SELLING IT ALL

Sorry to hear about your husband. He spent years accumulating his collection and spent a good amount of your assets on it. Good news is that this is worth good money if it is in good working condition. Don't dump it in a huge rush to a reseller and leave a lot of money on the table.

If you have the manuals and boxes, you might also have the receipts. Get in touch with someone fairly local who he bought from and see if he will sell them for you and take a 20% or so commission, so he has interest in moving it for good money. They also generate additional traffic for him. If he is trustworthy, let him take all the stuff out of there now and store it. I've been charged 20-40% for the service. I regret doing the 40%, but I was really urgent in wanting the piece replacing the box I was letting him sell. He wants to make 40% on anything he sells, new or used. If you don't sell it one by one (or very small lots), you will take a hit.

You don't want Craig's list - it is filled with criminals, and you don't want to sell to people like us directly, we'll drive you nuts.

 I’m sorry for your position , I’m going through age related stuff and have started to thin my toys. The people will come out of the woodwork to snag a deal at your expense. A friend contacted me 2 years ago after coming from an estate sale run by the decadents daughter . He asked the price of some items and she responded “ those green things with the light bulbs “? He scored a pair of vintage Altec amps and a box of NOS tubes for almost nothing . I personally could not do that to someone. If you’re looking for an out,  I would suggest contacting Johnny at 3M Audio in the Houston area . He’s a store owner that is an authorized dealer for many brands , and also deals in a large amount of high quality vintage and used gear . Keep in mind that he would be offering dealer wholesale prices as he would be servicing and reselling your items . I live in California , but have done business with him numerous times and with favorable results. To maximize your sales an auction or a trusted individual would be better . Best wishes to you in your trying times , and God Bless you both . Respectfully, Mike B. 

@ 
don_c55

I have been screwed on craigslist Vancouver only twice after hundreds of transactions buying/selling AV and other household objects for many years. What's more, as a freelancer, I acquire very nearly 100% of my pro clients -- nooo, not THAT kind of "freelancer" or "pro clients" :) -- on CL. Ironically, it was the latter that screwed me for payment, one of which I had insisted on a 50% deposit so I was only 1/2 screwed in that instance.
Nonetheless, selling this pile on CL would be arduous and unnecessary when there are more appropriate alternatives already mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

Short answer: eBay for the most eyes and most secure payment, then Craigslist, then physical store somewhere around you that takes items on consignment, OR if any of this equipment was bought recently (find/check receipts; this is a shot in the dark) you might be able to return equipment if it was very recently bought.  It's great that he kept the boxes and probably the packing materials too, along with the paperwork, manuals and accessories. Sounds like you have a plan and am probably already putting it into action.  Good luck.                                                                                         I have worked for estate sale companies, sold items through consignment stores/eBay/Amazon/Craigslist and held huge yard sales (never bought/sold anything on Audiogon, so cannot comment), so let me break those down.  If you do the selling yourself it will take longer and make you interact with strangers, but you will get the most money if you research the items and know what they're worth.  Craigslist is free, but there is always the manner of being paid and dealing directly with the buyer.  eBay will take at least a 12.55% cut for each item, but more people will see the items, the payment is secure, and if you ship it (you don't have to, you can specify local pickup only), you never have to directly deal with strangers.  Estate sale companies and consignment stores make it easier to sell stuff because you don't have to sell the equipment yourself and you pick up a check when the items are sold.  Advisory that not all estate sale companies/consignment stores are the same, nor are all of them competent in properly putting a value to your husband's equipment, because most of them (at most) will look up a similar item that sold on eBay and base the price on that; estate sales usually discount the items because they won't sell at actual value there, because people are looking for deals - even more so at yard sales (which I wouldn't bother with because it sounds like you have a lot of quality equipment).  You might have a hifi store around you that will take used items on consignment; they will have a good idea of the value of a piece and how much they can get for it.  Figure at least 25%-50% commission.                                          

A cautionary tale for all of us out here - make a list of your equipment with searchable name (add special model or upgrade info) and price paid and make sure a friend, significant other or executor of your will has a copy so they know what they are dealing with - non-audiophiles, even ones you live with, can have no clue of what you have or what it's worth.