Reverb.com

Has anyone noticed the totally unrealistic prices being put on Matsumoku gear on this site?? Raider II in Ok nick, not flash, but OK for US$909 from Greece?! Most APII, Vantage and Westone asking prices are just nuts!! 

Or is it because I'm used to buying them an awful lot cheaper than that? Has the world caught up with what we already knew?

Have you only just noticed?

Prices have been up there for a good while now.

Have a gander on Ebay UK at the moment!

Not in the market for anything so it's a bit of a surprise as I haven't been looking anywhere for ages!

Reverb seems a lot pricier than eBay US, eBay Au, Gumtree, Trademe or Kijiji, though! I don't bother with eBay UK as the shipping down here kills most deals straight off.

corsair wrote: though! I don't bother with eBay UK as the shipping down here kills most deals straight off.

Just look at the prices of the instruments! That'd scare you off without even thinking of shipping.

Yeah, I just had a look at the Invader that you posted at the Mats site, and the price is mind boggling! The seller of that one is actually a Canadian dealer too, so I guess the "jig is up" at least as far as the retailers and big online sellers are concerned.

The only reasonable prices I find are still via Kijiji, CL, etc. But even those have been climbing.

you are right John, the prices are totally unrealistic.

but those over-priced guitars just simply do not sell. some on Reverb have been listed there for ages

the word is out that they are well made guitars, but still, the asking prices are not based in reality. the people who want Westone guitars are not wealthy people generally, and there is not enough demand to actually warrant the astronomical prices. after all, they were produced by the thousands.

and if one does sell for an inflated price, there is generally only 1 interested party. it is not competition driving the price up, it is the (unrealistic) hope of a windfall profit.

Mats guitars simply do not have a market like an antique Martin or Gibson.

I don't know about reverb per se, but it strikes me with ebay, every time an item is sold, the seller will be looking on the whole to re coup some if not all of their commission payable, lets say 10-12%. The cyclic effect will exponentially only compound the price increase over time. Apologies for stating the obvious, but it does make you think twice about an ad hoc purchase, especially a Matts

Here's a nice cheapy....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Thunder-IA-active-passive-guitar-1983-made-in-Japan-excellent-/291801626923?hash=item43f0bb792b:g:ICkAAOSwbYZXbTv8

Strewth!
I'm so lucky to have had one walk through the door at the shop.
It was bruised and battered and needed some fixing up...but I only paid CAD$50 for it.
These are killer guitars.

Westbone wrote:Here's a nice cheapy....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westone-Thunder-IA-active-passive-guitar-1983-made-in-Japan-excellent-/291801626923?hash=item43f0bb792b:g:ICkAAOSwbYZXbTv8

And here's a nice Gibson Les Paul with double cutaway, P90's, hardshell case - and it's cheaper!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gibson-Les-Paul-Special-Double-Cut/182229693825?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D37567%26meid%3D718afcde3d4844a892c04f8869fcee26%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D291801626923

played an APII PE R60 priced at £375 a little while ago in a shop I occasionally buy stuff from
maybe I should have bought it after seeing this on ebay


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1980-Japan-Vintage-Aria-Pro-II-PE-R60-Electric-Guitar-6-String-1980s-w-Soft-Case/291833849700?_trksid=p5713.c100284.m3505&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D12%26asc%3D20140905073823%26meid%3Daa695d6dead04e85a0f422a75348d36b%26pid%3D100284%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D291833849700

that's in better nick, but £1800 worth
insanity

As much as I love a good Lester, especially with P90's, I hate those "robo tuners"!
Those PE's are just works of art. But completely mad pricing!

That PE does come with a "soft case", that may be pushing the price up a bit....

For that money I would be expecting something a bit less "soft" to put it in.

Isn't it sad that in all probability:
(1) the seller is not interested in playing it
(2) the buyer will not be interested in playing it

The PE was a dream guitar for me when it came out; unfortunately I couldn't afford to buy one. If I had, I would certainly have PLAYED it!

The Mat market over here in the States has taken quite the hit!  Prices are nowhere near where they used to be a couple of years back.  Guitars that would have been snapped up 2-3 years ago for $300-$500 are not going unsold for $175-$350.  Crazy. 

Examples, I bought that Prestige 150 for $300 which would have been $500 a few years back, and I could have bought a minty Prestige 250 for $650 recently which went unsold at that price!  A few years back, that would have sold for $800 in a hurry!

Not to mention the Electra's here in the States, some models dropping $200-$300 over the course of the past 3 years.  I'm talking selling prices, not asking prices. 

I predicted this back then, that we created our own bubble.  Which had burst.

i think it has a lot to do with the lousy economy here.
only the 0.1% (the already wealthy) are seeing things improve
the rest of us can barely keep up

The supply has dried up a little, too; I'm not seeing anything that I'm remotely interested in buying! I have lees than no interest in nice weapons at this stage, just the ones that need work, and they used to pop up regularly - to whit, my Urchin, Raider and 4 Avengers - but no longer....

corsair wrote:I have lees than no interest in nice weapons at this stage, just the ones that need work,

You can't beat a good fixer-upper. I think they are the best ones

The thing about Reverb is you can make offers. I think a lot of people put top dollar on stuff to see what they can get. I'm not shy! If I think a guitar is actually worth half the asking price I'll make that offer.