KoAloha Factory Special Pricing on the Secondary Market

[necessaryrooster]

Personally I when I sell used instruments I base my price around what I purchased the instrument for. If I purchased a brand new factory special at a discounted price, I use that price as the starting point and not what a brand new "perfect" instrument costs. I don't really have a "set" percentage I reduce by--depends on what the market looks like at the time. However, I'll never charge more than what I paid for an instrument (I also don't buy collector's items).

 

[badhabits]

Yes... I've seen older instruments priced according to newer pricing... i.e., say a 2014 model of whatever priced at 70-80% off the new 2024 instrument price. That is rarely appropriate.

 

[efiscella]

I think you have to price according to the market. I understand getting back what you paid for an uke and that is great when it happens, and I don't think anyone on this forum looks to make money by buying and selling ukes, but unless it was a recent purchase, it can't just be about getting back what you paid and no more. Many years ago, while on Oahu, I went to the Kamaka factory and I purchased from Sam Kamaka Jr an HF-38. That is a tenor eight string that he made in honor of the Be-centennial of the United States. It had a slight cosmetic defect that I never found and I owned it for 40 years. I paid $169 for it. I returned to Hawaii 40 years later and brought it with me. I was getting offers of $1,800 for it at the time, but I did not sell. When I did sell it, I looked at the price of new HF-38's and took 30% off because it was a fair price. Even though mine was in like new condition, I did not charge new condition but I also did not take 20% off the $169. I would expect that if a person has a like new factory special that they want to sell, and everything else being equal as in build, woods, bracing, etc, they would take the current price of the factory special (usually 20% MSRP) and then discount from there. In my experience, one needs to be fair to the buyer, as well as to ourselves. This is why I have loved buying on the UU marketplace because in 13 years of buying and selling, everyone has always been fair. By the way, that $169 was a lot of money back then for an ukulele.

 

[Pissodes]

Thanks all for the responses. While hunting for a used KSM-03, I came across a used factory special from 2020 and a used 2022. Both were at the same asking price. I was thinking that the 2020 factory special was most likely overpriced vs the 2022 being underpriced. Of course anyone can ask what they want, but it may take a long time to sell. That 2020 is still availble...at the same price.

 

[efiscella]

Thanks all for the responses. While hunting for a used KSM-03, I came across a used factory special from 2020 and a used 2022. Both were at the same asking price. I was thinking that the 2020 factory special was most likely overpriced vs the 2022 being underpriced. Of course anyone can ask what they want, but it may take a long time to sell. That 2020 is still availble...at the same price.

I am not speaking with authority here, just on observation and conjecture. I think the pandemic changed things in regard to KoAloha Factory Special. Before the pandemic, KoAloha did not sell ukes so as not to compete with their dealers. They only sold Factory Special and only at the factory. You could not get a Factory Special outside of the factory unless it was on the secondary/used market. These had slight cosmetic problems but never affected the sound or tone. Then the pandemic and the factory was closed for a long time. After they started up, they still did not have tours and people could not come in to purchase. Even in much of 2023, it was by appointment only that you could enter the factory. I noticed then that dealers on their websites were offering KoAloha Factory Specials. KoAloha found a way to get the Factory Specials out, but now it was in the hands of the dealers. In February 2023 I spent a month at the KoAloha Factory visiting and working with Pops and Moms for Ukesa. In the KoAloha showroom, there were very few ukes and even fewer Factory Specials. Many were marked at full MSRP, however, Isaac at Ukulele Labs was selling Factory Specials on his site. So was TUS. I also noticed that markdowns were not consistent. No longer were Factory Specials automatically 20% off. It seems the dealer could mark them down as they saw fit. I don't know where it stands today. I help Pops with Ukesahawaii.com but I don't work for KoAloha and certainly don't speak for them. 2020 and 2022 are times when the factory was closed to customers and visitors and my guess is that Factory Special prices are not the consistent 20% off when it was in the hands of KoAloha since each dealer probably had to purchase the Specials from KoAloha and then could charge what they wanted.

 

[merlin666]

I was at factory tour about a month ago and there was only a handful of ukes for sale and I don't think any of them was a special. I am not sure if they were marked consistently on labels etc over the years. Also KoAlohas are constantly changing over time and all the detailed modifications are not documented for the public. Some of the changes are improvements but others are for building efficiency and cost reduction. So for buying used KoAlohas and deciding between different years it helps to have some awareness of what features were added or removed for those models, which at least for me is most important consideration.

 

[Keith5523]

So for buying used KoAlohas and deciding between different years it helps to have some awareness of what features were added or removed for those models,

Is there a way to do that? Actually written somewhere or is it just "caveat emptor"?

 

[merlin666]

Is there a way to do that? Actually written somewhere or is it just "caveat emptor"?

The lack of documentation is a barrier and I think it would be a monumental task for a member to take on. Maybe a collaborative project where we start a thread where people can add changes they remember to individual years. In another thread it was mentioned that they may be building replicas of their early 90s ukes now.