According to what i've read, Americans as a whole are further in debt than we have been for MANY, MANY years. As such, things are probably tight for those that were spending what they didn't have to begin with. Things like Paypal and other online "money transfer" services made it all TOO easy to whip out the plastic and "buy, buy, buy" for a lot of people. While nobody feels the pinch WHEN you buy something, they sure can feel it when the charge card bills show up.
As such, i've purchased a few things (Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature, Sota Star Sapphire w/ Vacuum Platter, ET II arm, Millennium II Upsampling DAC, a few power cables, a digital cable, a NAD tuner for a secondary system, etc ). All of this in the last few months, and all from Audiogon ads except for the DAC. Like most others, I'm still looking on a daily basis. Obviously, i'm trying to do more than my part to keep the audio economy flowing : )
With that in mind, summer is ALWAYS slower for audio sales across the country. People are spending more time out doing "things". If you don't believe me, look at the traffic. While "El Gordo" comments that he's "burnin' up" in Florida, us "yankees" get pelted with the cold and snow in the winter. As such, i think that many people stay home and listen to their system more when the weather is "bad". As such, more listening usually results in changes / upgrades to the system. Besides that, the high air temperature and humidity levels in the summer aren't very conducive to the high heat factors generated by big Class A SS amps or gear with a lot of tubes in it. This is besides the fact that some folks don't have AC and have to listen "through" the noise of fans, outdoor noises through the windows, etc...
As such, summer has ALWAYS been a buyers market. The only problem is that since there are more audio sales / upgrading in the winter, there typically may not be the exact make / model that somebody else is looking for on the used market. In order to get someone to "bite" on something that they might not necessarily be in the market for, you pretty much have to "dump it" for pennies on the dollar. If you can't afford to do that, it's probably best to hold your ad until things pick up a bit. I know that i've pulled ads simply because they wouldn't move ( even at "budget" prices) and relisted them later at more money and out the door they went.
Audio is NO different than the stock market. Those that know what to look for and when to buy / sell will ALWAYS be "liquid". Others will learn the hard way that there is a "strategy" in any market. Sean
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