Who's your real competition? Independents are rightly worried about getting swallowed by whales like Guitar Center and Best Buy. Maybe the real worry should be getting nibbled to death by all the little guys selling online.(THE GUITAR MARKET)

Music Trades, October, 2008

Independent guitar dealers, who's your competition? Is it Guitar Center? Is it Best Buy? Or is it some guy you've never heard of with a laptop and an apartment full of guitars? Just consider the case of Matthew Paul, a senior at Brown University. Selling guitars on eBay and Craigslist, he's made more than $42,000.

"I started it so I'd have money to go out with my friends at college," says Paul, "and now it's going to pay for law school." With thousands of sellers moving merchandise online, they are almost impossible to track. ...