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eBay or Craigslist, local pickup only?

On Craigslist you have to price low to sell fast. People go there to look for deals, not to pay the going rate. I do well buying on Craigslist as I mostly buy non-working gear. I just PayPal them the money after they give me a tracking # that I can verify. Communication is key.
 
I've used CL for years with very good sales and purchases. You will get flakes every now and then on both sides of the deal, but its still a great way to get rid of "stuff" in lieu of a yard sale!

Let me know if/ when you post, I'm always looking for audio equipment!
 
It costs you nothing to list on CL, so why wouldn't you use it. Also, I always include "The unit is being sold in 'As Is' condition", and "Audition before you buy". This keeps things fair for all those involved.

Good Luck
 
Sell and buy a lot on CL. Frankly better luck there than BT. A hard and fast rule. Noone comes to my house. Meet me in nearby park or police station parking lot. I bring a DCA/C converter a set of cans and a cord for audio from my phones, if necessary a pair of minimus 7s.
 
I have to put in a vote for US Audio Mart. I had a power amp listed that I ended up not selling (I had specified "local pickup only"), but all of my interactions with potential buyers were polite and knowledgeable. As a buyer, I've purchased to really nice components at what I feel were very fair prices, and condition was exactly as described (if not better). Since it is free to list there, I would strongly recommend this over eBay, Audiogon and CL.

I think I had the same amp on CL for an elevated price at the same time, and that is when I had the joker telling me he can get the same amp right now on eBay for less than half the price. I followed his link. It was the next size down, and beaten to crap! When there is that much lack of intelligence, I just ignore 'em.

My CL transactions as a seller went very well in the past. But, that was a few years ago. Lately any time I have tried to list anything around here, it brings out the idiots. (And I truly believe it is a regional thing with CL--some areas of the country, or cities, have different classes of buyers than others. So I may be complaining about the types of idiot buyers I run into here, which may not necessarily play the same in other areas.)

I have only done one local purchase, and that was for my Nak PA-7 Stasis power amp. A local audiophile had one for sale, in nice condition. I made an offer, he closed the eBay listing, sent the money, and I spent about an hour at his place, listening to his basement system (which was still phenomenal, and was not his best system either!) while we talked a bit about components, and some of his own tips for doing the high-end thing on a budget.
 
These are all excellent, well thought out responses, and I thank you for them. Guess I'll try out the List of Craig after all.

I signed up for a "burner" GMail account, so I'll try that too. I've done a few eBay local pickups that worked out well.

Had high hopes for BarterTown, and had a few different pieces offered, but little action. Maybe it's the time of year.

Thanks again for all the advice!
 
I've had good luck with CL, other than the chronic "flippers" that want to offer virtually nothing for everything. My only other "pet peeve" are the people that look stuff up on Ebay and price it at the highest listed price they can find--not even looking at completed sale prices and factoring in that everything on Ebay has to be priced 20% higher than actual market value to account for Eprey/PalPal fees.
 
Mrv8q said:
These are all excellent, well thought out responses, and I thank you for them. Guess I'll try out the List of Craig after all.

I signed up for a "burner" GMail account, so I'll try that too. I've done a few eBay local pickups that worked out well.

Had high hopes for BarterTown, and had a few different pieces offered, but little action. Maybe it's the time of year.

Thanks again for all the advice!
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Good call on the alternate gmail account. I use one of those as well with my CL listings. Good luck with your sales.
 
Craigslist is great and it's very safe.

1. Cash only, and look through it to make sure it's real and the right amount is there. Don't go crazy staring at every bill or anything, but just go through it. No checks, money orders, Paypal.

2. Demo it at your house, hooked up to a decent system with a nice-sounding song. Don't have crazy expensive stuff sitting around the room.

3. Craigslist is safe for audio equipment and similar stuff, generally. Things that attract sketchier people include guns (banned on CL anyway), cell phones and similar small electronics, cars, jewelry, etc. Audio equipment is fine.

4. Don't go crazy about telling the person "sold as-is, no warranty, etc." It's Craigslist. They'll understand it. If they turn out not to understand it, then telling them stuff ahead of time wouldn't have helped.

5. Price it at what you want to get on it, or a little higher. If you get swamped with calls, you priced it too low. If you get nothing after a few weeks or a month, you may want to lower it. Don't put "obo" in there obviously, unless you're really desperate.

6. If someone wants to negotiate ahead of time, that's up to you. Don't be afraid to say "these are awesome speakers, and I really can't go lower on them."

7. If someone shows up and wants to haggle then, well, they've already invested their gas and time. I usually just say "no, my price is pretty firm" unless I'm desperate to sell.

Good luck!
 
I did not have good experiences with CL. It does not matter what site you are using, it is safest not to allow local pick up unless your item is way too heavy to ship to prevent strangers in your own home.
 
I've had good luck with CL buying and selling cars, motorcycles, speakers and other gear. There's only been one or two times where I've felt even kind of nervous around buyers/sellers but both of those ended up with happy endings so maybe I'm just a bit paranoid.
The trick is to feel the people out and only then decide to go into their house or let them into yours.

Thinking about it, my motorcycle, speakers, amps (x3), preamp, turntable, bedroom speakers, bedroom receiver, tool box, Weller soldering station, Marshall tube amp, and god only knows what else came from Craigslist.
Also in the last few months I've sold off all of my project motorcycles and a good portion of my extraneous hi-fi gear.
 
Thanks to those that posted. Sold 2 of 3 JBL speaker pairs the past two weekends. No problems at all, second buyer and I talked for an hour-plus about shared career experiences.

A fun, near-effortless experience that resulted in Holiday cash. I'm sure the buyers will enjoy their new JBL sounds.

Thanks to the AKers who related their experiences, I appreciate it.
 
Haven't sold gear on either, but sold plenty of old electronics and furniture on Craigslist. Weed the crazies out before anything. Save yourself the trouble. Try to have a friend, preferably your biggest friend (in terms of size not quality of friendship) with you. I usually prefer to meet them outside my house or parking lot. Strangers in your house is a chance for someone to scope the place out for a quick B&E while you're out.

Then again, I always prefer to be cautious.
 
bshorey said:
Then make sure you have some 'beware of dogs' and NRA stickers where they can see them.
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Then people know where they can steal some guns.

I use CL the way I used the want ads and Trading Times. I wasn't paranoid back when I used them nor am I now.
 
Yep, not paranoid either. Both times I demoed the speakers in a garage with a simple Yamaha receiver. Had multiple emails back and forth, and never released my phone number. Both buyers were respectful and friendly.

The interesting aspect was the lowballers and grinders who attempted negotiations and denigrating the speakers on the first email. They never got a response...
 
I'd go with U.S. Audiomart or Audiogon and state your willing to drive x amount of miles to meet halfway if needed, that would increase your chances of a sale. I would only deal with people who had some positive feedback too on those sites. I wouldn't touch Craigslist or eBay with a 10 foot pole for audio gear.
 
BT, Craigslist and USAudiomart for me. I've purchased a few items - mostly new - on Ebay. Generally, however, there isn't a lot there that excites me.

I've bought and sold on BT with never an issue. A majority of the equipment for sale, though, seems to be vintage-oriented, which isn't really my thing. And most media is vinyl...also not my thing. Almost all my (infrequent) audio selling is on BT - you lucky dudes!

Sold all my motorcycles and a fair amount of other stuff on Craigslist with no issues. (One guy wanted to give me a check for a motorcycle. I made him go to the bank and get cash.) Haven't sold any audio gear on CL, though. I don't buy much on CL. It seems you have to wade through too much chaff to find anything good. Also, completing a deal tends to be time-consuming.

I purchased my current amp, which I love, on USAudiomart. My impression is that buyers and sellers are reasonably serious about audio. It also seems to have a friendlier vibe than Audiogon.
 
I sold a car once on Craigslist, and it only took me five minutes, but I was selling it cheap and my place was already empty. I was leaving town the next day.

As for selling audio gear, I'm not so sure. Craigslist is filled with crooks. For example, you might hear from a supposed buyer who is out of town and wants to pay with a certified check and wants to have the item picked up by his shipper. If you're not careful, the next thing you know, the item has been picked up and the check bounces.

I'd stick with Audiogon or maybe Us Audio Mart, and only sell to a buyer with an established track record.
 
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