Is this rude?

Well, the essential question is this; how do you feel about using the time of someone who makes his or her living, working by selling. He or she puts food on the table, pays the mortgage, and so on with the money made selling. These people are almost exclusively straight commission.
A better approach would be to tell the salesperson straight up: "I am wanting to buy so and so product, but only have this amount. I can buy it used for 'x' amount. What do you think, can I do better, or do you have used gear like this, or access to it. I really want to be straight up with you."
If they are any good, they will be helpful in hopes that their help will lead to a 'next time' sale. Or, best possible, they may have exactly what you want, used, or know a customer selling the product, allowing them to sell THAT customer, something even more expensive.
I have done this for my customers in the past. I would have someone wanting a new piece of gear, but holding the old, which I couldn't do justice for them on the price. By negotiating the first sale, (which the seller may pay him for) they make the second sale possible.
You can NEVER go wrong with honesty.
Good Luck, and please respect your sales persons time.

omains,IMO here is the best advice that a person can give you,demo every speaker that is hooked up at every dealer you can find, dont ask them to hook up anything just listen to what is ALLREADY ON DISPLAY.

how much of a dealers time could you possibly waste if all they do is turn on a rig,insert a disc, press play,im getting exausted just thinking about all that work.

while im reading the responses from dealers who WASTE ALOT OF TIME WITH TIRE KICKERS it occured to me, audio is fun for us & work for them.

if anybody feels an explaination is in order the next time they go to see the dealer try this.

tell them that you are the guy who is gonna make it possible for them to land the next big WHALE beacuse your buying used gear at an honest price & that makes it possible for the real big spenders to buy.

then as you leave ask them for a show of grattitude beacuse without the used consumer their store shelves would be full of used gear like all dealers shelves were 20 yrs ago .

if dealers need to feel that a sale is behind every audition then i pity them, talk about PURE GREED.

only in hi end audio do the rules of being a consumer not apply, you have what i want to look at, lets try it out, its that simple.

dont get me wrong on this, im not knocking dealers as a whole, i visit 2 dealers on a regular basis & they are great but i do feel that alot of dealers have a condesinding attitude twords the used buyer & so do alot of people who buy new gear.

both new buyers & dealers need to remember that its places like audiogon & buyers like omains who fuel the industry from the sidelines.

mike.

NO!!! For all the rudeness, arrogance and ignorance I have suffered at high end dealers over the years it makes perfect sense to me.

It's one thing to go to a audio store just to listen to a specific speaker, or any component. That's what they are there for. Audio salespeople have heard about Audiogon, they know about the used maket. Its their job to demonstrate to you that the extra money spent buying from them will off-set the preceived advantages of buying used equipment.

However, to my way of thinking, in addition to listening to a component, if you go to seek their expertise and and product knowledge with no intention of buying, now you are taking their intellectual property under false pretense...and that (in my opinion) is wrong.

Shalom Slaufer. My comments pertaining to Eddaytona's Talmud reference were meant to clarify that those laws only apply if a Jew is dealing with another Jew. If a Jew is dealing with goyim, there are different protocols that are allowed. This is in accordance with Talmudic teachings.