Would like to start a Stereo Club in the midwest.

If you can make this work... More power to you!

I doubt it feasible. There are too many variables in this equation. And when you start playing with serious money aka thousands of dollars, an amount of accountability comes into play.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1-Who decides what stuff to buy?
2-What happens if a transaction goes wrong? Such as you get ripped off, or the item you bought gets damaged (claims are so fun to file and even win) or if an item gets damaged in transit to someone in your group... Lots of stuff can happen... And litigation could destroy your club.
3-What happens if a piece of equipment is damaged in your posession? Accidents happen. Power surges happen. Amps can occilate and blow your speakers. Natural disasters happen.
4-What happens if more than one person wants to buy a piece of gear?
5-What happens if no one wants to buy a given piece of gear and you are having problems selling it?

Anyway, those are a few of the questions you really must ponder before embarking on your endeavor. I am not going to say your idea is impossible. However, I would only include people who you are good friends with AND who are local to you. I would also cap the number of people in this club to a relatively small number (less than 10).

Good luck!

KF

Kf, I have already addressed your concerns..I have thought this out for some time..
1. anybody can get ripped off, including individuals.

2. who decides? the club, every month, one of the members gets to purchase the piece of his choice, and right on down the line.

3. I have never nor do I know anyone whose equipment has been damaged..in their possession.

4. If one or more of the members want to buy one piece, than you would have to buy it on their own. First choice would go to the person that bought it initially.

5. As I said on the thread.. it would have to be in the same locale, as to keep problems to a minimum, but I know several people whom I have dealt with out of the area, that I would trust in a second, as do the other potential members of the club, and yes the number of members would need to be no greater than 12..for the months of the year.

This is an interesting idea. There could be a lot of advantages to it, including some non-obvious ones. For example, if you got a new piece of gear ever few months to audition just on your own, you've got constant justifications to the spouse. If it's happening because you're part of an auditioning club, you explain it (and the money) once.

Anyway, I have a couple questions as well.

1. Would the club buy used gear, or would it be new gear?
2. Who sells it when it's made the rounds and is not purchased by a club member? The last person to "touch" it, the person who picked it, or the club "seller"?
3. It would be interesting to think about segmentation of this a bit too - for instance, this probably works more efficiently for preamps than it does for floor-standing speakers. Similarly, one of the values of auditioning is comparison, so it might be most interesting to do six preamps, followed by six pairs of speaker cables, etc. or something of the sort.
4. How many pieces are in circulation at any given time?
5. How long does a member get to hang onto a piece to audition?
6. With the answers to 4 and 5, how much of the year would a member be participating vs. waiting on the "sidelines".
7. How often would money have to be "refreshed."? It would seem that over time, the group would lose money buying and selling, and that the cost of auditioning would have to be borne through yearly (?) contributions.

Interesting idea.