. Oh, sorry, wrong thread!

 

[davidbeinct]

Pictures of feet in with the guitar.

 

[crank]

The price is always too high!

 

[Christopher Cozad]

Pet Peeves?

A seller describing the dings, dents, cracks, scratches, and missing sections of wood as "normal wear and tear."

But worse than that is a listing describing The Guitar that is everything I ever wanted or dreamed about, the guitar that will make me the person I always wanted to be... but I realize that I can't afford it.

 

[RBSinTo]

Pictures of feet in with the guitar.

David,
You really can't complain, if somewhere in the text it states that the feet are not included in the sale.
Otherwise, yes.
RBSinTo