[Trent lamb]

Hi guys I wanna trade a mouthpiece with someone across the country how should o go about doing that and what’s the best way possible

 

[1saxman]

If its just some guy that you don't know, I'd say whichever one of you initiated the trade should send his mouthpiece first, like buying something - you want it, you pay for it, it gets sent. In this case the one who made the first suggestion of a trade would be the 'buyer' with his mouthpiece serving as payment for the other guy's mouthpiece. Other than blind trust, there is no way to guarantee the other guy will send his mouthpiece. However, if you encountered this trade on this forum i'd say you have a good chance of getting a square deal.

 

[datsaxman]

What 1saxman said. You just each send and call it good. If they are expensive MPs, it might be different as the risk is greater.

 

[Guto]

Agreed with what 1saxman said. In addition I recommend you get on the phone with said person, and spend a good amount of time talking to him/her. Even better if you can do a video call. Still no guarantees, but that should give you a better sense of whether you should trust him/her.

 

[Pete Thomas]

If you want to make it safe you just sell them to each other using paypal and require delivery signature

 

[JL]

If you want to make it safe you just sell them to each other using paypal and require delivery signature

Now, that's a really clever solution that I never would have thought of! I rarely (well never)* have done sax or mpc trades, but if it ever comes up I'm going to remember this idea.

Thanks for the great tip, Pete.

*Hold on, now I do remember doing a mpc trade on here some time ago; we just mailed the mpcs out to each other simultaneously and it worked fine. But for some reason I trusted the other guy...

 

[Pete Thomas]

Now, that's a really clever solution that I never would have thought of! I rarely (well never)* have done sax or mpc trades, but if it ever comes up I'm going to remember this idea.

Well, it costs more because you are paying 4% Paypal fees. But it's basically a kind of cheap escrow.

I yearn for the old day though, you'd bring your mouthpiece to the marketplace and hand it over in return for a chicken. Or maybe a goat if it was double ring Florida blessed by the Pope. (even though it played no better than what came out of the chicken)

 

[Sigmund451]

Im not gonna give you my goat for your double ring. She makes goat cheese and little goats for meat. Your mouthpiece just makes noise. I will give you three chickens and a duck.

 

[skeller047]

In 1974 I traded mouthpieces with a fellow saxophonist, after he tried mine and I tried his. In those days, we didn’t care about germs quite so much, and it was in a nightclub, so we probably were both drunk.

We both commented a year or so later that each of us got the better deal, so it was a good trade.

I still have the piece, a Selmer hard rubber scroll shank soprano in F tip opening (my friend got a Selmer metal soprano E), but I haven’t traded a mouthpiece since. Couldn’t do it that way today anyway....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[chipcook]

This is what I typically do for trades...both trading parties get USPS orders placed with tracking numbers exchanged. Once BOTH parties share this, it is more than likely that both are genuine in shipping. Of course, nothing is guaranteed.

 

[Grumps]

When I was in the market, I traded mouthpieces all the time with various members of the board. Three such mouthpieces are still my go to mouthpieces of choice on alto, tenor and bari, and it's probably been at least fifteen years since I picked them up.

I only traded with established members who were regular participants. I insisted on detailed photos, and would send same for whatever I was giving up. We'd mail them at the same time and agree to be stuck with what we got. I got to try dozens of mouthpieces this way over the course of a few years. I'd avoid trading for altered mouthpieces as they were way more difficult to unload when I didn't like them. But generally, if a mouthpiece didn't suit me, it would just become trade bait for another deal, or I'd sell it outright if that worked better for me.

Trading mouthpieces was a great way to try various mouthpieces without breaking the bank, allowing you to clean out your forlorn mouthpieces doing no one any good sitting in a drawer. I would never do it with a stranger however, outside the forum.

 

[JL]

I yearn for the old day though, you'd bring your mouthpiece to the marketplace and hand it over in return for a chicken. Or maybe a goat if it was double ring Florida blessed by the Pope. (even though it played no better than what came out of the chicken)

Yeah, I yearn for those days also. I remember a time (way back) when I could load up all kinds of 'worthless' junk lying around in the closet that I'd accumulated (and would just as soon throw away) into my car, drive a huge flea market in an abandoned drive-in movie parking lot, and actually sell all that junk. It's amazing what people would buy back then at the 'right price,' although I guess it would take a lucky break to sell a mpc there.

As a bonus, on a hot day my buddy & I would have a cooler full of beer, then when a couple of obvious beer-drinkers (about 90% of the crowd) would be walking by, we'd pop the top of our beer cans and take a big swig. Invariably, they would walk up and ask if we'd sell them a couple beers and we'd do so for a healthy profit.

Those were the days!