Getting a Deal on a Guitar on Craigslist

Craigslist is a very popular marketplace for instruments, and whether you're looking to buy your first guitar or your hundredth, it's a great place to start. People regularly sell instruments on Craigslist without having a very good idea what they're worth, and you can get a great deal on an excellent axe. However, there are a few important things to keep in mind when buying a guitar on Craigslist.

Here are a few tips to help you find a great, safe deal on a guitar from the popular marketplace website.

Never commit to buy until you see the guitar. This one should really be obvious, but a lot of people offer money to Craigslist sellers before they're even able to hold the guitar that's for sale. This is a bad move--even if the seller has pictures up, the pictures may not tell the full story, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong with a guitar. You'll want to play any axe that you're considering as a purchase. If you notice something like deep finish scratches, poor action, or anything else that might degrade the quality of the guitar, you won't want to buy (or at least you'll want a few bucks off of the price tag).

Know what the guitar is worth. Another common mistake is to buy a guitar on Craigslist without knowing its value on the open market. Look on a website like eBay and a major retailer like Musician's Friend to find out how much the guitar is worth before you head over to play it. You should not pay the list price on any used guitar, and you should always know the exact market value of what you're buying. Otherwise, it's going to be extremely hard to get a good deal.

Know what to look for. Guitars can begin to degrade and break down in a number of ways, and some of them aren't too obvious. Learn how to check the intonation on a guitar and how to look for curves in the neck. Check for things like water damage and fret wear which could cause big long term problems in the sound of the axe. It shouldn't take you too long to read a few articles about checking a guitar for signs of wear, and you'll greatly benefit from the knowledge when you buy a guitar off of Craigslist.

Finally, make sure that you like the guitar that you're buying. You'll only enjoy regularly practicing and playing your new guitar if it feels right in your hands, and that's a bit of a subjective thing. If you play enough guitars, though, you'll find a great axe at a fantastic price.

Do you have any other tips for buying a guitar off of Craigslist? Post below.