We want to welcome you to The Luthier Bench - the Online Marketplace & Knowledge Base for Luthier-built guitars.  We are a multi-vendor, e-commerce platform that was hand-crafted to provide a central home and showcase for Luthiers - their builds and their knowledge.  Our mission is to elevate the independent Luthier by providing an active marketplace of both builds and ideas.  We intend to bring an elevated awareness of luthier-built buying options to a larger segment of the high-end guitar collector.  We also intend to amass the largest Knowledge Base of Luthier wisdom and experience in the form of articles, podcasts and videos.  Let's get started!

"Our focus is on the Luthier - what they build and the vast array of knowledge required for even the most basic guitar construction.  Our vision for The Luthier Bench is to elevate the luthier community and provide both a marketplace of guitars and ideas that guitar buyers and collectors will be drawn to.  We hand-crafted a home for the independent luthier to showcase both their guitars builds as well as their building knowledge base.  We would like the luthier to focus on honing the craft and allow us the honor and privilege of marketing their creations.  A luthier-built guitar is the intersection of art, science, aesthetics and most of all, musical creation. We humbly invite luthiers from around the world to join The Luthier Bench community."
Let's build together!  Chayton Alo, founder of The Luthier Bench

Congratulations on your approval to operate a Luthier or Reseller Storefront on our platform. Our business was literally hand-crafted to elevate the independent luthier and to honor their lifetime of achievements as guitar builders. We will provide 24/7 Live Support to your Storefront to assist you in customization and listing and successfully marketing your outstanding builds. Our goal is to provide a platform for the Luthier to receive greater visibility among the Buyer community and therefore allow the Builder more time to do what they do best - build masterpiece guitars. Our mission is about Luthiers, Builds and Knowledge.

Displayed below is a snapshot of the Seller Storefront Dashboard - this is the screen you will see directly after logging in to the seller management system.  On the top menu bar, you can see your Notification Icon, a "View Luthier Storefront" link to open your Luthier Storefront, and a link to Luthier Storefront F.A.Q.s   On the main menu, you can manage Configuration, Guitar Builds, Build Order, and Luthier Profile.  The other links are to our Helpdesk to either initiate Support Ticket and/or to upload rich listing media (audio or video) to your guitar listings.  You use this same link to upload Blogs and Podcasts to be published in your Luthier Knowledge section.  The top menu also contains links to our F.A.Q. Portal as well as our Visual Storefront Management Guide.  On the main dashboard screen top row, you have your Builds Sales, Stores Statistics, and Store Earnings in charts and data format.  And on the bottom you can find recent Order information, including build order total and payment status.

We are aware that any human being with the remarkable array of skill sets and building techniques that is required to construct a hand-built guitar will also have the requisite discipline and ability to ship their creations with extreme precautions.  All shipments of guitars that are acquired on The Luthier Bench will be shipped by the Luthier (or Collector) and be shipped directly from their location to the Buyer's delivery destination.  Therefore, you can be assured that the same Luthier that built your new guitar will also handle packaging & shipping.  Nevertheless, we humbly present an article that is published in our Knowledge Base that provides a deep dive into some overlooked procedures and precautions: GUITAR SHIPPING GUIDE

Now you can list your guitar builds in your unique Collection Profile, and they will also list throughout our web portal. You can designate your shipping policies, and also potential Buyers can message you with pre-sale inquiries.  We have structured our portal with 30 custom build specification fields (20 required) that will post your guitar on searches for tonewood species, body size, scale length, and many more. Also, on your Storefront you will have sections to display your Seller Policies, including shipping, insurance, and after-sale support. Your Seller dashboard provides you with deep flexibility to customize the information on your Storefront, including the ability to enable our advanced "Make An Offer" feature for Sellers and Buyers to discreetly negotiate price.  Should you decide to either list your guitar build at a discount to normal prices and/or lower the price after a period of time, the guitar product page will display "comparison pricing" with a percentage discount badge.

Serious guitar Buyer/Collectors focus on (or should focus on) Build Specifications.  When a Seller adds a guitar listing, they will be required to enter 20 Build Specifications fields (with another 10 optional).  These specifications include tonewood species, scale length, bracing info, radius, action, and many more.  The information you provide will display in the "Build Specifications" tab which is right next to the detailed "Guitar Description" tab.  We would recommend not duplicating a list of specifications in the Description tab rather utilizing that space for a summary of the build, the builder, and the instrument.

The Luthier Bench provides Sellers and Buyers the ability to negotiate a final sales price through our "Make An Offer" feature.  Upon listing a guitar, the Seller has the option to designate the listing as "Normal" or "Make An Offer".  A "Normal" listing simply means that the Seller is offering the product at a set (or discounted set) price that is not currently negotiable.  Even with a "Normal" listing, a potential Buyer can reach out to the Seller through their profile (or through our team) to negotiate price.  However, when you designate your listing as "Make An Offer" - then a Make An Offer button will appear on the listing page right above the "Add To Cart" button.  When a prospective Buyer clicks the Make An Offer button, an Offer Form will display allowing the Buyer to transmit a bid price (and optional message) to the Seller who will receive an email notification. Also, the Offer will now appear in the Buyer's Dashboard.  Upon receiving the Offer, the Seller has 3 options: Accept, Reject, or Counter-Offer.  If the Seller accepts, the Buyer will be notified and will receive a notification to check-out (purchase) the guitar at the Offered Price.  If the Seller counter-offers, the Offer will remain in "pending" status until the Buyer either accepts or rejects the Counter-Offer (NOTE: the Buyer does not have the option of countering the offer back to the Seller).  If the Buyer accepts the Counter-Offer, an email notification will be generated prompting the Buyer to check-out (purchase) the guitar, and the Buyer Dashboard panel will provide the Buyer with a check-out link at the final agreed price.

It is both a statistical fact and something known from experience - when a Buyer hears the sound of a guitar - it is something more powerful than simply viewing images.  Including rich media (audio & video) along with high-quality image increases the chances of a successful purchase very substantially.  The Luthier Bench has developed a featured called "Builder Audio Sample" which embeds an audio player directly below the guitar listing images, allowing a Buyer to listen to the sound of the guitar at the same time they are viewing images.  We highly encourage Luthiers to provide a Builder Audio Sample along with each listing.  Note that this sample can also include an audio introduction to the Luthier and the build in addition to an array of playing samples (picking to strumming).  To attach a Builder Audio Sample to your new listing, simply open a Support Ticket on our Seller Helpdesk and attach the audio file to the ticket (and a link to your new guitar listing) and we will install the audio sample on your guitar's page.  OPEN SELLER HELPDESK (requires registration)

The Luthier Bench intends to amass over the next decade the single largest resource of Luthier wisdom on the globe in our Knowledge Base. We will be accumulating articles (podcasts & videos) on every aspect of guitar construction, including building, voicing, as well as advice on long-term maintenance of your instrument. Each Luthier Storefront will contain a link to the wisdom of that builder - thereby acting as a selling point to a potential Buyer.  We strongly encourage Luthiers to forward existing or create new articles, podcasts, and videos to add to the Knowledge Base library.  Our dedicated Ticket System for uploading files can accept text, audio, or video files up to 100MB and can be accessed here: UPLOAD KNOWLEDGE FILES  Our admin team will publish your building and life wisdom for the world to access.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words - so how many words is a video worth?  It is a statistical reality that guitar listings with rich media (audio and/or video) create a more powerful impact on a prospective buyer.  Sometimes watching a talented guitarist who appreciates the build (or the Builder themselves) talk about their passion for the instrument and demonstrate the voicing will be the difference between a 'click-away' and a confirmed purchase.  We encourage every Seller to include both audio files (Builder Audio Sample) and video if possible with every guitar listing.  We are currently accepting video submissions up to 100MB - which is a 15-minute video at reasonably high quality.  To submit your video to be attached to your new (or existing) guitar listing, simply email register with our dedicated Ticket System and attach the video file (or URL link to the video) along with the link to the guitar listing on The Luther Bench. UPLOAD YOUR VIDEO HERE

What does it cost a Luthier to take advantage of The Luthier Bench platform. Nothing ever! And that is true for both Buyer/Collectors and Luthier Sellers. Registering for an account to acquire hand-built guitars is simple and easy. And, guitar builders can apply for a Luthier Storefront also at no cost. A Buyer will only pay for the purchase of guitar, with shipping & insurance. And, the Luthier Seller will have no cost to run the storefront, ever! Each Luthier Storefront will establish their preferred shipping method, as most luthiers have extensive experience at carefully packing and shipping their guitar builds. The Luthier Bench will have an add-on Insurance option in the cart at the time of purchase for a nominal fee, and we highly recommend obtaining insurance on all guitar shipments. The Luthier Bench assesses a 7.0% commission fee on each sale of a Luthier guitar.  This is almost 25% lower than the 9.1% fee charged by Reverb. And, note that our commission fee includes all payment processing charges, which amount to about 3% of the total sale price. The Luthier Bench will manage all transaction administration and will promptly forward the 93% of the total amount (after shipping, insurance and taxes) to all Verified Luthiers upon automated receipt of shipping confirmation. We do have a policy that Sellers will receive payment for the first listing upon confirmation of delivery.  Sellers during initial Storefront Setup will have the in-dashboard option to select Payout method (Paypal or Bank Wire) and provide payment details.

Hungry for Music was the brainchild of founder Jeff Campbell in the early 1990s. He had a vision that no child's dream to play music should go unfulfilled for lack of an instrument. Hungry For Music has actualized much of that goal! Over the last 30 years, over 20,000 instruments have been gifted to under-privileged children. Hungry For Music's instrument giving program has reached all 50 states in America and over 32 countries around the globe. The organization is currently gifting over 1,000 instruments to children each year! The founder of The Luthier Bench has made a commitment to assist in the support of Hungry For Music. As a result, a donation will be made to Hungry For Music for every Luthier guitar that is acquired on our e-commerce platform on a percentage of net commission basis.  OUR GIVING PROGRAM PAGE

The Luthier Bench provides 24/7 Online Support for both Sellers and Buyers.  We have platformed a leading-edge Helpdesk solely for Luthiers (and other Sellers).  You access the Helpdesk via email registration and then can initiate Support Ticket requests.  Our commitment to prompt and accurate support is ironclad -  we will respond to your Support Request in a timely fashion.  This is the same login that Sellers utilize to upload audio & video media to be included in guitar listings, as well as to forward Blogs or Podcasts to be published in our Knowledge Base.  Currently you can upload files up to 100mb (which is about a 15 to 20 minute video).  SELLER HELPDESK REGISTRATION

We actually mean 24/7 - that is why we provide an array of Support Channels to assure immediate access to the assistance that is required to operate a successful Seller Storefront on The Luthier Bench.  One of the easiest methods is to utilize the Live Support chat which is located on the bottom-left of our website.  You can click the blue "Support" bubble and receive a response in just seconds.  Also, there are numerous contact forms and message buttons on our website including on our Support Page.  We would also encourage you to explore our Main Portal F.A.Q.  We have also established a dedicated Support channel for Luthiers and Resellers on our Help DeskTicket Center.  And we understand that sometimes only a phone call can provide the support that is needed on a urgent and/or personal basis.  We are available by phone 24/7 at 828-808-7000.  Call anytime!