Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Because they can Rikk.

...it's their business concept...as long as people buy it...RIC might not be interested in selling spare parts, so this is the way to go!

Simple math:

"The $um of the Part$ is Greater Than the Whole."

Doesn't the RIC boutique have all the parts?

He's asking over $1900 for the sum of the parts on a guitar he picked up for around $1600, that's close to 20% profit. TRC alone is $169, SN Jackplate is $99 (not included with body)

Seems it is a sustainable business model.

Good for him I say.

You want to save a Rick from the New Jersey butcher? Overbid him on eBay and move on.

He may be pissing off a lot of people on many brand enthusiast forums but I must admit it was very convenient to have him around when I was looking for a 68 short pole toaster...

ricosound wrote:He's asking over $1900 for the sum of the parts on a guitar he picked up for around $1600, that's close to 20% profit. TRC alone is $169, SN Jackplate is $99 (not included with body)

That's not profit, it's gross. eBay and PP fees would suck that up, leave about 5% for all the trouble.

It's a used bass from 2011. If he paid $1600 he'd be lucky to break even, plus the hassle, wait, etc... better off working minimum wage for the same amount of time he'd put into this bass.

BUT he probably got the bass for a good deal less, perhaps for about what a retail shop would pay a seller, maybe $1000 (?) and runs a shop so can afford the space for storage, time to part it out, list, ship.

Not a money machine, but a nice income if you can work it right, and the stuff sells.

I've no problem with someone parting out a 2011, though sort of hate to see the jackplate/trc possibly being misused... but there are legit uses for them in the right hands.

I understand why some folks see red when vintage, rarer instruments are parted out, though that is different thread....

Its supply and demand I suppose.
Cant see that theres a very extensive market for stripping down newer basses though.

I have seen quite a few early 70s 4001 basses going for what appear to be reasonable prices
until you see the re-issue tail and new pickups that is.
There must be a market for vintage spec parts looking at the kind of prices they go for when
they surface every blue moon.

He paid $1,485. If all parts sell, he will net a profit of $130. That's only about 9% profit, but not bad for sitting on a$$ and scouring ebay!

jdogric12 wrote:He paid $1,485. If all parts sell, he will net a profit of $130. That's only about 9% profit, but not bad for sitting on a$$ and scouring ebay!

That's still a lot of time to put in for essentially pennies.

rikk wrote:

jdogric12 wrote:He paid $1,485. If all parts sell, he will net a profit of $130. That's only about 9% profit, but not bad for sitting on a$$ and scouring ebay!

That's still a lot of time to put in for essentially pennies.

Yeah. I'm certainly not tempted to follow suit.

Plus, you run the risk of something 'bad' happening with an auction... running into a meathead buyer who makes a PP claim or something... those numbers are not encouraging me to run out and duplicate the effort.