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FRANCHISE RESALES

Buy a Music Go Round Franchise

Music Go Round is a retail-resale franchise that buys, sells and trades used musical instruments, gear and accessories, positioned as the largest musical instrument resale franchise in North America. Stores serve beginners, students, hobbyists and working musicians, offering quality used equipment well below new-retail prices while paying customers on the spot for gear they no longer use.

The brand is part of Winmark – the Resale Company, a publicly listed franchisor that has operated retail-resale brands since 1988 and also owns Play It Again Sports, Once Upon A Child, Plato’s Closet and Style Encore. Music Go Round runs a brick-and-mortar, territory-based store model, with inventory replenished continuously through customer trade-ins rather than wholesale ordering.

Franchising since the early 1990s, the brand has grown to around 35 stores across North America. A proprietary point-of-sale system guides buying and pricing, and an e-commerce platform extends each store’s reach nationwide. The steady flow of secondhand gear and a sustainability angle that keeps instruments out of landfills set it apart from conventional new-instrument retail.

Latest Resales

  • There are currently no Music Go Round resales available
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Why buy a Music Go Round Franchise?

Music Go Round occupies a defensible niche: a recognised national brand in a category most independents serve only locally. Used gear flows in through daily customer trade-ins, so inventory is acquired at low cost and constantly refreshed, and the resale model has historically held up well across economic cycles as shoppers seek value. Winmark reports a 99% franchise-agreement renewal rate across its brands over the past decade, a signal that existing owners tend to stay.

To buy a Music Go Round franchise is to step into an established retail-resale system rather than build one. Owners gain a proprietary point-of-sale and pricing system, cloud-based reporting that supports remote oversight, an e-commerce channel that broadens the customer base, and field-operations managers drawn from major national retailers. The trade-in model can also lower inventory risk compared with new-goods retail that buys stock upfront.

Music Go Round Franchise Costs & Information

  • Minimum Qualifications

    • Initial Franchise Fee

      $25,000

    • Total Initial Investment

      $337,050 – $430,500

    • Cash / Liquid Capital Requirement

      $90,000 – $105,000

    • Net Worth Requirement

      About $400,000

  • Royalty

    • Royalty Fee

      4% – 5%

      of gross sales

  • Training & Support

    • 9+ days total classroom training

    • 4 days initial training

    • 5 days operations training

    • On-site training

    • Ongoing support

Music Go Round – Additional  Information

  1. Training & Support

    Music Go Round draws most franchisees from outside retail, so Winmark's team trains new owners in product knowledge, buying and pricing, and use of the proprietary point-of-sale system, backed by an online training platform; classroom training runs nine or more days, split between four days of initial and five of operations training. Ongoing support comes from field-operations managers (retail veterans from chains like Guitar Center and Best Buy) and a marketing team supplying TV and radio spots, digital assets and media buying. Resale buyers should confirm what transfer training and point-of-sale access Winmark provides at changeover.

  2. Ideal Owner

    Music Go Round suits hands-on local operators who love music and enjoy talking gear with customers. No retail or music-industry background is required, since most franchisees come from outside retail and Winmark trains them in buying and pricing. The model rewards strong people skills for negotiating trade-ins, sound day-to-day retail management, comfort supervising staff, and a community-minded approach to building relationships in the local music scene. Owners who enjoy curating inventory and coaching a sales team tend to fit well.

  3. Recognition & Awards

    Music Go Round has earned repeated places on NAMM's Top 100 Dealers list — dubbed the music industry's "retail Oscars" — recognising it among the world's leading music-product retailers across several consecutive years. As a Winmark – the Resale Company brand, it carries the credibility of a publicly listed franchisor with more than three decades in retail resale and over 1,300 locations across its brands. For resale buyers, brand-level recognition should be weighed alongside the specific store's local reviews, referral sources and standing in its music community.

  4. Industry / Market

    Music Go Round operates in the US musical instrument and equipment retail market, an industry the franchisor sizes at roughly $8 billion. Demand is supported by steady participation from students, hobbyists and working musicians, and the secondhand segment benefits from value-seeking shoppers and growing interest in sustainable, reuse-based buying. Resale gear is also less exposed to the discount pressure big-box chains apply to new instruments. For buyers, local demand hinges on the surrounding music community, school-music participation and the volume of trade-in supply a territory generates.

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