2. misc-audio
  3. 193409-178346

Anybody having trouble getting near-your-asking-price for used gear ? (Plz. no hype)

I buy and sell gear "on a whim" and have done so for 40 years. Mostly high-end tube stuff that I get an itch to move from my rig to make room for other high-end stuff that I have been dreaming of.  It's fun and gives me a fresh faces to fall in and out of love with.

Lately I am having a really hard time getting any serious offers above 1/4 to 1/3 of retail- actually zero offers over that. And winter is the time of year gear sells. Once the sun comes out things get really quiet.  Not terribly long ago I could ask 50% of retail and get serious offers pretty close to the ask.  

I am especially having trouble selling ARC gear. It's prices are steadily collapsing. On HiFi Shark that stuff sits for close to a year (or more) before it moves.  For example SP 15s are under 2K now. They were selling (not asking) at 3K a year ago. It took me almost a year to sell a new-in--box I/50 for $3000 (!)   Ref 75s are moving under $3000 and TMR will only offer 2K for one of them. The older stuff is selling in the hundreds not the thousands. Top-Of the-line stuff like Reference 10 preamps are moving under 12K (asking is around 17K) 

I recently sold a Bryston BR-20 brand new in the box and it took me 7 months to get 48% of MSRP.  This is NEW stuff- not somebody's junk. 

My guy at Magnepan told me their stuff is really moving slowly as well. He blamed it on the political environment. ARC is pretending all is well but I have a little birdie inside there that tells me their stuff is stagnant as and dealers are actually cancelling orders. 

Now, assuming you are being honest and not "fluffing the market" with bullbleep because you have something for sale and hoping for the greater fool,  are you seeing/experiencing the same thing I am experiencing? 

NO RETAILERS PLESASE- you guys tend to "exaggerate" to put it kindly- plus most of us here at AG know who you are and your 1000s of posts are a big clue. 

Signed/ Depressed about my favorite side gig. 

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xyesiam_a_pirate
grislybutter
3,530 posts
 

@deep_333 I guess you think you are funny or insulting, nice tries.... but your tiny little world is just sad and pathetic. Feel free to ignore me.

deep_333
1,659 posts
 

Yup, yup, if there only was a ignore button, you would have landed in the 'ignore the wacko' pile a long time ago.

bmbmzig
18 posts
 

About a year and a half ago  had a friend with a lot of high end equipment pass away. His widow asked if I would help her try to sell it all off. I collected all the equipment, did research on it, and then proceeded to start to list it here and on other sights. 

I guess I was realistic about pricing because most everything sold very close to the asking price. There were a few itrems that went for more, and a few that went for less (10-20% either way. 

Some items sold as soon as they were listed, others took 4-6 weeks before they sold. I’m not sure if this is a normal time frame for those that frequent this site and buy and sell equipment, but I didn’t find it to be too bad. I personally have sold a bunch of “pro-sound” equipment, and that equipment takes a huge hit $$$ wise. Example would be a 4 year  $10k mixer in pristine shape, high offer $1,400.00. I guess it just depends on your perspective. 

One other quick story, and it is in reference to the response about different peoples budgets. A friend who use to work at one of the premier high end audio stores in the Chicagoland area back in the late 70’s/early 80’s told me that a guy came in the store, layed a invoice on the counter and said, I need to replace this equipment. The guy responded, did you get ripped off. The customer replied, “no, I lost it in a poker game last night”. The invoice totaled $48,000. 

From my vantage point, if you are financially sound enough to be able to replace a system of that value (70’s/80’s dollars), you are probably not going to be purchasing used equipment.

 

coltrane1's avatar
coltrane1
819 posts
 

Recently sold tube monoblocks for asking price. Recently sold tube preamplifier for asking price. So no problem with selling used gear. Where are you advertising? I use USAudioMart. 

gents's avatar
gents
115 posts
 

Unfortunately, we suffer an inordinate amount of Tire kicking. I think many of those low ball offers are a little more than that.

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