The easiest way to find out what your guitar, bass or drums are worth is to search E-Bay.

With this in mind you will need to search the "completed listings" as these are actual items that have sold as well as the sold price.

This is the only accurate way to gauge as any item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it as the time of year, how the economy

is doing, popularity of a given model all determine what people are willing to pay for an instrument.

When searching the listings, you want to compare apples to apples.  If you have an Epiphone Les Paul Studio comparing it to a Gibson Les Paul Studio will yield vastly different prices.

Guitar Checklists: Below is a list of things to look for

Have I put on new strings and given the guitar a cleanup - a little clean up can go a long way

How is the guitar cosmetically,  damage to face devalues more than rear, buckle rash and dings, pointy guitars - check the points, these tend to have chipped paint

Do I have any missing parts, screws, bridge risers, tremelo bars, knobs, lock down clamps for locking tremelos

Any time you refinish-paint- or add stickers it can devalue the guitar

Does the neck need adjustment - is the action too high or low (eg: distance of the strings to the fretboard)

or fret buzz when playing the guitar.

Check the electronics - does the volume volume and tone controls work in all position, does the pickup selector work

and is the sound clean or buzzy coming from the pickups

How is the fret wear - are they evenly worn all over the neck

Tuners- do all of the gears turn

Are all the parts original parts especially on vintage guitars

Acoustics - does the guitar suffer from drying out around the bridge or neck joint - is the fretboard dry or the bridge on acoustic guitars dried out

Ebay to Sell My Guitar

Ebay can be a great resource for selling your used guitar but there are a few things you have to factor in.

If you have an Ebay account the best thing to do is to log in and do a search for your exact guitar, then on the left toolbar click the completed listings to narrow the search.

This will show you what guitars like yours actually sold for (not what someone is asking) this will give you a pretty close idea on what the market is bringing for the instrument.  Also check to see if they provided free or discounted shipping.

Make sure you are comparing apples to apples and after using the above checklist, see how your guitar stacks up to the one sold. Inaccurate listings or not listing problems with the guitar can result in it being returned and now you are out the shipping and a mark on your ebay rating.

A little known fact about Ebay, although you can list no returns on your item, this is a credit card transaction on the buyers end and they can return the guitar to you within

a 7 day window and you are liable for a full refund.  Paypal and Ebay side with the buyer in almost every instance.  In addition, if they go around paypal to the funding source (their actual credit card provider) they have 45 days to return the item for full credit.

So take lots of pictures and list everything very accurately.

Beware of new Ebay buyers with no rating or purchases.  Everyone has to start somewhere, but the bulk of listings that end without the buyer getting paid are from first time buyers. Yes at the end of the auction, it is possible you will not get paid.

Also make yourself knowledgeable about listing types whether it is a no reserve or reserve auction, starting price etc.  When the guitar closes and it is less than you expect you are legally bound to sell it.  If you set the reserve or minimum purchase price too high it eliminates a lot of buyers.

I sold the guitar and gotten paid for the auction, where is all my money.  Don't forget the Ebay and Paypal fees as they are separate and will account for up to 10% of your total sale.

When a successful auction occurs and you've gotten paid, you are part of the way there, next up is the shipping.

Shipping your guitar is the next step and many a problem occurs in this step, and if the buyers receives a damaged instrument, you can be sure it is coming back to you and now it is time to argue your case with the shipper as they will not automatically pay you for your claim.  It is a slow process and can take up to 45 days to resolve so pack carefully.  Make sure the headstock and neck are well padded, a hard case is best, a gigbag will work, you will still need to use a sturdy outside container and lots of strong tape.  It is best to detune the guitar about 1 step to take pressure off the neck and make sure keys and other metal parts are secured.

Double check your address to ship to and make sure to insure the guitar and require a direct signature so that you can track the packages progress and make sure it was received.

With a little luck and a good honest listing and expectations, both parties will be happy and money will be made.

Craigslist

The jury is still out on Craigslist.

It is free - at least now and I have had some luck with personal items that were priced right or on the low end.  So far it tends to be a big garage sale with most people looking for desperate sellers.

The inherent problems are that there is no rating system via ebay so you can't check the buying history of the person you are in contact with so the large amount of ridiculous offers can be off putting.  The amount of tire kickers and people requesting additional pictures and info seems large compared to the actual interested persons who are willing to come out and put the instrument in their hands.

The meet and no greet is a craigslist favorite.  " Hey, I am really interested in the guitar, can you meet me 1/2 way" or " I am going to come look at the guitar at so and so time," In both cases no one shows and you are out time and effort.

This is also a strange and perhaps dangerous concept of inviting a total stranger to your home to look at a guitar.  If this is not painfully obvious to you why this could be a potentially bad idea, give it some thought.  There have been a couple of incidents that have ended very badly and in one case fatal for the seller.

It is not a perfect system, but it is free so why not give it a try.