TromboneChat

I spend way more time than I should on various sites for buying and selling horns (here, Reverb, FB, eBay) and I have made an observation that is totally anecdotal, but it seems like there are a couple of mouthpiece brands that outpace others in terms of people wanting to sell or trade for something else. Specifically, it seems like Greg Black and Griego mouthpieces have a lot of movement in the market. I don't have an opinion one way or the other about either brand. I tried a Greg Black once that was supposed to be close to what I currently use and it just wasn't for me, but that's not enough for me to establish an opinion. And I don't know jack about Griego, so I'm not casting aspersions. I'm curious if anyone else has made a similar observation and what your thoughts are as to why?

Because people buy more Blacks and Griegos? Because when you dropped $265 on a mpc and don’t like it, you want to recoup some of the money you spent?

Bach5G wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 12:08 am Because people buy more Blacks and Griegos? Because when you dropped $265 on a mpc and don’t like it, you want to recoup some of the money you spent?

Yup, this is a good point. My mouthpiece drawer is full of pieces... most of which are worth like $35 used. I sell all the ones worth money that I don't use.

Where I live you have to buy a Greg Black or Griego to try it out, I don't know of a dealer that allows returns on these, and few vendors have any in stock so you have to order one to try it out. So the economical thing to do is to wait until one you are interested in comes up for sale, buy it, try it, and if you don't like it flip it, hoping to lose no more than your shipping. I can understand many others doing the same thing.
Recently I bought a used Greg Black, tried it for a week, decided it wasn't right for me, put it up for sale, it sold in one day for what I had paid for it.
The only problem with this approach is you have to be patient, but since mouthpieces are expensive and only once in a great while do you find one that really an improvement, it's probably best to take your time anyway.

Some vendors have no returns and others have a very generous policy. That alone has a huge influence on what is available in the secondhand market. No point in selling if you can get 100% back.

modelerdc wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2024 2:18 am Where I live you have to buy a Greg Black or Griego to try it out, I don't know of a dealer that allows returns on these, and few vendors have any in stock so you have to order one to try it out. So the economical thing to do is to wait until one you are interested in comes up for sale, buy it, try it, and if you don't like it flip it, hoping to lose no more than your shipping. I can understand many others doing the same thing.
Recently I bought a used Greg Black, tried it for a week, decided it wasn't right for me, put it up for sale, it sold in one day for what I had paid for it.
The only problem with this approach is you have to be patient, but since mouthpieces are expensive and only once in a great while do you find one that really an improvement, it's probably best to take your time anyway.

Yeah, that. It's kind of frustrating to wait around hoping for the size(s) you want to pop up, then wait for it to arrive, then wait for it to settle in enough to be sure it's what you really want, then realizing it's not quite right and starting the cycle all over again. GB has a lot of variations so that's part of why they're frequent, Griego's seem to be pretty popular in certain sizes (Markey 87 anyone?). Doug Elliot parts are kind of hard to get (and tend to be worth keeping), which is probably why they don't come up often.

Anything under $100 that has any degree of potential tends to end up on the shelf as a potential loaner or for use in very specific contexts where it beats an all-arounder, or as a "reference" piece that helps to figure out where to go from there. I think the Yeo replica fits there, along with the stock Bach sizes. More than $100 makes it worth reselling.