i met tom twice na. nung first time, naunahan ako ng other guy pumasok so i had to wait for them to finish negotiating. after 15 mins tumigil na sila sa pag test ng guitars because di na sila nagiingay and i heard raised voices. nung una mejo casual at superficial laughters then at some point, his front door opened and the seller came out carrying his guitars and uttered, "magulo kausap yan pare!" to my face and continued to storm out. Tom smiled and said "hehehehe he's crazy".
Tom in my opinion is a negotiator. He may not be a professionally spoken business man but he is a good guitar salesman kasi thats his living here in manila and i dont think he napulot nya lang lahat ng good guitars nya. yun ang trabaho nya here and i can't really blame him if mambarat siya. he's not like us sa classifieds trying to sell our guitars just to buy a new guitar or some effects. yun talaga ang bread and butter nya dito. Otherwise he wouldn't be home halfnaked in the middle of the day!
eto para sa akin ang good points at bad points ni tom:
good points:
1. hes got lotsa guitars!
2. hes got lotsa rare and excellent guitars!
3. hes got tons of amps and effects
4. he'll take any fender or gibson or any branded guitar off your hands for the price he sees fit(regardless if you like the price or not). unlike other buyers na 'dude wait lang ah ipon lang ako'. so if he likes your guitar he'll give you his price and sell it to you agad right then and there.
bad points
1. he deals half naked!
2. he has excessive body odor
3. he sells amps with scratchy pots
4. he sells guitars he bought for 4k for 14k. as in malakas siya magpatong. he wont sell a guitar unless he sells it for more than the price he got it. yun ang napansin ko talaga sakanya.
5. he doesnt do meet ups
6. he's really good at making you feel bad about your gear
7. he's not punctual din! he told me to come at 1. i came at 1 exacto. and he made me wait outside his door until 1:25. di man lang nya ako pinapasok.
I haven't heard any 'fake' or 'knock-off' guitar stories about tom pero mukang authentic at satisfactory naman ang mga guitars na binebenta nya. A word of caution nalang. To those who will deal with him, talk to him on the phone muna and get your possible deal straight before going there. You should describe all the details of the item over the phone muna. That way, you'll know at what price you can get out of him para di na kayo mag aksaya ng time going there. I told him the price of the amp i sold him over the phone and when i went there to sell him the amp, we didn't have to beat around the bush to settle the deal anymore.
this is not pangsisira to tom in anyway. Im sure you guys know din what he's like and how he deals. just wanted to share my experiences. Tom is a cool guy din naman. If you sell him something cool and make him your friend he'll give you goodies din like pedals or other gear for free.