With that in mind, we want to assure you that we believe in consistent, clear, and honest pricing when you trade-in or sell us your gear. It is very important to us that you have the right expectations up front so that your time is not wasted.

Lets say you buy a guitar new for $1500. It's used value is worth $1000. We will give you 50% of the used value for an outright purchase, or 60% for a trade-in. So, for your $1000 guitar we would give you $500 for an outright sale, or $600 of trade-in value.

Before you say "ick, thats crazy!", please remember that this is a guideline and not a policy. Many high end guitars can have different percentages, and of course it never hurts to ask for a different trade-in value.

Why 50%-60%? Because we have to wait an unpredictable amount of time to sell the traded-in instrument; plus pay for rent, employees to clean, setup, and photograph the instrument, maybe take a lower offer on the piece of gear, and a million other things… before we even pay ourselves.

Also remember that trade-ins that occur in New York State also have a sales tax savings of 8% of the amount of your trade-in value (for example, trading in a guitar worth $500 of trade credit saves you $40 of sales tax).

If all sounds like figures you could work with, lets move forward. Please send us at least 5 well-lit photos of the instrument, including a brief description of any minor or major dings/scratches, as well as any known repairs, alterations, or unoriginality.

If you already have an idea of value in mind (even a general price range), please send it over as it will significantly decrease the time it takes us to decide whether the trade is at all possible.