How I Got My Taylor Guitar at a Good Price (Used on EBay)
I got a Taylor GC3 used on eBay. It is the best purchase I have ever made in my life.
If you are considering purchasing a nice guitar such as a Martin or a
Taylor, but aren’t sure how you are going to pay for it, don’t despair. I once
thought the same way, and after doing some math, budgeting, having some
patience, waiting for the right opportunities, and figuring out what I was
looking for, I was able to make it work, and you can too! I believe it is a worthy investment if you play on a regular basis, even if it's just in the comfort of your own home. 😊
I had first heard of Taylor guitars after seeing a guy from youth group playing a Grand Auditorium very well, and after watching a YouTube video of two girls doing a cover of Skillet’s “Yours to Hold” in 2008, before I even played the guitar. The guitar one of the girls was playing was an 814ce, unbeknownst to me at the time. She played it very well, and it sounded very good. Very smooth and full. Not long after that, I saw Dolly Parton playing a nylon-string Taylor in a video, and seeing it with her on a Smoky Mountain travel brochure. At that time, I thought nothing of it. Then I saw Francesca Battistelli at a WinterJam concert playing her Taylor when I went with my church, after I had begun to play the guitar. A little while later on a youth group beach trip, one of the leaders from the other churches had his Taylor on the pavilion leading the students in worship around the campfire, and it looked and sounded glorious.
After graduating from high school, I visited my relatives in Arizona, and my uncle and cousins and I visited a music store called Arizona Music Pro in Flagstaff. There was a whole room of Taylor guitars. The salesman kindly picked out guitars for me that were “just my size,” as I am only 5’2”. I decided I wanted to see more of what Taylor was about, and I thought, “Why not?” So the salesman handed me a Grand Concert guitar to play, and I immediately enjoyed it. It sounded very nice, and felt very good in my hands. I thanked the salesman after I was done playing and walked out of the music store and that was that. I didn’t think I would buy one ever, I just thought about how nice it was.
When I went to Liberty University, however, it was a different story. I saw people with Martins and Taylors everywhere, playing them in the practice rooms, on stage leading worship in Convocation, and for music assignments. Many non-music majors played them as well. They all sounded so good. I will say peer pressure was a SMALL part of why I got my Taylor, but the guitars, and the many friends who played them, helped steer my guitar playing in the right direction. I learned a lot from them. One day I looked at my friend from music theory class and asked him how people could afford to pay for those guitars. He agreed with me and could not think of an answer. Another friend, who played her Martin very well, told me that she saved up for a year to pay for hers. I felt like a girl going on a mission trip wondering how she was going to get the money, like when people say, “I am trusting God to supply this need. If you feel led to give…..” haha.😂
Then unfortunately, one day in November, my Jasmine guitar got stolen from the guitar closet. This was a communal closet that was kept under lock and key, and students would have to ask to have it unlocked so they could pick their guitars up. I was distraught that I was now guitarless. I have always cherished my instruments. How could this have happened? I talked to professors and staff, and after they kindly searched for it and asked me how I was doing, it never turned up. What was I to do now? I had to play the guitar for my theory class assignments, so I borrowed friends’ guitars for the rest of the semester.
I then decided that I was going to bite the bullet with my money and buy a Taylor. I decided, when I went home for Christmas, to put any money I earned from my job at Chick-fil-A towards the guitar that didn’t go towards my car insurance bill. I also had some money from a check that came from my neighbor’s car insurance when they backed into my parked car the year before, and the majority was put into my savings account after my car was fixed. I also had other money in my savings account I had accrued over the years. My parents offered to give me $400 towards the guitar as well.
I have this thing where I don’t like to pay full price. I then thought it would be a good idea to buy a used Taylor. I searched “Taylor Grand Concert” on eBay continuously, as I have been successful buying good instruments there. There were many new and used instruments, some affordable, some not within my budget of what I was willing to pay. My goal was to pay under $1,000 for the guitar. I also decided to buy a 300 series guitar. I believe this series is the best Taylor value for your money: you get the lovely all solid wood guitar with simple appointments without the fancy bells and whistles, which I don’t need to be happy. One of my classmates played a 314ce, and I loved the way it sounded as well. I saw many Grand Concert guitars: the 312ce, the 312e, the GC3, etc. I kept coming back to the GC3 because it had no pickguard (I like the look of acoustics with no pickguard), and the wood was simply stunning to look at on its own. I knew it would sound good, because I had played similar Taylors in a music store and knew what they would sound like. I realize that every Taylor is different, and that is part of the beauty of the journey. I was excited to go on an adventure online and learn more about the tonal quality and character of the guitar once it made its way into my hands. I had also seen a video of a man playing a GC3 after deciding on that particular model, it sounded wonderful. Of course, videos do not do these guitars justice.
The GC3 was discontinued at the time of me looking at buying, so of course finding one at a good price was a little bit of a challenge. However, there were several to choose from, a few Buy It Now listings, which are always going to be more expensive, and several auctions. I decided to take a chance and bid when the time was right and I found the right guitar, as most of the bids started very low. Of course, there were also many others who had bid on these guitars, so the bidding was very competitive.
I waited day after day, watching the listings. Many of them went crazy high, more than what I was willing to pay. The number of GC3’s on the eBay market was starting to dwindle. Nevertheless, I continued without despair. Eventually, there were only 2 left, one in South Carolina, and one in Utah. The one in South Carolina went up higher than what I was willing to pay, so someone else got it. I was very interested in the one from Utah. It looked beautiful, like it was well taken care of, and the seller had put in an electronic pickup, as the GC3 is originally purely acoustic. The case was missing a latch, but I didn’t care, I could fix it. I watched the bid go up past $800, then up to $850. I thought about how much I was willing to pay, as the bid continued to go up little by little. This was the last one left. I had plenty in my savings to pay for this guitar, so why not be willing to pay a little bit more? This was all going through my head as I watched the time run out, second by second. I decided to click to bid within the last few seconds. And guess what? I won! It was a few dollars short of $860. I was extremely excited. Not only was I going to have an acoustic guitar again, but a Taylor! This would be the investment of a lifetime. I normally hate to see money leave my accounts, but my $460 that I paid was going towards something good. Even if my parents hadn’t helped out, I still would’ve had money left over and not drained my supply.
It seemed like an eternity during the approximately nine
days that followed. I went to my local guitar store and got a fancy guitar
strap for it, and put it on my guitar stand. I had everything ready for the
Taylor to come. I thought about it during work at Chick-fil-A, I couldn’t stop
thinking about it. It took me awhile to process that it was coming true. One
day I came home from work, and it was sitting in a big box against my bed. I
opened the box up, took it out of the case, tuned it up and played Incubus’s
“Drive.” It sounded just as good as I had imagined. It was perfect. The seller was
very caring and took his time to tune it half a step down to ensure a smooth
shipping process. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
I have had my Taylor for over six years now. I have played it in recording sessions, with friends jamming, at open mic nights, in school assignments, on the couch, and writing songs with it. It has also opened up over time, the wood has darkened and given the guitar a more rich, complex, detailed tone over the years I have owned it, and I just love it. It is perfect for my size, and the smaller scale and neck are very good on my hands, especially allowing me to continue playing when I suffered from tendonitis in both hands and wrists at one point in my life. I can truly say it is the best deal I have ever gotten for my money, that Taylor was worth every penny.
According to the serial number, the guitar was made on November 13th, 2010, so it was three years old when I bought it. It came with the original “Symptoms of a Dry/Wet Guitar” tech sheets as well as the registration card. I did not end up registering it until this past year, because I was not the original owner. But the original form was there and empty, so why not?
ADVICE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BUY A USED GUITAR ON EBAY
If you want a guitar like this, new or used, the first thing to do is start saving your money. Budget and start putting more money away into your savings account. Will it happen overnight? Absolutely not. But the end result, your nice Martin or Taylor, will be more than worth it. You may want to cook more food at home rather than going out to eat, or do your nails yourself rather than going to the salon every week. You can go to the restaurant with your friends after eating beforehand, and tell them you are saving money. Good friends will be happy for you and understand, provided you don’t mooch off of their food. You may also want to window-shop at the mall instead of buying clothes just because they look good on the hanger, or buying clothes on clearance instead, and only when new clothes are needed rather than out of want. Borrow movies at the library and have movie nights at home instead of going to the movie theater. Stop the habit of looking at and buying things on Amazon just because. You get the idea.
Example 1. A Taylor 310 up for sale, used on eBay.
When you visit eBay to find and consider a guitar, make sure you buy from a reputable seller. I bought my Taylor from a private owner, although there are online eBay music store sellers as well. Look through the seller’s history and see what they have sold, and read the seller’s reviews. Location is also very important. Look and see where in the United States the seller is located, and read about the seller. Make sure the seller speaks English and is sincere. I do not buy anything outside the United States, especially as there are more recently many sellers from China.
Next, look up the model being sold and make sure you are getting the real thing. Many sellers have a picture of the “Taylor” headstock in the description to show you it is a real Taylor you are getting, as well as a picture of the sticker inside the guitar, featuring the serial number. You can also call Taylor guitars to verify the serial number to make sure it is indeed made by the company. Thankfully, Taylor is not one of the brands who has many Chinese copies made, and the fake Chaylors out there you can clearly tell are not real. The only Taylor models China has tried to copy are the 914ce, the 814ce, and the K14ce, and by the cheap gloss finish, incorrect shape of the guitar, pickguard, and position of the string pegs on the bridge, you can clearly tell the fake from the real models. The wood on these phonies also looks to be cheap and not sourced the way Taylor would have sourced it. The Chartins I have seen are obviously cheaply made as well, out-of-place looking, having too much abalone for too low of a price, and again, not the wood Martin would use. So there you go. Thankfully the GC3 was never copied by China. If you are looking to buy one of these three Taylor models I just mentioned, I have forewarned you.
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The next thing to consider is the condition of the guitar. Look at the pictures of the guitar you are getting. Examine the imperfections, and carefully read the description of the condition of the used guitar to make sure it is what you want. No guitar is ever perfect, but if you are buying it used, you want to make even more sure it is in good condition. Scratches and dings are not a big deal, but make sure everything is in working order. For example, I would buy it if it had a few small cosmetic imperfections, but not if it had cracks in the wood or was dropped and had a hole in it or tuning pegs were missing, for example. Your goal is to get your money’s worth.
Next, look at the price on the guitar listing and compare it to the price of a new guitar of this model. How do they compare? Some eBay sellers purposefully start the bidding very low in hopes that it will entice more competition. This method works. This was the case with many of the GC3 models I looked at, as well as the one I bought. Sometimes the bidding goes extremely high, up to and over the original price of a new guitar, sometimes the price does not go up due to the bidders not wanting to place a skyrocketing price down, which was the case with my guitar. Make sure the price is comparable to what a used guitar of whatever model would be. For example, if you get a guitar that is originally $1000 for $800 used, that’s a good deal. However, if you are looking at supposedly a Taylor 814ce ($3000+) for $400, we have a problem. If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.
Lastly, be vigilant while bidding. Ask yourself, “Is this what I am willing to pay?” This is one of the few instances where it is best to procrastinate and wait until the last minute! Bid during the last 30 seconds, or if you are very daring, the last 20 seconds of the bid. Have your computer functions planned and set up in advance, and make sure you have a good connection. And if you don’t win, don’t give up. There will be other opportunities coming your way!
Other good places to find a used bargain guitar are Reverb.com, Music Go-Round (a music store version of Once Upon a Child or Plato's Closet), and the Used section of the Guitar Center website. Just like eBay, make sure of what you are getting first before buying. You can also buy a guitar open-box, which is essentially new, except it has maybe been demoed at the store or the packaging has been damaged. This can take a good portion off the otherwise new price. I have seen plenty of these at Guitar Center, Reverb, Sweetwater, and Musician's Friend.
So there you have it. This is how I made the best purchase of my life. If you have made a purchase of this sort, comment below and tell me about it. I hope this helps you!
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