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.
Stupid Asking Prices- Why Don't Sellers Read Audiogon The Blue Book First?
I’m amazed at the prices most people ask for used equipment. I frequently see 15 year old tube gear with 2000 or so hours on the valves offered for sale at insane-nobody-is-that-stupid prices. Frequently the seller lists the original retail price of the item in the ad then asks 1/2 of that- imagining that it must surely be worth at least 1/2 of retail right?
I’m perplexed as to why a seller does not consider the reliable Audiogon Blue Book as a guide, and consider the condition of the gear as a factor in resale value.
I have also seen sellers refuse an at market offer and say "for that price I’ll just put it in my storage place" while it further depreciates.
Is it that most guys with high end gear are rich enough to ignore the value of moving money because their sense of value is offended?
Asking for a friend......😎
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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 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 |
that really makes no sense. It is only as reliable as the data and "we" have no choices in that Something could be sold out desperation, it could be sold as scrap, it could be pristine with warranty, it could have extras like cables or tubes. The data set is too small, the condition of the item is unknown, the circumstances of the sale are unknown, and most of all the actually selling price is unknown since it may or may not be accurately reported and may or may not include fees and shipping. The blue book is beyond unreliable, in my mind it is pretty much worthless |
You can ask any price you want for your gear but will it sell for that is another matter. When I used to sell on audiogon I would search the internet/Audiogon for the average selling price and then ask a little less for a quicker sale. I'm sure that some members have chosen this way of doing business. |
@herman makes valid points about the reliability of selling price data. I look at the free information on hifishark and then most often list at a slightly lower price as suggested by @phd simply because I don't want to spend the time farting around with internet sales. I am still not sure what problem this thread is trying to solve. People can list for whatever they want to and buyers can pay whatever they want to pay. It all gets sorted out eventually when the item is sold. |
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