I complained earlier in this thread about dust and leaving speaker grills on, but after reading what some other have written, I realize that I'm not very picky at all. Some members here want everything but a guarantee from Sears!
Buying Pet Peeve - Pictures
I must admit one of my favorite activities is scouring the Internet looking at ads of used audio gear. For years, I have been keeping tabs on the used audio market. Prior to the internet there was Audiomart, the Audio Trading Times and the back of Audio magazines and now the internet has made it all very easy.
It seems that USAudiomart, EBay, Craigslist, FB Marketplace, and Audiogon (not in that order) are the best places for used gear and I’m constantly checking into these sites, even when I’m not looking to purchase gear. You never know when that rare gem will come up for sale, and you better snap it up before someone else does.
What I have found over the last 6 months or longer is that either sellers have become lazy, or perhaps just stupid? The internet has been around long enough for people to know that good pictures are the key to selling gear, and the key to getting top dollar, yet I continually see really poor pictures of gear.
It irks me daily when I see it, and I end up yelling at my computer just like I will yell at my tv while watching a sporting event.
My 2 biggest picture pet peeves are:
1. someone selling expensive speakers who can’t be bothered to take the grills off or won’t take pictures of the binding posts or speaker rears
2. A seller consumed with the mod that he did on an amp or preamp and takes multiple pictures of the inside of the unit but forgets to take pictures of what the actual unit looks like.
There are other poor photo practices like taking pictures in a dark room, using that old flip phone to take pictures, or just being lazy and not unplugging your gear and taking some stand alone pictures.
*** Sorry if this offends anyone, that is not my intent. I’m just finally venting after seeing this occur so often.
Showing 5 responses by roxy54
@kingbarbuda makes a good point! If you're too busy to post the ad with pictures, do it later! People who say that they'll post pictures, or more pictures later often forget! |
Another popular weekly publication that was sold at convenience stores back in the day was the Tradin' Times. It was common in the South Jersey Philadelphia region. In 1996 I bought a copy at a convenience store at lunch time and found a McIntosh 2105 for $500 that I still use today. It was a good source for gear back then. |
I'm with you! Yes, photos of speakers with the grills on, and only that one shot, and one of my hot buttons, dusty gear! Dust shows up more in pictures than it shows in person, but many people photograph their gear without even dusting it. They sometimes even mention "could use a little cleaning". A month or so ago I saw an ad on USAM for a really nice set of Morisson Audio speakers in great condition, but they were very dusty. I messaged the seller and mentioned it. He asked (of course) "Are you interested in buying them?" I replied: No, but if you don't clean them up, not many other people will be either.
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