Second-hand music & instruments in San Diego typically sells for $20 to $1,100. Where and when it was built moves the figure enormously, and buyers pay close attention to the country stamped inside. A model still made today has its price capped by the new one, while a discontinued line answers to nothing but demand.
Buying music & instruments in San Diego
San Diego combines a large naval presence with a beach and outdoor culture and near-constant good weather.
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.
What to check in person
Leave it tuned and come back to it twenty minutes later, since an instrument that will not hold pitch has a problem at the pegs or the bridge. Look inside the soundhole with a light for loose bracing, and check the neck joint where it meets the body.
Collecting it in San Diego
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.
Collection is by car and the freeways make most of the county reachable, though coastal parking in summer is genuinely difficult. Naming a specific meeting point rather than a neighbourhood saves a lot of circling.
Selling your music & instruments in San Diego free
Naval rotations move households in and out on a predictable rhythm, and departing families routinely sell a whole home’s worth of goods rather than ship it. The surf market runs on its own upgrade cycle year-round.
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.
Peer-to-peer payment apps dominate private sales, and buyers will usually offer one before they offer cash. Sales tax does not apply to a private sale between individuals.
Music & Instruments worth listing in San Diego
Same region (California)
If nothing in San Diego suits, Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco each have their own music & instruments page, and a seller will often meet part of the way for something worth the trip.
- Music & Instruments in Los Angeles
- Music & Instruments in San Jose
- Music & Instruments in San Francisco
More in San Diego: everything second hand in San Diego, or Music & Instruments across the United States.
Prices converted from sterling at the 2 August 2026 rate; sellers set their own price.