Stupid Asking Prices- Why Don't Sellers Read Audiogon The Blue Book First?

The idea that the Audiogon Bluebook is "reliable" is hilarious

any source of data needs to be understood for what it is - reliability is in the eye of the beholder, so to speak

a-gon bluebook tracks sales through the site over time... thus it is primarily a usa based data set, and it produces calculated ’averages’ over time for any given component

on most components with ample sales data, one can see a graph of prices at which they changed hands, as a function of time... so for an older, popular component (let’s say a c-j pv14 linestage) it will track from when it was pretty new, to the present, where it is now decades old - so the nominal ’average’ does not take into account the first falling, then later, stabilizing prices (a common depreciation curve) - one can also see the spread between ’mint’ units with ones in less wonderful condition, which can be useful

so like all other data sources that one can consult to inform buying or selling decisions, one simply needs to understand what the data set is, how it is gathered, how its presented ’answers’ are computed, and how one may need to ’peel the onion’ one layer or two to gain more insight

’reliable’ is as reliable as we choose to make it - like many things in life, getting good answers, making good decisions, being really informed, takes some effort and determination

@jjss49 You are absolutely on the money about how to use A'gon BB.  It is too bad that they don't use a more sophisticated way (fitted curvilinear trend line, for example) to get current estimates.  For my purposes in the table above, I had to use their "averages" simply for consistency andlabor intensity.  On any individual piece I am purchasing I tend to "mentally draw in" the fitted curve/line near the current date.  I also take into account the most likely "individual" sale prices vs. those that are dealer buys.

Because they don’t realize that nothing is worth any more than what someone is willing to pay for it.

Secondly, most of these people weren’t buying, and selling, gear on Audiogon since it’s inception. Therefore they don’t have a clue what gear is worth. Don’t mind me, I’m an old dog. How many here actually bought used gear on rec.audio.marketplace? Those were the days in the early 90’s, long before AG existed. Who remembers AudioWeb Classifieds? Remember when Audio Review had the biggest used gear marketplace on the internet?

I can only answer .... "I do".  If you have been buying and selling from the '80's or 90's you can almost instinctively know if a price is fair or not.

@harrylavo

i am with you... a-gon could do many many things to make its blue book, its forum better... the list is long -- i guess like a 70’s porsche, it still runs, it has a charm, but it is missing what many would feel are modern conveniences

@coltrane1

you still remember the half-size, small font, paper edition, weekly mailed audio-mart?  every tuesday it would arrive, would run to the mail man, read through fast with highlighter, start dialing on the good stuff  ... LOL