# How does L&M's GearHunter work?



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Updated daily? newest listings at the top? pay for shipping if it isn't local?

Twice now I've missed out on some decent deals, both times sold but still listed. chatting up another member here, missed out on something similar yesterday. 

just wondering how often they update it. 

after I called to confirm... the item was sold, the page refreshed in 30 seconds and the listing was gone. shoots, not giggles


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I think you've got it.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

New items are posted sporadically and it seems that newest items are at the top. The actual item listing will persist for a while, and you can find it again if you bookmark it, but It should list the item as unavailable once it is purchased. Once purchased, items shouldn't show up on any of the other Gear Hunter pages and any time I've checked that has been the case.

For a while, I found that my computer would load a cached page and I would have to refresh to get the most recent listings. Not sure if it was my computer or theirs, but it seems to be resolved now.

Occasionally, an item will disappear and then reappear a week or two later - possibly purchased and then returned, not really sure.

Overall, I've had very good luck with the Gear Hunter - though, as you know, I recently purchased an item online that was apparently sold in-store simultaneously. The store was very apologetic and made it right.

To get the really good deals, it helps to be an out-of-work musician with free time to check listings frequently and a spouse with a good job to pay for it.


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## hag99 (Mar 2, 2009)

Does anyone know if the stores have any wiggle room on this gear? From my experience L&M doesn't usually move on prices but I admit to little experience as I only shop there periodically.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

hag99 said:


> Does anyone know if the stores have any wiggle room on this gear? From my experience L&M doesn't usually move on prices but I admit to little experience as I only shop there periodically.


The longer that they've had something, the more likely they are to negotiate, but it seems that most stuff that I would be interested in moves pretty quickly. If you're interested in something that is on page 4 in your local store listings, they might entertain offers.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

I got 10% off a new (2018) Gibson Les Paul last year - just asked if they could sell it for that price. Bought a BB Pro pickup on Saturday, they took off $10 because the plastic box was a little rough and I didn't even ask. Unless it's a newly released product I always assume there's room for a bit of negotiation.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

a guy I know found a used ESP Eclipse on gear hunter. He bought it, it had a severley twisted neck. They had taken it in on a trade and put it for sale and claimed later they didn’t know.......


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

tdotrob said:


> a guy I know found a used ESP Eclipse on gear hunter. He bought it, it had a severley twisted neck. They had taken it in on a trade and put it for sale and claimed later they didn’t know.......


Thank god for that easy refund then!


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Wa


Budda said:


> Thank god for that easy refund then!


Wasn’t that easy... they did take it back eventually.
How does a music store sell a guitar w a twisted neck? Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

tdotrob said:


> Wa
> 
> Wasn’t that easy... they did take it back eventually.
> How does a music store sell a guitar w a twisted neck? Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence


How long did he wait to try and return it?


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

So the way Gear Hunter works is basically the same as Kijiji/ Craig's list, etc. Unless you're within driving distance of your location and can go pick it up. It's honestly a shockingly bad system when you consider what the last year has been for ordering online and shipping.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Budda said:


> How long did he wait to try and return it?


He didn’t wait per say but had it for a couple months and traded it to me cause he didn’t like it.

I went to give it a setup and could tell right away it was twisted. First time I ever seen a guitar with a twisted neck like that.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I once bought a used pedal they had listed on their site, and they could tell buy the tag--so they took that & entered something on their computer to remove it, but who knows how long it takes to do so?


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

tdotrob said:


> He didn’t wait per say but had it for a couple months and traded it to me cause he didn’t like it.
> 
> I went to give it a setup and could tell right away it was twisted. First time I ever seen a guitar with a twisted neck like that.


If l&m didnt try to set it up (and i dont know if they do on trade-ins) and they based it off a once-over, that makes sense. And if it's past the return period, that part isn't on them. Sounds like your buddy tried to pass his problem off to you.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

I highly doubt they do a setup on guitars they take in. They don't even setup brand new guitars do they?


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Budda said:


> If l&m didnt try to set it up (and i dont know if they do on trade-ins) and they based it off a once-over, that makes sense. And if it's past the return period, that part isn't on them. Sounds like your buddy tried to pass his problem off to you.


No I don’t think so. Your assumption is a far reach and I have no idea how you’d figure you have enough info to assume that but that’s cool.
Sounds more to me  like Long and Mcquade sucks and people know they can pass off crappy instruments to them on trade. Which is a joke if your a music store.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

tdotrob said:


> No I don’t think so. Your assumption is a far reach and I have no idea how you’d figure you have enough info to assume that but that’s cool.
> Sounds more to me like Long and Mcquade sucks and people know they can pass off crappy instruments to them on trade. Which is a joke if your a music store.


So you're assuming L&M does a careful inspection on every guitar they take in on trade?


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

tdotrob said:


> No I don’t think so. Your assumption is a far reach and I have no idea how you’d figure you have enough info to assume that but that’s cool.
> Sounds more to me like Long and Mcquade sucks and people know they can pass off crappy instruments to them on trade. Which is a joke if your a music store.


How is my assumption a far reach?

Your friend waited past the return period and sold (gave?) you a flawed guitar. Had he tried to get it set up when he got it, the flaw would be discovered and l&m would take care of it.

The cashiers at l&m usually arent guitar techs. They are also the ones who look over a guitar that is being offered on trade-in.

I notice you're not mad at the person who traded in a guitar with a warped neck.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Guncho said:


> So you're assuming L&M does a careful inspection on every guitar they take in on trade?


No I’m not, but if you saw the guitar you’d understand. It wasn’t hard to miss just looking down the neck. Unfortunately I would say the majority of people buying guitars at retail stores don’t know these things and shop at retail stores for that peace of mind.
If it was my store I would want one person on shift to be able to go over a guitar and determine condition before accepting on trade though, short of a full setup. I mean I do it before I buy used guitars. It takes 4 or 5 minutes to be able to see if there are glaring issues.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

So why did your buddy not immediately return it since its quick to find...?


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Guncho said:


> So you're assuming L&M does a careful inspection on every guitar they take in on trade?


Shouldn't they??


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Guncho said:


> I highly doubt they do a setup on guitars they take in. They don't even setup brand new guitars do they?


No, they don't. I was in my local and saw a cool looking starter guitar for my buddy's daughter. I picked it up and strummed just as the sales guy walked in. 

Me: "Uhhhh... what tuning is this in?"
Sales Guy: "The opened the box put it on the wall tuning". 

Seriously, they can't even tune it??


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

SWLABR said:


> Shouldn't they??


Cue griping when prices go up because all the cashiers need to be qualified guitar techs too.

Do you take apart the used guitars you buy before paying, or do you give it a quick once-over and playthrough to check for anything glaringly obvious?


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

SWLABR said:


> Shouldn't they??


I highly doubt the sales people at L&M are capable of doing that or take the time. Strum a few chords, make sure electronics work sure. Other than that I doubt it.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Budda said:


> How is my assumption a far reach?
> 
> Your friend waited past the return period and sold (gave?) you a flawed guitar. Had he tried to get it set up when he got it, the flaw would be discovered and l&m would take care of it.
> 
> ...


I’m not mad at anyone. If L and M wants to run their business that way it’s on them. I won’t assume the guy who traded it in was aware of the issue so I won’t be mad at him either haha. Just like my friend, could he totally clueless to these types of thing. In my opinion, nobody who works at L and M should just be a “cashier” or
If they are then not hard to designate someone on every shift with the know how to inspect guitars coming in.

To be fair, the guy who bought the guitar knows very little about that sort of thing, that is why he goes to L and M for guitars.

I guess I’m in the minority but I am weary of Gear Hunter and don’t trust L and M enough to pay their premium on used guitars. I looked at an LP they had listed a year ago and myself and another friend went to go have a look and it was brutal and in unplayable condition. Sure with some work it could’ve ended up being a decent guitar. I ended up finding a nice one locally on Kijiji for $700 less dollars.

Just my opinion.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Did you know that if you let an employee know that a guitar needs work on the floor, they'll take it away and restring it/clean it up?

Just weird that you're only mad at l&m out of the 3 parties involved, to the point you wont deal with them.

More for the rest of us lol.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Budda said:


> So why did your buddy not immediately return it since its quick to find...?


Maybe you didn’t read what I wrote. He obviously knows nothing about stuff like this. Admittedly so. He bought it based of the logo n the headstock and color. He was trying to bond with it. As he told me, he didn’t like it. I never thought “oh maybe it has a twisted neck” why would one assume that buying from L and M? Isn’t it supposed to be secure shopping? Isn’t that why you pay much more there for peace of mind and service? I offered I guitar I wasn’t playing cause I like Eclipse. We porch exchanged cause covid restrictions. I pulled it out next morning to setup to my liking. Noticed neck immediately. He took guitar back and went to L and M w it.

They did take it back, which is commendable and not to be dismissed either. Just scary that they’d take in and resell like that in the first place. But that is just my opinion!


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Budda said:


> Did you know that if you let an employee know that a guitar needs work on the floor, they'll take it away and restring it/clean it up?
> 
> Just weird that you're only mad at l&m out of the 3 parties involved, to the point you wont deal with them.
> 
> More for the rest of us lol.


Have at er! We have two gear retailers here that keep their used instruments playable on the wall and provide excellent service. I’ll stick to them. That’s the beauty of competition, options.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Budda said:


> Cue griping when prices go up because all the cashiers need to be qualified guitar techs too.
> 
> Do you take apart the used guitars you buy before paying, or do you give it a quick once-over and playthrough to check for anything glaringly obvious?


You wouldn't consider "..._ it had a *severely twisted neck*_" glaringly obvious?


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

L&m doesnt charge more lol. They beat kijiji prices sometimes. You're right that competition is a good thing.

They also took the guitar back past the exchange period.

Im still back at square one - you dont dig a store that did the right thing lol.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

SWLABR said:


> You wouldn't consider "..._ it had a *severely twisted neck*_" glaringly obvious?


I do. So how did the seller, l&m and the buyer not notice?


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

SWLABR said:


> Shouldn't they??


I mean if it was my business I’d make damn sure there was someone available on all shifts to inspect a guitar on trade and the very least make sure trade ins were healthy enough to resell and maintain my reputation as a trusted dealer.

From what I understand don’t dealers send back NEW guitars that have issues back to vendors or have them labelled B Stock when they have flaws?Not sure why the same wouldn’t be expected w used instruments.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Budda said:


> L&m doesnt charge more lol. They beat kijiji prices sometimes. You're right that competition is a good thing.
> 
> They also took the guitar back past the exchange period.
> 
> Im still back at square one - you dont dig a store that did the right thing lol.


Yep I don’t dig Long and Mcquade. But as I’ve said it’s been more than just this and my other experiences.

I’m glad you do though. Good thing it wasn’t someone else that bought it and just lived w it unknowingly. Here is a pic I took. Kind of hard to see and capture in picture. Maybe you can see it. How it got by all three is beyond me as well! I guess the pricing thing we can agree to disagree on. I’ve never found something on Gear Hunter I couldn’t find for less privately.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Budda said:


> I do. So how did the seller, l&m and the buyer not notice?


I think we're on the same page, but the medium is in the way.

I would hope, and to use the existing example, someone remotely familiar with the instrument could look at a "*severely twisted neck*" and think, hmmmm, perhaps I shouldn't take this as a trade. (or even better), I'm going to go grab an _actual_ Tech (most stores have them) or at least second opinion.

But my example of "out of box, hang on wall" seems to apply to trades as well at some stores.

I thankfully deal with Cambridge, and I have seen more than one Sales Associate turn a trade away because there was something wrong with the guitar. Also, when I was shopping for my Taylor, there was a Tobacco Burst in Windsor for cheap that I was hoping they could bring in. They put their heads together and determined there was something wrong with it. They may hang new guitars without looking/tuning, but they make up for it elsewhere.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

@tdotrob yep that shows in pics haha.

Right now they have 2 prs mccarty 594 semihollow ltd ed demos, 4199 and 4299. The only one used in canada is up for $4800 - which is the cost after tax, less the warranty.

If one of those was blue matteo/aquatic blue, I'd probably own it already lol.

They will sell mim fenders for less than kijiji too - just not all the time. The deals do exist


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Budda said:


> @tdotrob yep that shows in pics haha.
> 
> Right now they have 2 prs mccarty 594 semihollow ltd ed demos, 4199 and 4299. The only one used in canada is up for $4800 - which is the cost after tax, less the warranty.
> 
> ...


I will readily admit I can tend to be quick to “cut off” after perceived bad experiences. I’ll keep an open mind, it’s part of growing up I think haha.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

He had it for two months and knows zero about guitars? Has anyone considered that maybe, just maybe, he did something that caused the neck to twist? If I was the retailer, I would probably grudgingly take it back even though it’s been well over the return period, as a sign of goodwill but I would not feel obligated to do so. If you came in to return it with an attitude like I was the asshole for selling it...you would get directions to the door and not much else.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

JBFairthorne said:


> He had it for two months and knows zero about guitars? Has anyone considered that maybe, just maybe, he did something that caused the neck to twist? If I was the retailer, I would probably grudgingly take it back even though it’s been well over the return period, as a sign of goodwill but I would not feel obligated to do so. If you came in to return it with an attitude like I was the asshole for selling it...you would get directions to the door and not much else.


I don’t think anyone treated anyone poorly
And I agree w you there.

What could he possibly have done that would cause that? Asking seriously cause I have no idea. As far as I know it was in a stand or on his wall without much play or touching at all.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

tdotrob said:


> I don’t think anyone treated anyone poorly
> And I agree w you there.
> 
> What could he possibly have done that would cause that? Asking seriously cause I have no idea. As far as I know it was in a stand or on his wall without much play or touching at all.


If that wall is near a vent for heat/aircon that may do it?


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Possibly poor transportation? Leaving in the car in the cold and running into a warm house? Sitting in a car in the sun? Who knows? If it can happen somehow before he bought it....then it’s certainly possible that it could happen in his possession.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Budda said:


> If that wall is near a vent for heat/aircon that may do it?





JBFairthorne said:


> Possibly poor transportation? Leaving in the car in the cold and running into a warm house? Sitting in a car in the sun? Who knows? If it can happen somehow before he bought it....then it’s certainly possible that it could happen in his possession.


True that def possible. From what I’ve read neck warping and twisting has more to do with the wood selection and moisture content at the build level. I used to tour in the winter with our gear in a trailer. Never had any issues w warped or twisted necks. I guess anything is possible.

The guitar tech I showed it too before he took it back said he didn’t think there was anyway it could’ve happened in the couple months in his possession and is something that would’ve developed over time. Who knows.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Neck twist - I was a little 'one eyebrow up' when I saw the grain of the neck on the Yamaha I picked up last night - it sorta runs corner to corner, lengthwise (pics in that thread, I can't link right this second). Why? I had a Gibson R0 that looked like that, it was fine for a while, but its neck twisted, cost me a lot of money to get it planed and refretted. I don't know why it happened - it wasn't storage conditions, extreme heat or cold, so I have to guess wood selection/curing. But the Yammy is almost 50 years old and straight as a ruler, so I got over it quickly.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Something that I recently figured out is that if there is a specific piece of equipment that you are looking for and you click on "Check In-Store Availability", it will sometimes indicate that used items are available that aren't listed on Gear Hunter. You have to check directly with the store, so I suspect that these are rental stock.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Interesting.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

I just scored an LR Baggs "Align Series-Acoustic Reverb". Regular $239, I got for it $175. It was specifically in the Brampton store. They are still under the "Stay at Home" order, so I test drove a new one in Cambridge, then picked up the used one via Curbside. Original box, and nothing to tell it apart from the new one I tried. Great pedal, sweet deal.


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