Pick a bass and see the lowest current prices on eBay, the largest used instrument marketplace, with shipping, condition and seller rating side by side. Prices are pulled live, so what you see is what sellers are actually asking this minute.
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Browse the full range of used bass guitars on eBay → Prices move fast. See the biggest price drops across every category this week →Scale length decides whether the instrument suits you, and it is the thing least often mentioned in a listing. Standard is 34 inches. Short scale is 30 to 32 and it plays much easier for small hands or anyone coming across from six strings, which is most of why the Mustang, the Jaguar and the Hofner keep their following. The tone differs too: shorter strings are slacker and warmer, longer ones tighter and more defined. If a listing does not say, ask, because it changes the instrument more than the colour does.
Work out whether the electronics are passive or active, then check the battery box. Active basses need a 9 volt inside and go quiet or distort when it dies, and sellers who do not play bass often list a perfectly good instrument as faulty for exactly that reason. That is a bargain if you know it and a nuisance if you do not. A StingRay, a Sire and most Ibanez SR models are active; a Precision is not.
Sight down the neck and ask about the truss rod. Bass strings pull far harder than guitar strings, so necks move more, and a neck with a hump where it joins the body or a truss rod already wound tight is a repair rather than a setup. Relief you can adjust is normal and expected. A rod at the end of its travel is the one fault that makes a cheap bass not worth buying.
Ask what it weighs. Ash-bodied basses from the seventies onwards can pass ten pounds, and players sell them for that reason alone rather than any fault. It is the most common cause of a good instrument going cheap, and the least visible in photographs.
Shipping is the real risk on a long-necked instrument. Headstocks break in transit when the strings are left at full tension and the neck is not supported inside the box. Ask for the strings to be slackened and for packing under the headstock, and favour a seller who says how they will pack it.
Value. American Fenders, Music Man and Rickenbacker hold their money for years and are bought as much for that as for the sound. Entry level instruments do not: a Squier Affinity or an Ibanez GSR loses most of its value the moment it leaves the shop, which is exactly why buying one secondhand is such good sense. The steepest discount against new is almost always on the cheapest instruments, not the famous ones.
Live eBay listings. Pick a model and it fetches the current lowest-priced listings in real time, with the listing shown next to each price.
Long scale is 34 inches and is standard. Short scale is 30 to 32 inches, easier to play and warmer sounding, which is why the Mustang, the Jaguar and the Hofner stay popular. Neither is better. If the listing does not say which it is, ask before bidding.
It means there is a powered preamp and a 9 volt battery inside. A flat battery makes the bass go quiet or distort, and sellers who do not play bass often list one as faulty because of it. Worth knowing, because those are frequently the cheapest listings on the page.
Sight down the neck for a hump at the body joint, and ask whether the truss rod still turns freely. Ask about the weight, since ash bodies can pass ten pounds. Then ask the seller to slacken the strings and pack under the headstock, which is where these break in transit.
American Fender, Music Man and Rickenbacker hold value for years. Entry level instruments lose most of theirs immediately, which is the argument for buying those used rather than new, and the reason the biggest discounts here are on the cheapest models.
A daily snapshot of the lowest genuine eBay price for every model we track, and how good that price is right now versus its usual level, updated automatically. Prices last refreshed 30 August 2026 . Tap a price to see that model's cheapest listings on eBay, or tap a model name for the full live list here.
Under each model is the actual listing that price came from, so you can see whether it is the thing you want or a bundle, a variant, or an accessory that happens to share the name.
| Model ↕ | Cheapest now ↕ | vs typical ↕ | vs recent |
|---|---|---|---|
Yamaha BB434 Yamaha BB434 Broad Bass 4-String Bass Guitar Teal Blue Finish | $480 | 18% under | ▼ 18% |
Yamaha TRBX304 Yamaha TRBX304 Electric Guitar | $300 lowest yet | 16% under | ▼ 22% |
Ibanez SR500 Ibanez SR500 Black Flat 4 String Electric Bass Guitar | $430 lowest yet | 13% under | ▼ 13% |
Gibson Thunderbird Gibson Thunderbird | $974 lowest yet | 12% under | ▼ 11% |
Yamaha TRBX174 Yamaha TRBX174 Indonesia Electric Bass Guitar Old Violin Sunburst Used | $180 | 10% under | ▼ 10% |
Sterling Ray34 Sterling by Music Man Stingray Ray34 Neptune Blue Flame Top Bass Guitar. | $580 lowest yet | 7% under | ▼ 7% |
Schecter Stiletto Schecter Stiletto Extreme-4 4-String Right-Handed Bass Guitar - Black Cherry | $378 lowest yet | 5% under | ▼ 5% |
Warwick Corvette Warwick Corvette $$ Electric Bass Sound Checked | $602 lowest yet | 5% under | ▼ 5% |
Squier Affinity Jazz Bass Fender Squier Affinity Jazz Bass V 5 String NECK Dot Inlays "C" Laurel | $192 lowest yet | 4% under | ▼ 4% |
Peavey Millennium Peavey Millennium BXP Four String Bass Guitar Tigers Eye Color Good Condition… | $220 | about typical | ▼ 2% |
Fender Mustang Bass Fender Player II Mustang Bass PJ | $700 | about typical | ▼ 1% |
Ibanez GSR200 Ibanez GIO GSR200 4-String Electric Bass Guitar In Jewel Blue Finish/ Carry B… | $120 same 23 days | about typical | steady |
Sterling Ray4 Sterling by MusicMan, Sub series RAY4 | $240 same 23 days | about typical | steady |
Hofner Ignition Bass Hofner Ignition PRO Club Electric Bass Guitar- Sunburst - Open Box | $325 same 23 days | about typical | steady |
Squier Classic Vibe Precision Bass Squier Classic Vibe 70's Precision Bass 4-String Bass Guitar 3-Tone Sunburst… | $360 | about typical | steady |
Sire Marcus Miller V7 Sire Marcus Miller Bass Guitar V7 Alder 4-String Alder Body Maple Neck, Elect… | $650 same 23 days | about typical | steady |
Fender Jaguar Bass Fender Player Jaguar Bass Tidepool | $959 same 23 days | about typical | steady |
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass 2021 Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass – 75th Anniversary | $1,200 same 23 days | about typical | steady |
Fender American Professional II Precision Bass Fender American Professional II Precision Bass - Mystic Surf Green with Rosew… | $1,400 same 12 days | about typical | steady |
Rickenbacker 4003 Rickenbacker 4003 Jetglo Maple Solid Body 4 String Electronic Bass - Black | $2,125 | about typical | steady |
Fender Player Jazz Bass Fender Player II Jazz Bass - Birch Green | $640 | about typical | ▲ 2% |
Fender Player Precision Bass Modded Fender Player Precision (P-Bass) ft. Passive Stingray Bridge Pickup | $646 | above typical | ▲ 4% |
Squier Classic Vibe Jazz Bass ALNICO Genuine Fender Squier Classic Vibe Jazz J Bass LOADED Maple Body | $320 | above typical | ▲ 7% |
Epiphone Thunderbird Epiphone Thunderbird 4-String Vintage Sunburst Mahogany Right Handed Bass Gui… | $350 | above typical | steady |
Ernie Ball StingRay Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay Special Bass Guitar | $1,750 | above typical | ▲ 13% |
Ibanez SR300 IBANEZ SR300 Electric Bass Guitar | $427 | above typical | ▲ 1% |