04 Buying Second-hand Music shops often sell off things that they've got in part-exchange for new gear quite cheaply but they'll still want to add a fair amount of cash to cover their overheads.
"Buy cheaply. Second hand stores have lots of bargains. Check free ad papers like Loot for price comparisons or music equipment magazines for price listings for secondhand goods."
Jaimeson
Producer
It might be worth paying the extra money just to know that if the gear doesn't work, you can take it back.
You have a legal right to do this, unless the shop points out the fault to you before you buy.
There are loads of places to buy from individuals. The small ads of most music mags are filled with secondhand gear.
Many of them offer free ad space for readers to sell their old equipment, so there's always loads to choose from.
Then there are free ad papers like Loot and online auction sites like e-bay.
As a rule, things with moving parts are not as good a buy as equipment like computers and even electronic components have a limited life so any gear more than about 7 years old is probably best left alone.
Most owners will clean their gear before selling it and this may or may not be to hide heavy usage so if you're unsure try looking at the parts of the equipment that are hard to get to.
Check all switches and knobs for crackle and other signs of wear.
If there's a manual, the condition it's in can be a giveaway. You can polish up a metal panel but once a manual is well-thumbed, there's not much you can do to make it look better.
Some items like DAT machines can store the amount of usage they've had for maintenance purposes.
You can usually check the figures by holding down combinations of the front panel buttons so check the manufacturer's website before you go along to buy.
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