Hi,
I’m close to pushing the button on buying a synth and the best used prices are on guitarcenter.
I get they are a USA wide retailer but is the used gear they stock reliably good? Any negative experiences with buying through them? I see they have 45 day returns which is great. Are there any snags with that? If I just don’t like it will they take it back and refund? If the item is located somewhere else do they ship it to a local store for you?
Thanks for sharing any of your experiences.
Hey! I’ve had success. I had one of those hand wired Vox AC30s (so tube amp) shipped from Texas to Seattle.
Anyway, I called the store and had the person I talked to check it out before I ordered it. I got an accurate description and the thing was mint.
I think I may have ordered it from that person over the phone to try and help his numbers and he shipped it to my local store. Can’t remember if the shipping was free or not.
Also, it could be returned to my local store… so you may just be out the shipping if it’s not free?
Edit: also, it was packed really well, and I was able to test at the store, so I wouldn’t have had to leave with it if something was wrong.
Cheers @mas_akala that sounds like the kind of good experience I want.
My experiences buying used gear off guitar center online have all been good. I’ve taken a few returns back to my local guitar center without issues. Their shipping isn’t the cheapest but sometimes they have good deals.
This is the best feature, really.
It makes having any issues with the gear relatively easy to walk away from. As long as you have a GC close enough to you that it’s not a hassle.
If possible, I’d recommend calling over the phone and talking to a person who can put hands on the item and politely requesting that they send you a couple of additional detailed pictures, I dodged a few bullets by doing this. I’ve never gotten a response to an email (message this store option), but by calling, I can always get to the appropriate department and talk to a human, I don’t think internet sales contribute to their commissions, so they’ve been pretty blunt and honest in assessment of condition.
From what I remember if you’re picking it up at your local store (they ship store to store) there isn’t a shipping cost, if they ship to your house the cost to ship is quoted at the checkout page. If you return to a store it’s free, if you mail it back to the store that sent it to you (buyers remorse return) you pay return shipping, unless there’s an issue with the item in which case they’ll send you a return label. The fact that all their policies are in writing, and that they’re a national chain, are probably the biggest advantages, but since it’s a network of individual people and individual stores you have to think that each piece of gear they acquire has to be deemed “saleable” by the person responsible for buying (at that store), there may be a guideline but there’s no standard so that’s why it’s good to confirm what you’re buying before completing payment.
edit: apparently I was misremembering, per percussionboy there’s shipping either way or at some point in the distant past inter-store shipping was without charge, either way my bad.
I have bought several times from GC online and have had both good and bad experiences.
They will ship to a local store for you to pick up, or to your home. On used gear, they will charge shipping either way. If it’s sent to the store for pickup, you can probably unpack and test the synth in the store, if you ask politely and they are not super-busy.
They are easy about taking returns, and once you have set up a return with the GC site by phone, you can return the item to the local store—no need to ship it yourself.
The condition of the item can be … anything at all. My worst experience was a Montage 6 that arrived with the main controller knob ripped off the panel and hanging by a thread … I don’t even know how that could happen. GC will probably not pack as well as a good reverb seller will, so you’re rolling the dice. But most stuff seems to arrive fine.
Personally, I wouldn’t buy anything bulky or super-expensive from them used, but they’re so easygoing about returns that you can take some chances. It’s a good place to buy used pedals.
Hope this helps.
I recently went through a buying spree of buying a bunch of used fender stratocasters online, having them shipped to me, and then returning to my local guitar center if i didn’t like them. No problems at all. I imagine if you abuse this they cut you off at some point, but I’ve been fine.
Tbh it actually makes me shop at guitar center more, because I know I can just always return something no questions asked. So…It works in their favor I think. It’s a good return policy.
Expect whatever you get to be untested. I bought a used SSL X-Desk from them that arrived DOA. I would be more wary of synths and pro audio stuff than guitars and amps.
To their credit, returning for a full refund was easy.
??
They test the used gear they buy in store before they pay the seller. OK i grant they probably can’t catch every failure, but they aren’t in the business of buying broken gear, they’d go bankrupt ( again ).
Of course not. But I am pretty sure some items are given only a cursory test - ie, does it turn on. That seemed to be the case with my item. It turned on but passed no audio through any channel.
I’ve bought used from local GC and their online site. once an item got lost in the mail, but otherwise i haven’t had any problems.
I’ve ordered three Korg Kronos through them and all were badly damaged. I’ve also bought new items from them that were used.
Early in my synth career, I found that it was very easy to negotiate with GC on new gear. Used stuff at GC seemed to be too much of a crapshoot even then.
If you are on a tight budget and can check the gear out in person before you buy, or you can tolerate returning used gear that isn’t as described then go for it.
I buy used stuff from guitar center all of the time, they typically have the best prices on items that are actually older and not the newest thing. I recently picked up a virus indigo in “good” condition from them for $500. It was basically in perfect condition but wouldn’t save patches… because it needed a new battery; $2 and a new cr32 battery… and some annoying disassembly… it’s like new and working perfectly. I also picked up a virus rack xl in great condition from them for dirt cheap over the holidays last year. It was so cheap that I feel like whoever priced it maybe thought it was something else. Thing was basically fresh out of the box.
The key is that they drop the prices if things don’t sell… so if they have something you want that isn’t an in-demand item… probably worth waiting a couple of weeks to see if they drop the price. I regret not jumping on an Allen & heath DB4 that was $499 after price drop… I waited too long.
I also have a number of purchases from there that were almost completely broken when they sent them lol… mc909, octatrack, like 5 mackie mixers, a couple broken xone mixers, and other things… but it’s not a big deal because they have a no-hassle return policy and you can just drop it back at a store for a quick refund.
when i’ve tried to sell gear to guitarcenter when super broke in the past, they had fairly high standards for what they would and wouldnt take. normally it was popularity based but other times smudges or scratches were enough to deny the item.
thats only been in seattle tho, but my own intuition tells me that a chain probably only wants to accept easy to sell gear, not trashed stuff. but i guess it also brings into question their ability to accurately test every feature of a piece of kit theyre unfamiliar with. idk.
I’ve never bought a synth from GC, but I bought my Egnater Rebel 30 MKII amp from one of their stores in the Midwest – it was a really easy transaction, my questions were clearly and cheerfully answered when I called to check on the condition, and the amp was basically in brand-new shape when I got it (for a very good price). I’m sure it varies from store to store, but for what it’s worth, mine was a very positive experience.
So did you give them a call? Did we pull the trigger on this? Put a pin in it? What ended up happening?
Just fwiw inventory changes fast, sometimes I’ve been thinking about buying something from them and had it sell before I made up my mind, but in those instances I’ve never regretted it because A) there’s always more gear for sale and if you’re patient you’ll possibly get an even better deal, and B) any purchase you’re hesitant about is probably hesitation with cause, and there’s no shame in playing it safe when it comes to spending money.
But yeah man, what happened? 
My version of “about to push the button” is glacial speed compared to many. So a purchase could be anytime in the next couple months.
I’m after an mc101. There are few on GC around $350-400. I did note the price for brand new ones dropped $50 the other week so they are now $500. I was undecided between mc101 and sh-4d, but I think more presets, more portable and more groovebox-y is a better fit for me. If the mc101 is a good fit then I’ll almost certainly sell my MicroMonsta 2.
I’m waiting on a rebate from the taxman, and then I’ll be more than window shopping…
Update:
I emailed my local guitar centre but didn’t get a reply, as someone predicted. And then an mc101 with some nice extras popped up on elektronauts and so I nabbed it!
Hopefully it arrives Friday…