Updated: November 29th, 2020
Drumming is one for the most satisfying pursuits in my life. Yet, it can also be a very expensive one. This is probably why the demand for used drums for sale is skyrocketing – and it’s also why I’ve become quite good at finding used drums sets, used electronic kits or used drum hardware at deeply discounted prices all around the web.
For this is a fact: the internet has given us all the tools we need to find incredible drum gear discounts every single day.
And – you might have guessed it already – I’m going to show you how to find cheap used drum sets on the web by revealing my best-performing search settings. So no matter where the best used drumkit may hide (be it on eBay, Amazon or elsewhere), I’ll lead you to it. All you have to do is pick your category below and hit a button.
Simple enough?
Let’s go then…
Where to Find Used Drums for Sale
Yes, there are probably dozens of platforms and websites out there that help you find used drum sets for sale. I’ll “only” show you 2 of them, but these have given me the best deals – and I’m going to show you all their in and outs. Meaning: all you have to do when you’re looking for the next cheap drum set is coming back to this article and clicking the relevant button below.
If you’re not into used drum set, check this new cheap drum sets review.
How to Find the Deals
On Amazon
“Dude, Amazon? Really?”
Yes, really! Amazon is like the largest drum retail chain all across the US – with the slight difference that you can enter any of their stores witht the click of a mouse.
Why would that matter? Well, because the store in Denver might give you a discount on an ALESIS NITRO in Denver but not in Chicago. And that sucks if you live in Chicago.
At Amazon these differences don’t matter. You can simply sort through their stock of drum sets across the whole of the US. And you can even search for used drums on sale in their outlet or across their various warehouse deals.
Note #1: Amazon’s Operating Agreement requires me not to mention or show specific prices for their products as I’d be giving you wrong information here if these prices changed. This is why I’ve blackened out all the prices in the screenshots – but you’ll be able to click through the links and images yourself to check each price yourself.
Note #2: If you’re based outside the US, #1 below (“Search the Department”) applies analogously. For #2 and #3, let me know your preferred Amazon store in the comments and I’ll guide you towards their respective outlet and warehouse deals.
1. Search the Department
The first way to find used drums for sale on Amazon is to search the musical department while sorting for discounts and used drum kits only.
This is easy to do through the navigation bar at the left-hand side on Amazon – but I’ll give you the links to the results for my most successful search settings in just a second
So just click the button to find all used acoustic drum sets that are on sale (10% off and more) on Amazon right now:
At first glance you might wonder why certain items show up here, although they seem not to be discounted. Well, in this case, the discount (devil) is in the details:
The grey area underneath the product picture is, by the way, generated by a neat chrome extension called AMZ Seller Browser which enables you to check the price history of the product and evaluate if the price is likely to drop any time soon(only applies to the price for the new kits though).
As you might still see if you clicked through to the drum kit shown in the image:
At the time of writing, a used Gammon full-size kit (review over here) was significantly cheaper than the new one and would make for an awesome first drum set for a beginner:
Please note that Amazon requires all sellers to indicate the state of any used item on a scale from “bad” to “like new”. Since this is a self-evaluation by the seller, I’d rather look at the descriptions provided underneath (or when clicking on “read more”), so you can check if the used drum set is good enough for your purposes.
The same method for finding used drum sets for sale on Amazon works, of course, for the electronic kit sub-section of the musical department. You’ll find the results right here:
You could have caught a good deal on the Alesis Forge (read my review here) today:
This deal also exemplifies that it pays off to click on “lowest offer for each” whenever there is more than 1 setup of one and the same kit – which is often the case with electronic drum kits.
2. Hit the Outlet
Remember the Denver – Chicago analogy from the beginning of this article?
Well, now we’re entering Amazon’s outlet which means: the search results page will generally look the same as always, but it will give you a different set of used drums for sale than before.
So…
Now, on some days you might not find anything in the outlet. That’s why it’s called that way. But it’s also why you can find amazing deals if you’re a little patient and keep coming back…
Today, for instance, you would have been able to get a sizeable discount on this Gretsch Catalina:
As this is kit is not offered by Amazon this time, a word of caution is in order:
Please make sure only to buy from reputable other sellers. That means: check their profile and make sure they have a bunch of good reviews. On the other hand, be wary of sellers with no reviews (often they show up innocently enough in Amazon as “new sellers”) and offers that are to good to be true.
3. Snatch Warehouse deals
You’ve seen an Amazon warehouse deal under #1 already – but this time we’re searching for all those drum-related deals across Amazon. A Google search would help you enter the Amzon warehouse deal department – but you can also simply follow the links below.
So here are all “drum set & set components” that Amazon currently has a warehouse deal on:
Just to give you an example again: my favorite deal at the time of writing was this Pearl Roadshow (read my review):
Again, you could click the “lowest offer for each” button to check if there was an even larger discount available. (It was quite a sizeable one without it already though…)
Likewise, you’ll find all warehouse deals for electronic drums over here:
For example: this Behringer XD8USB – read the review here – at an awesome discount:
The big advantage of buying at Amazon is their A-to-z-guarantee – which you can claim even in all standard cases (damaged items etc.) plus if “the seller failed to deliver the item by 3 calendar days past the maximum estimated delivery date or 30 days from the order date, whichever is sooner”. So there’s virtually zero risk involved when buying at Amazon.
Also, if you want to get even more out of Amazon, check out my additional discount and money-saving techniques (some do overlap).
On Ebay
Whenever I can’t find any good deals on Amazon, I move on to Ebay.
Ebay doesn’t offer quite as many search settings, but it’s my best option if I’m on the hunt for a an uncommon drum kit, or one that is not longer sold in stores any more. Due to the fact that Ebay is largely populated by private sellers, your chance of finding such a kit there, are usually better than on Amazon.
So through this link you’ll find most used drums for sale on Ebay right now:
At the time of writing these results comprised, for example, the Ddrum DD5X-Mesh at this sweet price …
… or this awesome Sonor Q1 acoustic drum kit which stores only sell as 3-piece kit any more:
Your Questions? Your Successes?
So I’ve given you what I think are 4 clever methods for finding used drums for sale on Amazon and Ebay.
I’d love for you to share any questions you might have in the comments.
Please also paste any deal you snatch – or one you found but don’t want to make use of in the comments.
I’ll check out every single one and / or answer each of your questions within 48 hours.
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