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Here are some pointers on how to increase the likelihood that your instrument will sell.

To begin with, let us discuss payment. Simply put, your best option for online transactions is PayPal, which provides security measures for both the buyer and seller. You are likely best off stating in your description that you will only accept PayPal. For people you can meet in your local area, be up front and let them know that you will only accept cash.

Next, you need to determine your asking price. A great place to do this is via TeraPeak.com, where you may do a search for your guitar or mandolin's builder and model to determine whether any similar instruments have sold recently on eBay. If so, you can get an idea for the market value of your instrument and then set your price accordingly. Avoid "best offer" or similar phrases. Prospective buyers want to know how much you are asking, and are much more likely to contact you if they know you' asking price. If your item does not sell within two weeks, reduce the price and list again.

Next, find place to list your instrument for sale. The first idea that comes to mind for many is eBay, and, certainly eBay is an excellent way to connect with potential buyers. Yet, eBay does take a percentage of the sale. So, you should start by trying some of the free venues, such as craigslist.org and local online classified ads. You should also check into some of the forums online, many of which feature a classified section. You might also want to try contacting some bloggers and ask whether they'll post your listing on their blog.

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At this point you must create your actual listing. There are three parts: - title, description, pictures. Start with the title. You should use a capital letter for the first letter of each word, and include approximately forty to fifty total characters. Here is a sample:

"Breedlove Guitars Pro Series Concert Body C25/CR, Herringbone"

Make sure you include potential keywords that people might search for since this will help people find your listing. For example, compare the above title with this title:

"Breedlove Pro C25/CR"

The first title will appear for a lot more search terms, such as "breedlove guitars", "breedlove concert body", "breedlove pro c25", "breedlove herringbone", whereas the second title will appear less often and also less likely to attract the attention of potential buyers.

Next, write your description. Write about two to three paragraphs describing the instrument, the condition, and why you are parting with it. When describing the instrument, be sure to distinguish between the benefits and the features. Simply put, benefits show how an item can improve a person's life, whereas features list the components, but do not explicitly state why those components are a plus. Contrast these two statements:

"This CA Guitars GXi high gloss model comes with Gotohs (18:1)."

"This CA Guitars GXi high gloss model comes with Gotoh tuning machines, considered by many the best of all guitar tuners, with an 18:1 ratio, which allows for finer tuning than the standard 15:1 ratio tuners do."

The first sentence describes the features only, and to a knowledgeable guitar buyer, the benefts are obvious. But imagine you are an intermediate guitar player looking to upgrade to a higher quality guitar, and do not know much about tuning machines. If so, then you may not know what Gotohs are, why they are a benefit, or even what 18:1 means and why that is a benefit. The second sentence details this information and increases the likelihood that someone will buy your instrument.

However, do not spend too much writing space detailing the model. Most likely, potential buyers already know about the model and have decided to purchase that model. What they're concerned with is the condition of your instrument. Also, they want to know why you are selling it. This will help alleviate their concerns that something is wrong with the instrument that you're not telling them about. If something is wrong with the instrument, even something minor such as a scratch or a ding, then let this be known. People know that a truly perfect guitar or mandolin simply does not exist, and if you are upfront about little things, they are much more likely to trust you and make a purchase.

Finally, pictures. First, don't use a stock image from the builder's site. With used instruments, people want to see what kind of condition yours is in. Second, four pictures is best because people don't want to look at fifteen pictures on their initial reading of your posting. As such, post full view shots of the front and back of the instrument, as well as close ups of the fretboard and top. Then, if someone wants to see more pictures, then s/he can contact you, and you can state so in your description.

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