“What’s This Worth?” Thread

[mmmguitar]

You might be right, but it has a semi-transparent top of the classic, without the veneer late mojos have. It also looks like DM pickups as opposed to SD. At least as far as I can see.

Yeah - The photos aren't nearly hi-res enough for me to know for certain; so I referred/deferred to the 2015 catalog: The double-fillister bobbins are what was spec'd for the last OEM contract the brand had with Seymour Duncan (Mojos remained the JB/Jazz winds with AlNiCo V magnets, with the Deluxe and MaxxFly winds being reproductions of the ceramic Gen 2 Dimarzios), the gloss transparent cherry finish is in the catalog as one of the default colors for the non-veneer Mojo, and the Classic isn't even offered as an option (though, of course, anyone in the know could still spec the Mahogany-Basswood combo when ordering their RF842).

...

Reverb seller thinks his DF422 is worth $3,500, doesn't know which decade it was made in, claims it's a "top of the line" model. I messaged him with what little I know (including the guitar retailing for $999 eight years ago) - We'll see if anything in the listing is adjusted.

Back in the NiteFly world, we had this SSS NFV1 sell for $1,245 on eBay and this cherry '98 sell on Reverb for $1,428 - despite the previously mentioned pair of $1,200 models continuing to sit. Another cherry ‘98 in need of toggle switch repair is currently up on Reverb for $1,500.

Oof! On March 8th, many of us felt the blow of having missed out on this sunburst ‘98 Artist, which sold for a mere $2k+tax on Reverb.

[BMA_USA]

Jeff Beck's Fly sold for about $4,000 USD hammer price, but that's before the 26%+ in fees they charge.

[mmmguitar]

This '07 Honey Supreme (P0709005) we last saw in June 2022 is back up on Reverb. It isn't a flip: the owner took the listing down for nine months, before republishing it yesterday.

3/26/23 update: The Supreme is now listed on eBay for $6,600+tax.

3/30: Dropped to $6,249.

10/6: $6,149.

10/8: $5,999. At some point during the month, it finally sold for a single, undisclosed offer amount under that price.

For anyone wondering if an '07 Supreme is worth thousands more than other Flys, know that I purchased my 2011 Supreme in the same finish for $2,500 in June of 2020. So, speaking as an owner who would be expected to talk up their guitar for the sake of driving speculation and perceived resale value, all I can say is that this guitar is exclusively for those with that kind of cash burning a hole in their pocket: If you want a Fly, I know from owning several that a more common $2,000 Deluxe sounds just as good (buy several for the price of one Supreme, if you like). If you already own a Fly that isn't a Mojo Flame, then I guess owning a Supreme will save you the effort of imagining what your other guitar would look like if it had a different wood grain.


As of March 19th, one of the two same '99 Maple Classics we keep seeing is back up on Reverb for $3,000 (discounted a hundred lower a few hours later). It appears to have been relisted by the same seller. Since June of '22, I've observed a number of Fly sellers taking down their listings whenever the platform becomes crowded and prices start trending downward.

March 21st update: The Maple Classic is now down to $2,389.
March 22nd update: Price is back up to $2,800. Whoops!
As of March 30th, the guitar is sold.
...

And as of March 20th, all Reverb NiteFly listings are competing with this $1,000 one (127183). Update: Ended April 5th.

We also have a guy on Sweetwater who insists his '07 Classic with a broken battery case latch (P0711128) is worth $5,400 + tax. For those keeping up with trends since 2020, this is the highest asking price for a Classic I recall seeing [Update: The record holder as of October 2023 is this '99 Classic]. The '07 on Sweetwater was subsequently listed on Reverb and marked "ended" after the asking price dropped to $4,800.

[Patzag]

Stunning hard tail in Galaxy gray. I had to force myself to not buy it!
https://cartervintage.com/shop/parker-f ... 8vbhFi71Xc

[mmmguitar]

I feel for you, Pat - That Fly itch sometimes requires a heroic degree of stoicism to resist scratching.

It seems the Parker "Taxi Drive" previously discussed in October '22 apparently did not sell after one offer (as initially reported by Reverb); as it is now relisted by the same seller for a decreased asking price of $5,448.72+tax. Update: As of 3/24/23, the listing is once again marked "ended."

And here's an update for our eighteen thousand dollar Jurassic Park Fly listing that may as well just speak for itself:

Update: Guitar is now owned by member InsideInfo

[Patzag]

Here we go - the P36 (same model I sold for $600.00 8 weeks ago) is now ...

https://reverb.com/item/67384670-parker-p36-2004-early

or ...

https://reverb.com/item/67377610-parker-p-36-original

[mmmguitar]

Given recent trends, I'm curious to see how many times those are unlisted or discounted $500 at a time between now and 2024.

On eBay, we have a white '95 Deluxe with paint chips and 10 spring for $2,202+tax. Update: Sold within 24 hours.

On 3/27/23, we had a zero feedback seller list eighteen guitars for “local pickup only” in MA. Three suspiciously cheap Flys ($1,750 each) are among the listings:

’99 Supreme

’98 Butternut

White ‘09 Artist

Update: All listings sold within minutes of being mentioned here. I did not purchase any of them, but the seller explained that they (and the other fifteen guitars posted at the same time) are being sold by the son of a late guitarist who doesn’t play; and just wanted to have a local estate sale.

We have this red '95 Deluxe listed for $2,290+tax, as of April 1st. Update: Down to $2,180 as of the 4/5/23. 4/8 Update: Finally down to $2k even.

Blue '97 Nitefly with disconnected piezos for $1,279.

As of April 4th, we have a number of price drops among Fly listings which take them down to the sub- USD $3k range:

2011 Natural Mojo in Australia (hefty shipping, but no import duties for US buyers).

Black 2001 Deluxe for $2,800 can perhaps be negotiated down when the below competing listing is referenced.

Black ‘97 Deluxe for $2,700.

Red Mojo Flame of unspecified year for best offer under $2,730.

Note that all these listings are still competing with the above $2,180 listing for the red ‘95 Deluxe, which is yet to sell. Therefore, a realistic sale price range for these competing listings may end up being around $2K with the current market saturation.

As tired a topic as it is, I wanted to comment that it seems the majority of activity in the other online Parker communities remains a handful of people still appraising their own guitars as appreciating ever-upward through disingenuously citing the most ridiculously expensive listings on Reverb, which have been sitting for 5+ months. One person attempting to redirect the discussion away from debate even argued the presumptive notion that Flys values inevitably going higher and higher “benefits us all.” The only way that could be true is if we all not only wanted to get rid of our guitars, but also don’t intend to subsequently buy any others for a cost we ourselves would have necessarily inflated beyond our reach in the name of short term greed for the first condition to apply. I don't see the point in invoking such a platitude.

This get-rich-slow mentality of owning a Parker-branded guitar is why I only post about them on a tech resource site: Once acquired, I value my guitars according to how much I play them. Beyond that specialized use, my guitars are of far less practical value than a kitchen spatula. If spatula values inevitably appreciate, it benefits us all.

On April 6th, this sunburst DF824 popped up on Reverb for $6,665+tax.

A rare Vernon Reid popped up for sale in Italy on April 21st. We'll see how long it stays up.

[vjmanzo]

A rare Vernon Reid popped up for…

I saw that! Too bad the fretboard is lifting

[Patzag]

A rare Vernon Reid popped up for…

I saw that! Too bad the fretboard is lifting

He did say it "popped up"!

[Patzag]

I am inserting hear the picture of the fretboard lifting as this was inquired about earlier as to what it looks like.

[goodluckpete]

Another late model Fly listed > 7k. Are there any recent sales to support these prices??

https://reverb.com/item/68432443-parker ... flame-mint

[Patzag]

Don't think so. Pretty outrageous!

On the other hand ...
https://reverb.com/item/68436629-parker ... tterscotch

Not too bad.

[mmmguitar]

That Artist listing was up for maybe three hours before selling. I was tempted - But have other purchases planned over the next few pay periods.

[Gregsaab]

Jeff Beck's Fly sold for about $4,000 USD hammer price, but that's before the 26%+ in fees they charge.

Do you have a link for this listing?

Edit: you already shared it https://auctions.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk ... s-lot-423/

[mmmguitar]

Beater '96 Deluxe in Italian Plum with a missing bar up on Reverb for $1,999+tax.

Update: Listing marked "ended" within 24 hours. No sale displayed.

[jb63]

Here's an interesting question.

(It may require a new thread, so lets do that if we decide)

Up until last year (?) selling your guitar or other instruments on eBay or Reverb didn't come with the taxes and kinds of fees that it does now.
Now reverb will take your selling money from the purchaser and hold it until the purchaser gets and approves of the instrument. Sounds good, but that's a week before the money is "released."

There are also taxes that automatically come out of the sale price and there is now a limit to how much gear you can offload before you are taxed substantially.

I have a few parkers I'd like to sell but by my calculations, if I write in the fees, shipping and tax fees, they would have to be what I feel is overpriced just to recoup my expense, of even come close to "1 parker = $2500".

Who here is a professional enough at buying and the selling of parkers to tell us what the fee system is for, say, Reverb vs. eBay?

How much in taxes do we now have to pay if were BUY something vs. if we SELL something and what are the limits before you suddenly turn from "guitar player" into "online music retailer"?

That is all.

[Patzag]

I'm not American, so not a Tax expert, but as far as I know, Reverb does not Tax you. They just require the filling of an IRS form (1099?? or some such number). Then it's up to you to prove to the IRS that this sale is not all "profit". Ie: You bought the guitar for $1000.00, resell it for $1100.00, your "income" is $100.00. You might even be able to deduct a reasonable amount for upkeep and maintenance and get that down to zero. I'm not sure about the details. Maybe a tax expert here can chime in.

[mmmguitar]

@jb63, Reverb’s commission is 5%, with eBay’s fees varying while often being much higher (their “final value” fee on “buy it now” listings starts at 13.25% + $.30 per item).

US buyer/seller here: Online storefronts such as Amazon, Etsy (Reverb’s owner), and eBay began collecting online sales tax on “behalf” of the Internal Revenue Service in 2020 because they didn’t want the IRS holding their consignment commission model liable for individual buyers or sellers (in various US states with differing tax reporting threshold laws concerning interstate commerce) declining to report income made through online sales those sites (officially registered as operating within particular US states) collect commissions on. Of course, we’re all taking these businesses at their word that they’re not just squirreling this extra money away in a high interest account until the IRS gets around to asking how much they collected that year.

Because the sales tax rates on the goods typically traded on these sites within the US are state-dependent, Reverb has set up a section of their site called “Economic Nexus” in which individual buyers and sellers may formally submit claims to Reverb to wave the automatically collected fees. As of 2022, federal law requires online sellers to report income exceeding $600 via a 1099-K form, even if they reside in a state which does not collect sales tax.

I stopped selling on Reverb after they attempted to collect import duties from me at checkout (I was buying a guitar from an international seller). This is especially insidious and egregious; because Reverb is not a courier service - Meaning that a buyer not knowing any better is liable to be charged double the fees they pay to the legitimate importer. Though I’m sure I and the seller could have gotten Reverb to refund this shakedown amount via their exception reporting form, I know from buying and selling guitars internationally that eBay doesn't even attempt such chicanery.

Concerning payout restrictions: Even prior to the recent payment processing banking collapse throwing a wrench into this, eBay and Reverb have adopted longer and longer refund windows to hold buyers to. I shipped an eBay-sold guitar to Australia at the end of April, and my “expected” payout date is June 2nd (it doesn’t help that the buyer still hasn’t received the guitar due to forgetting to submit their current phone number for me to put on the customs paperwork).

I tried Sweetwater’s alternative to evilbay and REEEEEverb; and I regret to report that their storefront service is a complete flop: I had concurrent listings up for two months, and never got a single bite (100+ views on eBay per day, with attention from tire-kickers and low-ballers; vs a hundred Sweetwater views per week without a single message or offer).

In short: If I ever list my Parkers for sale, it will be here and/or in the FB groups (assuming they haven’t completely imploded by then).

[vjmanzo]

I’ll chime in .

I stopped selling Flys on Reverb a few years back when the fees went up—it’s cost-prohibitive IMO. The tax matter is infuriating to me, but that’s a much larger issue for me that involves my view of ethics of the government continually taxing people on the same item in perpetuity.

For reference: we considered a variety of options when we started selling the Flex PCB replacements and decided to start with Reverb, which is what we’ve done so far. It’s convenient and there is some level of mitigation, I suppose, if there’s an issue, but at the same time I don’t know what those issues would be and the sort of people who might have an issue already know my name and exactly where to find me!

We sell a single Flex PCB set for $225 + shipping and the payout from Reverb to the lab when all is said and done is $201.29. I can see us moving away from Reverb at some point, but at that price point, their commission isn’t so painful—at the price point of an instrument, to me, it definitely hurts.

[Voice Of Reason]

We sell a single Flex PCB set for $225 + shipping and the payout from Reverb to the lab when all is said and done is $201.29. I can see us moving away from Reverb at some point, but at that price point, their commission isn’t so painful—at the price point of an instrument, to me, it definitely hurts.

I guess Reverb is where all the kids hang out these days…but why not create your own listing and keep more of the profits? Is PayPal, for instance, charging that much of a fee to be comparable to Reverb?

I take it the bulk of users buying a replacement part from you would either be members of this site or it would have been spread word of mouth. Not sure Reverb’s reach is worth the fee.

Anyhow… how things change…death and taxes…