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  3. 135539-76532

High End is Dead?

Browsing used audio sites such as Audiogon and the Marts, high end gear ads are dominated by several dealers. Non-dealer ads are usually people trying to push 15+ year old off-brand junk at 60-70% of MSRP (when they were new). They don't sell anything. You could slash Wilsons, Magicos, etc, 50% off retail and no one will buy them.

No one buys if it costs more than 1k. It's not that they're not interested -- the ads get plenty of views. It's that the asking prices are just way over the ability of buyers to pay. Fact is, if you see a high end piece for sale it's probably by a dealer, often times trying to push it at 15% off retail because its a trade in, but also often they are taking a good chunk off the price 30, 40 sometimes 50% off. They can be famous brands with a million positive reviews. No buyers.

Are we just poor, and that's all there is to it? 
madavid0

Showing 1 response by shadorne

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shadorne
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Don’t think it’s dead. I have simply found dealers are often unwilling to move on price. They are preapared to sit on gear for a year or more if necessary. I find individuals are much more reasonable and will move on price to get a sale done and move on.

I suspect many dealers have agreed to sell used goods as a service to their client who wanted a new toy. In many cases the proceeds after expenses pass to their client - hence no motivation on the dealers part - in fact overly attractively priced used items just kill the dealers own ability to make new equipment sales.

Car dealerships behave the same way. They don’t want used sales competing with new models especially as they get manufacturer rebates or discounts for achieving annual sales targets. Not sure if the same applies in Audio?
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