What's going on with the used audio gear market?

@agisthos could be that inflation has caught up to even the audiophile crowd?

Who is hoarding McIntosh amps?

Not me. But I did buy every 68 Z28 available in my area. Thank the lord it was only one. But a dang nice one.

Yes there has been a distinct slowdown in the last month or two. The rush to hoard and accumulate that was peaking 4-6 months ago has abated, for now.
Its not just audio, seems to be in all sectors, collectable cars, houses e.t.c

@ghasley + 1

...@alwynlarryv

...is correct... I just sold my 2013 Corvette Grand Sport, which sold for almost the amount I paid for it in 2015 - I could have sold it for $2-3K more than I paid for it... IF... I had been willing to go through the hassle of selling it at current retail.  

Any time we have a government willing to spend trillions more than the economy is producing, and a federal reserve printing more money than the economy is producing - we will have rampant inflation, which is what is driving prices of everything "through the roof." 

We can't give people more money than the goods and services they produce, or the demand will always be greater than the volume of goods and services produced - and the prices of goods and services will be bid up by the people with more money than they've actually earned through their production. 

With the government's and dock worker union's ignorant restrictions in the supply chains limiting supply of almost everything, coupled with millions of consumers producing nothing, but living off those that produce - we will continue to have rampant inflation.

It's not the "greedy" wholesalers / retailers - it's the fools in our governments who are too poorly educated and informed to understand real economics.

@grannyring

@ghasley Good post and it also made me laugh! This summer is also slower than past summers based on my selling experience which is vast 🤓. Confidence level in the economy, stock market losses and slowing housing market all impacting buyer behavior.

Hi Bill. You touch on the surface of a complicated topic: consumer behavior in general and ‘the wealth effect” in particular. Since I am pretty fiscally conservative and “not as young as I used to be” the audio hobby pricing model doesnt seem to deviate significantly from any other consumer driven segment. You and I (and many others on Audiogon) may be old enough to remember a fair number of economic slow-downs and spikes through the years. They each behave similarly, humans are quite predictable when the law of large numbers kicks in.

If they are fortunate to have savings (be they accessible invested savings or deferred savings like IRA’s or 401k’s) and if they are fortunate to be participating in the dream of home ownership, the rises and dips in these values do tend to affect spending behavior but I’ve never quite understood the irrational break from the reality that paper gains on items you don’t plan to sell to recognize said gains aren’t gains at all. Also, the dependence on debt (especially on depreciable/declining assets like cars or other consumer goods) that many untilize to fund a standard of living is pure folly but hey, no one asked me.

Audio gear used to depreciate (much like cars/boats/campers/motorcycles/toys) a great deal immediately and then settled into a predictable decline curve thereafter. The past several years broke with that natural trend but things have a way of returning to a long term trend unless supplies remain permanently imbalanced. I’m a believer in the money value of time in addition to the time value of money. When its time to sell, I put it out there at a price it will sell and I don’t worry too much about the trends….its worth what its worth today.

I do worry though when I see that unemployment is at record lows and yet, many believe the economy is “in trouble”. I worry when I see the headlines that the average car loan is financed for almost 6 years. The average payment is also at an all time high. Obviously if those are the averages, some are longer and for more money than others and this is happening in the midst of record low interest rates. We have a segment of the population that believes 5% cost of borrowing is outrageous… reminds me of those times where I might be in a casino and there is a line at the ATM machine where they are taking money out from multiple cards to play when they shouldn’t even be there. I’m fortunate to still be working, to carry no debt, to have sufficient liquid savings, to have sufficient long term investments and more importantly, everything is balanced and much of it hedged for good times and bad. I know its old fashined but I sleep well and dont have to check the markets every five minutes.

I shake my head though when I read a classified ad where someone is selling something and their reason for selling is “downsizing due to (pick one) unforseen expenses, kid starting college, divorce, downpayment for a house purchase, starting a business, to pay bills..etc, etc. Audio gear purchases shouldn’t have preceded preparation for the aforemnetioned. This used to be and should still be a discretionary purchase made with excess funds. If someone has a car loan as mentioned earlier should they have purchased a pair of Wilson Sashas or a DCS stack just because they had room on their third credit card? To each his/her own I guess…heck, maybe I should have had more “borrowed” fun earlier in my adult life but that isn’t how I’m built. With parents who came through the depression and WWII that just wasn’t going to happen. Easy access to credit is both a gift and a curse, depending on the person.

Rant over…until the next time LOL.

@bassdude 

Respectfully, you are making a circular argument.

When were prices last “fair” in your estimation? Government policy and dock worker practices? Did you sell your car because you were ready to sell or were you selling to monetize and maximize value? Every human is either a beneficiary or a victim of the effects of inflation. Most of us are beneficiaries provided we understand what is a good store of wealth and what is not.

There has been inflation since the beginning of time. Inflation doesn’t cause prices to rise, inflation is the measure of the trailing rise in prices.