Where is the best place to sell trumpets and cornets?

[Deb C]

My father passed away in February 2021. I have one trumpet and two cornets that are professional grade i.e. would be played by someone in an orchestra as opposed to a high school band. Looking to sell all three. Any suggestions would be appreciated! I live in southern Ontario, Canada.

[LittleRusty]

Ummm…

The marketplace here?

You can get a feel for market value by searching eBay for completed options.

[HaveTrumpetWillTravel]

Ebay, reverb, facebook, craigslist. The marketplace here is good also. Ebay probably gets the most views, reverb I think is a little cheaper, and facebook or craigslist are good face to face.

[Kumara999]

Personally my experience is that since you are in Canada you will fair better on Craigs list, Facebook market, Reverb and Ebay.

Folks in this forum tend not to want to buy from Canada - post it anyway but I would expect that you will get a better response from the others.

[Speed]

I've had good luck buying on the marketplace here, but not much luck selling. I've had good experiences selling on Reverb.

Take care,
Marc Speed

[Aspeyrer]

There are a few Facebook groups that’s routinely have great instruments. There, you will certainly get the most interested eyes that actually know something about the instruments your are selling. Negative; no protection like eBay or reverb. Use an escrow like PayPal and use “ pay for good and services” method if concerned.

Trumpetherald marketplace is excellent and you’ll get a lot of knowledgeable interest from here. But, no protection like an eBay or reverb. And, if you get scammed and make a public post, your account will likely be banned. This has happened twice to me so far (the scammers were a friends of the admins).

Ebay and reverb seem the most “secure.” However, they heavily favor the buyer. So, any complaint, legitimate or not, often results in the seller losing out.

Personally, I have purchased and sold dozens of trumpets via these platforms with about 90% excellent transactions with no issues. Best way to get your stuff out there would be to post on all the platforms. Just be sure to update if anything sells.

[Croquethed]

Another endorsement for going the Facebook Marketplace/Craigslist route. I bought an old copper-belled horn from a consignment shop that was advertised on Facebook. The price was fair.

You may be able to go that route. Buyers who know the ballpark of what a given pro horn is worth will pay a fair price. If you don't know what they are worth, get them appraised. But Toronto is a big enough town they should sell qickly if they are in decent shape.

[Andy Del]

Living in a far off distant land, like the OP (from the perspective of those in the US) I’ve found FB market place much more successful. It feels like the days of nitwits offering 1/4 for cash are gone and people who ask are actually serious.

eBay I gave up in years ago. Hopeless and too expensive. Marketplace here is too US centric, too many scared of those foreign postal services or walking to their own post office… etc.

Your experience may differ, seeing as peace bridge is not a few hours away, but FB seems to be the way to go today. And everything I have sold recently was local, so I got instant bank deposits or cash. Much better than PayPal and their fees and rubbish exchange rates!

Cheers

Andy
_________________
so many horns, so few good notes...

[Divitt Trumpets]

Hi Deb,
I'm a brass tech and trumpet builder in Toronto. If you need any help finding the value of your instruments feel free to get in touch.

I also recommend the Trumpets For Sale/Trade group on Facebook, although I moderate it and am a bit biased.
_________________
www.divitt-trumpets.com
www.facebook.com/divitt.trumpets
www.instagram.com/divitttrumpets