Do you have items you don't need and want to sell? Get cash for them or trade-in for gear you want.
Retro Gear Shop is recognized as one of the premier destinations worldwide for buying, selling & trading music equipment. Contact us if you need to sell any music gear, recording equipment, synthesizers, guitars, amps or effects.
If you have a large collection of items for sale, please reach out to us to discuss possibilities. We also offer consignment commission sales.
Sell, Trade-in & Consignment FAQs
• Can Retro Gear Shop pick-up my equipment?
We travel to purchase equipment and regularly buy from studio closure liquidations, home collections, storage clean outs and estate sales. We have completed road trips to East Coast states such as New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina as well as Georgia, Texas, California, Oregon and Washington. For smaller collections we can assist with arranging transportation by other means such ground shipping carriers or by freight truck.
• What kind of gear do you buy?
Please browse our website to see the types of items we carry. We mostly focus on high-end, new, used, rare & vintage equipment with resale value over $500. We typically only consider purchasing cheaper items if included in larger bundle purchases. Generally we do not purchase any items with a resale value of $200 or below.
We love purchasing:
- Pro Audio Equipment & Recording Gear
- Microphones | Compressors | Equalizers | Preamps | Interfaces | Mixers/Consoles | Tape Machines | Speakers
- Synthesizers | Drum Machines | Samplers
- Effects | Tape Delays | Reverbs | High-end Pedals
- Guitars | Basses | Amps
- Organs (specifically high-value ones like Hammond B3's)
- Electric Pianos like Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzers, Hohner Clavinets
We don't generally purchase:
- Stereo equipment like FM receivers or jukeboxes (we sometimes can purchase certain hi-fi stereo and vintage items like stereo tube amplifiers)
- Acoustic instruments like drums, brass/woodwinds, orchestral instruments
• Does Retro Gear Shop pay for an item before inspecting and testing it?
We only pay for items after they arrive at our store for inspection and testing. Please allow 2-3 business days after items arrive at our shop for payment. We may need additional time for processing if you are submitting multiple items.
If you are doing a trade-in, you will receive your new items after we complete inspection. Generally we can get you more value for your gear through a trade-in depending on the item you'd want to trade for.
• Can I drop off my equipment in person?
Yes but in-store drop-offs are by appointment only.
• I don't live locally. Can I ship my items in to you?
Yes! We accept items shipped to our store. You will receive packing guidelines by email.
• Can you assist with prepaid shipping labels at a discounted rate?
For USA items shipped to Retro Gear Shop, we generally cover all carrier shipping costs as part of our purchase offer price. We'll provide you with a prepaid printable PDF shipping label from our UPS or Fedex accounts. Prepaid labels are also available for some international locations.
• What happens if I ship you an item to you and it arrives damaged from transit?
In the event an item arrives damaged to us from shipping, we do reserve the right to send them back at owner's expense and refuse to consider the item for purchase. We may also elect to still keep the item and deal with insurance damage claims with the carrier and proceed with the deal. Depending on the issue there may be service costs or modified price offer. This is assessed on a case-by-case basis. We highly recommend before shipping in any items to us, to take detailed photos showing all sides of the equipment, photos of the packaging/box you use, as well as a short video showing the functional condition if you are selling us something guaranteed as functional.
In our experience of shipping thousands over items over the years, we've found it's very rare an item will be damaged in transit if packed sufficiently. Most damage occurs when items are not packed safely to withstand carrier handling, and in these cases it will also mean the carrier damage claims will be denied due to insufficient safe packing. This is why it's extra important to pay attention to how an item is packed. Guidelines with safe-packing instruction will be provided prior to any items shipped in to us. You should feel confident that your package would survive being dropped multiple times from 6-foot height as well as withstand rough handling like being kicked and placed underneath other heavy packages.
• What happens if my gear isn't what you expected cosmetically or functionally?
It's always best to describe your items as accurately as possible so we can get you accurate purchase offer estimates, but the final price may vary depending on the actual condition of the item once received, inspected and tested.
If your item arrives to us with any issues not-as-described - significant cosmetic differences, features missing or functional issues not mentioned in the initial email - you will receive a bench assessment write-up with documentation containing photos and/or video. The offer price might be revised accordingly to resolve any issues with repairs or decrease in value for resale.
If you decline the revised offer price and wish for the item to be returned, you will be billed for a servicing-tech bench-test assessment fee ($200 per item + $125/hr for any item that requires more than 1 hour to test, typical of larger more complex items like mixers) plus any associated shipping costs if your item was shipped to us plus sales tax if you are within the state of Tennessee.
Additionally, if the item is eligible for repairs by our technicians, you can also elect to keep the item but have Retro Gear Shop service/repair your item as desired before returning it to you. You will be given a best estimate and can approve the repair work before it starts. At this point a deposit payment will be due to get the item in cue with our repair schedule, with final payment due when repairs are completed. All timelines and repair costs are estimates and not guaranteed.
Finally, if the item needs servicing, you can also elect to have us service the item but still proceed with the sale to Retro Gear Shop. You will be provided with a servicing estimate/assessment after our initial test-diagnosis and have the chance to confirm any servicing before we proceed with any work. All timelines and repair costs are estimates and not guaranteed. The final servicing costs will be deducted from the payment and payout will be made when servicing is completed.
• But I don't know anything about my gear or if it works. Can you just buy it as-is?
If you elect to explicitly sell your items to us as-is, without functional guarantees, then functional assessments aren't likely to apply and we can make our offer on your items accordingly reflecting the unknown condition. The items still must be received as-described.
• What methods do you use for payment payouts?
We can complete payment for your items by your preferred payment method including:
- Zelle
- Venmo
- Cash App
- PayPal Goods/Services (you will be responsible for any associated paypal fees)
- PayPal Family/Friends no-fee method for eligible accounts
- Bank ACH (add $2.50 for USA ACH fee)
- Bank Wire (add $15 for USA wire fee, international wires $35)
- Wise for international accounts (applicable fees charged by Wise, currency conversion provided at going market rates by Wise)
- Company check (add $25 for check processing fee)
• This all sounds great! How can I get started?
Please fill out our Sell, Trade-In & Consignment Request Form here to get the process started.
• What about Consignment, how does that work?
If you have a high value item, large item such as a recording console, or rare piece of equipment that we cannot easily identify the resale value and offer a price on, or perhaps a unique item with special historical value, we can also discuss a consignment sale.
This is a good option if you aren't in a rush to sell the item and are looking to achieve maximum market going rates. On the other hand, you will need to wait until the item sells before you can get paid and there's no guarantee when or if the item will sell. Commission rates vary depending on the item (its resale value, size, etc).