If you haven't bought it already, check them out on eBay before you negotiate the price. Not sure what model this is, but there are a bunch of Gretsch entry level guitars listed there with asking prices from $400-700 that have no bids at all, so even if it is a good instrument, it may not be easy to resell. It is true that high end instruments are very expensive these days, but the low end is a very different story.