[stereocilia]

Your rant resonates with me.

Somebody must be taking the lowball offers, I suppose.  The next thing I attempt to sell will probably go on AC first, then Audiogon, and I'll just list the lowest price I'm willing to take and declare that the price is "firm."  You know, like the Saturn car dealership.

[laserman]

I guess my experience is similar to the two quotes below.

The recent influx of new members there asking exorbitant prices is another recent phenomenon. Every time I see a 6-year-old mid level piece of gear with an asking price that's 75 or 80% of the original MSRP I'm tempted to email them with some advice. Where do these people come from?

On Audiogon and on several forums, I see people buying low and selling high...I understand the desire to make a few bucks, but its a hobby and on forums that are for people sharing that hobby, why not let someone have a good deal?

About five years ago I started purchasing items on Audiogon because of the great experiences I read about on the various forums.  The vast majority stated it would be problem free and that prices were fair and reasonable.  The first few purchases were flawless.  I meet some remarkable folks (e.g. Patrick "Lugnut" Malone - RIP my friend) and then it went down hill starting in 2006.  OBTW, some of the folks requesting higer prices are not all new.  Some are regulars here on AC too.  I realize it is a capitalist market but some of the guys who got a great deal to start with and then can't sell their stuff at the higher prices become whinners and have their friends bump their item for sale, OP excluded.  This is a hobby and the regulars here should (on a more frequent basis) be more philanthropic in a pay it forward fashion, especially if they were given a great deal.  My limited experience shows there are a few (Chris -lonewolfny42) but not as many as there could be.

As always, YMMV.

L

[MontyW]

Hi,

I have just had a look at this thread and empathise with many of the comments.  I'm in the UK and I have recently sold what I would consider some quite high-end kit.  I advertised on the usual UK forums and I spent ages replying to emails asking for serial numbers, history and even being asked to send more pictures. 

I have just looked back at the number of emails I received and replied to regarding a pair of speakers I had for sale - and I replied to 23 expressions of interest and out of those 23 only 2 people came for a demo.  One guy I had to ask to leave my house as he oferred me one third of my asking price.  Like many others I offer my kit at what is a good price.

What I did was hang on untill I got what i considered a reasonable offer, I rejected outright silly low bids, but more importantly I was patient.

My speakers eventually ended up being shipped to Euro.

Cheers,

Monty

[wje]

Very interesting rant.  If one is truly a "serious" buyer and seller of gear that routinely turns gear over, then the subscription to the audio blue book may be a worthy investment - as a point of reference.  One could then properly reply to the offer with the numbers, while proving that their 8/10 condition amp is truly worth X.  Sadly, though Audiogon is heading in this direction.

Probably a much worse channel for selling used gear is Craiglist.  Talk about being insulted.  When I've listed something there, it seems the person has no respect for the audio hobby at all - and is probably just shopping to buy & resell the item at a profit.  To counter this, I've listed some of my prices a bit higher - just to allow a bit of room to "negotiate" down a bit and make the buyer feel like they've gotten a deal.

Finally, in closing, I must say that I did make an offer on an integrated amp last week that was listed on Audiogon.  The price it was listed at was a very good price.  However, my greed desired a lower price ~$50 or so below the asking price.  The seller refused to back down.  I passed on the deal, then it was sold within a few days.  I still feel a bit stupid for even entertaining the though of offering a lower price.  It was dumb on my part - because I hate when people do it to me.

[sts9fan]

what does it cost you to ignore them?

[soundbitten1]

Audiogon should have a search feature like Ebay does . You could go back and look at completed deals and see what they sold for . This would provide some kind of guidance for both the buyer and seller .

[Cacophonix]

Audiogon should have a search feature like Ebay does . You could go back and look at completed deals and see what they sold for . This would provide some kind of guidance for both the buyer and seller .

Since the final price is known only to the buyer and seller, there is no way that audiogon can implement ebay's feature except for when goods are auctioned.

[Ericus Rex]

Audiogon should have a search feature like Ebay does . You could go back and look at completed deals and see what they sold for . This would provide some kind of guidance for both the buyer and seller .

I think they have something like this, but, you have to subscribe (PAY) for it.  I haven't bought anything of Agon in a while but they used to send out a survey asking what you bought and for what price.  I think it was linked to their feedback system.  I guess that's where they get their info.  Kinda sucks that they're asking this for free just to turn around and charge you for it later....

[soundbitten1]

Audiogon should have a search feature like Ebay does . You could go back and look at completed deals and see what they sold for . This would provide some kind of guidance for both the buyer and seller .

Since the final price is known only to the buyer and seller, there is no way that audiogon can implement ebay's feature except for when goods are auctioned.

It wouldn't be hard to make a rule that the final actual buying price be made public .

[viggen]

Just to add on to what I already posted, about 90% of my transactions on Audiogon have been very favorable.  Most items I purchased were better than described.  There were only two instances where the items were worse than described.  Mostly, communications with the other parties weren't half bad. 

I am really impressed with my most recent AG transaction.  I purchased a pair of speakers locally.  He's about 40 miles from me.  However, with traffic, he's about 2 hrs from me.  He lugged the speakers to my house during traffic hour, set up the speakers for me since I had a knee thing at the time, and let me hear them before I decide.  He also said that I have up to 2 months to return the speakers to him.  I asked him why he is so generous?  He said he's leaving the country in 2 months, and he's got lots of buyers lined up.  If I didn't want it, he can sell it to the next guy.

Also, he rated his speakers as a 7.  Over the phone, I thought he described his speakers as all scratched up.  When I saw it in person, I saw maybe two dings on it.  No big deal at all.

[Cacophonix]

Audiogon should have a search feature like Ebay does . You could go back and look at completed deals and see what they sold for . This would provide some kind of guidance for both the buyer and seller .

Since the final price is known only to the buyer and seller, there is no way that audiogon can implement ebay's feature except for when goods are auctioned.

It wouldn't be hard to make a rule that the final actual buying price be made public .

And how is audiogon going to make sure that the buyer/seller are telling the truth about the final buying price? What prevents them from inflating the final price to ensure that the resale value is kept high?

[soundbitten1]

Audiogon should have a search feature like Ebay does . You could go back and look at completed deals and see what they sold for . This would provide some kind of guidance for both the buyer and seller .

Since the final price is known only to the buyer and seller, there is no way that audiogon can implement ebay's feature except for when goods are auctioned.

That could happen but I think most people would be honest especially if there were 2 parties involved .

It wouldn't be hard to make a rule that the final actual buying price be made public .

And how is audiogon going to make sure that the buyer/seller are telling the truth about the final buying price? What prevents them from inflating the final price to ensure that the resale value is kept high?

[soundbitten1]

That could happen but I think most people would be honest especially if there were 2 parties involved .

[doug s.]

i have had generally decent results, both buying & selling on agon.  i don't get too bothered about tire kickers or low ballers, when i am selling.  ultimately, who cares?  fortunately, when selling, i have not been plagued with "commitments" that never happen.  i have also learned that if i see a fantastic price on something i want to buy, to yust accept the offer w/o making a counter-offer.

i admit to trying to buy low & sell high, but not because i am trying to make money, but i am yust trying not to lose too much when i think i will be likely yust buying something to try it.  (speakers, amps & tuna fit in this category for me - this is stuff i like to try out in my own home.)  and, i can ask a higher price, & accept a lower one w/o getting too burned on resale.

re: a-gon's forums, i used to be an active participant over there, but stopped years ago, due to their heavy-handed censorship.

doug s.