Reasons to Sell at Rocktown

Selling is getting paid on the spot for your used instrument or gear. Trading is where you offer your used instrument or gear as full or partial payment for a new or used item in the store. Consignment is a contractual agreement in which we sell an item for you. With consignment, you get paid when the item sells.

Rocktown Music buys all sorts of used musical instruments, gear, accessories, media, and parts. We buy items in all conditions, from all brands, and of all levels of quality, regardless of where it was originally purchased. If it is musical, we will buy it. Just to jog your memory of things you may have lying around your home- we buy all instruments including band and orchestra instruments, ethnic and folk instruements, and of course guitars, basses and drums. We also buy amplifiers, PA, pedals, rack gear, music books and videos, cases, gigbags, cables, microphones, stands, straps, and much more.

Appointments are not usually required. However, if you are traveling from a far distance, or your item is particularly rare, obscure, or valuable (say, worth over $1000), an appointment might be a good idea since only certain people on staff are authorized to buy these items. In the event that the right person is not on staff when you do stop in, you are welcome to leave your item to be appraised and return later to negotiate a sale or trade. Your instrument will be secure and insured and you will get a claim ticket while it is left at the store.

To make an appointment, please call (320) 257-7676 during regular hours.

You must be 18 years of age with a valid state ID. Please have ID ready. We will make a photocopy of your ID, and require your signature at the time of sale. If you are not 18, please bring a parent/guardian to present ID, sign, and get paid.

Generally yes. We can give you a bit more value in a trade than in a cash payout. With consignment, the seller names the price. The details of how our cash offer compares to a trade or a consignment will vary greatly depending on numerous circumstances.

Rocktown Music is not a licensed pawn or loan brokerage. We are very happy to buy, sell, trade, or consign. If you sell your instrument to us, there is nothing to prevent you from later buying it back, but there are no official pawn arrangements that we are willing or able to make.

Yes. Just as you are anxious for your instrument to be returned, we are anxious to turn into the authorities people who steal musical instruments. We are so sorry that your instrument was stolen. Please call us as soon as you think to do so. We will also be happy to refer you to other establishments that buy used gear in the vicinity. 

We would also like to take this moment to remind everyone to keep a record in one or more places in your home or information cloud that includes every guitar in your collection.  You should know the make, model, year, and serial number as well as the condition and a couple photographs.

Absolutely!

Yes! In addition to a lifetime of experience in dealing in musical instruments, we have many resources available to aid us in properly identifying even the most obscure items. We pride ourselves on our expertise in musical instruments and enjoy seeing and learning about things not usually seen.

We welcome you to bring in your instrument in and we will be happy to inspect and research it while you wait. It is helpful if you know exactly which model you have, but if you don't know, we can find that out too. Ninety-eight percent of the time, we will be able to give you an estimate of its value on the spot.

If you would like to do your own research, there are many resources available for appraising musical instruments including popular television shows, books, and the internet. eBay is a good place to start.

We will be very happy to negotiate a buying or trading price with you once we have your instrument to inspect in person.

We get this question nearly daily. The answer is yes, you do have to bring it in. If you are serious about selling your item, you want to sell it to someone who is serious about buying it. We do our part by carefully inspecting, testing, and researching your item, you do yours by delivering the item for our inspection. Even if it's perfect, even if you promise not to hold us to a number, even if you live a long distance away... we still need to see it. No matter what someone's intentions, or how much we like each other, it's better for our mutual relationship to prevent misunderstandings by negotiating face to face. We hope you can understand.

If the payout is less than $100 we can pay cash. For larger payouts, we usually issue a check. The check can be cashed at no cost to you, even without an account, at any Liberty Savings Bank location. Please follow the link for information about locations and hours.

We offer free appraisals on anything that you are interested in selling to us for the purpose of negotiating the value appropriately. If you require a written appraisal of an instrument you intend to keep, we offer that service for a charge of $20. You will get a signed and dated letter from one of our experienced musical instrument dealers that will explain the details of the instrument and its retail value.

Yes. As with a trade for merchandise, if you prefer to trade for store credit, we will be able to offer you a bit more than a cash offer. Your store credit will never expire and you can use it on anything in the store including services like lessons or repairs.

We will be happy to advise you on this issue to an extent, but ultimately it is your decision. A lower price will result in the item selling faster. But use caution, you can't raise the price, but you can always lower it.

We don't have a set commission percentage, but the price you name is the price you will be paid, no less. Any negotiating at the time of sale will always happen on our end. We will never ask you to take less on a consignment.

Consignments are for a minimum of ninety days.

If the ninety days have passed, you can pick your item up at any time. Please have ID ready. Only the contracted consignor can pick up the item. You are welcome to continue to leave your item for sale beyond the ninety days until it sells.

Unfortunately we cannot allow early pickups. In order to have some level of consistency and for it to be worthwhile for us to attempt to sell an item, we need to know that we will have at least 90 days to sell it.

Yes. Our business insurance includes coverage for customer property including consignment merchandise.

We welcome your efforts to get your item sold. However, use caution when talking about a specific price, unless it is the exact tagged price of the item.  Even if you find and bring the customer in to buy your consignment item, we reserve the right to handle all negotiations.  The contract (and good manners) prevent you from revealing your asking price to a potential buyer.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Yes. At least we will do our best. It never hurts to check in from time to time.