Buying used gear without getting burned

Before

Ask for the serial number before you travel anywhere. A legitimate seller sends it without fuss. Run it through a serial lookup to confirm the year and factory match the listing, and check it against stolen gear registers. If the seller will not share the serial, walk away; there is no innocent reason to withhold it.

Ask how long they have owned it and where it came from. You are not interrogating anyone, you are having the conversation any player would have. Vague answers about a valuable instrument are information.

Inspecting

Check that the serial on the instrument matches the one you were sent, and that it has not been sanded, restamped, or covered. Look at the neck joint, control cavities, and solder joints if you can: undisclosed repairs and part swaps decide value.

Play it before money moves. Every fret, every switch position, both pickups, the truss rod cover off if the seller allows it. A seller who rushes the inspection is telling you something.

Meeting

Meet somewhere public with cameras: many police stations offer marketplace exchange spots, and any busy music shop car park beats a stranger's stairwell. Bring a friend when the value justifies it. Cash keeps you anonymous but a bank transfer creates a record; for expensive instruments the record is worth more than the anonymity.

Paperwork

Get something in writing, even a text message that says what was sold, for how much, with the serial number, on what date. That single message is the provenance chain's first link, and it protects the seller as much as the buyer.

If the instrument is on GearHub, the seller can transfer the record to you directly: history, photos, service records, and all. The provenance survives the sale, which is precisely when provenance matters.