Ads (mainly ebay) for non-working, missing pieces, etc. items? Am I out of touch?


Having been into audio and high end audio for many years, I have owned much and because of that sold much.  Seemingly a growing thing, mainly on ebay, are items for sale that have problems...something missing,  or not working or damaged.  And yes, an owner should try to sell anything they like, but some of the ads are for too much $ for an item that has problems that make that item not worth what is being asked.

Has the world/intelligence/market changed that much, am I just out of touch with the current mindset of humans?  Perhaps my 1975 Rabbit VW that isn't running and that smashed up front-passenger side is ......ohhhhhhh worth maybe 10 grand?   
     

       
 
whatjd
As a former audio store manager, I must admit that I share your sense of disbelief at the state of the marketplace. When this virus trip started, I joined many more expert than I in forecasting plummeting used merchandise values—audio to autos. But doggone if the stock market, housing, used auto market and the used audio market have all remained not just firm, but unreasonably so IMHEO. The junk has been in the basement for months/years and spouse is reminding us about what we paid for a totally rusted-out Stereo 70 and how we said, “I can always get my money out of it.” So more of it is popping up above ground.
But the prices continue to remain very high. Apparently the demand is outstripping the supply somehow even though I think most of us would say that the audiophile world is probably shrinking. Like, “Why don’t you do a resto-mod dear and put it on AG for $1500? You have the time now.”
Plenty of time while the market shakes itself out from the virus. So just hang on to it until you get sick of waiting for a rich audiophile and do what you should have done in the first place, idiot, and sell it the first week for $900. (I’m assuming it kicks a--.) Some say the reason is the super-low interest rates that have allowed some pretty creative borrowing by those who frequent words like “leveraging.” Something to that.
Also, the longevity of most really well engineered gear is just amazing. I have a 20yr old Odyssey amp that just keeps on vomiting electrons. I contend it’s because I never turn it off—so it’s always warm, ready and waiting at its designed operating temp.
But even the older gear run by vintage buffs (stuff some of us might consider “junk”?) can perform very well.
So in the absence of a healthy BAM (bricks and mortar) retail market, it looks like chaos will be the rule until at least into 2021.
I’m going shopping for some nice used pearls for ready clutching.

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