Every used guitar that walks through the door is a small negotiation with two losers waiting in the wings. Quote too high and the instrument sits on the wall for six months while a customer's expectations harden. Quote too low and the seller walks across town to your competitor — or worse, takes it to Reverb and tells everyone you lowballed them. The shops that get this right are not the ones with the longest memory for vintage Stratocaster serial-number ranges. They are the ones with a repeatable method.
This is that method.
Start from original price, not gut feel
The single most useful number when appraising a used guitar is what it originally sold for. Not what the seller paid for it (they always overpay). Not what it lists for new today (the model is often discontinued). The MSRP at the time of release, in the currency of the time.
From that anchor, you discount. Condition first, then brand desirability, then a vintage adjustment for older instruments. A 1998 American Standard Stratocaster that originally sold for around $1,200 is not worth $1,200 today and not worth $300 either. It is worth roughly $720 in Very Good condition, with a small bump for the original case.
That math — original price × condition factor × brand factor × vintage factor — is what every honest used guitar value estimator runs under the hood. (We built a free one here if you want the same range we use at intake.)
Condition tiers, written plainly
Most shops use a five-tier scale. The names vary; the discounts do not, much.
- Mint / Like new — 80–90% of original price. Means no buckle rash, no fret wear, all original parts, original case, papers. Rare.
- Excellent — 65–75%. Light play wear only. Looks loved, not used.
- Very Good — 55–65%. The honest middle. Light dings, some fret wear, fully playable, all original.
- Good — 40–50%. Real wear, plays well. Minor non-original parts okay (knobs, tuners).
- Fair — 30–40%. Heavy wear, repaired issues, still playable. Refins land here.
- Project — 15–25%. Needs significant work. Headstock breaks, neck resets, broken trussrods.
The trap shops fall into is calling things "Excellent" because the customer is standing right there. Calibrate to a stranger looking at it on Reverb with no story attached. If you wouldn't buy it sight-unseen at that price, drop a tier.
Brand desirability is not snobbery — it is liquidity
A Squier Affinity and a Fender American Standard are not the same instrument with different headstock decals. The Fender will sell in two weeks at fair price. The Squier will sit. That is brand desirability, and it is real money.
A rough multiplier we apply against a "baseline" Fender / Martin / Gibson:
- Fender, Gibson, Martin, Rickenbacker, PRS — 0.95–1.05x
- Gretsch, Taylor, Guild, Charvel — 0.85–0.95x
- Ibanez, ESP, Jackson, Schecter — 0.75–0.85x
- Epiphone, Yamaha, Takamine — 0.65–0.75x
- Squier, Washburn, Dean, lesser imports — 0.50–0.60x
This is not about quality. A Yamaha Pacifica is a better guitar than a low-end Epiphone Les Paul, and most techs will tell you so. But it does not sell as fast on the used market, and used guitar value is a function of how fast it leaves your wall.
The vintage premium curve
Guitars do not appreciate linearly with age. A 2015 instrument is worth less than its 2005 equivalent, which is worth less than its 1985 equivalent. Then somewhere around the 25-year mark, the curve bends.
A gentle, defensible model:
- 0–15 years old — no vintage premium, straight depreciation
- 15–25 years — small bump (~5%) for "old enough to matter"
- 25–45 years — moderate vintage premium (~20%)
- 45–60 years — substantial vintage premium (~50%)
- 60+ years — heavy premium (~75%) — but check sold listings
And a hard rule: for anything pre-CBS Fender (pre-1965) or pre-Norlin Gibson, the model breaks down entirely. Those instruments are priced by the market, not by formula. Pull up the last three sold listings on Reverb and average them. Do not guess.
The consignment split
Once you have a defensible resale midpoint, the split is the easy part.
- Guitars under $1,500 — 30/70 in the shop's favor is standard. You're carrying the floor space, the staff time, the photography, and the return risk.
- Guitars $1,500–$5,000 — 25/75 or 20/80. Sellers of higher-ticket instruments shop the split.
- High-ticket vintage ($5,000+) — 15/85, sometimes 10/90. At that price point your job is access to buyers, not display space.
Two things to write into every consignment contract: (1) what happens if the instrument doesn't sell in 90 days (price drop, return to seller, shop buys at agreed floor) and (2) who pays for any repair or setup needed before listing. We have seen more consignment relationships die over a $40 fret level than over the price tag.
What to actually do at intake
- Original price — look it up before you quote. Vintage Guitar magazine's annual price guide is gold for older instruments; for anything post-2000, Reverb sold listings are more honest.
- Run the math — original × condition factor × brand factor × vintage factor. Show the customer the work.
- Quote a range, not a number — "I'd list this at $680–$780, target around $720" lands better than "$720" and gives you negotiation room.
- Photograph everything — front, back, headstock, serial, every ding, the case interior. The photos are evidence if the seller comes back claiming you damaged it.
- Write the split, the duration, the floor price, and the repair policy on the contract. Sign it. File it.
- Save the appraisal against the instrument's record so the next time it crosses your bench — for repair, for resale, for an insurance claim — the number is still there.
The shops that win consignment over time are the ones whose intake conversations sound the same in March, June, and November. Same method, same tiers, same math. That is what builds the reputation that brings the good instruments to your door.
Run the appraisal yourself: try the free used guitar value estimator. It's free, no signup, and uses the same condition + brand + vintage model described above.