It is simply not worth the trouble for most people to ship speakers. Even if you have the original boxes (most don't because speaker boxes are so large and hard to store), it is so easy for speakers to be damaged in shipping. Shipping is crazy expensive when something is shipped by the most reliable method (air freight). A local dealer bought some speaker drivers (not even cabinets) from Japan and spent well north of $10,000 on shipping and insurance charges alone. I would be reluctant to sell any speaker or turntable that was not a local pick up. This same local dealer found a speaker being offered in Arkansas and sent someone who works for him to pick it up, rather than having it shipped, because he does not trust shippers; his shop is in the Washington DC area.
Local pick up only…
I am seeing more and more ads specifically for speakers where the seller is accepting local pick up ONLY. As much as I understand why this could be very convenient for the seller, it definitely limits the buyer options. Sure the shipping prices are getting higher but, is this where the used market classifieds are heading?