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Cheapest used bass guitars on eBay, live right now.

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.

Live from eBay

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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 →

How to buy used safely. The number that matters is the total including shipping, which we add up for you. Then check the seller's feedback (shown on every listing) and whether returns are accepted, favour listings with photos of the actual guitar and detailed condition notes, and remember eBay's Money Back Guarantee covers you if it arrives faulty or not as described. Inspect the neck, body, frets, and electronics before finalizing purchase. Prices refresh live from eBay and are cached briefly, so they are current to within a few minutes.

How to buy a used bass guitar

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.

Common questions

Where are these prices from?

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.

Short scale or long scale?

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.

What does active electronics mean, and does it matter secondhand?

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.

What should I check before buying?

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.

Which basses hold their value?

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.

Cheapest by model, at a glance

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 22 September 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.

ModelCheapest nowvs typicalvs recent
Yamaha TRBX304
Yamaha TRBX304 4-string bass guitar with gig bag
$299 lowest yet12% understeady
Sire Marcus Miller V7
Marcus Miller Sire V7 4 String Bass Alder Lake Placid Blue
$569 lowest yet12% under▼ 12%
Squier Classic Vibe Precision Bass
Squier Classic Vibe '60s Precision Bass 4-String Solid Body RH White
$3009% understeady
Epiphone Thunderbird
Epiphone Thunderbird 4-String Vintage Sunburst Mahogany Right Handed Bass Gui…
$3005% under▼ 5%
Warwick Corvette
Warwick RB CORVETTE 4st Weight:4.60kg
$6033% under▼ 3%
Ibanez SR500
Ibanez SR500 Black Flat 4 String Electric Bass Guitar
$439about typical▼ 2%
Yamaha BB434
YAMAHA BB434 TB Electric Bass
$573about typical▼ 2%
Fender Jaguar Bass
Authentic FENDER PLAYER JAGUAR BASS #270-004-354-0836
$942about typicalsteady
Ibanez GSR200
Ibanez GSR200 Electric Bass Guitar
$120 same 12 daysabout typicalsteady
Squier Affinity Jazz Bass
Fender Squier Affinity Jazz Bass V 5 String NECK Dot Inlays "C" Laurel
$192about typical▲ 10%
Yamaha TRBX174
Yamaha TRBX174 Electric bass
$200 same 10 daysabout typicalsteady
Sterling Ray4
Sterling by MusicMan, Sub series RAY4
$240 same 45 daysabout typicalsteady
Squier Classic Vibe Jazz Bass
Squier Classic Vibe 70's Jazz Bass 4-String Bass Guitar Gloss Natural (282)
$300about typicalsteady
Hofner Ignition Bass
Hofner Ignition PRO Club Electric Bass Guitar- Sunburst - Open Box
$325about typicalsteady
Ibanez SR300
IBANEZ SR300 Electric Bass Guitar
$427about typicalsteady
Fender Player Jazz Bass
Fender Player Jazz Bass – Includes Stand & Gig Bag
$575 same 17 daysabout typicalsteady
Sterling Ray34
Sterling by Music Man StingRay Ray34 Neptune Blue 4-String Electric Bass
$599about typicalsteady
Fender Player Precision Bass
Modded Fender Player Precision (P-Bass) ft. Passive Stingray Bridge Pickup
$646about typicalsteady
Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass
2021 Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass – 75th Anniversary
$1,200 same 45 daysabout typicalsteady
Fender American Professional II Precision Bass
left handed Fender American Professional II Precision Bass white
$1,300about typicalsteady
Rickenbacker 4003
Rickenbacker 4003 Jetglo Maple Solid Body 4 String Electronic Bass - Black
$2,125about typical▲ 12%
Fender Mustang Bass
Used Fender Player II Mustang Bass PJ - Cactus Gray
$720 same 16 daysabout typicalsteady
Ernie Ball StingRay
Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay USA 2012 White 3-Band EQ EMG Pickup w/ OHSC Bass
$1,564about typicalsteady
Schecter Stiletto
Schecter Stiletto Extreme-4 Active 4-String Electric Bass Black Cherry
$410 same 10 daysabove typicalsteady
Peavey Millennium
Peavey Millennium BXP 5-String Electric Bass
$250above typical▲ 18%
Gibson Thunderbird
Gibson USA Thunderbird Studio Confirmed
$1,284above typical▲ 5%
Worth adding. What a used bass usually turns up needing. Grab A fresh set of strings, A padded gig bag, A wide strap, since a bass is heavy and A clip-on tuner. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

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