@Dani remember the price on a used bass is what they are hoping for, and you can negotiate.
Jamie
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which is already not that bad a deal. I had to learn this too but regarding music and instruments the price reduction is not as much as you might be used to. As long as it’s still in good shape the price reduction is usually not that high, but at the same time:
I paid 400€ for a used bass with retail price 599€. But it had a few smaller marks and scratches.
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Hi and Welcome to the forum and Bass Buzz!
Ok, I was in a position just like yours a year or so ago. I had a cheap ibanez bass and the more and more I got into bass, the more and more I wanted a fender p bass.
Eventually, because I know what I’m like, I got a Mexican P bass and started playing it to death.
So you’d think that’d be it, yeah?
Yeah, it doesn’t seem to work like that for me… 
So I then started playing around with Jazz basses
(you can see where this is going )
I ended up getting more and more basses and absolutely loving them all.
But here’s the thing I noticed - the more basses I got, the more it helped me identify what sound and type of bass that I like. I couldn’t do it by just playing about with 1 or 2.
Obviously, my bank manager is having kittens now at my credit card, but however you manage to do it, I think playing loads of basses is a really good idea. It really helps you find what you’re after - and you’ll know instantly when you get one and just go, “ah, this is the one - this is the sound and feel I’m after” and now I end up playing 2 specific basses - one that I recently bought and yup, you guessed it, the original Mexican P bass.
As for the active / passive thing - I find for me personally, that it completely depends on the scene - if I’m at home noodling about - I’ll pick up the passive mexican p bass. But if I’m jamming with my friends in the studio, I’ll take the new active p bass down, so I have the option if I want to, to boost it to cut through and be able to be heard. But to be fair, I normally leave it on passive anyway, unless it’s a specific type of music where I need to go active - it’s just nice to have the option. But again, best advice I can give is to experience every possible bass that you can, however you can to give you an idea of how they’re all subtly different.
The only battle I have left to fight is resisting going down the Stingray path, and @T_dub is really not helping me with this 
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This heavily depends on the used market in your area. I would expect to pay about ~60% of retail, maximum, for a typical used instrument here, and that one would be close to perfect. For example, I paid 35k JPY for my TRBX604, and they typically run around 60-70k new. And it was in near perfect condition. That’s pretty consistent across searches I have done for other instruments too, it mostly depends on demand and patience.
Demand is a factor though. I have never seen a used Ibanez SR2400APL, for example, and when I do I expect it will be expensive relative to other used instruments.
But for things like production basses generally with patience you can get good deals in my experience.
I’ve had better luck than that selling, getting around to 70% retail for some stuff I have sold, but I consider myself lucky there.
For B stock or “surplus” stock I would expect a pretty solid discount here. I bought my 5-string that way at about 70% of full retail and ended up selling it used for a profit. The nice thing about buying that way is you get a warranty.
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Unfortunately, I haven’t come across big discounts yet… Seems like the market acts quite differently in the European Union. One of the biggest online music shops will only get you a 10% discount for their B-Stock. Good deals seem to be hard to find on other places like Reverb as well.
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Same as Australia @Krescht . There are the very occasional bargains out there but very few.
We do have low price budget basses a plenty but a good used quality item is rare .
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Yeah I’m 100% sure this varies a lot by region. @T_dub seems to be having really good luck with the US market but others have said the same as you folks about the UK and EU.
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do it 
Gobble gobble we accept you we accept you one of us one of us one of us
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Hello, I’ll. I’m and old dude who played professionally in the 70s; tours, recording and studio sessions. After years as a, believe it or not, local cop then federal investigator, I picked up the bass again over a year ago. I have several bass guitars, but of late am really enjoying my MusicMan Stingray Special. I alternate between the Stingray and a Fender Player JB. So little time. So much music left to play.
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Welcome @Russell_Kimball.
I hope your memoirs are soon to be published, because that is a rad backstory.
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Folks after seeing so many amazing pics of your gear, I have to say I’m more than a little jealous…I think some of y’all have spent more on two sets of strings than I have wrapped up in all of my bass gear. I’m living vicariously through you. Every time I hit the wrong note I’m thinking, “bet those guys don’t have wrong notes on their basses” then I’m back to trying to find the 1…ba ba ba bababa…1…ba ba ba bababa…1. Seriously some of you have some incredible rigs.
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There are days I’m sure my fretboard is made up of a combination of bad notes only where I want to play @Tokyo_Rat 
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As you wish
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Yes, I really have to refrain to not just go and buy this bass, it is possibly the nicest instrument I have ever seen. I am very very very fortunate that none of the local stores have one in stock.
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That is a bummer, those are both such great feeling / playing basses IME. Hopefully you are able to at least find some 2hand so you can at least play them to see if you like.
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Used from public people, and used from 2nd hand stores / pawn shops. I have had great success at both to get some great deals.
My last Stingray 34, which the closest example for price I could find for the same exact bass from 2012 was EBay, and there was two for sale, one in Australia starting at $2240 AUD IIRC and another somewhere in the UK, buy it now for $1300 USD.
The pawn shop I went to listed it for $650. It was / is in excellent, near new condition.
I paid $400 for it out the door…
So, when looking at 2hand adds, in retail stores, pawn shops and a persons home, the price, as mentioned already, is a starting price.
I am watching an amp I want to get, that is starting price $350. Ther person listed it 5 months ago, so has not had success selling it at that price.
If / When. I decide to get it, and I go, I will be going to purchase it for $200. Possibly $250 if I am really really attracted to it after paying it, but nothing more. If not, I won’t get it, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Good luck
Yes, as I think I said in an earlier post, had I not acquired and played so many basses, I would be playing an Ibanez SR, possibly also an ESP LTD B-4E and that would be the end of that.
But, I still play those daily, I have added the Stingray to the top, and am so happy to have been able to play so many basses, not just in the shop, but really play, own, set up, re-string, clean, play, play, play.
I had a lot of basses picking me from the get go, and I was happy with ones that picked me, but it took a little time for the right bass to have the opportunity to pick me, and we couldn’t be happier, well, me and my 3 stingrays.
Sorry, but its a path that I highly recommend everybody at least try to walk down once.
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