HAVE ALL SALES STOPPED ON AUDIOGON ???

It’s the Peter Principle. Agon leadership had taken a system that worked, was fair, easy to navigate and cost-effective for sellers.......and decided to change all that. They have risen to their level of incompetence and taken all the 
aforementioned qualities away. Unhappy sellers equal fewer ads, fewer ads equal fewer buyers,
fewer buyers equal lower price ceiling, and on and on.

well I'm 48 and entered the audiophile on a fluke about five years ago.  I have loved my journey, learning about tubes and vintage gear mostly, and am lucky to have the disposable income to have bought a dozen pair of speakers and amps in that time (a couple on the 'gon).  But I can say this; all my friends and family think I'm nuts.  I was able to pass on some equipment to my brother-in-law (at super good prices), but other than that, none of my contemporaries are interested in HEA.  The ones who can afford it are content with Onkyo/Denon or more interested in streaming and built in sonos.  Almost no one has the ears for good sound now; they're listening to youtube through earbuds.  (though many of my friends have learned to listen to vinyl at my place).  In the pre-internet era audiophilia was a legit hobby, but the TV won and now we're just a nation of idiots.  And, of course, half the few new audiophiles are content with quite affordable Chinese gear.

Took took it to heart. Reduced price. Now at 1/3 retail price. Purchased boosts etc. Let’s see.

Interesting. I normally purchase items on Audiogon, US & Canuck Audio Marts (CAM), and even eBay.  Selling, I usually just list on CAM. 

Checking my history, most of my purchases occur about 50/50 on CAM/USAM or eBay.  Most of the time I'm not in a hurry, so I just wait for a good price. However, items that list for a good price sell very fast, often within a day or two.  Usually I'm too slow to buy these, and kick myself that I didn't act quickly. In other words, they sell before I complete my due diligence.

The three items I listed on CAM in March all sold within 3 weeks.  All three went to local buyers.  So my experience is that price and local sales are huge factors. 

I also agree that the market is shrinking, i.e. demand is shrinking. So that implies you will have to lower your price expectations when selling. 

I’ll go with the price analogy. I’ve tried several times to purchase a cary audio DMS-500 and made a fair offer on each one only to have the owner cling to the platinum level MSRP pricing - even though the benefits are non-transferable. In other words 60% - 70% of the MSRP. Newp .. was even cursed at.

I purchased a pair of carver crimson tubes from a seller here and some telefunken tubes to use with it. The seller even gave me his number and took the time to explain the ins and outs of the amplifiers and the tubes...along with the other items he had for sale.

I mulled over it for a couple of months ... and because he didn’t treat me as dick .. i bought them and will continue to buy from him as time permits.

I did the same thing with a pair of JBL Everest DD67000 everest speakers. A few wouldn’t even give me the time of day.

BTW .. im 40 and love music.. 2 channel... HT .. love it all ..and now my wife does too.

Part of the experience - a big part of the experience is the conversation.  Part of this industry is ruining it for newer blood ... these "old guys" talk down to those that want to use an OPPO205 for sacd for instance.  WTF ... SACD died because 26 people which purchased 20k dollar sacd players don't buy enough SACD for record companies to justify manufacturing them.  These are the people that need to go away.