2. misc-audio
  3. 193409-178346

Anybody having trouble getting near-your-asking-price for used gear ? (Plz. no hype)

I buy and sell gear "on a whim" and have done so for 40 years. Mostly high-end tube stuff that I get an itch to move from my rig to make room for other high-end stuff that I have been dreaming of.  It's fun and gives me a fresh faces to fall in and out of love with.

Lately I am having a really hard time getting any serious offers above 1/4 to 1/3 of retail- actually zero offers over that. And winter is the time of year gear sells. Once the sun comes out things get really quiet.  Not terribly long ago I could ask 50% of retail and get serious offers pretty close to the ask.  

I am especially having trouble selling ARC gear. It's prices are steadily collapsing. On HiFi Shark that stuff sits for close to a year (or more) before it moves.  For example SP 15s are under 2K now. They were selling (not asking) at 3K a year ago. It took me almost a year to sell a new-in--box I/50 for $3000 (!)   Ref 75s are moving under $3000 and TMR will only offer 2K for one of them. The older stuff is selling in the hundreds not the thousands. Top-Of the-line stuff like Reference 10 preamps are moving under 12K (asking is around 17K) 

I recently sold a Bryston BR-20 brand new in the box and it took me 7 months to get 48% of MSRP.  This is NEW stuff- not somebody's junk. 

My guy at Magnepan told me their stuff is really moving slowly as well. He blamed it on the political environment. ARC is pretending all is well but I have a little birdie inside there that tells me their stuff is stagnant as and dealers are actually cancelling orders. 

Now, assuming you are being honest and not "fluffing the market" with bullbleep because you have something for sale and hoping for the greater fool,  are you seeing/experiencing the same thing I am experiencing? 

NO RETAILERS PLESASE- you guys tend to "exaggerate" to put it kindly- plus most of us here at AG know who you are and your 1000s of posts are a big clue. 

Signed/ Depressed about my favorite side gig. 

yesiam_a_pirate

Showing 5 responses by deep_333

deep_333
1,759 posts
 

Oh, you'll be surprised...there are enough dudes who take out loans or whatever to buy things....he justifies it as financing a truck, a raptor or whatever else.

I've even refused to sell something to a dude or two in the past when i figured out how he's coming up with the money, took me longer to find another fat cat instead.  I understand there are a bunch of addicts around, but, i actually have a conscience (facepalm). 

I would think those that can afford 50k, 70k or greater gear aren't very concerned about what they might get when the time comes to sell. Do you think the guy who trades in his 1 yr old Porsche every year cares he lost 30 - 50k? These guys play in a different sandbox then us mortals. 

deep_333
1,759 posts
 

Stuff with a msrp of 10k or under, more buyers...even 60 to 70 % of msrp can probably be considered a good deal for the used goods shopper. (frankly, there’s not enough of a margin built-in on many items)

Stuff with a msrp of 50k or above (enormous margins built in), less buyers, buyers market, low ball all you want....

Audiophiles who fell for scam pricing (to begin with) are in for a rude awakening on the resale market. In the latter case, you better be sure you wanna hang on to something for a long time....or better be prepared to take the L when you wanna be in that ’elusive’ club.

deep_333
1,759 posts
 

During some exploratory years, I sold/rotated more 'higher end' items to dudes outside of core audiophilia...business guys, padded musicians, etc, who know nothing about the nerdy side of gear...depends on how connected you are, i suppose (how much risk u could take..or if you are a fatter cat who just don't feel like wasting cash). 

If some gear blew the pants off the unsuspecting layman, he'll drop the cash if he can afford it. For example, there are so many bored rich dudes who'll spend hundreds of thousands on a home reno for no good reason...because he got bored. Tell him his stupid house didn't need a reno, it needed a good sound system instead.

I know I am not wealthy enough to not care about taking a huge loss on a risky purchase. If I am shelling out a lot of money I want to minimize the risks. I’ve been relatively lucky in this regard over the years (but far from totally immune) and buy new or used from reputable USA sources only these days. The closer to home, the better.

deep_333
1,759 posts
 

Wonder if butter dude lied on his asylum/refugee application or somethin..One has to wonder otherwise why there is such constant buttery incessant paranoia on every thread that Donnie might deport his hiny back to wonderland....bwahahahaha

(Political paranoia on every thread..fear of losing his buttery fluffy couch....tis the way of the thread killing butter/ ’self proclaimed’ saint.)

It’s ok butter, if you want, i’ll pay an attorney for free to keep your hiny here, paranoia free.

 

Honestly I am equally sick of right wing and left wing posts. Believe me I am not one to shy away from discussing politics, but this is not the appropriate forum

All it does is get otherwise good informative threads deleted by moderators, and honestly I can’t blame them.

deep_333
1,759 posts
 

Yup, yup, if there only was a ignore button, you would have landed in the 'ignore the wacko' pile a long time ago.

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