2. misc-audio
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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. 

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xyesiam_a_pirate
inna
7,674 posts
 

Dollar is down, stocks are down, inflation is up. It is going to be fun. Buy whatever you were thinking of buying now.

duckworp's avatar
duckworp
259 posts
 

You can watch eBay auctions to get a true idea of value.  High end equipment (over £10k items new) tend to sell for 20%-40% of retail in Europe, depending on age.   But over here cars depreciate by 60%+ over three years and the luxury cars depreciate higher still. It does not seem to be any worse than it ever was though. It had always been a thing to expect 50% depreciation as soon as you buy a high-end piece of kit in all spheres of electronics. 

tomrk
87 posts
 

He blamed it on the political environment

That's such a vague statement.  It seems much more likely that prices are simply too high.

I assume any sort of consumer goods lose at least 50% of their assumed value once you take it home and use it.   No doubt there are minor exceptions to this rule, but used stereo gear isn't an investment and it will drop significantly in price the instant you put it in you listening room.

awise1961
76 posts
 

For me, audio is a hobby, a means to escape the day's stress, As so, I know that when I make a purchase for this hobby that it is not an investment. An investment is something you do with expectations of making a positive return on. At least for me, audio is not that. Now, in today's geopolitical/economic environment, we are in a buyers market. Cash is king. This bodes well for me as in the next week or so I will be upgrading the digital side of my system. It will most likely be second hand gear and the sites are flush with great offerings. I learned a long time ago, there are times to buy and times to sell. You need to surf the right wave.

grislybutter
3,529 posts
 

the silver lining I see, being a "data guy" is the market is telling us what make and models are really holding up and worth their price in every aspect.

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