5 Reasons to Sell Your Used Music Gear to Guitar Center

What a hassle. Like many working musicians, I had accumulated far more gear than I actually used, and an expensive storage space and a crammed garage were constant reminders that lots of stuff needed to find new homes.

But the process of selling that inactive gear was significantly more work than I anticipated, and the time-cost benefit was out of whack—especially for pedals, amps and guitars that weren’t particularly high-ticket items.

It was also annoying to accurately estimate shipping costs when the gear was first offered for sale, box up guitars and amps safely and securely, lug everything to FedEx or UPS, and then await emails such as, “Hey, I found a smudge that wasn’t shown in your photos, so I am asking for an additional $50 off the price we negotiated.” Nightmare.

I didn’t think I’d find a much easier process at the company I work for—Guitar Center. But I did.

Okay, there’s an admitted conflict of interest in counseling musicians to sell their unused or unwanted gear to the very corporation that employs me, but let’s look closely at the used sales landscape, and then I’ll present five reasons why Guitar Center may be an excellent option for you.

Comparing Used Gear Selling Options 

Why Sell Your Gear to Guitar Center?

Common wisdom typically points to three deliberation points when musicians consider selling off used gear: how much money they can get, how rapidly they can get their hands on that money and how much aggravation will they need to tolerate to successfully sell their stuff?

Let’s discuss the Guitar Center approach to that trio of concerns—especially as Guitar Center can make selling your unused music gear substantially easier.

You’ll Get Paid the Same Day*

After the staff at your local Guitar Center evaluates your gear and gives you an offer, Guitar Center will immediately pay you up to $1,000 in cash for your gear. Transactions with a total value more than $1,000 will be paid via mailed check or digital payment (PayPal, Push for Debit Card, Venmo, Zelle or Push to Bank Account).

What is true across the board, however, is that unlike private sales, you won’t have to wait for someone to see your listing, decide whether they really want the item or not, schedule a meeting to test the gear and negotiate the price. At Guitar Center, everything happens at the store in one visit.

*Transactions with a total value of $1,000 or less may be paid in cash, same day at the option of the customer. Transactions with a total value over $1,000 will be paid via digital payment or dispatched check. Processing times may vary. Exclusions apply. Void where prohibited. See an associate for details.

No Packing or Shipping

Finding appropriate shipping materials and packing everything securely, accurately estimating transport costs (even with all the estimation tools available, I got burned more than once) and adding in insurance fees (unless you 100% trust a carrier to deliver a guitar in the exact same shape it left your house) were my most troublesome bêtes noires when selling gear. These factors ultimately caused me to take a break from my personal sales initiative long before all the gear I wanted to sell had exited my storage space. Bummer. But you know what’s not a bummer? Piling my stuff into my Red Devil SUV—a Mazda CX-5—and bringing it to my local Guitar Center to sell. So easy.

Zero “Stranger Danger”

Selling gear privately using the usual methods typically requires meeting potential buyers in a public place or at your home. Neither of these options are particularly secure. Even though I’m not much of a worrywart, I do get creeped out at the prospect of inviting strangers to my house for obvious reasons. And, as far as the security of meeting buyers at a mall, gas station or outdoor parking lot—those are not risk-proof locales. On the other hand, Guitar Center stores are retail locations with dedicated and trusted used-gear professionals. You don’t have to feel nervous about having strangers in your home or potentially entering into a world of discomfort in a coffee shop parking lot.

No Need to Be a Marketing Sensation

Letting potential buyers know what you are selling requires researching an instrument’s value, writing a promotional description and clearly photographing every angle to show the gear’s condition. You’re not done yet. Once the “ad” drops via your chosen marketplace, you’ll likely be answering questions from interested parties and negotiating the instrument’s final price.

All of that effort is unnecessary when you sell your gear to Guitar Center. Your only duty is to bring your used gear in for appraisal. You can save your writing and photography skills for your band’s social posts.

Trade In and Trade Up

Perhaps you’ve tired of a particular guitar, bass, keyboard, drum kit, DJ gear, effects pedal, microphone, recording tool or other piece of musical equipment, and you want to explore other possibilities rather than delete something from your collection. Guitar Center is definitely a one-stop shop for exploration. In other words, you can sell gear to Guitar Center and use the proceeds toward another purchase the same day. Even cooler, Guitar Center offers 10% off on something new when you sell the company your used gear. Occasionally, that cool factor gets an upgrade, as exclusive promotions with selected manufacturers can increase the discount to 15% or more.

Exclusions can apply, however, so talk to a store associate to ensure you’re trading up to gear covered by the discount. You can view current limitations and exclusions in the list that follows the FAQ section on Guitar Center's "Sell Us Your Old Gear" page. There’s also an easy (there’s that word again) “Trade In and Trade Up” form on the Guitar Center website.

A Real-World Sales Story

Richard Gee is a noted San Francisco Bay Area guitarist and bassist, who years ago established a significant side hustle from selling, trading and buying used gear. As we’ve played in bands together on and off for years, I’ve often heard him discuss his many gear acquisitions, high- and low-profit transactions and the ebb and flow of his pretty massive guitar collection. 

“I’ve sold guitars on consignment and through other means, and I ended up selling a lot of gear to Guitar Center, because it’s fast, easy and you roll out with a check in your hand,” says Gee. “But my criteria may be different from a musician who really needs top dollar for their gear. All of us Baby Boomers have lots of gear we should probably be unloading. I mean, my kids aren’t musicians and they don’t want this stuff, so I don’t want to leave them with a hardship someday. I just want to sell the gear I’m not using anymore without any aggravation or stress.”

Gee admits he is in a position where he doesn’t wish to quibble over what Guitar Center determines his gear is worth, but he also feels all potential sellers should understand their position in the used-gear pipeline.

“You just have to remember that you’re the wholesaler when you bring anything to Guitar Center,” he says. “Their job is to assess the value of what Guitar Center can resell your used gear for, and their offers are set accordingly. For example, if they believe they can sell your guitar for $800, you might get offered $400 or a little bit more. Offers vary depending on what you bring in and the condition. I also believe that market familiarity matters. I’m getting ready to sell them a Knaggs guitar, which is an expensive, boutique instrument. It probably cost me $3,000 or $4,000 new, but it’s not as recognizable a brand as Gibson or Fender, so I’d be happy if Guitar Center offered me around $1,300 for it. I should say that throughout all the years I’ve been selling gear to Guitar Center, I’ve never been unhappy with what they’ve offered me for guitars, basses, pedals, amps, speaker cabinets and so on.”

Which Marketplace Is Right For You?

I’m with Richard. I gravitate to righteous results made easy. I don’t believe I’ll ever go back to packing and sending my used gear ever again. I’m okay with a lower payout when selling wholesale to Guitar Center, because when you factor in all of the time and effort of doing things privately, I feel I’m still ahead of the game.

I’m also “that” Baby Boomer with too much music gear, and my 20 years as editor in chief of Guitar Player didn’t help, as I had the opportunity to collect truckloads of stuff. I mean, I have a fabulous VOX AC30 in red Tolex, but it hasn’t been out of its road case in years, because lugging a 70-plus-pound amp around and lifting it in and out of an SUV is no fun without roadies. In addition, that storage space for my overflow gear has been a hilariously bad financial move over time. Finally, reading Margareta Magnusson’s The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning—a plan for decluttering possessions—was a huge neon sign blasting the message “Sell Your Used Gear to Guitar Center.”

But, as Steely Dan’s Walter Becker famously termed in a 1996 Guitar Player interview, everyone has different stages of “Gear Acquisition Syndrome,” and music gear has emotional ties that are often hard to break.

Which Used Gear Selling Option Fits Your Priorities?

Ready to Sell Your Used Gear?

To start the process, visit a local Guitar Center for a hands-on gear evaluation. For more information on selling and/or trading used gear to Guitar Center, visit our "Sell Us Your Old Gear" page.