Fair certain it was like $125 + s/h.
Okay, now that I look at it in sunlight (or what passes for same at this time of year), doesn't it look less like black than a deep navy/midnight
blue...? Wow, I'm losting marbles fast
-- Washburn uses
-BL for
blue, right...?? (At work, when we refer to color-coding of wires, I insist upon BL=blue & BK=black so as to avoid snafus.)
Yep, definitely an under-valued series. Per Blue Book, this BT-6 ought to carry a value of $250-$300 even with a few chips at the edges.
By that metric, at ~50% we paid about what a Big Box store SHOULD be offering.
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A rule-of-thumb once stated by Zach Fjestad or someone equally authoritative:
very few guitars will EVER be worth half their final Suggested Retail Price. Not hard-&-fast, of course, because inflation alone will eventually catch up, even if it takes a century, but generally right.
It's like that old truism about buying a new car: it literally loses half its value before the ink is dry on the contract. It might be YOUR "new baby," but it's still dirt-common (which depresses value) so some dealers will have a surplus (which depresses value) until they decide to dump 'em out at cost (which depresses value), where nowadays they're snapped up by flippers who think they're gonna make a killing on Craigslist which usually doesn't last long then the people who actually want 'em start playing hardball with Best Offers (which depresses value).
Then there's condition: a new guitar, barely touched since the factory, never put out on display, is 100%; as soon as you put down cash, it drops to 98%; play it a few times, or send in the warranty card, & it's 95%.
And despite the glut of online info, many used-gear sellers don't have someone on staff who knows how to research properly. As a result, a glut of one model can drag down the price of siblings that are rarer &/or of higher quality.
If you shop around (online or Big Box IRL), you know that the BT/Maverick contingent is dominated by "clown paint" BT-2. Then there's people -- like us
-- who snatch away the other models, increasing the BT-2 dominance, & further depressing prices, until one day word gets out that there's much cooler versions to be had, then rising prices will buoy demand for the BT-2. So, if you spot a cheeeep 2 in great shape, & you've got some storage space...
Other colors are difficult to spot, btw.
Right this moment, there's a BT-4Q on eBay demanding $275 (+$35). There's 19 watchers, & most are probably 4Q owners waiting for this to establish a tacit market value so that THEY can sell -- if they were
buying, there's a 4Q that's been up for three days, & unable to get an opening $200 (+$40) bid, & has ZERO watchers. (No 4Q has sold on eBay in the past two months.) This is futile, because five "clown paint" BT-2 have sold for $95-$175 (including s/h), a bizarre range that proves a highly uncertain market.
...but if someone wanted to (say) make a fast few bucks, Guitar Center Online has an $80 BT-2CS & a $100 BT-4Q...
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Ask any guitar nut to rattle off the Top Ten of axe brands they covet, & few will mention Washburn even as an afterthought. I'm therefore impressed when I see a Washie caught in the middle of some fierce online bidding war, & finally selling for double+ its SRP.
For the moment, if you see a BT you like on eBay, it's probably got a Best Offer button. Most of the recent BTs sell on Best Offer. This is free: why not chop off 30% & wave cash? Trim even more if it's been around awhile &/or there's no watchers.
(Same goes for Reverb.com; there, if there's been a bunch of offers, my experience is they've probably been close to 50%. I've surprised myself recently by offering 70% late at night, & getting an acceptance in
minutes, likely because the seller was so tired of dealing with penny-pinchers! There's a 4Q asking $190 + $60, but willing to entertain offers, & it's been up for three months.
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Because it doesn't deserve its own post: someone's selling what sure looks like a BT-9 pickplate for a mere $20, & this MIGHT be spiffy to customize a BT-4/-6 with no need for routing.
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