Sad sale

Tannin · July 2022

I see an ad on one of the Maton Facebook groups from a bloke selling his 1997 Australian Custom Deluxe. The chap says he has MS and no longer has the finger dexterity to play at all, so he is selling his much-loved guitar. It had a few scratches and dings and quite a bit of play wear but is otherwise in good nick, he says.

Further, he says "this is no ordinary A80 Australian. After contacting Maton and sending photos, they have told me in the email (attached) that it is a “one off”. It differs in various minor details from the factory standard model. Maton aren't sure if it is Queensland Maple or Blackwood because it was factory-stained, but probably QM.

Yep, it's a good guitar. Yep, it's a one-off. Yep, it's worth more than the standard one would be. He is asking $4,400.

Now I'm no Maton expert, but I've bought a lot of guitars and sold a few; I'm familiar with most Maton models and have a rough idea of what they go for. My best guess is that the guitar is worth between $1500 and $2000, but it might be less. (Obviously, less if the condition isn't what it seems.)

Maton do a lot of one-off models, there is nothing unusual about that. Hell, I've got one myself. My cedar dreadnought is a limited edition custom special. A standard 2014 SRS-60C is worth about $1500, I reckon I could get $1950 for mine, which is in near-perfect condition. (A brand-new one, factory standard, is about $1800.)

The advertised one, like mine, is not a hand-made Custom Shop Maton, just a factory-made one-off. Custom Shop ones start at about $6000 new and used ones about what you'd expect from that.

Anyway, I'm not going to post in his thread and say "Sorry mate, try asking $1850 if someone offers $1600 take it". But I can see two possibilities here: (a) some poor clueless bastard pays three times what the guitar is worth; or (b) this chap gets absolutely no interest in his ridiculously overpriced not-very-special guitar.

I don't see a happy ending here.

Disclaimer: I have no interest at all in buying it myself. I don't know if the seller is a scammer chancing his luck of a genuine person telling the truth, though I assume the latter - it sounds genuine. And I'm not going to get involved in any of it. I just think it is sad.

Wazmeister · July 2022

To be fair, I wouldn’t get involved or offer any advice. YMMV

Mellish · July 2022

It *is* sad.

But you can't get involved in everything that tugs at your heartstrings. There just isn't enough time, you know? So by not getting involved, isn't it a way of being fairer than to help a chosen few? I guess it's up to you to decide that. In a perfect world...

ICBM · July 2022

c) Someone who absolutely loves the guitar, knows how much it's probably worth but wants to do the chap a favour, buys it for the asking price or a good offer close to it.

It is possible, even if not that likely.

Still best not to get involved, unless you are c.

Hattigol · July 2022

Wazmeister said:

To be fair, I wouldn’t get involved or offer any advice. YMMV

Wis'd.

There's a guy selling a guitar on here with a price starting with a 6. He won't get more than a figure starting with a 4.
No point offering that advice though - the market will do that for him.

BillDL · July 2022

Maybe Maton will see the advert and buy it from him as a sort of "thank you for your loyalty" and to help the guy out financially. Now I must be a very mistrusting person, but my prior work and life experiences have taught me to be suspicious about everything until I verify the facts, and the first thing I wondered is whether in fact the guy does have MS. I know that sounds shocking but I have seen that kind of dishonesty by sellers trying to get sympathy money on several occasions in the past. I hope not, because it must be an awful thing to have to give up something you love doing due to an illness or condition. Personally I would just keep out of it and let him get on with it.

Tannin · July 2022

Cheers all. These are random never-heard-of-them individuals on Facebook; just passing faces in a crowd. None of my business, and I never post in sale threads to comment on price or quality. Facebook is a rule-less desert but at some sites I belong to, doing that is a banning offence - and that is fair enough. (Different story if someone I knew. was involved Then a quiet private word would be appropriate.)

Anyway, I can't see anyone with a clue paying nearly £2400 for a guitar worth maybe £1000 at best. As I said, it might be a scammer but he sounds like a genuine (but deluded) seller to me. Maton are always prompt to respond to emails asking questions about their guitars, even 70-year-old ones, but they very sensibly make a point of never saying anything about second-hand values. My guess is that this seller has learned that the guitar is a one-off (which it is, in a minor sort of way) and jumped to the conclusion that it must be worth a lot of money (which it isn't).

We see the same sort of erroneous logic applied in a very different and far from innocent way by our friend from Essex.

Creed_Clicks · July 2022

A guy on FB marketplace lowballed me on an acoustic saying he wanted to buy it for his brother who has cancer and with inflation and petrol prices to travel etc . I don’t know if it’s genuine or not but declined the offer. Nearly got the life story in the messages…

bertie · July 2022

Creed_Clicks said:

A guy on FB marketplace lowballed me on an acoustic saying he wanted to buy it for his brother who has cancer and with inflation and petrol prices to travel etc . I don’t know if it’s genuine or not but declined the offer. Nearly got the life story in the messages…

ditto with a Fender VRRI

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