just strum said:
...If you can find a used Gibson that hasn't been trashed, I would consider it. However, I wouldn't pay extra for the name on the headstock. Nothing wrong with a Gibson, but they continue to price themselves out of the average guitar buyers market.
To take this point of Strum's up a notch, while it's been a truism that Gibson's would hold their resale value more so than an Epiphone, the way Gibson's spiraled their prices upwards in recent history with all thier niche model variations and their 'Johnny Guitar Hero of the Moment' Signature models, and Epis prices have pretty much held the line (by Gibson cutting manufacturing costs in China) in terms of
percentage of original cost, ironically, Epis actually hold their resale value better.
For instance: buy a new Epi for $400, you can probably get $300, minimum, if kept in good shape, within the first year, and more later as prices inevitably move up. So you'd lose at most 25%. On the other hand, buy a low-end Gibson for $700 and you may get $500, same scenario, and you'll lose about 30%. It gets worse the higher-priced the Gibson is.
A good Rule of Thumb is to expect a used guitar in excellent condition to be worth about 40-50% of it's original or current MSRP. Bottom line is that just like a new car, you've lost money the minute you leave the store with it, and you've got to live with accepting that reality. And, like a car, if you keep the guitar 2 years and lose $200, it cost you $100/year to own it. If you lose $100, it cost you $50/year, and so on...