Buying & Selling
How to judge a guitar before you hand over money — and how to get a fair price when it is time to move one on.
Buying
Selling
Your first guitar
Buy the cheapest guitar that plays well, not the cheapest guitar. A badly set up instrument fights you on every note and is the most common reason people give up in the first month.
Second-hand checklist
Take ten minutes with the guitar in your hands before you talk money. Work down the list in order — anything in the first three is expensive to put right.
Walk away from a twisted neck, a lifting bridge, or a truss rod that will not turn. Everything else — frets, nut, electronics, a bad setup — is fixable, and worth haggling over rather than avoiding.
Getting a fair price
Where to sell
Fresh strings, a clean fretboard and honest photographs of every mark will earn you more than any amount of description. Buyers pay for confidence.
Play it, or have someone play it — Two guitars off the same production line can feel completely different. If you cannot get to a shop, buy from somewhere with a return window.
Check the action — Press a string at the 1st fret and again at the 12th. If it takes real effort, the guitar needs a setup — factor that cost in, or ask the shop to do it before you leave.
Match the guitar to the music — Steel-string acoustic for strumming and singing, nylon-string classical for fingerstyle and soft hands, electric for rock, blues and quiet practice through headphones.
Size matters more than brand — A dreadnought is a lot of guitar for a smaller player. A concert or parlour body is easier to hold and just as good to learn on.
Budget for the extras — Tuner, strap, spare strings, a case and a stand. On an electric, add a lead and a small amp — allow roughly a third of the guitar price again.
Left-handed players — Buy a proper left-handed guitar if you can — restringing a right-handed one backwards needs the nut and saddle recut, and on most acoustics the bracing, pickguard and controls end up on the wrong side. The range is smaller and prices a little higher, but it is worth holding out. Learning right-handed is also a perfectly legitimate choice, and some left-handers prefer it.
Bundles are rarely a bargain — The guitar in a starter pack is usually the cheapest part of it. You are often better buying the guitar you want and the accessories separately.
Sight straight down the neck — Hold the guitar up and look along the fretboard from the headstock, like sighting down a rifle, with one eye closed. You are checking for bowing — a very slight forward bow is normal and the truss rod adjusts it, but a back bow, a twist or a wave in the middle is not, and no setup will fix it. Do it from the body end as well to double-check.
Check the bridge on an acoustic — Any lifting at the back edge, or a belly rising behind it, is a serious repair. Look for cracks running from the bridge or the soundhole.
Find the truss rod and ask if it turns — Under the cover at the headstock or inside the soundhole. A seized or maxed-out rod means no future adjustment.
Feel the fret ends — Run a hand down both edges of the neck. Sharp ends mean the guitar has dried out — annoying, cheap to dress, but a clue about how it has been stored.
Look for fret wear — Flat spots or dents under the first few frets cause buzzing. A refret costs more than most second-hand guitars are worth.
Play every fret on every string — Listen for buzzes and dead notes. A few are setup; the same note dead everywhere is a fret or nut problem.
Test the electronics — On an electric or an electro-acoustic, plug in and work every switch and knob while wiggling the lead. Crackle is usually cheap to fix, silence less so.
Check tuning stability — Tune it, play hard for a minute, and check again. Slipping tuners or a badly cut nut show up here.
Ask what it has been through — Age, repairs, breaks and storage. A headstock repair is not fatal but should be reflected in the price.
Find out what it actually sells for — Look at completed sales, not asking prices, on the big second-hand marketplaces. That is the real number.
Clean it properly — New strings, fretboard wiped and conditioned, body polished, hardware buffed. An hour of work is often worth a tenth of the price.
Photograph it honestly — Daylight, plain background, front, back, headstock, heel, and a close-up of every mark. Hiding a scratch loses the sale later.
Say what it is — Model, year if you know it, what has been changed, what has been repaired. Serial numbers and original receipts add real value.
Include the case — A guitar with its original case sells faster and for more. If you have the paperwork and spare parts, mention them.
Price it slightly high, not wildly — Leave a little room to haggle. An overpriced listing goes stale and ends up selling for less than a fair one.
Be careful with payment and postage — Meet in person where you can, use a payment method with protection, and slacken the strings and pack the headstock well if it has to travel.
Local marketplaces — No fees and no postage risk, but a smaller audience and time-wasters. Best for beginner and mid-range guitars.
Specialist sites — Buyers who know what they are looking at, and better prices for anything unusual. Expect a commission.
Trade-in at a shop — The quickest and the cheapest for you — expect well under private sale value, offset against something you want.
Consignment — The shop sells it for you and takes a cut. Slow, but it removes the hassle on a valuable instrument.