To ship or to sell (and buy again?)

To ship or to sell (and buy again?)
« on: April 01, 2021, 07:33:14 PM »
I've been in California since the pandemic kicked off, leaving a roomful of synths behind in Berlin with my ex-wife. She and I get along well and my gear there isn't an issue. Still, for various reasons I needn't go into, I imagine there will come a day when it makes sense to pack my stuff up and ship it back to California.

Is it wiser, though, to ship everything than to sell it and re-purchase some of the more classic (and probably fragile) gear? Anyone have experience with this sort of scenario? Ot at least hints on shipping or selling a bunch of gear at once?

Thanks!

LPF83

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Re: To ship or to sell (and buy again?)
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2021, 04:02:55 AM »
I've been in California since the pandemic kicked off, leaving a roomful of synths behind in Berlin with my ex-wife. She and I get along well and my gear there isn't an issue. Still, for various reasons I needn't go into, I imagine there will come a day when it makes sense to pack my stuff up and ship it back to California.

Is it wiser, though, to ship everything than to sell it and re-purchase some of the more classic (and probably fragile) gear? Anyone have experience with this sort of scenario? Ot at least hints on shipping or selling a bunch of gear at once?

Thanks!

If it were me, I'd opt to ship because its the lesser of two gambles.

1) Ship option -- the cost of shipment is known (and relatively small), and I have some control (quality of packing) over damage prevention.  If something doesn't work once it arrives, I know exactly what it is from my prior history with the instrument

2) Sell and repurchase --  no guarantee I can necessarily find a vintage instrument in similar condition, future prices of vintage gear are unpredictable and may be significantly higher than I sold for today, even if I do find a synth in similar appearance it may take time to learn all of the problems it might really have so there's unknown repair costs and hassle, and it has the same damage risk as option 1 with less control over quality of packing because I'm at the sellers mercy in that regard. 

Just too many unknowns for option #2.   Then again if I had instruments that I weren't attached to and didn't care if I was able to replace them or not, it would be a good opportunity to sell them.
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chysn

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Re: To ship or to sell (and buy again?)
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2021, 08:05:27 AM »
You might consider a hybrid approach. You might have a subset of instruments that are unique and/or precious, and others that are common.

Packing things up is a pain, especially large keyboards. Overseas shipping rates can be ridiculous. And shipping is not without risks of its own. So sell off in Europe what can be easily replaced, and ship the things that are rare (with sufficient insurance and pictures to back yourself up).
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Re: To ship or to sell (and buy again?)
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2021, 10:01:22 AM »
You might consider a hybrid approach. You might have a subset of instruments that are unique and/or precious, and others that are common.

Packing things up is a pain, especially large keyboards. Overseas shipping rates can be ridiculous. And shipping is not without risks of its own. So sell off in Europe what can be easily replaced, and ship the things that are rare (with sufficient insurance and pictures to back yourself up).

Alas, most of my gear is what I'd call precious. Probably the only one I could easily sell/re-purchase is the Prophet 6 and even that is dear to me. The other things - a Juno 6 w MIDI, my ancient Pro One, a Micromoog are tricker to picture replacing. The Pro One actually flew with me from California in the fist place, in a custom suitcase. It handled the flight well enough, though it needed calibration in Berlin. I've an MS20mini that, while an easy one to replace, was a birthday gift from my ex-wife. I'm quite sentimental - that's all part of the problem!

I've got several guitars as well over there, but there's less incentive to ship those. If touring ever kicks off again, those instruments would be happy to have Berlin as home base.

Anyway, am I right in thinking that one way people ship stuff is to rent a sort of van-sized shipping container? I'm getting remarried and while my soon-to-be-wife has expressed interest in us getting our own place in Berlin, I think the pull of older parents back here means it's not gonna happen. So, I might find myself moving from Berlin altogether, packing up books, boots, CDs, LPs and such. Having all my possessions in a single container feels easier in my head than packing one box/synth/boot after the next.