If Northfields are so amazing, why so many for sale on cafe?

[mandoshane]

Forgive this question. I dropped out of mandolin for a few years, and when I came back all I saw or heard about were Northfield mandolins. I had never even heard of them back in the early 2000's. It got me curious. I played one that I thought was nice enough and had nice depth. It was a Big Mon. Recently, I got to wondering why I see new ones come up for sale (daily?) on the cafe? They have clearly sold a ton of mandos. What I wonder is why so many people sell? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Charles E.]

Are you talking new or used? Most of the ones I see posted are new Northfields being sold by well known dealers. And yes they are selling.

[Deyoung]

This is an assumption because I don’t have any data to back it but I’m pretty sure Northfield is producing more mandolins than most other builders
Also in what I’ve seen Northfield and also Collings are kinda a “gateway drug” into all the mandolins above of 3K.

[Charles E.]

The same question has been asked about (insert mandolin brand name here) many times on the Cafe, nothing new.

[rcc56]

Well, I got curious, so I made a count.
There are 45 Northfield instruments in the classifieds.
35 are new from dealers. 9 are used. And one is a used instrument that has just been marked "sold."

[Mandolin Cafe]

From a post we made in 2015 which holds true many years later. As it says at the bottom, there's are hundreds of these:

Not so much thoughts, but similar posts we see over and over. And over. And over.

What's with all the Rigels?
Are gilchrists looseing their desire
Why's everone unloading oval-holed mandolins?
A lot of "the best mandolin ever" for sale
Why so many Sam Bush mando's for sale
Why are so many Loars for sale?
Why so many cheapo mandolins on Ebay?
Every time I look I see a pre 30 Gibson A for sale
Glut of used instruments for sale?
Gibson fern mandolins
Why do i see (glut of Collings for sale)
How can a Breedlove breed more love? (glut to Breedlove for sale)
Dudenbostel A Models for Sale
On the frequency of Northfield "Big Mon" in the Classifieds

Just the tip of the iceberg with a cursory search. Of course we couldn't have a list like this without the granddaddy of them all:

Classifieds Gone Wild

There are hundreds of these threads. Wait a few weeks and --insert different name here -- away we go again.

[Kevin Briggs]

They really are great. The cost for what you get is top notch. I suspect they are often for sale because there are lots of the out there, and, you know MAS.

[Louise NM]

Well, I got curious, so I made a count.
There are 45 Northfield instruments in the classifieds.
35 are new from dealers. 9 are used. And one is a used instrument that has just been marked "sold."

After two years of supply chain problems, ships getting stuck sideways in the Suez canal, ports unable to unload ships, and truckers unavailable to move product from the ports, 35 new Northfields in the classifieds might imply that the last 24 months' worth of mandolins have finally gotten to the retailers.

[jherm]

just because some big name plays one brand doesnt mean its the mando for u. find the mando that fits your style and you really like and go with it. i played several
'big mon's and really didnt care for any of them... but thats just me.

[Jill McAuley]

This is an assumption because I don’t have any data to back it but I’m pretty sure Northfield is producing more mandolins than most other builders
Also in what I’ve seen Northfield and also Collings are kinda a “gateway drug” into all the mandolins above of 3K.

I'd also add Eastman to that list as we see a lot of them in the classifieds - which doesn't mean there's something "wrong" with them, just more likely that they were the gateway to perhaps a Northfield or Collings, which themselves may be a gateway into a bespoke luthier built instrument. The Collings I purchased second hand ended up being the gateway to my Girouard Concert oval A.

[Eric Platt]

Some of us are also doing more catch and release type of ownership. Have let a number of keeper mandolins pass through my hands the last few years. Sold off a few when I got my Northfield.

Funny, have thought about selling the Northfield to buy a Rigel. (An A Natural was my first "good" mandolin.)

[Mandolin Cafe]

After two years of supply chain problems, ships getting stuck sideways in the Suez canal, ports unable to unload ships, and truckers unavailable to move product from the ports, 35 new Northfields in the classifieds might imply that the last 24 months' worth of mandolins have finally gotten to the retailers.

Northfield does not ship any instruments by container boat. They're all flown in. Plus, a good percentage of what they're selling is completely built in Michigan. The last batch of 30 flattop octaves that was just released to retail a few days ago, all built in Marshall, Michigan.

[Mitch Stein]

Add to that, the reduction in other brand offerings (example: you won't see new Webers showing up) and the percent appears even higher

[Mandobar]

So, let's think about this question mathematically: Let's say a manufacturer has made 400 instruments, and there are nine used for sale currently (for various reasons- it is tax season, is it not?).

So, 9 instruments out of 400 is right around 2% resale rate as of the count. If the pool was a thousand instruments it would be roughly .9 percent....just under 1 percent....so, I don't believe that that's an exodus from the brand, in any respect.

Everything is relative, and should be interpreted in context.

I think it shows the exact opposite of what the OP was thinking. The brand has a really strong following.

[Nashville]

I'm guessing, but it seems to me that Northfield has been producing more mandolins in the last few years, so there are more available now. When I first heard of them even here in Nashville it was difficult to find one to play. Now every store has a couple for sale and there are used ones on the market. I think it's great.

And I just bought my 2nd Northfield.

There are a lot of Gibsons and Martins for sale also.

[William Smith]

I had one that I got in maybe 2011-12? It was #50 something, and thats when they had 2 models, I got the Traditional one in a full swap deal through Elderly. I got rid of a few old A model Gibson's. Out of the box it was a pretty darn good mandolin for the $, Mine looked close in color to the MM's. Build was really fine. I didn't play it much and a buddy needed a great mandolin so he got it from me. When I played it many years later it was wide open and if that's all the mandolin I had that would've been fine with me.

I think there are so many for sale always as they've been making a load of different models-not to mention all the different tone bar styles "I still don't get it but I've never took the time to read about em"! that's when I just got lost and decided to stick with makers mainly Gibson as I'm a geek for the oldies! And independent one man shops. I have no idea what they cost new and used nowadays as its out of my niche? A friend pointed out one of their F-5 style but with the F-4 style soundhole I thought was very neat. But then I got to thinking about an old basket case F-2 or the like and that was the end of the new model for me. I don't think he bought it as it was too much for him.

[mandoshane]

I had one that I got in maybe 2011-12? It was #50 something, and thats when they had 2 models, I got the Traditional one in a full swap deal through Elderly. I got rid of a few old A model Gibson's. Out of the box it was a pretty darn good mandolin for the $, Mine looked close in color to the MM's. Build was really fine. I didn't play it much and a buddy needed a great mandolin so he got it from me. When I played it many years later it was wide open and if that's all the mandolin I had that would've been fine with me.

I think there are so many for sale always as they've been making a load of different models-not to mention all the different tone bar styles "I still don't get it but I've never took the time to read about em"! that's when I just got lost and decided to stick with makers mainly Gibson as I'm a geek for the oldies! And independent one man shops. I have no idea what they cost new and used nowadays as its out of my niche? A friend pointed out one of their F-5 style but with the F-4 style soundhole I thought was very neat. But then I got to thinking about an old basket case F-2 or the like and that was the end of the new model for me. I don't think he bought it as it was too much for him.

This is the answer. They are making a ton of mandos and tons of variations and models. Fwiw, I wasn't just referring to used ones on the cafe now. Used Northfields are hitting the cafe at a pretty regular rate. I just wanted to hear a few different perspectives on this. Thanks.

[Drew Egerton]

There are so many for sale because I can't afford to buy them all.
Love my 4th Gen and Flat Top Octave. Will probably buy a F5S or Big Mon eventually as a second mando to have around since I sold my others.

[Bill McCall]

Players get bored and want something new.
Players suffer financial reversals.
Players want more bling.
Players want more treble/bass/balance.
Players want what their buddies have.
Players want a different color.
Players want what pro 'x' is now playing.
Players want a more ITM instrument.
Players want a more BG instrument.
Players want a more gypsy instrument.
Players want to make room for more instruments.
Players want to reduce their number of instruments.
etc

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Personally I'm glad to see all these Northfields out there. In this time of global shortage, it's nice to know that if something happens to my one and only mandolin I would be able to just order a new Northfield the same day without having to wait 3 months like everything else.

And I just saw two Ellis F5 Special listed for sale back to back on the Classifieds. So it goes to show that even top shelf mandolins get let go by their owners from time to time.

[Glassweb]

I played a fantastic Northfield amber finish F5S at Dusty Strings in Seattle yesterday. Best Mando in the shop... it even beat out the costlier Northfields. A great axe...

[Mandobar]

There are two used Ellis F5s for sale now, back to back in Cafe Classifieds right now. Just listed. What does that mean? Nothing, other than perhaps it's tax season.

[mandoshane]

Players get bored and want something new.
Players suffer financial reversals.
Players want more bling.
Players want more treble/bass/balance.
Players want what their buddies have.
Players want a different color.
Players want what pro 'x' is now playing.
Players want a more ITM instrument.
Players want a more BG instrument.
Players want a more gypsy instrument.
Players want to make room for more instruments.
Players want to reduce their number of instruments.
etc

Ah yes, thanks for reminding me why i never ever post on forums.

[Jill McAuley]

Ah yes, thanks for reminding me why i never ever post on forums.

Why, because you started a thread asking a question and someone contributed an answer?

[Mandolin Cafe]

Well, I got curious, so I made a count.
There are 45 Northfield instruments in the classifieds.
35 are new from dealers. 9 are used. And one is a used instrument that has just been marked "sold."

I wanted to revisit this and continue this thought because numbers are interesting. We all can see when new ads are placed, but on this end I can see when ads are edited, what the edits consist of, and/or when the ad is taken down and no longer for sale. In one week here's what changed. There are now:

33 new models for sale from dealers
4 used for sale from various sellers

So 37 total. Not a huge change necessarily, but during that time a batch of 30 flattop octaves were being released to various dealers. Obviously, not all of those appear here. Some of those never hit web sites and went to people on a wait list, some did and sold, some are still for sale. I saw several days when 2-3 sold and then new ones added. Elderly sold 3 in one day last week. I saw two new Northfield ads deleted today. It's a constant flow, not unlike any other quality builder with a lot of numbers.