Advice for selling tubas (AND Euphoniums)

[tclements]

Friends,

I have been buying and selling tubas for over 40 years. Here are some tips for you to get the most for your instrument, and to make it more marketable:

1 - Clean the darned thing! Once, I bought a tuba that smelled SO bad, I threw it in my pool and let it sit there for an hour. I still had to have it cleaned. Please, a good sonic cleaning will do your sale a WORLD of good!
2 - Get the dents taken out. A dented up tuba means you have not taken very good care of your instrument. I wouldn't even CONSIDER tuba that is dented up for my playing needs; unless I was planning on making it into a fountain, or flower pot.
3 - Get the valves ported. You cannot IMAGINE the difference this makes in it's playability. I have played many tubas that played badly, UNTIL I ported the valves.
4 - If you are not going to do a THOROUGH cleaning, at LEAST clean out the lead pipe and all the valve and tuning slides, PLEASE.
5 - If you are including a case (which really does not increase the instrument's value), please make sure it is clean, inside and out. If your pet has made its home (nest) in it, just burn the sucker, and don't bother trying to pass it along.
6 - Including a mouthpiece does not really make the instrument more desirable; we all have our favorite mouthpiece. If you DO include a mouthpiece, for gosh sake, clean it out! NO ONE wants to see a year's worth of lunches in the throat. And round the shank, too.
7 - Be willing to negotiate, and take trades. This will make your instrument more desirable. Who knows, the trade in might really suit your needs. OR you might be able to sell it (the trade) for more than you took in trade (think of an automobile trade-in).
8 - Be willing to travel. I met a guy in Colorado once to get a tuba; he was from Ohio. We met 1/2 way.

My 2¢ worth; I hope this helps.

[arpthark]

It is much easier to fix and clean a dented tuba for $200-300 and sell it for $5,000 than it is to sell a dented tuba for $4,700. If one wants to attract a buyer, do some legwork and act like you care about the instrument.

Repairable larger dents that "don't affect the sound"/"purely cosmetic" are always a red flag for me, because if the seller doesn't care to get those issues addressed, they probably didn't care to take care of the instrument in other ways, either.

Once, I bought a tuba that smelled SO bad, I threw it in my pool and let it sit there for an hour. I still had to have it cleaned. Please, a good sonic cleaning will do your sale a WORLD of good!

^ this made me chuckle.

[bort2.0]

5a -- Same for cigarette smoke. I once bought a tuba that came with a bag that would have made an ashtray smell good. I tried a few of the normal things like carpet cleaner, febreeze, some kind of commercial strength something or another, blazing heat/sunlight... Only thing that happened was it got hot and wet.

I called the seller and without explanation said "I'm not planning to use the gig bag, would you like it back?" Out of my house and the (apparently nose-muted) seller was happy to have it back.

Phew!

[Sousaswag]

I might add…

Don’t tell us in your ad that you don’t like the tuba!

“Upgrade” to me means that your horn has flaws you don’t want.

Word your ad in a way that makes your tuba desirable!

[bloke]

I'm reluctantly considering parting with my ever-beloved Fat Bastard, if just the right person comes along who I would feel could step into the shoes of someone who's capable of realizing the potential of such a remarkable instrument as this...(etc.)

not really, but just as an example...

...oh yeah, and

...heard in some of the most prestigious concert halls amongst some of the most widely celebrated musicians in the entire globe...

bloke "just don't exaggerate or over-represent"

[arpthark]

Dearest friends,

It is with a heavy heart that this day must come. My beloved, treasured Couesnon has become more useful as a decoration at the bottom of the pond at my local park, as I have transitioned to a less flatulent sound concept. It has major dents which don't affect the sound, because this tuba is not capable of making sound...

[bloke]

Dearest friends,

It is with a heavy heart that this day must come. My beloved, treasured Couesnon has become more useful as a decoration at the bottom of the pond at my local park, as I have transitioned to a less flatulent sound concept. It has major dents which don't affect the sound, because this tuba is not capable of making sound...

...You've succeeding in bring a tear to my eye... "tear", as in "tear" a sheet of paper.

[Bob Kolada]

5a -- Same for cigarette smoke. I once bought a tuba that came with a bag that would have made an ashtray smell good. I tried a few of the normal things like carpet cleaner, febreeze, some kind of commercial strength something or another, blazing heat/sunlight... Only thing that happened was it got hot and wet.

I called the seller and without explanation said "I'm not planning to use the gig bag, would you like it back?" Out of my house and the (apparently nose-muted) seller was happy to have it back.

Phew!

Ozone generator is the way to go here. I bought a car from a smoker (didn't notice during test drive, I kind of rushed the purchase frankly) and it was nauseating. I tried a bunch of gimmicky fixes, what finally helped was the ozone generator and a strict detailing at a shop. Over a year later and it's still fine, I think it cost 70 bucks on Amazon. You don't need a big one unless you're doing a house. You'd have to have a secure room or do it in your car though.

[bort2.0]

Interesting, thanks! I hated that bag anyway, but still...

[bloke]

...and just to add:

- sell to bloke low.
- buy from bloke high.