bassballs27

A lot of what the OP mentioned is happening over on talkbass.com too. I think a lot of it has to do with the world economy in general. The American dollar has strengthened so much in a short period of time. The Euro has remained fairly constant, but wasn't in that great of shape the past year. My Canadian Dollar has taken an absolute beating! Hard to believe just last year we were merely 10 or 15% under par with only a year before being at par. We're trading back at 35% under par.........that's where things were back 20 years ago. I'm hoping we don't see the exchange rates we saw back in the early 2000's which was 45%......with a record day of 55%. I think, for the most part, there isn't much money to be had these days. Real estate keeps going up and some people seem to be buying here in Canada because money is cheap (as interest rates are cheap). But eventually, young people won't be able to afford to buy a new home and that's when the market will fall apart. Basses and gear are for the most part not considered a necessity......so when people start backing off buying.....and the used value keeps going up.....sales will become more and more scarce. Trades are a good thing........it keeps people honest for the most part.......but you have to make sure you know what you're doing!