Wow, everything posted for sale is ''light use''??

I realize there's a lot of skepticism about the "low hour" claim by many sellers. Much of it deserved.

However, IME there are many audiophiles who are constantly turning over equipment in search of the holy grail.

If you can identify these folks, there's a high probability what you are buying is truly very lightly used.

IMO

The key is to look at a buyer's/seller's feedback and have a real time conversation with the other party before committing to ANYTHING. I have purchased both excellent, accurately represented equipment here and also mediocre that barely scraped past honest description. When selling the key is to underrate just a bit so as to exceed expectations so that buyer has that AHH experience and provides A+++ feedback.

Couple thoughts. I have benefited from others impatience in allowing time for burn in. In such a case, I surmise that the seller concluded it is not what they are looking for after few hours, when in fact, they obviously needed to put some more hours on it.
Another thought is that some people are subject to impulse buying, or perhaps are just dealing with poor synergy with other pieces.
I have found little reason to question the veracity of most of the listings on this site. The trust that enables us to sell our used gear on this site is essential for most of us to be able to continue in this hobby. Its not worth picking up a few extra bucks on a sale.
BTW, I have a lightly used 12 yr old pair of Maggies for sale, fully broken in, but just barely. Not only do they sound great, but they also make outstanding sleds. Just a few nicks here and there from hitting a tree. Almost impossible to see the damage from 500'. At price, I'll through in a NOS 1962 Mullard GZ34 that I bought from E-Bay. Tests good, sounds like crap.

"Light use" is one of the Audiogon descriptors for classifying your equipment during the posting an ad process. It is part of the "9" rating. Maybe there should be away to differentiate perfect in appearance, that does not suggest the piece was hardly used.

Actually, my concerns have more to do with careless owners with recent gear than carefull owners with older equipment.

I dont mind if an amp has a lot of mileage on it. I'll take this any day over a newer unit that has been moved around and nicked to death.

I once purchased a "very slightly used" 9/10 pair of AKG headphones. Arrived in a shape suggesting they had been abused, permanent rubbing marks and all. This product had gone to hell and back and was a 6/10 at best.

Unfortunately, Audiogon never let me post negative feedback...