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Finding Deals on Musical Instruments: Guitars, Amps, and Keyboards on Craigslist and eBay

Musical instruments go through a predictable lifecycle: someone buys a guitar in a burst of enthusiasm, plays it for six months, then lets it collect dust for two years. When they finally decide to sell, they want it gone — and that urgency, combined with sellers who often don't know what they have, creates a steady stream of underpriced listings on Craigslist and eBay.

Whether you're buying for yourself or flipping for profit, instruments are one of the best categories to watch.

What to Look For on Craigslist

Craigslist instrument listings are frequently written by people who know very little about what they're selling. Phrases like "old guitar, not sure of brand" or "keyboard, works great" should catch your attention immediately — a seller who can't identify the item can't price it correctly either.

• Fender and Gibson guitars — Even entry-level Mexican Strats and Les Paul Studios hold real resale value. Sellers frequently price them like $50 yard sale guitars.
• Vintage amp heads — Fender, Marshall, Vox, and Peavey tube amps from the 1970s–90s are undervalued constantly. Anything described as "old," "heavy," or "takes up too much space" is worth a closer look.
• Keyboards and workstations — Stage pianos and synths from Roland, Yamaha, and Korg depreciate fast but retain real playability. A keyboard that retailed for $1,000 in 2012 regularly appears for $150.
• Upright and digital pianos — Weight and bulk are your friends here. Sellers drop prices aggressively on heavy items just to avoid the hassle of moving them.

eBay: Where Gaps in Knowledge Pay Off

On eBay, the misspelling angle works particularly well for instruments — sellers routinely list "Fender Startocaster" or "Les Paul Gibsion." But beyond typos, a few other patterns are worth exploiting:

• Listings with no headstock photos — Cautious buyers pass. If you can identify the brand and model from the body shape, that uncertainty is your edge.
• Auctions ending at off-peak hours — A listing ending at 3 AM on a Tuesday will draw fewer last-minute bidders. Search by ending time and focus on those low-traffic windows.
• "Parts or repair" listings — "Neck needs work" or "missing tuners" deters casual buyers. If the repair is cosmetic or inexpensive, you're looking at a steep discount for a minor fix.

Brands Worth Knowing Cold

A short cheat sheet of names that routinely sell for more than sellers realize:

• Guitars: Fender (USA and Mexico), Gibson, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, Martin acoustics
• Amps: Fender, Marshall, Vox, Mesa Boogie, Orange, early Peavey (especially tube combos)
• Keyboards: Yamaha DX7, Roland Juno series, Korg M1, Nord Stage models
• Drums: Pearl, DW, Ludwig vintage kits — hardware and cymbals especially

Act Fast — Good Deals Last Hours, Not Days

A mispriced Fender guitar or a vintage tube amp in a major city will be gone within a few hours of posting. Speed is the single biggest factor in deal hunting, and instruments are where that's most brutally true — being the second caller is usually the same as not calling at all.

The practical solution is to stop manually refreshing search results and let something watch for you. LurkMor monitors Craigslist and eBay continuously and sends you an email the moment a new listing matches your search — free to use, no account required. Set up a search for the specific brand or category you're tracking, and you'll know about the good listings before most people even open their browser.