I have this theory that sounds good on paper, but I don’t know if it would work in practice. If You were to donate all your used gear to a young person that that would get more people into this hobby. Then with the avalanche of new music aficionado‘s, they will go out and buy. Which will in turn cause companies to ramp up their production. Think how cheap a Macintosh amplifier would be if they had to make 1 million of them.
Anybody having trouble getting near-your-asking-price for used gear ? (Plz. no hype)
I buy and sell gear "on a whim" and have done so for 40 years. Mostly high-end tube stuff that I get an itch to move from my rig to make room for other high-end stuff that I have been dreaming of. It's fun and gives me a fresh faces to fall in and out of love with.
Lately I am having a really hard time getting any serious offers above 1/4 to 1/3 of retail- actually zero offers over that. And winter is the time of year gear sells. Once the sun comes out things get really quiet. Not terribly long ago I could ask 50% of retail and get serious offers pretty close to the ask.
I am especially having trouble selling ARC gear. It's prices are steadily collapsing. On HiFi Shark that stuff sits for close to a year (or more) before it moves. For example SP 15s are under 2K now. They were selling (not asking) at 3K a year ago. It took me almost a year to sell a new-in--box I/50 for $3000 (!) Ref 75s are moving under $3000 and TMR will only offer 2K for one of them. The older stuff is selling in the hundreds not the thousands. Top-Of the-line stuff like Reference 10 preamps are moving under 12K (asking is around 17K)
I recently sold a Bryston BR-20 brand new in the box and it took me 7 months to get 48% of MSRP. This is NEW stuff- not somebody's junk.
My guy at Magnepan told me their stuff is really moving slowly as well. He blamed it on the political environment. ARC is pretending all is well but I have a little birdie inside there that tells me their stuff is stagnant as and dealers are actually cancelling orders.
Now, assuming you are being honest and not "fluffing the market" with bullbleep because you have something for sale and hoping for the greater fool, are you seeing/experiencing the same thing I am experiencing?
NO RETAILERS PLESASE- you guys tend to "exaggerate" to put it kindly- plus most of us here at AG know who you are and your 1000s of posts are a big clue.
Signed/ Depressed about my favorite side gig.
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Times have definitely changed. You used to be able to count on a decent used value on good hi-fi gear, guns, cars, motorcycles, etc. Now your lucky to get more than thrift value. I know, I've sold 100s of those things through the years. Not sure what's driving it, but it just the way it is nowadays. |
@winoguy17 +1 |
I think there are multiple issues all culminating into what can be happening. Brand stability issues, like mentioned above with Audio Research can have a large negative effect on a particular brands secondary values. Owners want to ensure there is service, support and parts available after the purchase down the road. Especially since this is an expensive hobby. The opposite side of the spectrum may be a company like McIntosh. If the glass on a 50+ year old amp/ preamp needs replacing, or if the unit needs servicing, the manufacturer still can provide those parts and services. That carries a lot of value to people. Shipping costs have gone insane the last 5-ish years. What would cost $60 to ship 5 years ago is double that. Some larger/ heavier gear can now be several hundred dollars to ship more than a few states away. Buyers take that into consideration, as well. Some gear is just more commoditized, like DAC's, for the most part. Those things are being churned out by everybody and their brother. Stuff like that just lowers the price in the secondary market incredibly fast. I'm sure that are more issues, as well. |
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