Buying a Guild privately through Kijiji

[Guilderagain]

I'm considering buying a Guild privately through one of these community based internet venues, such as Craigslist, but this one is Kijij (Swahili for community). Kijiji has no remediation recourse and suggest contacting the authorities in the event of fraud.
I spoke with the seller on the phone and have communicated through e-mails as well. The guitar is too far away and would have to be shipped. The seller is willing to do so. This is more of a common sense question, but, I should request that the seller ship C.O.D, right? I'll pay for the shipping first. Any thoughts? Obviously, I'll have to pay more for the C.O.D charge. I have bought all my Guilds through the internet; E-Bay and directly with a business. This would be the first time I'll try a
private transaction.

Alex

 

[FNG]

I've used this service once at the request of an ebay buyer, actually the buyer's parents.. www.escrow.com

Not that expensive, seems pretty fool proof.

 

[GuildAAPlayer]

Perhaps you could select and contact a guitar shop/luthier in the seller's area and offer him a fee to inspect the guitar. ??? That way, you verify that the guitar actually exists and get a somewhat reliable inspection without having to go there yourself.

George

 

[Default]

Thought this was an arm of ebay?

 

[Guilderagain]

Thanks to all for your advise. The deal turned south very quickly. In fact, it was rather bizzare. The seller claimed he was a student in Montreal selling his beloved blonde X-700 for tuition. You might have seen his classified in Craigslist, Montreal for 3500.00 CDN. I saw the same guitar in Kijiji for 2900.00 CDN and jumped at it. We agreed on the price, but then he e-mailed me back to say that he lowered the price "just to see if there was any interest," and raised the price to 3200.00 CDN. We call that bait and switch where I come from.

Ok, I agreed (it was very nice and still worth it). Then he started to balk at sending it C.O.D via UPS (mentioned something that he read somewhere that it was a bad idea ...) We talked about Paypal, but I wasn't going to send him the funds via Paypal without any assurances. Paypal will not hold the funds in a private transaction until proof of delivery as they do with Ebay transactions (at least those with 100 feedbacks or less).

Whew, this was getting exhausting and a royal pain in the butt! That's when I posted this thread to see what options might work to save this deal. Finally, he wrote to me that he didn't want to bother with the packaging and that he had a change of heart in selling the guitar yada yada ... What an idioit ...

Alex

PS. I finally wrote him back offering to drive to Montreal to buy it in person ( now who's the idiot This reminds me of my last marriage ... don't ask). He never wrote back.

 

[capnjuan]

... offering to drive to Montreal to buy it in person ( now who's the idiot .. This reminds me of my last marriage)

Hi Alex: "Hope springs infernal" (Famous quotation) This will come as no comfort but I recently made an offer on a Craigslisted but unpriced mid-70s Guild M-85. The seller's first reply was 'you're still in the running'. Three weeks later - after getting an idea of what the guitar was worth - he relisted it at nearly $250 more than I offered. I'm sure your seller appreciates your confirming the market value of the guitar ... not sure he's old enough yet to appreciate how far men have gone (or are willing to go) to embarass themselves .... :wink: John

 

[cc_mac]

Alex et al,

I've read this thread with interest because I too have been trolling around the Internet looking for just the right X-150D or X-170. Both models are generally available but not within an easy driving distance from me in NC to do inspect before purchase. I've been contemplating buying one and having it shipped to me. I'd be a little reluctant to do this from a private e-bay seller or a craigslist seller but haven't totally ruled it out. I feel a little more comfortable (in theory that is) buying from a retailer that has an established Internet presence. Elderly Instruments would be an example as would archtop.com. While trolling using google.com I realized that many retailers use gbase.com as a place to display their inventory.

I'd like to hear from anyone who has experience buying from any of the retailers that are using gbase.com. as a source and any thoughts on shops have a presence on that site such as

East Coast

Main Street Vintage - Baltimore, MD
Lark Street Music - Teaneck, NJ
9 South Guitars - Freehold, NJ
Guitar Exchange - Catonsville, MD
Barking Dog Guitars, Torrington, CT
Mr C's Music Marlboro, MA
Guitars Etc Pittsburgh, PA
DIPinto Guitars, Philadelphia, PA
Landau Guitar Co. Harrisburg (outside of Charlotte) NC

West Coast

Guitar Crazy
New Hope Traders
California Vintage Guitar and Amp
Timewarp Music

And for Alex, I found two Guilds that might be of Interest to you on Gbase.

X-500
http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDe ... em=1934658

X-700
http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDe ... em=1926177

Thanks,
Chris

 

[jp]

Hi Chris,

Jay Pilzer at New Hope Guitars is a member here. He's actually in Tennesee, so he's close to you. Very knowledgeable about Guilds, seems to price fairly, and several have purchased from him.

Guitar Crazy is local to me, but I've never bought from him. He's an old school dealer who used to deal a lot of guitars to classic rockers. Funny you should mention GC, 'cuz I just looked at his inventory yesterday. Nice-looking X-170. If you want me to check it out, shoot me a PM.

jp

 

[cc_mac]

Thanks for straightening me out on New Hope Guitars. The X170 that Guitar Crazy is more or less what I am after although the price seems a little on the high side. I've seen several similar instruments with asking prices in the $1300 range. Don't make a special trip out there but if you in the neighborhood it would interesting to know more about it and what they do for shipping.

Thanks
Chris

 

[Guilderagain]

PS. I finally wrote him back offering to drive to Montreal to buy it in person ... He never wrote back.

Hello Again,

Guess what, he did write back. Hmm, guess it was worth the trouble for him. The deal is back on. And yes, I'm driving to Montreal tomorrow to buy it. That'll be a 16 hour day for me ... though it is bloody worth it. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance.

Alex
PS. Customs told me that a guitar made in the USA doesn't get a duty fee when returning back to the USA, yay! (he better be right!)