HAVE ALL SALES STOPPED ON AUDIOGON ???


I haven't sold hardly anything in a month, is anyone else having that problem,or is it me........autospec
autospec
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I've seen a lot of wishful thinking in listings, not just here but everywhere. I follow one high end manufacturer's products and it never ceases to amaze me how some owners will ship it back to the manufacturer, spend a small fortune on getting the caps upgraded, then turn around and try selling it for almost double the going market price so they can get their money out of it. Those sit unsold for months. Yet the reasonably priced equipment sells quickly, and more often than not, it is in line with past pricing history. 

I've even seen this with scooters. The sweet spot for a model I'm interested in is probably $800-$950, and those sell within days. Others for $1250-up don't move. I've seen one listed for nearly a year now. $1800. Dude relists it on CL three times a week. It's the oldest model year for the scooter also. (For another $400, I can buy one brand new, 15 years newer.)  The sweet spot for pricing pretty much aligns with the "blue book" price for these items.

Not saying it's always the case, but there are too many sellers for just about anything these days who think these high prices will eventually work. And they get too insulted if the reasonable offer isn't close to asking price, even if a current market value (based on recent sales) is the offer.

Some buyers are no better. The worst are on CL. They low-ball just because they can. I had some dink argue with me that the Rotel I was selling was way overpriced. As his proof, he pointed to an eBay listing for a lower powered version that was beat to snot.  Typical of the CL mindset.

Another thing ruining sales for sellers is eBay's "buyer is always right" policy. Buyer's remorse plays into a lot of it. They'll claim some false defect to return it. Others will damage an item and file a claim saying the item was not as described. With vintage items, I've heard of fellow hobbyists sending out a restored amp or receiver, then find the buyer has swapped out good parts for bad, filing a "not as described" claim.  Sellers are getting screwed on eBay (and Amazon), which is why many of us are now gun shy to sell any of our equipment online. 

Many forces are tugging against each other, which I feel are all detrimental to the drop in activity at all of the buy/sell sites these days. 

great OP.  it's the time of the year for one thing.  I see the thread started in July, summer sales are slow.  from June until December, not a good time to sell actually.  January until May is the hot months to sell.

another thing is this, I have tons of stereo equipment from a side Ebay business, mid-fi and consumer-grade, but some nice stuff regardless.  but my kid wants nothing to do with it.  I offered to put together a system for his apartment for free, and donate it to him- he doesn't even want it.  they listen to music on their phones.  the only true stereo they hear is in their cars or trucks while driving, it actually has a balance and fade knob.

the industry started off with mono, evolved into stereo, then quad, then surround, and now has devolved back into mono from a tiny phone speaker.   IMHO a phone sounds inferior to a good tube amped 1950's mono RCA record player using a shellac 78rpm record.  (those actually sound really good, very realistic albeit mono).

the big corporations have pulled it off, they managed to charge $600 for a handheld audio device that is mono, and they got it.

stereo won't die immediately- it will fade like Elvis' record catalog.  still popular, still well known, but will sell fewer and fewer copies as time marches on. 

having said all this, there's nothing like a good mellow sounding single ended pentode amp through 2 decent speakers, once it's warmed up- it does everything good and a few things really great.  kids today don't have the time or inclination or money to investigate these things. 

It could be just the time of the year but I do not think so. I mean this is not the first July to December period I have sold gear in and its truly never been like this.
Now small ticket items that are keenly priced are still moving fairly well headphones, cables etc.
However higher priced items have either got to be the absolute flavour of the day or priced stupidly low to sell quickly.
Now if, as some have intimated, that means I need to sell an item that is truly 9.5 out of 10 at 65% off mrsp then its never going to happen! Not here. I would like to sell my items sure but I am darn well not going to give them away.
I do not mind meeting at a fair compromise but right now people are not even talking any numbers.
Imho it is pretty sure out there.