Fair means a fault the seller has named, and it prices musical instruments and gear at about 45% of the top grade: $9 to $485 across this category (about £7 to £360). A named fault: a lifting bridge, a warped neck, a dead pickup or a crack in the finish that has gone through to the timber.
Where the line falls
Instruments move with humidity and wear at the contact points: necks shift, frets groove under the strings, pads and bushings harden, and electronics go scratchy from disuse.
For comparison, one grade up is Good Musical Instruments and Gear and one step down is For Parts Musical Instruments and Gear.
What musical instruments and gear are worth here
| Grade | Share of top price | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Good | about 65% | $13 to $701 |
| Fair | about 45% | $9 to $485 |
| For Parts | about 25% | $5 to $269 |
Guide ranges, not quotes, at £1 ≈ $1.35 (August 2026). All five grades.
What pulls the price down at this grade
- Acoustic Guitar — A lifting or re-glued bridge, which buyers read as expensive
- Audio Interface — Discontinued drivers, which make the unit unusable on new machines
- Bass Guitar — Neck relief that can no longer be dialled out
- Cello — Laminate student instruments, worth much less
- Clarinet — Cracks in wooden bodies, which are costly to repair
- Classical Guitar — Laminate tops, which sell for far less
- Digital Piano — Uneven or noisy key actions
- DJ Controller — Controllers dropped from current software support
- DJ Mixer — Worn crossfaders with dead spots
Listing at the Fair grade
Photograph the neck sighted down its length from the headstock. A relief problem is invisible in every other photograph anyone takes.
Shots that carry the most weight in musical instruments and gear:
- Flute — The flute assembled, full length, on a plain background
- Guitar Amplifier — The amp from the front, controls visible
- Guitar Pedal — The pedal from above, controls readable
- Keyboard Piano — The keyboard from above, whole, keys visible
On a typical $247 listing, a marketplace charging 20% takes $49, one charging 13.6% takes $34 and one charging 10% takes $25. WishThrift charges neither side, so you keep the whole $247. Listing is free.
Browse musical instruments and gear
See every listing at the Fair grade, or the whole Music & Instruments category at every grade. The grade is the seller’s own; WishThrift does not inspect or verify items.
Other grades in musical instruments and gear: New with Tags, Like New, Good, For Parts.
Common questions
Is the neck straight when you sight down it?
Still an instrument and possibly still playable, but needing work from a technician before it performs as it should.
What is the difference between Fair and For Parts musical instruments and gear?
Anything falling short of Fair is graded For Parts Musical Instruments and Gear.