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Interesting speaker transaction

In the McIntosh community I know a woman who works for a Florida Billionaire real estate tycoon,her 1 and only job is to purchase late model & rare high end US made HiFi equipment,they have their own semi truck with a dedicated driver ,I sold them a pair of Mc-1201s and 3 MVP-831s for $18,000 & she didn't bat an eye,did a wire transfer to my account & told me they would contact me,about 3 months later she called & said their driver would be at my home the next day .

Speaking with the driver he told me that he runs South to North ,then North to west coast ,then west coast back to Florida where he unloads in 1 of 3 airplane hangers ,once they get 3 or 4 shipping containers worth of US HiFi they ship out an entire hanger at once & it's all marked as Electronic Parts to avoid duty fees ,it 1st goes to China and then on to the grey market in Japan where the list for McIntosh & Harley Davidson is insane .
 
I purchased my home 11 years ago and there are 2 thrift stores in the neighborhood, one 4 blocks from my house.
I became addicted to thrifting from my grandmother, I became her driver when she became too old to drive, and it was the only thing she wanted to do outside of the house other than grocery shop and church.
So I started hitting the thrifts in my neighborhood from day one, and rounded up dozens of pieces of equipment, as it became too much I started listing a bit on CL.
Then I met my man. He comes and buys up large quantities of audio equipment in one shot. He’s a really nice Aisian guy and we get along well. I don’t have much left for him anymore because I’m down to what I’ll keep, and the good stuff just doesn’t seem to show up as readily as it did in years past, but if I ever decide I want a load of stuff to go away he will show up in a couple hours. I’ve sold him a few dozen turntables, speakers, receivers.
 
All these stories is quite fascinating. We may have to come up with a new colloquial term for these buyers, like 'white van speakers", to add to the audio glossary.
 
I’ve sold a lot of components, mostly vcrs and dvd/vcr combos to the same account name, but always delivered to different addresses, mostly attached to Asian names. They always ask that no invoices are put in the box. After reading this thread it starts to make sense.

I really don’t care where they end up. I did think it was a little fishy, but now, like I said it starts to make sense.
 
I sold a Visonik passive sub (SUB1) on the 'bay for $120. Shipping to Redondo Beach was $150. The buyer didn't blink an eye, in his not regarding packing, he asked that it be packed well enough to handle the trip to Japan, and to put the eBay transaction number on the outside of the package, implying that this was one of many transactions he will receive and turn around to ship to Japan. Transaction went very smoothly, until I figured out what was happening I thought it was crazy to pay more for shipping than the product itself.
 
Thinking back on it, I did get a LOT of requests from some Vietnamese-American flippers when I sold my CS-77’s and a set of 501’s. I never thought much of it since DC is a pretty diverse area, and I’m not one to assume such things. No mysterious trucks of speakers or hefty no-questions-asked shipping fees, though. Just a nice friendly fella in a BMW SUV. Wherever they ended up, I hope they’re happy-I HATED those things. Worst speakers I’ve ever heard in my life! The pioneers at least had the benefit of a beautiful cabinet, but soundwise even the Fishers I had roundhouse kicked ‘em.

What is interesting is that there’s a reverse of this trade going on musically. A lot of western DJ’s are getting in on sampling old Japanese “Shibuya-kei”, or “city pop”. Sort of a Japanese take on western pop of the mid-80s, with heavy jazz/funk influences and grin-worthy gratuitous English. Very infectious and usually superbly produced, but often only available in subpar quality unless you want to pony upwards of $250 for an LP! Wealthy American record collectors are going absolutely bananas over the stuff and will pay a hefty premium to import them from Japan.

That is, unless you’re me and you’ve stumbled upon a few very nice-quality cassette dupes laying in a goodwill tape deck. I had a DJ friend over a few months ago because he likes to check his mixes on my setup, and I idly threw in a TDK Type I loaded with a Kaoru Akimoto album (and curiously, Fleetwood Mac on the flip side) while showing off my latest acquisitions. I’ve known him long enough to know that he’s usually a pretty shy, introverted guy, not someone prone to fits of excitement. Well, when I hit that play button, I might as well have casually offered him a sip from the Holy Grail. I’ve since digitized the tape and made duplicates for close friends.

The same thing is also happening with old Japanese cars. Overprivileged high school kids and car collectors will go nuts over your 1986 Toyota Corolla, provided it’s got the steering wheel on the right side!
 
Keldog said:
All these stories is quite fascinating. We may have to come up with a new colloquial term for these buyers, like 'white van speakers", to add to the audio glossary.
Click to expand...

We already have a term for those guys,infact I've been called the term with a deragatory intent to blame people like me for " all the best gear gets bought up by those guys " right before I got called a Profiteer lol

I think it's cool,if that aisan dude can make a living shuffeling gear I say more power ro him ,capitalism at it's finest ,j bet he's like most big HiFi dealers & dosent have a killer home rig ,see it all day everyday kinda thing .
 
Here in Metro Detroit or maybe most of Michigan it seems to be tooth fang and claw for quality vintage gear, alot of local dealers/ hoarders and Out of towners. If you have gear posted and it hasn't sold....you are asking the wrong price. Some of the flippers try to low-ball, really pisses people off. I had good luck, a guy from Canada come over for a set of speakers, took a quick listen put asking price cash in my hand and away he whent the same day as I listed them. But every time I see something I want....it's gone! Alot of companion here.
 
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