Second-hand music & instruments in Montreal typically sells for C$28 to C$1,500 (about $20 to $1,100). Playability is what a serious buyer is paying for, so a low, even action and honest frets outweigh looks entirely. Original parts count on older instruments, and a replaced pickup or tuner can take real money off despite being an upgrade.
Buying music & instruments in Montreal
Montreal has the most distinctive moving culture in the country: a very large share of leases end on the same day at the start of July, and for about a week the entire city changes address at once. The second-hand market is built around that single date.
Two examples of the same model rarely sound alike, because timber, age and how hard a thing has been used all leave their mark. Hearing it in a quiet room is the whole decision, and no recording made on a phone stands in for that.
What to check in person
Ask what it has been stored in and where, because an unheated room does more harm over a winter than years of playing. On anything electric, work every switch and socket while it is plugged in, and listen for crackle as the controls turn.
Collecting it in Montreal
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 outdoor staircases that front so many buildings here are narrow, steep and often spiral, and they defeat more furniture than anything else. Establish the stairs before the price, and remember that winter makes all of it considerably harder.
Selling your music & instruments in Montreal free
The July moving week produces a concentration of second-hand furniture that has no real equivalent elsewhere in Canada. Prices in the days either side of it are the lowest of the year, and the choice is at its widest.
Record a short clip of it being played and put that with your listing, because it answers what photographs cannot. Give the model and the year if you know them, and list every part that is not original to it. Lifts in September as lessons restart, and again after Christmas.
Interac e-Transfer is the norm and is instant and traceable, which suits a private sale well. It is what most buyers will suggest before anything else.
Music & Instruments worth listing in Montreal
Same region (Quebec)
If nothing in Montreal suits, Quebec City, Laval and Gatineau each have their own music & instruments page, and a seller will often meet part of the way for something worth the trip.
More in Montreal: everything second hand in Montreal, or Music & Instruments across Canada.
Prices converted from sterling at the 2 August 2026 rate; sellers set their own price.