[rif]

Wasn't sure where to post this. 

It seems lately that used sales in the teading circles are taking longer than they used to (and i did walk uphill in the snow to get to school  ). I'll withhold names to protect the innocent, but I've seen some great deals on amps, analogue, and others take weeks even months to sell, where i thought, in my amateur opinion, they would have sold quickly.

Maybe it's a summer thing?

[Cappy]

Yeah, there is always a summer slowdown for audio sales.  Things generally start picking up again in September.

[DaveC113]

It's an industry thing at large imo, while the summer months are often slower audio sales in the US crashed with the economy in '08, and the middle class never really recovered.

What I see is the lower end and the upper end doing quite well, many people have or are downsizing to smaller systems, and at the top end the price is never high enough with many manufacturers trying to figure out how to make larger and more ostentatious gear resulting in $1M systems with $150K+ just in cabling... pairs of interconnect cables with retail pricing higher than my car's sticker price and coffee-table sized amps selling for half as much as my entire house is worth.

It is a good time to buy used equipment though! 

[Folsom]

Really, I'm not certain I agree. I think there's so much new and exciting gear out that it's hard for someone to want to purchase certain older equipment for the listed prices. List a Gustard X20u for $500 and it'll probably be gone that day, list a Scott Nixon DAC and it's so 15 years ago.

Although there probably is a little less overall buying, so we don't see as much on the used market that is hot items.

[rif]

DACs are another beast altogether.  I wouldn't expect a piece of hi-tech to hold its value.  Same goes for AV receivers - it may have a fantastic preamp and amp section, but if it doesn't do HD or have hdmi, it's useless.

[wushuliu]

I think the market goes where the attention flows, and right now there is a great deal of flux. There are so many more companies and products than when I got into the hobby 10 years ago it's crazy, thanks to internet direct sales. Unless it's a 'hot' item, I find ebay to be the way to go to offload gear.

[Folsom]

I think the market goes where the attention flows, and right now there is a great deal of flux. There are so many more companies and products than when I got into the hobby 10 years ago it's crazy, thanks to internet direct sales. Unless it's a 'hot' item, I find ebay to be the way to go to offload gear.

As someone who's working on commercial products to release, it's actually annoying how many companies there are now! Good thing most of them don't sound very good as far as I can tell...

[rif]

I think the market goes where the attention flows, and right now there is a great deal of flux. There are so many more companies and products than when I got into the hobby 10 years ago it's crazy, thanks to internet direct sales. Unless it's a 'hot' item, I find ebay to be the way to go to offload gear.

Ebay?  I haven't really used it in awhile for our hobby.  And to be honest, the few times I've recently visited, i haven't seen individuals selling used gear, more businesses selling their stuff.  Example: i was recently in the market for a jelco 750d tonearm.  Lots for sale, only one or two used from individuals.

I just put an item on a-gon because i thought that was where the traffic was. Maybe I'll try ebay next week.

[sfox7076]

Dave is correct.  Statistically, the industry has shifted.  No clue when it will come back, but smaller and higher tech stuff still sells.  Other things are much harder. High end will always do well.  Others not so much. 

[Doublej]

Could be a land of inflated expectations of worth by sellers. I have seen a lot of stuff that's a decade +/- old where the seller is looking for fifty cents on the original list price. That's way too high IMHO. To make it worse some pieces are from defunct manufacturers.

Price it right, make a sufficient number of people aware of it and it will be gone quickly.

[jarcher]

Beware selling on eBay. I get more returns - many of them illegitimate - from eBay buyers than anywhere else. If the buyer can come up with any excuse within 30 days of receipt of item, they will claim that somehow the "item is not as described" to use eBay buyer guarantee. And eBay expects you to pick up the return shipping costs by default. I've had people decide they don't want an item (buyers remorse) and claim something doesn't work (when it works perfectly when returned) or they can't figure it out or can't be bothered to figure it out, or in some cases even break the item and then try to return it claiming it was received broken. Or use some minor imperfection to angle for some partial refund. Today's retail culture of unconditional instant returns / refunds has created moral hazard and fomented bad behavior.

On the whole audiogon, usaudiomart and AC trading post buyers tend to be higher quality.

As for sales in general : I would agree used sales besides the cheapest stuff is softer. New you also are seeing the "middle" drying up (i.e. components In the $3-$10k range), so some will pursue the more occasional sales of very high end (over $10k), where buyers are less price sensitive - but not immune to scares such as stock market crashes etc. You are seeing more high end manufacturers introducing lower or entry level lines and products such as integrated amps to address this sales issue.

[jpm]

Like Jarcher, I've had bad times with a deadbeat eBay buyer breaking something, claiming shipping damage that's clearly impossible. eBay is not the sellers friend, so I'm super cautious, photographing everything including serial numbers and specifying terms for return shipment / restocking for non defective etc.

Word is never to escalate on a deadbeat buyer as eBay will almost never take your side.  I also try to exclude all the low / no feedback people - you do what you can. Fortunately I mostly sell technology equipment, maybe that attracts a different type of buyer?

Overall, I think as long as you price things right, are patient and prepared to be reasonably flexible things sell ok.  I feel for the folks who in a hurry to sell, I've seen some sales on audiogon that are so crazy I've had trouble not buying them even though I don't need them! 

[Folsom]

I don't do eBay selling anymore. It's not worth it. It's a bizarre for China now, mostly.

But also I don't blame manufacturers for not introducing things under $2k. I can't figure out how to make amplifiers I like for less than that, so why make stuff I have no enthusiasm over?

Part of this is we're coming off of the buy 20, keep 1 for 6 months, try 20 again attitude. Sometimes you have to commit, and the buy in will be more than your expendable money for a months time.

[smk]

I think it boils down to uniqueness. Everyone likes to think there stuff is unique. Even though there are a multitude of manufacturers. In other words, a DAC is a DAC. It all serves the same purpose & have minor differences. But manufacturers like to make mountains out of molehills. More expensive is better. It's a wonder this philosophy hasn't trickled down to used equipment before now. You used to be able to purchase used cars as they went from the dealership for about 50% of what they cost a few miles down the road.

[MtnHam]

Big reason for me is Audiogon, the formerly great market place for used gear, having gone down the tubes due to the greed of the current owners. I used to go there daily, bought and sold a lot of gear, but now rarely do so.

And, it is summer.

[rajacat]

Big reason for me is Audiogon, the formerly great market place for used gear, having gone down the tubes due to the greed of the current owners. I used to go there daily, bought and sold a lot of gear, but now rarely do so.

And, it is summer.

I have NO complaints about USaudiomart. http://www.usaudiomart.com/. It's free and better in almost every way than Audiogon.

[rif]

Complaints or NO complaints?

[rajacat]

Complaints or NO complaints?

Corrected (NO), Thanks