Price watch (86)

I believe this is one of the most delusional listings I've come across. Why that price tag?

Look at the 'upgrades' but pay particular attention to that last line. 🤦

Price watch (84) : Tribute prices

Folks, Gibson had the Tribute Les Pauls once upon a time. These were around late 2011 if memory serves me right, I bought one. They were initially under the Studio model. Moving on, they placed the Tribute under the Modern Series which had been discontinued after the new CEO, James Curleigh, took over.

Why am I bringing this up? Lately, I noticed a few Tribute listings with prices seemingly glorifying the Tribute tag. It's like Tribute here refers to a revered model in Gibson's glorious history worthy of an exorbitant price tag. With reference to the listing above - $2.5K for a Tribute? In 2017, there were two types of Tributes, the Ts & the HPs. The Ts were basically models based on traditional designs. The HPs (High Performance) are the counterparts manifesting modern attributes & the most loathed feature of it all - those robot tuners. This particular listing is interesting because firstly, it included a pic of an unrelated model featuring a pair of P90 pickups. 

Secondly, the tuners here are a set of Grovers. Seller did not disclose why this swap happened. Thirdly, that pick guard is not supposed to be there. Notice, there are no screws / mounting bracket on the pickguard - so whassup with this?

These are the other Tributes listed in the after-market. When they debuted back then, prices were in the $1.5K - $1.6K range. Yes, we respect some appreciation in price but paying $2K (or more) for one  - please re-think your choices. Oh, you shouldn't influence prices this way, it's strictly demand - supply. That's true but we should not fall victim to price flippers / scalpers, just because there's Gibson at the headstock. There's already a shop here doing just that.

Nothing against the Tribute models - I still own 2 of them. Good no frills Gibson but nothing boutique.

Price watch (83)

I'm always on a lookout for used Ibanez guitars (despite the poor purchasing power these days). Was about to recommend this to a friend when it was sold off.

It's acquired by a shop in town that buys pre-owned instruments. Note the selling price. It's a free country; you can buy from whoever you want to at any agreeable price but be wary of what happens along the way, price-wise. If you decided to buy stuff from this store, think of how much cheaper they used to be.

Price watch (60)

An entry level LTD going for a whisker shy of $850? EMG + Bareknuckle pickups + Gotoh bridge = $850... Hmm... A Toyota with Lexus part upgrades - would you pay for that?

I used to own this guitar, it's from the Tribute Series (Les Paul 50s Tribute, 2012), slightly more affordable than the Studio due to the satin finish - that's how that relic'd part at the elbow rest got there. This won't happen if the guitar is gloss-finished. When new, this was $1.4K +/- so the listed price here is simply due to the fact that there's no more Gibson selling off the shelf & the opportunity to use age in mitigating price.

Price watch (59)

As depicted above: Squire Bronco bass + ibanez amp = $500 for two used items. Swee Lee's prices: Bronco bass $299 + Ibanez IBZ10BV2 $99 = $398 (new + warranty). You decide.

Swee Lee: $899...

So there are two listed for more than $1K... 😶

Price watch (53)

Is there a DS-1 resurgence that we should be aware of? I mean this pre-owned one exceeds $100.

And another one. How much can you get one for if you visit the authorised dealer here? Slightly less than $70. If you bought one from Amazon, then it's a little over-priced but it's still lesser than these two depicted here. I just feel that some people are not initiated enough when they put stuff up for sale. They might have pegged it against their previous purchase price which might not be reflective of local prices. I also urge buyers to check out prices first before agreeing with the asking prices of after-market listings.

Price watch (5)

Someone's doing a pre-order for this Ibanez guitar online, the price- as stated, is in excess of $300.

The same guitar listed on the official distributor's website here is a little shy of $200.

Going back to the pre-order listing, we can understand why the price was unreasonably so; it's flown from the USA (it's definitely not made there). A little reading up will tell you that this isn't an exclusive Ibanez model sold in the aforementioned country so in my humble opinion my friends, it's unreasonable.

Price watch (2)

That's right- this Ibanez GIO model is going for a near $1K in the after-market. If you are such a seller & others probe your intentions politely, do reply cordially. Do not refute the fact that others may be more in the know than you do.