banjered - Posted - 03/25/2022:  09:13:51

Wow! Gryphon Music just listed an Ome Minstrel for $29,500. I've wanted one of those or their Tupelo for years but it always seems they are several hundred dollars ahead of me. Ditto other prices at Gryphon and Elderly. Yes I know that the banjos are still the same price, it just that money has been cheapened and it takes more of those cheapened dollars to buy the same banjo, but it is still shocking. I bought my first good banjo at Gryphon around 1990, a Reiter Standard, for $700. I don't think I'll be buying any new banjos for a while, if ever. Least until I get around to knocking out the local liquor store. Jeb, you hold the horses while I go in and.... banjered

Alvin Conder - Posted - 03/25/2022:  09:27:51

29500 has to be a typo. I’m sure of it.

Been dealing with both Gryphon and Elderly for decades. Always fair and comparatively priced to other dealers.

doryman - Posted - 03/25/2022:  09:34:20

If that's not a typo, and the going price for banjos have actually gone up approx. on order of magnitude, then I am suddenly a very rich man.

Dlye - Posted - 03/25/2022:  09:39:53

Now listed at $2,950, must have been a typo.

banjered - Posted - 03/25/2022:  10:32:18

My oops, $2,950 but that's through the inflating roof! What was it last year? banjered

Alex Z - Posted - 03/25/2022:  14:55:51

That $700 in 1990 is worth about $1500 today.

Could probably buy a used Bart Reiter Standard for $1,500 today.

What the Ome would have sold for back in 1990, I don't know.

Edited by - Alex Z on 03/25/2022 14:57:57

rcc56 - Posted - 03/25/2022:  16:14:08

Welcome to the 2020's.  Have you been to the grocery store recently?

Beef stew meat, $6.50 a pound here. It's probably a lot higher for some of y'all in other parts of the country. $4 a pound two years ago.

Ome appears to be shipping very few banjos right now.  Like most other manufacturers, they're probably having problems getting materials, and the costs of those materials have gone up.

Anyone who would try to build new banjos in the US and sell them for $700 is going to be cold and hungry.  With only a few exceptions, the price for US small shop open backs of decent quality [and I mean real banjos, not toys with fancy marketing] starts at $1500 for plain models.

If inflation doesn't moderate soon, those of us who are nearing the end of our working lives are going to be in a heap of trouble.  And those of us who make our living in any facet of the music business are struggling now.

Edited by - rcc56 on 03/25/2022 16:34:03

doryman - Posted - 03/25/2022:  21:37:47

quote:

---

Originally posted by rcc56

Welcome to the 2020's.  Have you been to the grocery store recently?

Beef stew meat, $6.50 a pound here. It's probably a lot higher for some of y'all in other parts of the country. $4 a pound two years ago.

Ome appears to be shipping very few banjos right now.  Like most other manufacturers, they're probably having problems getting materials, and the costs of those materials have gone up.

Anyone who would try to build new banjos in the US and sell them for $700 is going to be cold and hungry.  With only a few exceptions, the price for US small shop open backs of decent quality [and I mean real banjos, not toys with fancy marketing] starts at $1500 for plain models.

If inflation doesn't moderate soon, those of us who are nearing the end of our working lives are going to be in a heap of trouble.  And those of us who make our living in any facet of the music business are struggling now.

---

If you're nearing retirement age, you've been through at least 4  major inflationary episodes in the USA and you're still alive and kicking. 

Edited by - doryman on 03/25/2022 21:38:11

paco0909 - Posted - 03/26/2022:  08:03:13

I don’t think the pricing of contemporary banjos is inflated or unfair. As someone who has purchased a variety of musical instruments from the early sixties right up to the present, there have been an incredible number of options in recent years at literally every price point. You can purchase entry level instruments for a few hundred dollars new and used, medium prices like a Pisgah for $1500, custom made instruments for $3000. Quality is available throughout. There are terrific makers out there doing great things with banjos, guitars, etc. As far as the Ome Minstrel goes, it seems like it’s a mid level instrument like the Mira, not like the Tupelo. But it certainly seems like Ome’s production is very limited right now.

banjered - Posted - 03/26/2022:  08:29:35

The banjo producers are doing what is needed to keep them in business and the prices they charge are reasonable and fair. My point is that it is the money system that is unreasonable and unfair and it leaves everyone, builders and buyers, trying to cope with a very unstable system that builders have a hard time figuring out what to charge and buyers what they can afford. When money gushes out of the money spigot, the first time users have a buying advantage over the rest of us as wages are always limping along behind the money curve. The last time I looked at a new Tupelo a year or two ago it was around $2100 so the $2900 was quite a shock for me. I guess this is just a lament on the crazy, corrupt system that besides everything else, affects my/our banjo world. banjered

Helix - Posted - 03/27/2022:  04:47:59

Inflation. I thought you were talking about an inflatable banjo, nevermind.

gottasmilealot - Posted - 03/28/2022:  08:43:39

The only valid prices are selling prices, not asking prices. There are many dreamers asking way too much for instruments these days. Just sayin'.

Eric A - Posted - 03/28/2022:  08:59:47

The older we get, the more we feel like everything is overpriced. That's the nature of the human mind. Our perceptions of cost and value are anchored in the past, always behind the curve.

KCJones - Posted - 03/28/2022:  09:25:01

Compared to most consumer products, banjo prices are actually lagging behind. They're arguably cheaper than ever, in real terms.

banjered - Posted - 03/28/2022:  10:06:00

Eric, we are being trained to think this kind of inflation, cheapened money, is "normal." It isn't.

Steven, you could be right or wrong. That is the trouble with a dishonest money system; both buyers and sellers have a difficult time figuring out what price to buy/sell. It really creates a challenge to make correct business decisions, so disrupting. banjered

mjt0229 - Posted - 03/28/2022:  10:06:10

There's a notable listing that has dropped by more than an order of magnitude in the classifieds. I've been watching it with interest.

Bill Rogers - Posted - 03/28/2022:  14:41:43

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tom Clunie

...I bought my first good banjo at Gryphon around 1990, a Reiter Standard, for $700. ...

---

Minneapolis Fed inflation calculator shows that equaled $1,454 last year. Doubtless more now. 

I think banjos have lagged inflation if anything; collectibles sometimes excepted. 

Bob Buckingham - Posted - 04/09/2022:  05:11:20

I bought a used Ome Minstrel back in the 1990"s from Donald Zepp for $700. That was one of the earliest models in the line. They have made improvements and have stylized that model for today's tastes. During the past 6 years we have seen quite a bit of inflation with supply chain issues, pandemic driven shortages and a lot of hands out for a little bit more all along the line. Instrument quality wood prices are up along with labor costs and everything else. We are in a paradigm shift in this world right now so things are unsettled. I would expect to find a good used Minstrel for $1800 to $2200. There are a lot of added parts on the new ones like the armrest and wood dowel and all of that. $2900 seems high to me too.