Selling drums individually

[jgziegler]

Hola Gringos!

So my lovely Czechs seem to love selling off their kits piece by piece. On the used website, I often see random toms, bass drums, or even whole kits listed by piece. And I'm not talking about only cheap drums, often they want 1-200USD per drum.

I get sometimes you downsize your kit, and sure, it might be interesting to have a mixed and matched kit, but it seems strange this is so often done.

Or is it just me?

[FlayOtters]

I am always looking for Slingerland gear on eBay so I see a lot of one small market.
You can't sell a Slingerland kit for very much these days and most sellers don't want to accept their classic drum kit is only worth $500, when the Ludwig is selling for $1500.
To try and squeeze a few more bucks from the deal they'll part it out, just as you described, figuring, I guess, that somebody will pay a premium for that one missing drum they need.
Seems a shame but commerce can be a heartless beyotch.
OTOH I see the same drums going round and round on eBay like the luggage carousel at JFK.

[N2Bluz]

Yep. Same theory as parting out an old car for salvage. The whole car may only be worth $500, but you can get $50 per fender, $100 for the hood, $250 for the engine, $150 for the transmission, $150 each for the doors, etc..

[FlyByNight]

I've been looking for a 10" tom for my kit for years. Almost impossible to find.

[jgziegler]

Yep. Same theory as parting out an old car for salvage. The whole car may only be worth $500, but you can get $50 per fender, $100 for the hood, $250 for the engine, $150 for the transmission, $150 each for the doors, etc..

Solid logic, but for us non-car nuts, those parts are purchased simply on the basis of them working with the rest of the car. Since the prices I see listed puts them out of a practice set, you either have to:

1. Not care about different colors or refinish them or get really really lucky you get the same color.

AND

2. Not care about different brand/type of drums or get really lucky that the new drum works with your kit.

While I really wouldn't care if the hood of my non-existent car had a different color from the rest, I wouldn't want make floor tom to not match the rest of the kit...

[SpazApproved]

I look everyday for my Yamaha Maple Custom....

I search EVERYWHERE

I wish more people parted out their drums individually haha
I myself could never do it.

[N2Bluz]

Solid logic, but for us non-car nuts, those parts are purchased simply on the basis of them working with the rest of the car. Since the prices I see listed puts them out of a practice set, you either have to:

1. Not care about different colors or refinish them or get really really lucky you get the same color.

AND

2. Not care about different brand/type of drums or get really lucky that the new drum works with your kit.

While I really wouldn't care if the hood of my non-existent car had a different color from the rest, I wouldn't want make floor tom to not match the rest of the kit...

You are exactly right. There are a lot of people like me who love to buy single drums to assemble a project kit. Finish doesn't matter, as they'll be rewrapped or refinished. Example; I bought a vintage 14x10 Ludwig Keystone badge maple tom a while back.....just for parts. I needed the shortest "Mach" lugs (very hard to find), tension rods and hoops for another project. Then, I'll cut the shell down and make snare out of it using "Bow tie" lugs I salvaged from an old marching drum.

I'm OK with doing this to orphan drums, BUT, it really makes me mad when sellers take a nice matching full kit and sell all the toms individually. They use guys like me to run the price up for the poor guy who's trying to buy the complete kit. I won't bid If I see the other matching drums from the seller.

[Exotic Matter]

It really depends on the drums. If they are parting out common drums in common sizes it doesn't really make much sense. Individual drums can be worth a lot but they need to be sought after and not common sizes.

[funkyruss]

My last gig i used 1 drum from 3 different kits...Mapex, Ludwig and a Stewart kick drum...who cares? nooobody!