Second-hand music & instruments in Melbourne typically sells for A$29 to A$1,550 (about $20 to $1,100). Brand and playing condition decide most of it, and an instrument that has been set up properly is worth more than one that has sat untouched. Cosmetic marks matter far less here than on almost anything else.
Buying music & instruments in Melbourne
Melbourne has the strongest vintage and op-shop culture in Australia and a large student population across several universities, so buying second hand here is entirely ordinary. It is also the country’s music city, which keeps instruments, amps and records moving in a way they do not everywhere.
Anything with a soundboard hates being posted: temperature and knocks in transit undo a setup and can crack a body outright. Carrying it home yourself, in its case, is the safest journey it will make. Locally, electric guitars are one of the few things that move reliably enough to be worth listing on their own.
What to check in person
Play every note up the neck and listen for buzzing, and sight down the neck from the body to check it is straight. Look at the bridge and the area around the tuning pegs for cracks or old repairs, and try every key or valve.
Collecting it in Melbourne
It needs a car boot rather than a bag, so agree somewhere you can actually stop for a few minutes. That is easier away from the centre than in it.
The tram network covers the inner suburbs densely and is how most small handovers happen. The city is flat, which makes collecting a bike or a chest of drawers by car straightforward, though inner-suburb streets are narrow and permit parking is tightly enforced.
Selling your music & instruments in Melbourne free
Students arrive in February and leave in November, which inverts the northern-hemisphere rhythm. The inner suburbs also carry a lot of share-house accommodation, and share houses reshuffle constantly rather than seasonally.
Fit a fresh set of strings or reeds before anybody comes to try it, since a tired set makes a good instrument sound dull. Have somewhere quiet to demonstrate it, and gather the case, stand, lead and any paperwork into one place beforehand. Lifts in September as lessons restart, and again after Christmas.
Bank transfer via PayID is instant and is what most private buyers will offer. Cash on collection remains common for larger items.
Music & Instruments worth listing in Melbourne
Same region (Victoria)
If nothing in Melbourne suits, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo each have their own music & instruments page, and a seller will often meet part of the way for something worth the trip.
More in Melbourne: everything second hand in Melbourne, or Music & Instruments across Australia.
Prices converted from sterling at the 2 August 2026 rate; sellers set their own price.