Matteo decides to sell his used guitar and buys an acoustic with the money

Matteo is 38, lives in Salerno and works shifts as a nurse. In his twenties he played in a band doing nineties rock covers in bars along the Amalfi coast, then work and family took over. The Stratocaster he bought with his first paychecks ended up hanging on the study wall, next to an amp that had quietly become a plant stand. When his nine year old daughter started asking him to play something in the evenings, he noticed he never actually picked up the electric. Plugging in, switching on the amp, turning it down so the neighbours wouldn't complain, and by then the moment had passed. He wanted an acoustic he could leave on the sofa and grab whenever he felt like it. So he decided to sell his used guitar and the amp, and buy another guitar, second hand as well.

Matteo is a made up example, but what he does is what plenty of people with an instrument gathering dust end up doing. On Lendmates you can sell anywhere in Italy and buy from someone at the other end of the country, all from the same account.

How much a used guitar is worth

Before posting anything, Matteo spent an evening looking at listings for guitars like his. Electric guitars from well known brands hold their value, especially popular models, because someone is always looking for one. What matters is the state of the frets, a straight neck, electronics that don't crackle and the original case or gig bag. A few dings on the body matter less than people think. On guitars they're almost expected.

To give you a rough idea, here is what some very common instruments usually sell for in good condition. These are estimates, and a rare model or one in mint condition can be worth more.

Matteo still had the padded gig bag, the manual and the truss rod keys. He asked €600 for the guitar and €180 for the amp, in two separate listings, because people looking for a guitar often already have an amp.

Listing the guitar in a few minutes

One Sunday morning Matteo leaned the guitar against the sofa, near the window, and took the photos with his phone. Front and back of the body, the headstock, the neck from the side to show it was straight, the pickups and a close up of the frets. He uploaded the photos to Lendmates and the listing practically filled itself in, with the category, the model and a first description. He checked it, added the year he bought it and the fact that it had never been modified, then published it. The amp took him another five minutes.

For a moment he thought about keeping the amp and renting it out, since someone always needs one for a party or a rehearsal. In the end he sold it, because space at home was tight and he had no time to organise pickups and returns between shifts. If you're torn about something you own, we wrote a guide on how to choose between selling and renting out.

Questions in the chat and the sale

The first questions came in through the chat that same evening. One person wanted to know if the pots crackled, another whether the neck had ever given trouble. Matteo took his time answering and sent a thirty second video of him playing it clean and then with a bit of overdrive. Because it all happened in the app's chat, he never had to hand out his phone number.

Four days later a young guy from Bergamo bought it. He had asked for a discount and they settled on €570. He paid in the app, and the money would reach Matteo once the purchase went through. Matteo knew the person on the other side was verified, and the buyer knew the same about him. Between two strangers eight hundred kilometres apart, that makes a real difference. The amp went to a man from Latina for €170, a present for his son who had just started playing.

How to ship a guitar without damaging it

Shipping was what worried Matteo most. A guitar is long, fragile at the headstock and doesn't like knocks. He got a guitar box from the music shop near his flat, which throws a few away every week, and followed the advice of a friend who works at a rehearsal studio.

He loosened the strings without taking them off, so the neck isn't under tension during the trip. He wrapped the headstock in bubble wrap, since that is the part that breaks most often, and slid the guitar into its padded bag. Then he filled the empty space in the box with newspaper until nothing moved when he shook it. The courier picked it up from his door the next day.

Three days later the buyer in Bergamo wrote that the guitar had arrived in perfect shape and confirmed the purchase. The money reached Matteo, and the review the buyer left was mostly about the packing, which pleased Matteo more than anything else.

Buying a used acoustic guitar

With €740 set aside, Matteo started looking for the acoustic. He wanted a solid wood top, which sounds better with age, and a pickup in case he ever felt like playing with other people again. On Lendmates he found a mid range Yamaha for €420, sold by a woman in Trento who had just bought a more expensive model.

Before buying he asked her two things anyone buying a used guitar should always ask, the string height at the twelfth fret and whether there were any cracks near the bridge. She sent a photo with a ruler resting on the fretboard and a close up video of the bridge. Everything was fine. Matteo paid in the app and four days later the guitar was on his sofa, still smelling of cardboard. He checked that it played well, confirmed the purchase and left a review of his own.

If it's your first time buying second hand from someone you don't know, we put together some advice on how to buy second hand online safely.

How it turned out

Matteo swapped guitars and still had more than €300 left over, which paid for guitar lessons for his daughter. Now they play together on the sofa in the evenings, her with her three quarter size guitar and him with the acoustic, and the neighbours have never once complained. The Stratocaster lives in Bergamo, where someone plugs it in every day.

If you have an instrument you don't play any more but can't bring yourself to sell, you can also rent it out to people who need one for a few weeks. We cover that in our guide to renting musical instruments peer to peer.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a used guitar worth?

It depends on the brand, the model and its condition. A well kept electric from a known brand often sells for a little over half its new price, while cheaper instruments lose value faster.

How do you ship a guitar without damaging it?

Loosen the strings without removing them, wrap the headstock in bubble wrap, put the guitar in its gig bag or case and then in a guitar box, filling every gap until nothing moves inside.

What should I check before buying a used guitar?

Ask for photos of the neck from the side, the frets and the bridge, the string height at the twelfth fret and a short video of it being played. For an electric, also ask whether the pots crackle.

Should I sell the guitar and the amp together?

Not always. People looking for a guitar often already own an amp, so selling them separately usually finds a buyer sooner and gets you a better price for each.

Illustrative story. People and figures are fictional, but they reflect a typical way to use Lendmates.

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