Selling on Audiogon

Man I hear that !!! I think it’s just another money GRAB

(1) OTHER DECENT SELL OPTIONS TO AUDIOGON ( both free )

CANUCKAUDIOMART https://www.canuckaudiomart.com
USAUDIOMART. https://www.usaudiomart.com

(2) Regardless, some arguable new market issues for ‘Goner sellers to navelgaze are two-fold:

- (i) this hobby has very fluid prices for sellers trending on a downward slope that is a parallel proxy for a declining discretionary luxury goods market everywhere;
- (ii) consequently a past practice reliance on published historical prices as the best-available yardstick for current asking prices is now arguably disconnected between buyers and sellers.
(A) Some Sellers are either slow off the mark or just plain stubbornly resistant to accept and embrace lower offer prices as their option if they want to move the gear quickly.
(B) a growing cohort of prospective buyers are contemporaneously floating big haircut offers on many listings. A plethora of threads oft-repeated on many audio forums reflect this growing trend which Sellers frequently diametrically view as lowballers tossing around nickels like they are manhole covers.

my takeway ...

I agree with the OP ....it’s a slow market out there at a minimum, so IMO, choose your terms wisely as a prospective seller if you want to actually sell it in reasonable time. Listing it is easy, actually selling it now is not always an easy task in lockstep.

I listed a couple of things today the option was pretty easy.

djones51,
Many thanks. will try

 There are levels of acceptability (or not) for sales. 
1) Tell your friends and neighbors. (you will lose a few friends, but you'll still be stuck with your neighbors).
2) Sell locally on Craig's list. Then meet with the dude that shows up in an old pick up truck... with his friends.
3) Sell on eBay, and take the chance that those who respond know little or less about your product, and will will make a ridiculous 'offer'. Trust me, I know.
4) Sell on US Audio Mart and get fewer replies. But hey, it's free.
5) Bite the bullet and sell here on Audiogon. My fastest sales have happened here with the least amount of trouble. I can usually sell in a short amount of time, BUT yes, I have to say that the PP debacle has made even A'gon less desirable than it ever was in the past.

The merchant ID requirement for Paypal is for tax purposes, I believe.  If you are a listener who sells a few pieces of gear each year, it shouldn't be a problem.  If you sell a lot of gear, you may hear from the IRS.

Getting a merchant ID is not difficult and shouldn't drive you away.

I have been a member here since 1999 and have sold a LOT of stuff on Audiogn since then. I don't sell anything here anymore, but I still buy from time to time. I have had pretty good luck with US Audio Mart in the last few years, so that's my go to site for gear selling.

Oz

Like I said I listed a couple of items yesterday but I agree with ozzy62 from now on I think I'll use US Audio mart, getting to expensive here.

  A 30 day listing for the fee of 2% of the sale price. Plus a free 30 day relist if the item does not sell seems like a fair price to me.

Have no trouble don't use paypal as it stinks big time.

It has become expensive to sell here. And why is the fee based on the original Asking Price? If I accept a lower offer from a buyer I still pay Audiogon the higher fee.
2% is fair, but only if it's based on the actual selling price.

For the first time since being a very active Agon poster and seller for some two decades I must say it has become too expensive to sell higher dollar gear. Anything I sell for over $500 I sell in a couple of days on the free sites, I actually find gear sells as fast or faster on Audio Circles and US Audio Mart. No reason to pay the high Agon fees on these bigger dollar items.

I sell my cables here as they all sell for under $500. I find Agon a decent value for these lower ticket items. The community here is great, but I wish Agon would lower the fees for higher dollar gear.

The cost of doing business has gone up. Those costs are filtered down to the end-user. A'gon is no exception.

Frank

I've had very good experiences with USAudiomart

Actually the seller is often covering the extra Agon cost.  I make more money on the no fee sites due to lower costs. The buyer pays the same price however.  That how it usually goes. 

I never sold a freaking thing on USAudiomart. Who knows why? 

That used to me my experience. It has changed just recently. I would think both you and your tweaks are much better known here on the Gon? 

I've never had a problem buying or selling on Usaudiomart. If you price realistically things should move.

Ordinarily I can sell iceboxes to Eskimos but that USAudiomart is a tough nut to crack. It must be a subset of the audiophile population. 😬

As @grannyring has stated,
fees for big ticket items are very costly here. I've had $3000 and $2000 items for sale and don't like being charged based on the asking price since I sold one of the items for much less, but still paid $69 for the listing.

I've had good experiences buying and selling at US Audio, but there are many more tire kickers and lowball offers.

US Audio Mart is another option but it seems as if things move slower there I have no answer to why that is. 
It seems as if lowballing is now the rule not the exception here anymore. Unfortunately builders of equipment, cables and gear are going to need to get in line with the new norm of our hobby. I can't seem to sell a pair of Nordost cables at half the retail in near mint condition. At one time you can get sell Nordost for over half retail now not so much

Sellers in the USA and Canada would sell quicker and for a better price if they were prepared to sell internationally. In my case there are desirable items that are just not available in Australia.

I sold a three thousand dollar amp a couple weeks ago and it cost me seventy-five bucks. Sold in 3 days. The pay pal deal ( getting set up) was just a couple extra clicks. Happy camper here …. 

Options.

1/ Ebay, 10% fees up to a maximum of $750, wow thanks !
Pros, huge audience and exposure.
Cons, costs, stupid lowball offers, ebay sides with buyers 95% of the time no matter what the real issue is.

2/ Audiogon, 2% fees.
Pros, smaller audience but hopefully more knowledgeable and not prone as much to silly lowball offers.
Cons, smaller audience, fees based on original listing price NOT sale price.

3/ USA Audiomart, no fees up to 7 listings per month for free members.
Pros, free listings, larger audience than the Gon, semi knoledgeable.
Cons, slowest sales platform IME, still get plenty of lowball offers.

Paypal requirements and fees apply equally to all three if you use that as payment medium.

i have been a huge audiogon buyer and seller since the old days when selling was a flat fee of $4 as i remember. usaudiomart is just like the old audiogon and very user friendly. the deal is strictly between buyer and seller as it should be. if you have an in demand item it will sell as well there as on audiogon. from a cost to audiogon viewpoint there is no difference between a $500 item and a $5000 item. they charge too much imo. i strongly suggest trying usaudiomart.

Over the past 3 years I have sold- Roon Nucleus, Oppo 203,
HH Scott Receiver, Audible Illusions preamp, Cary Amp. 
Sansui Receiver.

-All thru USAudiomart exclusively
-All excellent buyers
-Priced ranging from $300 to $2,200.
-Longest sale took about 2 weeks. Most sell in 3-5 days.

I price things where they seem to be selling and expect a 5-10%
lower offer which I usually accept. Buyer pays freight. Paypal nego.
I also insure every shipment and know how to box things well.

I see no reason to pay another 2 percent to Audiogon when
smart buyers shop the Shark which covers multiple venues.

total agreement. of course at some point i suppose that usaudiomart will start charging. i hope not. 

Don’t forget Audio Circle Trader. The platform is dated and cumbersome to work with, but I have sold a lot of gear there.  

4425, your experiences with USAudiomart mirror mine. It does remind me of the "old" Audiogon when it was easy to communicate with your buyer/seller and transaction costs were minimal.

It was fun too

Dang fees are bad enough but insurance on shipping with UPS is ridiculous. I just shipped an item for  $30 and change the insurance was $26. 

I do not know why everyone here says us audio mart is free!, they charge 2%!, I know, just sold a cable there, how is it free?, the listing is, not when you actually sell something! 

I do not know why everyone here says us audio mart is free!, they charge 2%!, I know, just sold a cable there, how is it free?, the listing is, not when you actually sell something!

Not quite correct but also completely correct. Lol.

You ONLY pay the 2% if you add the buy it now to the listing and the buyer uses the buy it now.
That’s it so ..... DONT!

Sold lots on USAUDIOMART never ever paid a fee! Sometimes several $$$$

@djones51

If you have the buyer pay shipping you won’t have that problem!!

@yogiboy 

I was trying to do a little marketing strategy by offering free shipping. 

Thanks uberwaltz, I am new on us audio mart,  so, no buy it now, how do you sell what you have there?

I had a good experience.  However, why would anyone sell something using PayPal?

Paypal is convenient. Next question.

And now that agon no longer shows Sold prices of sold items, sales will be further decimated. Showing Sold price was the only competitive advantage agon had over audio marts and other sites. What now is going to happen is that buyers will automatically half asked prices, just to be in a safe zone.

@audiolabyrinth 

US Audio Mart does have a "BUY IT NOW" feature, just not a lot of people use it.

Thanks uberwaltz, I am new on us audio mart, so, no buy it now, how do you sell what you have there?

Sorry I missed this.

It relies on you just placing the ad and then interested buyers reply to it direct to you and you figure it out between yourself.
No middle men apart from PayPal if you decide that route.
But if you agree a price, you can still do it the old fashioned gentlemens way with a digital handshake and have the buyer send a check and ship when it is cashed, still most people including myself use PayPal for speed and convenience.
Now you obviously CAN use the buy it now when you list but as you found out USAM then charges you 2%. Still a LOT less than Fleabay though!
Good luck.

We are preparing our house to list for sale in a few weeks, and I've been posting listings to sell stuff we won't be taking with us to the new home.  From what I've seen, lots of used stuff doesn't hold its value, if you price items too high, no one seems to respond to those listings.

Why should someone pay you a high percentage of the price when new, when they typically don't get a warranty in doing so?

Why should someone pay you a high percentage of the price when new, when they typically don't get a warranty in doing so?

Depends on what you term "high percentage"?
Some brands definitely hold their own better, think, Bryston, McIntosh etc.
Some have long transferable warranties to boot, think Bryston.
Some people just like to save anything over new!

Its a crazy world out there for sure and trying to price right is a tough call, as you say too high and nobody responds, too low and well you end up feeling you lost out somewhat.
Good luck with your sales and house move!

@ aniwolfe and uberwaltz, Thankyou for your responses,  I do agree fleabay is killing me, of course I prefer us audio mart,  let's talk about audiogon,  I started out as a seller on audiogon,  even preferred audiogon over eBay,  my last sale on audiogon put a bad tast in my mouth,  I sold an expensive item,  there was a hold on PayPal,  as it turns out,  it was the buyer, he simply had to confirm payment on PayPal, I explained that to the buyer a few times so I could conclude the sale, what happened was the idxxx! Accused me me of a scam with audiogon,  big mess, I had to pay for my listing fee again,  audiogon deleted my negative feedback on the buyer after I willing gave a refund!, lost all my watchers, etc...you talking thousands of dollars of a refund when nothing was my fault,  to say the least it's been a while for me selling anything on audiogon,  then next thing I know,  audiogon starts this tax ID thing,  to me that smells like I would be responsible for paying the taxes in to IRS, now on eBay the buyer pays taxes,  however,  you see the taxes on the sale,  but never receive that part of the payment,  eBay and PayPal turn the taxes in for you at the end of the year,  and possibly get a partial refund if you actually treat all of this like a business,  deductions during the year,  us audio mart I don't believe you have to worry about all of this because of the absence of taxes currently, so as much as I like audiogon,  and now no way of having your own blue book you create from item's on watch list, knowing what the current what something actually sells for and this tax ID, I find it difficult at best to persuade me to sell on audiogon on a regular basis,  cheers 

I haven’t sold anything on either site but I’m considering selling a pair of used speakers with a few dings and scratches.  I really just want to test the market.  They are bookshelves that I paid $3k for that I will hope to sell for half the price.   Is it common for sellers to post an item and then pull it back if they can’t get what they think is the proper value? Are there any consequences from the sites?

On eBay you can run 7 day auctions with LOW starting bid to attract more buyers. Or you can start the bidding higher, if NERVOUS, but get less interested buyers that way. Or use the Buy it Now option for selling with a BUY IT NOW price you’re comfortable with, e.g., 50% of retail. You can also specify a reserve price below which you will not accept. For an auction there is an OPTION for a Buy it Now price so that someone who really wanted it wouldn’t have to wait 7 days or whatever for the auction to end.

Heres the rub with ebay auctions now though.
Say you list it with either no or low reserve and it meets said reserve but does not go to where you want it and you decide to pull auction before the end to save selling it for too little.
Well guess what?
Ebay has cottoned onto that lark and WILL still charge you 10% of whatever the auction had got to when you decided to pull the plug, trust me I learned that one the hard way!

Best option is just to let the auction run its course because sometimes all the action happens in the last few seconds anyway.
And at the end if you still did not get as much as you felt you should have just cancel the sale, this comes at no charge to you, just make up some reason or another from the options ebay gives you.

There are brands/items that people want to buy and selling them is easy... go to Audio Circle and page through the trading posts ads and you will see what has sold.... 50-70% of retail is realistic. 

Everything else (the less desirable items) isn’t going to sell itself... like it or not it takes great photos, a good description and aggressive pricing..... and there is a ton of this stuff clogging up all of the sites because it is not desirable stuff and it is not going to get 50%... let alone 70% of retail. 

The easy stuff can be easily sold on any site... the hard stuff... visibility matters. 

The easier you you can make it for the buyer... the more trust you can create by linking to prior sales, the faster and easier your sale will be. 

Knowing the market and being realistic is key... example... you may have paid $1200 or more for kef ls50s... then a kef/amazon run a sale at $900... which you don’t realize. You look at Hi-Fi Shark and conclude that $900 is a fair price for selling yours... and see others listed for $875-$975... guess what... you are not getting $900... and $700 might not get it done if you want a quick sale.... what you paid isn’t the benchmark.

uberwaltz
Best option is just to let the auction run its course because sometimes all the action happens in the last few seconds anyway. And at the end if you still did not get as much as you felt you should have just cancel the sale, this comes at no charge to you, just make up some reason or another from the options ebay gives you.

>>>>Yeah, that sounds like a recipe for success alright. How can you lose?