I own a store specializing in selling discount musical instruments, and let me tell you, it is no easy job in this day and age. With Guitar Center’s popping up in nearly every city of any size, and guaranteeing to match anyone else’s price, it is hard to get any share of the profit for cheap musical instruments unless you are willing to sell only used ones. Even selling used discount musical instruments is not as easy as it once was. Still, thanks to our advertising campaign, and the fact that there is a pretty creative community around here, we manage to do pretty well.

Honestly, we probably would not be in business at all, selling these discount musical instruments if not for the people who have been coming to us again and again for years. They not only come to buy new discount musical instruments, but they also get work done on the ones that they have at our shop. In addition, we get their castoffs, which we can then fix up and resell to lower level musicians. And thus, the cycle of discount musical instruments continues.

I know I do not get the chance to talk to most of the people buying their discount musical instruments from big chains or mail order places, but I really wish that I could grab them and shake them. It is not just that they put small, local discount musical instrument stores like ours out of business, but they also really do not do themselves any services in the long run. Sure, they can get that guitar for twenty bucks cheaper, but they sacrifice so much in doing it. They will not have a local music store that can offer them support, that can fix their discount musical instruments, or even customize them, and offer them good advice about what to get when they are looking for their next instrument. Sure, they can save a few bucks buying discount musical instruments from faceless national or multi-national corporations, but in the long run they tend to lose so much more than they gain.

Of course, the reason that I sell discount musical instruments is not because it is so lucrative, but on the contrary, because I love music and musicians. My job is great, because it allows me to spend my time doing what I love. And in the end, isn’t that the most important thing?

Tags: Instruments, Music General