Recently settled down in Tokyo for a while and in search of a few pieces of musical gear for not too much money, specifically a 6-string bass, a Roland TD17-KVX drum kit, and maybe an 8-string electric guitar. I’ve hit a few local shops but the prices are rather high for my taste, even for used gear. Most of the 6-string basses, e.g., are around 100,000 yen and up, and the ones that are below that are nearly all the lowest tier of the mass-produced stuff like “Grass Roots” and whatnot.
So basically wondering two things:
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Are there are any good local classifieds websites (or apps) similar to Craigslist, or other places where individuals might be looking to unload their instrument to another individual for a reasonable price? This would probably be the route I’d prefer for guitar, bass, and keyboard.
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How do you negotiate a better price for new gear like the Roland kit? In the U.S. I’d typically do it by pitting a couple stores against each other, getting one of them to name a lower price whether simply by pointing out I have no incentive to buy at any particular store, or finding a coupon or a holiday sale and using that as a negotiating point. Here I have seen some bundle deals offered by the big stores, but most of the bundle is junk I don’t need (e.g., cheapo headphones, a stick bag, no-name hardware), so it’s not worth paying the extra money over the price of the bare kit. But I’m wondering if I’m just missing some holiday sales ads that would give a discount on the Roland or something.
Just figured, considering how music gear works in general, there must be other options I haven’t found yet.