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I just found a For Sale post I made in the other forum from about seven years ago where I sold a Conn sousaphone bit for $8. Eight dollars. Someone got a deal!



Feel free to share any experiences of selling something for what you thought to be a fair price, only for it to be snatched up immediately by frothing-at-the-mouth tuba players. Bonus points if they turned around and sold it for 200% more a few days later.

Someone to whom I originally sold a 5 valve Rudy 3/4 insisted on selling it to me for a low price that they quoted. I told them it was way too low and they said they insisted on selling it to me for that. So I bought it. I sold it for twice as much, and it was still too little, because a dealer bought it.

Another one comes to mind. This was about ten years ago. I saw an old (60s-70s) King sousaphone with a ripped-up receiver at a school I was working at. Hadn't been used in years. I offer the high school band director $150 for it (expecting to haggle). He accepts on the spot. I get it fixed up, buy (used) gooseneck and bits for it, and later sell it for (what I thought to be reasonable, based on what I paid and what the repairs cost) $500 to a local guy who says he is getting back into playing tuba after many years off. He used to play in the UK marching band in the 90s.

I then see it listed a few days later on TubeNet for $1,000+. It sells quickly. Oh well.

For a long time I would try to sell things so that an unfortunate person could benefit, only to find out that there are so many liars and greedy people in the world, that I was doing the wrong people a favor. So I have changed, and instead of selling things cheap I either find someone myself who really IS needy, or I give (appropriate) things to my chosen charities.

There was a professional trumpet player in town who was always borrowing a flugelhorn from my store. Finally, someone came in and sold me the Golden Fleece of flugelhorns - a Couesnon - for $400. I called that person up and told them that I had a Couesnon flugelhorn for them for $400, and they told me how grateful they were. Within two days they had sold it for $1,200, which wasn't the idea. Since then - when they've needed emergency repairs and stuff, I've just told them that I'm "really sorry", but I'm all tied up.

Most people who are broke, are broke because they make bad decisions. They will continue to do so, and they will continue to be broke. If someone continues to borrow something from you, it's pretty obvious that they're borrowing it, only because they don't want to buy it, so I stop loaning it.
I have a couple of things that I borrow over and over again from people, but I always return them with some stuff repaired or cleaned or serviced that needed servicing on the equipment that I borrow, and they benefit from me borrowing their things.

When selling something, you need to make some decisions between price, demand, and how fast you want to sell it. To me, "undervaluing" is represented partially by selling it much faster than you expected, and of course, also by the item being flipped by the new buyer. I don't post things "for sale" to give them away, but I also DO want them to sell... which is the whole point.

If I'm selling something, I choose the price that will make me happy, and whatever happens after that is inconsequential. If I wanted to sell it for more, then I have the opportunity to do that... it's on me to do the research and price things as I see fit. The next person will choose their price as well, and they could choose a different (higher) price than me. They may also be more willing to wait longer for their item to sell.

That said, I buy things at reasonable prices, and sell them basically for the same price later on. Rarely have I ever profited from buying and selling stuff, and I think cumulatively over the last ~20 years, it's been a break-even game for me after the initial investment of buying my first tuba.

But, since you want examples, here's a few things that come to mine:

I bought my Miraphone 188 for $4800 around 2012, and sold it for $5000 in 2014 (with a new gig bag, hence the $200 upcharge). Last year, I was presented with the opportunity to re-purchase that exact tuba... for $7500. Even after a bit of negotiation... still too expensive. No thanks.

A few years ago, I bought a really nice condition PT-606 for a great price. I sold it <6 months later, because a better bort-to-tuba-match opportunity came up. I thought I got a great deal on the PT-606, and listed it for the same as I paid for it. It took a lot longer to sell than I thought it would. I don't think the price was wrong, but rather that the Chinese tuba 4/4 CC tuba market has changed the value on the German side of things.