One of the most frequent questions I hear is, “How do I sell my violin so I can upgrade?” The following is my opinion. You will hear different advice from most violin dealers.
How to sell a violin
Your teacher may have other students who would be interested in your violin. This could be the fastest, easiest way to sell your violin.
Should I consign or sell it myself?
Consignment is paying a commission of typically 10-25% to a dealer to sell for you.
I never recommend that you sell violin on consignment. I tried this several times very early on and never with good results. What I discovered is that the dealers who had my instruments actually de-tuned them so they didn’t sound as good and used my instruments to show how much better their instruments were. A dealer will typically earn more selling his own instruments, so selling yours takes a back seat. In my case, the dealer even tried to charge me for making unauthorized changes to my instruments.
Another friend had a valuable violin on consignment in NYC for two years. He stopped by the shop unannounced and found that the dealer had removed the top from his violin without permission. He demanded it returned, but it still took another 6 months to get his violin back. What a nightmare. If you choose to consign, I hope you have better experience.
Should I Trade In my old instrument?
Some dealers will offer to take your old violin as partial payment for the new instrument. It is always good to ask. The trade in value is always less than retail value, so you’ll need to decide if this works for you. It is certainly the easiest approach. As a general rule, we don’t accept trade ins because we are already selling violins at deep discounts and would expect the trade in value to be discounted also.
Should I sell violin myself?
Here are a few ideas that my be helpful:
Reverb: Pros: buyers and prices tend to be higher end. Commission is lower, about 8%. Listings don’t expire. Cons: primarily a market for guitars, much lower traffic for violins.
Craigslist: Pros: free to post; local buyers. Cons: lots of scam artists – don’t send any confirmation codes, don’t accept bank checks, don’t ship unless you have cash in hand.
Ebay: Pros: it is easy to take good photos and list your violin. You will get a lot of exposure to sell violin. Cons: Expect to pay about 13% total selling fees (more if you choose to promote your listing). Be careful if you sell using an auction format. You may end up selling for far less than you expected unless you have a reserve price. Fixed price listings expire and there is a small fee to renew each time period. Expect to sell your instrument at a significant discount.
OfferUp: Similar to Craigslist but much lower prices. Not a great option.
Classified Ads
Your local paper probably has online classified ads. This may be a good option to sell violin.
You may be able to post your instrument for sale on the board at your local university.
Best of luck!
