Local pickup for speakers - should I let the buyer in the house or use the the garage?

If you can't get a friend to be there, and you can't pay an off duty cop to be there, and you're not able to get an ID, and you're not able to talk on the phone, and you don't trust yourself…

Take a 25% deposit by Zelle which links to a bank account

and they can pay the rest in cash

if you are trusting them to come in your home, they are trusting you to not steal their money 

Trust works both ways so if they don't trust you to give you a deposit then they are not trustworthy

@onhwy61 

Exactly.  I was going to say the same thing.  Treat him as you would want to be treated.  He’s coming from out of town, supposing he has to use the rest room as soon as he gets there?

I’ve been buying and selling used gear for 40 years and never had a bad experience.  I do my due diligence, if I’m selling speakers, I want to know what the prospective buyer will be using so that I know it will be a good match for him.  Through our conversation, I will either get a feeling of comfort about the buyer, or not.  
 

Having said that and reading through this thread, there’s a whole lot of paranoia, albeit, some very justified.  It actually made me think of a funny situation as a buyer several years back where I felt very uncomfortable and threatened until I got the heck outta there seconds later.  I’ll elaborate in a separate post.

Lastly, remember the good old days of Covid equipment auditions.  You rang the door bell, the door opened and the seller had the speakers playing right by the front door or outside on the porch.  
 

@dman777  - how did the transaction go?  

About 10 years ago, I was looking to buy a pair of KEF C55 bookshelf speakers from CL.  They were located an hour away, not in a particularly great neighborhood or city.  I didn’t get a great vibe from the seller but I went anyway.

Seller lived in a small twin with an enclosed front porch that was very crowded where he brought the speakers into playing through a very cheap receiver.  The front door to the home was opened and I could see about 15’ away a really nice system inside that, out of curiousity, I wanted to get a closer look at.  He told me his wife doesn’t allow anyone in the house when she’s not there, which I thought was a really weird thing to say, and in our 20 minute audition, I just got a weird vibe from the guy.  He was an engineer, not very talkative and was about 6’5 and strongly built.  I’m 6’2 myself and thought if something happened, I’d really have my work cut out for me.  At the end of listening, I felt the price was a little too high and he wasn’t willing to give me a discount, so I didn’t go through with the purchase.  
 

He brought one speaker into his home, and being the helpful person I am, l carried the other speaker into his home so I could finally get a closer look at his system.  He stood at the doorway (thank G-d he didn’t shut the door) and said to me, “I thought I told you not to come into the house!”

”Please don’t kill me!” Was my first thought.  I somehow managed to apologize while quickly sneaking by him as I exited the front door and said I was late for my next appointments as I quickly skidaddled out of the enclosed porch and down his front steps.  Boy that was scary and weird , I thought.  Imagine if he had shut the front door while I was in the house?  
 

Meanwhile, over the next couple of years, I had seen several more of his CL ads, always with a picture of his front porch and the gear was always in mint condition and competitively priced.  I went back about a year later and bought a mint pair of AudioSource speakers for like $40.  This time he had them playing outside the house, outside of his enclosed porch.  The audition lasted about 2 seconds, I handed over the money, took the speakers, and GTFOOT!

Some people are just weird, so you do have to allow for that random factor.  

But:

(1) Don't judge a book by its cover.  I never dress "up" for an in-person used audio purchase.  I think it helps if I need to negotiate the price down.  Plus I drive my pickup as some things are hard to haul. 

(2) I'm sure it's not a bulletproof method, but I have found it is very easy to tell the con-people from the actual audio lovers with just a little bit of conversation. You have to go beyond "non-smoker first owner" and just ask what kind of amp are they using with those speakers...that type of thing.  I've met some extremely nice people.  One time in buying a McIntosh piece I met the guy who ended up custom-wiring a lake house I was building. 

Caution and awareness are very recommended.  Paranoia and rudeness may rob you of a good potential experience, however.

A guy currently listing a pair of Thiel CS 3.7 on USAM has solved the problem. His asking is over market; he shows a dozen hi-res pics of the cardboard boxes in which the speakers sit; and then this gem:

* Speakers will not be unboxed for audition; visual inspection of sealed cartons is available by appointment after a refundable deposit.

There's no dilemma over hosting buyers when you don't have buyers. Brilliant