The only place I know of to check for people selling guitars locally is Craigslist. There have been some good ones, but I'm wondering if there are other sites to look through as well.

Hey Hunter.. What's up..
Try your local news paper classified..
Steals and Deals ( paper usually found out side your favorite convienent store)
Don't forget the pawn shops...
Compart1

Not sure where you are, but in Canada we have one called Kijiji... URL format seems to be http://<yourcity>.kijiji.ca/ I don't know if it's a world wide thing.

Also when I do Googles on this sort of thing I get local classifieds and newspapers that list buy & sell.

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Hijacking the boards one thread at a time...

There is a national chain called "Music-Go-Round" that specializes in used instruments of all sorts, especially guitars.

http://www.musicgoround.com/about-us.aspx

There are also some local guitar stores in some areas that specialize in used gear. Pittsburgh Guitars is one such store. They claim to "Buyeth, selleth, and tradeth".

http://www.pittsburghguitars.com/index.html

Ebay is a huge source of used guitars. It's also a great place to sell any that you buy and end up not liking. I bought my bass and amp on eBay, as well as tuners, stomp boxes, and miscellaneous other stuff. I know people who'll buy and re-sell guitars constantly on eBay. If you're a shredder who wants to try out a jazz box for a while to see if you like it, buy a used one on eBay. If you find out it's not your thing, re-sell it.

Check around for local internet forums. Many cities have "classified ads" websites that are only about the local scene.

Even guitar dealers who don't handle used guitars and won't take trade-ins will sometimes have an old-fashioned cork-board bulletin board where people can advertise used gear. The stores realize that if they help someone sell old gear they don't want anymore, the proceeds of the sale will end up being used to get new gear.

I'm pretty much off ebay for anything that doesn't fit in the mail slot. Even on a "great deal" fricken shipping & occasionally customs makes it comparable to what I can find at the local pawn shops & used instrument stores. Plus there I can try before I buy.

Example: I purchased a project guitar off Ebay. 1985 Yamaha SE200 in need of some minor repairs. Research tells me it's mahogany/mahogany and is a hardtail Strat config. $40 bucks! Yay! Then came shipping for $30, then customs for another $30. So my broken-ass guitar costs me $100.

Yes I am aware of the costs before I bid, but sometimes I ignore the facts to suit me. Mind you, just the parts for a neck would cost me $100 from StewMac, so I'm consoling myself.

Anyway, imo ebay is not always a great answer. I'm going to focus on my local sources from now on.

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Hijacking the boards one thread at a time...

The reason I stay away from ebay is because I never want to buy a used guitar (or even a new one) that I don't get to play and touch before.

I live in Orange County. As far as other online classifieds goes, they don't seem to be used as much as Craigslist. There may be only 2-4 guitars on other sites.

Musician's Friend and Guitar Center have both have blems, display and recondition models.

Each store has it's own list of what they have available.

Sweetwater and Musician's Friend, I don't believe have retail stores.
Musician's Friend has a 45 day guarantee. I believe Guitar Center does also, but I couldn't locate it today.
Guitar Center has a store locator for retail stores closest to you.

I hope this helps...
Compart1