bizzwriter
Active member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2002
- Messages
- 975
Yes, things can trend down but they usually go back up. I was looking at those anniversary strats (which I think are great) & 70's Strats in general....talk about a freefall from a couple years back but at some point they'll rebound. Meanwhile, 70's Gibsons are selling for more & more every day it seems (uhg, gonna miss the boat) so not silly to think they'll continue.
I think the vintage market pre-'85 is a darn safe bet for the most part. Production totals on a monthly basis these days dwarf what the retailers were putting out on a yearly basis. Even if mass interest wanes you still have the older stuff in much smaller numbers.
As for the REALLY expensive stuff, again, safe bet if you buy a bit low. Go figure, when the market tanked so did the vintage market, it doesn't require a huge fan base, just enough people riding the historical gravy boat need to be interested to make it flow because there just aren't as many out there. We thought 20 years ago our customer base of 50/60 year olds meant an impending crash...nope, lol. Plenty of 40/50 years olds now to scoop up the next collections to go on market.
But how many of these vintage guitars are actually selling? I see vintage listings on ebay and reverb stick around unsold for weeks and months. And I haven't seen much recovery here in the San Diego area since the 2008 crunch. I've listed lots of cool guitars and amps for sale over the period, and there are very few buyers (actually, usually none) here in the $2k-$10k range. It's crickets...
I guess the dealers would know the answer -- they're still in business, so someone is buying.