Guitar horsetrading for profit!

[straightblues]

BTW. everyone has been assuming that you will be reselling on Ebay. There are lots of other place to sell gear including this forum, Gear Page, Weber Bulletion Boards, Seymour Duncan Site, The Fender Forum, Craigslist, Recycler and many others. Prices vary a lot between places you sell.

[Michael_]

As far as opportunity costs go, I'm a student and scheduling is important. Guitar trading is something I can do in my spare time around class time/study time/party time. It's also just a wee bit more fun than burger flipping. So I'm willing to take whatever opportunity cost hits there are to be taken.

Thanks for all of the advice thus far, everybody. It's always good to talk to older and wiser people about stuff like this. Still open to suggestions on guitars that could be worth more as parts, though.

[SteveE9C6]

Well I am a real estate consultant and I bill $200 per hour

Jeez... I practice family medicine. Boy did I go in the wrong field. Between losing money on guitars, malpractice insurance, deadbeats, and kids in college, I'm rapidly gaining on negative net equity. At least I'm doing it in volume!

[straightblues]

I develop large office buildings, mixed use project and large industrial parks in Los Angeles. My average development is about $50 million. My last project was $150 million. I have 20 years experience. It is very nasty work with lots of fighting and political games. My average legal bills are about $20,000 a month. I often think about changing fields. Believe me I don't have a lot of fun doing it these days.

It is funny; I still love to trade guitars and get good deals. It is my hobby. It is the thrill of the chase. I hate to pay full price and rarely buy anything new.

[HamerHokie]

I develop large office buildings, mixed use project and large industrial parks in Los Angeles. My average development is about $50 million. My last project was $150 million. I have 20 years experience. It is very nasty work with lots of fighting and political games. My average legal bills are about $20,000 a month. I often think about changing fields. Believe me I don't have a lot of fun doing it these days.

It is funny; I still love to trade guitars and get good deals. It is my hobby. It is the thrill of the chase. I hate to pay full price and rarely buy anything new.

What is the role of a 'real estate consultant' in this process? Is it like a project management role?

[SteveE9C6]

Thanks for all of the advice thus far, everybody. It's always good to talk to older and wiser people about stuff like this. Still open to suggestions on guitars that could be worth more as parts, though.

Well, I qualify as older. Wiser? Hmm, I managed to lose a little over $200k on tech stocks a few years ago. Learned a big lesson about greed. Also learned the value of diversification.

Now... parting out guitars... There is a fellow on ebay who makes a living parting out brand new Fenders. He has been the subject of some discussion on the Fender Discussion Page. I don't know if the market is saturated or not. I pay zero attention to this market. Like our fellow forumite "Straightblues", I buy and sell solely for the fun of it.

This is primarily an enthusiast forum. The vast majority of posters here do not have any type of profit agenda. They are here for the thrill and fun of guitar collecting, discussion and the group vibe. Even the retailers who hang here take a low key approach.

If you have the time, energy, money, and knowledge, there may be a little money to be made in what you propose. I personally don't think it's worth it.

[straightblues]

What is the role of a 'real estate consultant' in this process? Is it like a project management role?

I develop for rich people that don't know what they are doing or are too busy. I take the lead development role. I perform financial analysis and feasability, obtain entitelments (rights to build), obtain financing to do the project, hire an architect to draw the building, hire a contractor to build it, hire a broker to lease it and manage the whole process through leaseup and/or sale. A better term for my role would be "fee developer".

[HamerHokie]

What is the role of a 'real estate consultant' in this process?  Is it like a project management role?

I develop for rich people that don't know what they are doing or are too busy. I take the lead development role. I perform financial analysis and feasability, obtain entitelments (rights to build), obtain financing to do the project, hire an architect to draw the building, hire a contractor to build it, hire a broker to lease it and manage the whole process through leaseup and/or sale. A better term for my role would be "fee developer".

Sounds cool. I was a project manager for multimillon $$$ construction projects and I always wondered if there was any way to roll that into a consultant job. But I never had to worry about land acquisition, licensing, etc.

[Craig]

Most Hamers are not good financial investments unless you get lucky and steal a rare or old piece.

Part out Jacksons, Fender Strats, Charvels, Ibanez, etc and you will double your money. I bought a beat to hell Jackson Japanese super strat for $25, I parted the entire guitar out for well over $300 on Ebay. It was easier to ship, but I had the hassle of multiple buyers, and had to relist the body two times due to non-paying bidders.

[sirDaniel]

As you all know..I go through alot of gear but I never purchase with the intention of making money on it..I purchase gear I'm interested in trying and seeing if it's gonna find a place in the line up. I also turn alot of gear but rarely if ever for a profit...sometimes I break even...most times I don't but I look at it as a day at disneyland and if I'm in the red on something it don't matter cuz like disneyland...I had a good time

yup

[hamersandstrats]

I've gone through about 30 guitars in the last 4-5 years trading on eBay and stuff. Most of the deals I have just tried to make my money back. And I know some good people got some good guitars out of it. Occaisionslly I have run into used guitars that I know were underpriced and I have flipped them on eBay for a profit. But its funny, the last guitar that I bought to flip was a '65 Gibson Melody Maker. I put it on eBay, it didn't sell but I'm glad I kept it-its one of my favorites. Totally smokes!