Can Guitar Center Recognize the Value of my Custom Guitar?

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Guitar Center’s Offer on My Custom Guitar Will Shock You!
Ever wondered what Guitar Center would offer you for a high-end custom guitar? In this video, I take my $90 guitar, fully upgraded with $600 worth of premium modifications, to Guitar Center to see how much they'll really offer for it. Spoiler alert: their offer might not be what you'd expect!
Join me as I test Guitar Center's notorious lowball offers and discover whether they truly live up to their reputation or if they surprise me with a generous bid. Will they undervalue my upgraded guitar or offer something fair? Find out in this eye-opening video!
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Опубликовано:

15 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 149

@5urg3x Месяц назад

Upgrades are not going to increase the value of the instrument This has been talked about to death on Phil McKnight’s podcast

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

I’ll check it out!

@IllusiveSwampMoose Месяц назад

Save all your old bits, swap them out if you want to sell down the road. You can usually get 2/3 the new price for all that stuff if it's in decent shape, especially if you save the boxes and stuff.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@IllusiveSwampMoose good idea

@marshallmason1621 Месяц назад

Put the original pickups and bridge on it and sell it for $90 and and quit playin games with these stores😂 90 guitar with 600 in upgrades is still a 90 guitar. Personally, I’d pay $150 for the guitar as it sits.

@IllusiveSwampMoose Месяц назад

@marshallmason1621 there's a "custom built" on marketplace near me, easily a thousand dollars in it, it's been unsold at $200 for months

@ABN-wi5nk Месяц назад

There is ZERO value in upgrades. Normally you will get the used price, as averaged off of Reverb, and mark that down 10-20%.

@greendayray Месяц назад

Retailers don’t care about mods and their value. And if you have a big name guitar like Gibson or fender, mods actually devalue it because it’s no longer original. Just the way it is

@StoneXue Месяц назад

Wont matter what you put on it. Its a Harley Benton and selling it will be a pain in the ass because someone will have to actually understand what it is to buy it. Its not that they didnt understand the value they just know their typical customer is not going to know what it is and it might sit on their shelf forever.

@stevedallas6122 Месяц назад

There are 20 Harley Benton's I could buy for $200 that I'd like better than that guitar. He just doesn't get it... \

@darrengill1987 Месяц назад

Harley bentons are easier to sell used than anything more expensive.

@putontheseglasses8809 Месяц назад

Guitar center will pay half of the value they'll sell it for but still better than most pawn shops. You aslo have to take account for how much used gear comes in taking space and not selling. Guitar center also is taking all the risks of gear being faulty or stolen which is a loss profit.

@These_go_to_eleven_1959 Месяц назад

Yes as a general rule music stores will give 50% for an unmodified guitar. Any mods lower the value to a store. At least the store I worked at.

@chrisreese2361 Месяц назад

I swapped the pickups for my Jazzmaster that I had and they basically said they’ll give me the price they would if it was stock. The guy compared it to having new rims on a car “it doesn’t raise the value”.

@stevedallas6122 Месяц назад

Exactly. The first thing I would do (besides never buy that) is pull the Fishman's out. Tastes vary.

@hushpuppykl Месяц назад

Would they say that when selling it? I'm curious.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

When selling it I’m sure they’d be like “this is a great custom telecaster with high end pickups”

@skcansMachine Месяц назад

We need a sequel of this lmao

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Stay tuned!

@Still.A.Hamburger Месяц назад

Guitar center is world famous for this man 😭 I brought a $700 bass and they offered me $100 so I went to Sam ash and they gave me 650 store credit 😭

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@Still.A.Hamburger RIP Sam Ash! Yeah guitar center is the GameStop of music stores haha

@skeelo22 Месяц назад

I brought in a guild starfire vi in White bought it new for around 1800 2 years ago, and they only offered 400 for it

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@skeelo22 that’s absurd id think they should at least give you $800-$900 for it

@skeelo22 Месяц назад

@rileypaynestewart I sold it to one of my friends for a little over 1000 and just going to save my money for when the gibson Explorer 80's reissues come in white

@Max-million Месяц назад

That’s why SA is closed.

@TheRealxVincent Месяц назад

I really respect that they were transparent about the price they were going to give you vs what they would sell it for. Obviously they low balled you because it wouldn't sell quickly at cost, but they didn't try to get over on you.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Yeah definitely, they always tell you what they’ll list it for I’m sure it’s a policy. But yeah it was clear they didn’t want the guitar

@Rich-ur4kv Месяц назад

I own a music store and I get this all the time with customers buying inexpensive guitars and putting a ton of money into them. I had a customer bring in a $300 Kramer and I told him that if he plans to keep it that's one thing but if he tried to sell it, it's still a $300 guitar. By the time he was done, he had $600.00 in mods into a $300 guitar. The day he picked it up he bought a PRS from me. 2 weeks later I seen the guitar on marketplace for $800, it's now down to $250 and it still hasn't sold. The moral of the story is if you're going to buy a cheap guitar and mod it, just take that money and buy a nice guitar.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@Rich-ur4kv it’s more expensive to get what you want if you just buy a “nicer” guitar. If you mod something you can get some really high quality parts for less than if they came on the guitar from the factory. I’ve done tons of trials with this some on my channel here

@bubbablake3983 Месяц назад

Fourtunately for the buyer they dont hold their value with upgrades. I went to a pawn shop, and picked up an 8 string schecter blackjack that Ive never seen before, only saw one listing for $900 that was 10 years old. Has Seymour Duncan Nazgul+Sentient combo, coil split, hipshot locking tuners, a graphtech nut and hipshot bridge. I picked it up for $800. Its pretty sick looking too, gloss black with red/black/red binding and glow in the dark fret markers. Plays and sounds incredible.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@bubbablake3983 that’s the type of find I need!

@bubbablake3983 Месяц назад

@@rileypaynestewart yeah, I got a PRS Mark Holcomb SVN and I sold it because the schecter is better in every way and easier to play. Keep your eyes out! Have a great day, I enjoyed the video and subscribed

@donmunson4802 Месяц назад

It's a partscaster. You're not going to get anything for the mods. That happens every day.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Yep

@hushpuppykl Месяц назад

Total value - 900 Resale value - 350 It will sit on the shelf as the body is a no name, money is stuck Fair value for GC - 150 to 75 max Want more ... sell it on your own 😂

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Exactly right

@smokedkarma5034 Месяц назад

It doesn't matter what upgrades you do. They have to look at it like an average consumer. If an average consumers sees this guitar for say $200 they will think guitar center is ripping them off and they probably won't go back there. They don't understand the upgrades they can't tell from looking at the guitar that it has been upgraded only players would beable to tell and a player wouldn't buy it either. They would see the name brand and never pick it up. So essentially it is kind of a worthless guitar other then to you.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Yes I agree

@travisruth3611 Месяц назад

I put a 400 fender neck on a squire and like 150 dollars pickups and locking tuners and the guy came up to me and asked if I knew it was a squire then told me they could do 40 bucks

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Ridiculous😂 it’s crazy cuz if I saw something like that for sale I’d buy it in an instant

@rw9495 Месяц назад

They don't know what they're missing, the neck is the only thing that ever went wrong with my '07 Squier Bullet Strat, everything else has been rock solid. Can't decide whether to get a used Fender neck for it or hit up Warmoth.

@travisruth3611 Месяц назад

@@rw9495 I honestly just bought it because it was the road worn neck. It’s practically a custom shop neck.

@MrKenstar2 Месяц назад

You dont get you money back dude, just like fixing up a car

@RBDrums Месяц назад

This video doesn't make any sense. Obviously they're not gonna give you anything for it, it's custom. Unless it's a custom from a custom brand like kiesel, custom guitars don't sell well. That's literally the whole point of a custom guitar. It's tailored for the person who made it. They're too risky to resell.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

It was just to see how much they’d give me out of curiousity

@coreycann6751 Месяц назад

Even kiesels don’t sell well. They and carvin don’t hold their value well compared to a stock Gibson or US fender

@RBDrums Месяц назад

@@coreycann6751 exactly. I find it funny guitar center even buys them. I’m sure they turn down some but I’ve seen some funny builds for sale.

@These_go_to_eleven_1959 Месяц назад

I worked at a music store and modified guitars(even high end big brand!!) are actually worth less to a store. They have to resell it And not everyone's going to like the changes that were made.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

True

@michaellandreth1392 Месяц назад

They were right in their offer. With the HB name over what they said they'd put it out for it'll just sit on the shelf. PickUps mean nothing except to you. Take that Neck off and but a "No name" on it just became a "Parts Caster" based on an HB. Even lower value.

@bryanvaughn80 Месяц назад

"upgrades" are in the eye of the beholder.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

They are indeed

@jonlloyd2599 Месяц назад

Mods are great for you but they don't give you anything in the USA. I'm American and live in South America at the moment. Much different here. You would get your money back for sure here. They can't get Harley Benton here but they like them. Keep the stock parts and put them back in to sell it or just keep moding it for yourself. It's good to have one that you can play with and learn about it on.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@jonlloyd2599 interesting! Thanks for the info

@GROCK619 Месяц назад

Yes you can never expect to get your $$ back from your own personal upgrades..

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Agreed

@ariamartinez7355 Месяц назад

I actually think upgrades devalue a guitar as far as resale. But I totally get the personal value aspect. My first guitar was an Epiphone LP I bought for $400 I put $700 in upgrades in to it knowing I would never get my money back out of it. Honestly I like it more than my $3k Gibson LP

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Agreed

@AntmanFelix Месяц назад

That's sort of the same thing with parts caster guitars, you'll most likely never get the value that you put in the guitar back if you decide to sell it. Even if it's top notch parts or even (in the case with strat or Tele builds) genuine Fender components, people may not value it the same way as you did. ESPECIALLY Guitar Center lol. They offered me $400 for an Excellent condition Gibson SG Standard that they probably would have sold for $999.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

True

@morris4321 Месяц назад

my experience they just want to pay bottom dollar if you try to Might just be the guitar center in my area but not good for sealing anything

@coreycann6751 Месяц назад

I once took my old bc rich mockingbird to 2 different guitar centers…. Hollywood GC offered me a laughable $75 and Murrieta GC offered me $550.

@Hombre-nw1fj Месяц назад

just because you mod a guitar it does not increase the value. you'd get more selling the parts separately. put the og parts back on then sell everything separately.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

True

@pwrmac7600 Месяц назад

Upgrades mean nothing. They are going soley off the name on the headstock. Brought in a Custom built warmoth that was pretty much spec'ed out top of the line, and they offered me like 200 on it. reasoning? no brand on the headstock, buyers aren't going to know what it is so they won't be willing to spend alot of money on it, no matter what the specs are. The harley benton name isn't going to bring value. you'll never get what you paid for the parts. that is why "upgrading" budget guitars isn't worth it unless you intend to keep it for yourself.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Nice! I was thinking of going warmoth for my custom neck, is it something you’d recommend?

@pwrmac7600 Месяц назад

@rileypaynestewart absolutely, warmoth makes a great product. I have 2 guitars I built with their parts and they both look and play amazing.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@pwrmac7600 hell yeah thanks man

@spazmodicusrex6629 Месяц назад

Stock model Blue Book value is what they go by. If they can give you a price that's 50% or less of what they will resell it for, that's what they'll offer. If they do recognize that it's been upgraded, that only goes one way - resale price. They certainly won't tell you that they recognize the upgrades when they see them either. It gets even worse when a guitar that's valuable as a stock model has non-stock parts. Then they will tell you that non-original hardware is what's killed the price - if they're nice. Most likely it'll be the guy that isn't afraid to go against the company policy but, those are rare.

@andrewbecker3700 Месяц назад

This should be a lesson to anyone trying to mod inexpensive offbrand guitars, and expecting to get ANY of that money back. It's just not happening in the current used guitar market. If you start out with a guitar of known quantity, from a reputable big name brand. Which in my opinion begins around the $500 range. You might at least have a fighting chance at recovering the majority of the monies invested. This largely depends on how far off center you went with your choice of brand, model, or colors? Expecting Squires and Epiphones to bring top dollar, just because you spent extra on upgrades, is just more wishful thinking. The only exceptions I can think of off hand, are certain limited production models that most everyone is wise to nowadays. Information is everywhere, and when someone can search a guitars production history in seconds. It's not like your gonna stumble across a '58 Burst anytime soon.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

I wasn’t surprised tbh just thought it’d make for a fun video

@andrewbecker3700 Месяц назад

@@rileypaynestewart Absolutely. It's good that people see this. I've been tempted to spend around $500-600 on a few Harley Benton's at one time. With the expectation of having to upgrade some parts. But by the time you spend say, $500-600 more on mods for 2-3 guitars. Your in at least a $stack$, and most likely won't be able to recoup much of the extra funds you sank into them. I've learned to weigh out the long term value, with my G.A.S. on the day of purchase. This seems to work good for me. Anyone who boasts they only care about tone, or blah blah blah. Is full of shit, or just plain stupid then. The average guitar player or buyer or consumer, or whatever you wanna call us. IS, or should, be paying attention to the used guitar resale market. Personally, I can't say firsthand. But from literally everything I've heard or seen online. The used guitar market is buried in sub $500 dollar models that nobody really wants.

@terryohlsson2941 Месяц назад

Upgrades are not what sells guitars. Brand and model loyality are the drivers of pri ing. Unfortunately, resale overshadows actually learning to play. Play! Play! Play!

@waskele.wabbit717 Месяц назад

Guitar center is definitely not the place to get a trade-in deal and I would imagine Harley Benton is a dirty word in that store.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

They didn’t even know what it was haha

@dominicmccormack7004 Месяц назад

End of the day, parts and value dont incress the value of a guitar, it also can decrease value if hie end guitars i belive, correct me if im wrong there, but buying a 90 pounds guitar and puting parts on it, the value of the model is still 90, no matter how much you put in

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Agreed

@tentheagle Месяц назад

0:39 Bold Ed Sheeran

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

😂

@TryThatPawPaw Месяц назад

As a rule you never recoup the value of the mods you make on an instrument. When you modify a guitar you have to fully know you’re making those changes for you, not to improve the value of it.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Exactly

@rong648 Месяц назад

Keep the original parts and reinstall them when you go to sell that guitar.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Facts

@briankrueger1142 Месяц назад

Mods mean nothing when it comes to resale. Often they hurt the resale value. You’re better off parting it out if you want any money, but that takes time and is a hassle.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

True

@Lordbaccus Месяц назад

that is their Standing offer on most guitars!!

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@Lordbaccus it’s so ridiculous

@Bassboy1987 Месяц назад

Oh I know where that Guitar Center is... lol You would be lucky to get 60% of the retail value of the guitar. Guitar Center basically gives you pawnshop prices because they're looking to make profit.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

😂

@Brati999 Месяц назад

1000$ pickups on a 100$ guitar = 100$ guitar Thats how it always been, and its gonna be. Sell the parts separetly and the guitar stock. Ourelse you loose money

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Maybe I should start looking for cheap guitars with nice pickups in them the next time I want a new set of fishmans to get them for quarter of the price!

@stevep119 Месяц назад

They offered you more than it was worth on second hand market. On second hand market the only thing that is relevant is what model of guitar it is. As to a buyer in the second hand market it is a second hand Harley Benton and that's that. Your mods are not relevant. Then only way to get value of parts you fitted after you brought it is to take them out and put original hardware back in the guitar. Then sell the upgrade parts on their own separately. The fact they are mods you have done also doesn't help as how do they know you have done the mods well. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what mods or upgrades you done to a guitar. When it comes to resale value for guitars it is just a second hand what ever model it is. After market mods add no value for resale

@henkhendriks5983 Месяц назад

But!,!,! For what will they SELL it?.???.???

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@henkhendriks5983 they said they would sell it for $160

@seanthomas5287 Месяц назад

Ok here's the facts on this subject. It's a bitter pill to swallow but mods don't increase value. They are modded to your taste and my taste may be different then yours? I deal with guitar center alot and you are better off selling to a retailer by pulling everything of value back out of it and reusing it or selling privately. They do not care what is in it they only care about what the headstock says.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

I figured

@Magik1369 Месяц назад

They'll take the expensive parts off and sell them. Otherwise they would have offered you $25

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

That’s what I expect yes

@-Seuz- Месяц назад

I wish I had a guitar like that

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Bro make one it’s so easy, highly recommend

@mrpaiute9013 Месяц назад

Lesson of story: You'll get less for a guitar than what you paid

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Yessir

@herewegoagain7403 Месяц назад

Just like selling your modified car to the dealership. All the mods in the world will not increase the value.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

True

@Durkhead Месяц назад

Now take all the parts in separatly

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

lol that would actually be funny

@cortarelva Месяц назад

Who cares what the pickups are or the bridge. Its a $90 Harley Benton. Anytime someones decides to upgrade their instrument they shpould be aware that its not going to make any diference when you sell it. Unless you find someone who can apreciate those mods but that kind of people ussualy dont buy pre modded Harley Bentons. You modded it you keep it.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

I wasn’t actually gonna sell it. Just for the video

@JJ-mp7rg Месяц назад

Try reverb?

@rosewoodsteel6656 Месяц назад

My guess is they don't want it.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@rosewoodsteel6656 solid guess for sure

@rw9495 Месяц назад

I bought a $900 Markbass amp at GC once, went to trade it in 3 months later and they offered $150 on trade or $75 cash lmfao. I put it on Craigslist instead.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

That’s insane

@rw9495 Месяц назад

@@rileypaynestewart They're like the GameStop of musical equipment stores lmao

@war2thegrave Месяц назад

I guess you didn't think it was worth 900.00 either.

@tommilitello198 Месяц назад

I call bullshit,it’s the same value cash or trade every one I’ve been in

@stevedallas6122 Месяц назад

Guitar Center is notorious? You know what else is notorious? Guitar players for thinking anyone wants their Custom Crapcaster as much as they did when they built it.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Good one!🫨

@TigerPalmer Месяц назад

Yeah never upgrade a Squier, Harley, etc.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Why? They’re the perfect guitars to upgrade

@nathueil1 Месяц назад

Jaguar rims on a Pinto body.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Exactly😂

@garethlewis4586 Месяц назад

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Straight to the point I like it

@MelodyCarroll-rx8tk Месяц назад

Can't stand Guitar Center. You'd be better consigning it in a small, mom and pop, music store.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@MelodyCarroll-rx8tk 100% agree! I def won’t be selling it though I was just curious

@kylekawolski5174 Месяц назад

i bought a brand new Gibson 2022 flying V and it retailed for about $1800 at the time. I was offered $400 from GC as a TRADE IN; not just selling it alone. Mind you I had it for a little over a week and played it twice. I went to my local shop and they gave me $1500 as trade in value and I picked up a LP DC from the 90s. Fuck GC

@EjSinner13 Месяц назад

BS… you could have just returned it for a full refund within 30 days. Edit your comment to something more believable.😂

@kylekawolski5174 Месяц назад

@@EjSinner13 You're funny. Bought it from a local shop new; wasn't looking for a refund and more of a trade for a different guitar at GC on their used rack. Don't assume I bought it from them to begin with.

@EjSinner13 Месяц назад

@@kylekawolski5174 aww, you see. Now that’s a little more believable. 😂

@EjSinner13 Месяц назад

@@kylekawolski5174 I forgot. Your story still smells like bs.

@JimmyTorque Месяц назад

Got a bc rich jr v 7 from GC for 900$ …. The very same store that I bought it from offered be 350….

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

Insane

@JJawsyW Месяц назад

Guitar Center goes on the name only. They don't go on mods or anything. Guitar Center sucks and their pricing sucks.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

@@JJawsyW I’d be interested to see what I pawn shop would say, probably would be a similar offer though sadly

@JasonT-xp3kh Месяц назад

I'm not paying for your "upgrades". They are literally worthless to anyone but you, especially on a cheap guitar. It will always be a cheap guitar no matter how hard you "upgrade" it. You're barking up the wrong tree. If you would like your instruments to have value, buy a quality used instrument at a good price. It will hold that value over time. A $600 used Fender will still be worth $600 in 3 to 5 years, maybe even more. All you've done is waste time, effort and money. Nobody wants to buy someone elses mistake.

@rileypaynestewart Месяц назад

I love this guitar I was never going to sell it. Was all for the video.