damacman
Resident Psycho
There was a time when deals like this could be had. Then greed stepped in. Not by the owners of said gear, but by the flippers of it. Once upon a time, I bought, sold, and traded in used McIntosh. I was very honest with sellers of my intentions to refurbish their units and send them off to a new owner. I did all the cosmetic stuff and worked with a local McIntosh technician and sold units that met spec. McIntosh meant a lot to them and they liked the idea of their gear going to someone that would find a home for a piece they so cherished. When I explained my business model, they understood the costs involved in doing this and often shot me a very fair price that allowed me to do just that.
Then flippers got involved, provided no real service or value, and provided sellers some serious remorse when they learned that the guy they gave a fair deal to sold the gear for 4x as much the following day. This is why so much of what is advertised on eBay today is to be avoided. Once upon a time I had the highest average selling price of McIntosh and eBay. That was earned.
OP - your patience served you well. It sounds like the owners were realistic and realized that there would be costs involved on your end to get the gear up to snuff and enjoy it as they have.
Then flippers got involved, provided no real service or value, and provided sellers some serious remorse when they learned that the guy they gave a fair deal to sold the gear for 4x as much the following day. This is why so much of what is advertised on eBay today is to be avoided. Once upon a time I had the highest average selling price of McIntosh and eBay. That was earned.
OP - your patience served you well. It sounds like the owners were realistic and realized that there would be costs involved on your end to get the gear up to snuff and enjoy it as they have.