Selling McIntosh on Audiogon....is it me or? And thank you Ivan!

[For The Love of Music]

Only you know what you will take or pay.

[audioguy3107]

I’ve always wondered with the amount of low ballers on the ‘gon.....do any sellers ever accept some of these ridiculous offers? You would think it wouldn’t be any use and a waste of time if no one ever did.

- Buck

[med_designer]

My two cents...

Looking back on my journey through this hobby it would have been much cheaper to just buy a better piece of gear once rather than getting on the buy/sell cycle. The only benefit it provided was experience and to really know what I have liked and have not liked. I had some success with selling to friends but that was with lower tier items . For example I sold a D150 to a long time friend for $1000 vs $2,600 I paid (sales tax not included) which is right at 40% of price paid. Research told me depending on item 40% to 55% of retail was correct for pricing depending on the item.

100% agree with Tony that if you are not using a piece of equipment and never will it is better to turn it into cash for use on another project or if you can just put the cash away for a rainy day. For example I had a Sonic Frontiers tube preamp, Aragon amp, and Benchmark DAC I sold off that were were just taking up space. They had served their purpose in my collage years and I had hung onto them for a 2nd system that never materialized. Selling them help fund part of the LP12 project this past year.

The downside is we live in a time when cultivating a music collection is not what it once was. Our hobby is probably dominated by those >45 to 50 and mostly male. The younger dudes in this range grew up in the transition period from TT to CD and a huge growth period for music and equipment alike. My love for the hobby started in a small local hi fi shop right down the way from where mom would go in to buy cosmetics. Great memories of that shop and others like it. My journey started there and my aspirations to nicer equipment grew year over year.

Those <40 or so have no real interest in stereo equipment and those that do can not fathom the prices we are willing to pay for DACs, TT, amps and so on. No one has mentored them about what can be done with a reasonable budget for used but good equipment. The ideal potential customer for our pre-owned equipment seems to just not care.

Moral of the story...sell your equipment when you are comfortable and at a price that is reasonable. My target has been the 40% to 55% of retail cited above and everything has sold. Perhaps a but more if it is newer than 3 years or is especially rare like a Cello audio palette.

[RaceCarDriver]

I have had good luck selling on Agon over the years. I’ve made the ads descriptive with pictures that were complete and was real on my pricing.

I knew what I needed for an item and simply waited. Lowballs were ignored.

I used it more back in the early days because there weren’t any fees. A shame those that bought and sold when it was pretty much a startup 15+ years ago now have to pay heavy fees to list.

That’s my issue with ebay and Agon. Sellers need to recoup fees making all gear more expensive.

[SteveJ]

I was satisfied with the two sales I made on AudiogoN last year. A McIntosh MC-225 and an MX-110.

It took a while and I received a few offers that I did not accept.

No thank you or your offer is not within my sphere of interest.

[Dylan Morris]

I’ve sold a few hifi items on Ebay this year by auction and achieved fairly respectable prices. I always wait until I receive an email from Ebay with their “sell anything for a Pound this weekend offer”. Recently sold an old SS amplifier for £2,250 and I only paid £1 in fees as opposed to the usual 10%. However 3.4% Paypal fee was charged although one can always insist on cash payment I suppose, but I find offering Paypal helps as provides some comfort to the buyer through their guarantee.

[Formerly YB-2]

Originally Posted by RaceCarDriver

I have had good luck se lling on Agon over the years. I’ve made the ads descriptive with pictures that were complete and was real on my pricing.
I knew what I needed for an item and simply waited. Lowballs were ignored.
I used it more back in the early days because there weren’t any fees. A shame those that bought and sold when it was pretty much a startup 15+ years ago now have to pay heavy fees to list.
That’s my issue with ebay and Agon. Sellers need to recoup fees making all gear more expensive.

Exactly.
Listening to new (to me) gear was easy before Agon forced out the original owners those years ago and their fees became exorbitant. Now I tend to hang on to pieces I enjoy considerably longer. Am down to almost no spare gear these days (probably good for me).

[Rojet2015]

I am amazed at the Agon ads that have one photo and maybe a one sentence description. You need to put a little effort in an ad.

[multiham]

Not sure, but you might consider me a low baller. Lets say I want to move up from my B&W 805D's and I have determined that 804D's fit my budget. If someone on this site or any site has a set of 803D's at a price outside of my budget, I write them a nice note saying that my max budget is $x and that if they are ever willing to accept my max budget, I will purchase. I wish them well on the sale at their price. Also, if I end up purchasing something else while their speakers are still for sale, I write them again saying that I have moved in a different direction and GLWS.

I see nothing wrong with this. I am being very transparent with my max price and letting them know that if they are willing to accept my price, I will buy it.

[stereo_5]

Do they ever call you back and sell to you?