Mega-Internet music retailer Musician’s Friend will start selling used gear next week.  Musicians Friend will rate used gear using 5 different categories ranging from “Like New” to “Salvage”.  They are also including their 45-day satisfaction guarantee however we’re not sure if that’s just for “Like New” gear or if it applies to “Salvage” gear as well. Right now they’re previewing a select set of “Like New” gear on their site.

It’s pretty obvious the new Musician’s Friend new category of gear is meant to directly compete against Ebay and sites like Craiglist.  The used gear market is huge and musicians are more than willing to save a few bucks buying a used Fender Stratocaster over a brand new if they can save a few hundred bucks. Full story…

There are other sites on the web that focus on the used gear market as well - Gbase.com, Daddys.com, HarmonyCentral - but it’s unclear if these sites have quite the traction as Ebay and Craigslist.

Also given that we’re in the midst of a recession it’s likely that more and more musicians are turning to the used gear market.  All in all we think this is a smart step for Musician’s Friend but it remains to be seen if they can execute.  We’ve looked at Guitar Center’s attempt at a used gear section and we don’t find ourselves returning very often - it’s a bit difficult to navigate.

For Musician’s Friend we think it’s all about achieving a critical mass of gear that will bring the audience needed to build that business.  Let us know what you think!