I "overpaid" for my TimeFrames (700s).
I did, that is, if you use the typical ePay prices and typical garage-sale bargains that AKers report getting periodically. I think I got a good deal, though. Why? First, because sonically these speakers punch way above their normal price, IMO. That is to say, to get comparably good sound in a different brand, you would usually expect to pay more money. Second, ePrey isn't actually the worldwide price equalizer that many seem to think it is. Speakers are large, heavy and expensive to ship, so local supply and demand may vary from one country or continent to another. My TFM-700s are the ONLY pair that I've EVER seen in Hong Kong. So if someone --in this case, I -- wants to get a pair, then (s)he should expect to pay a premium. This works both ways: some things that are more common here than elsewhere sell for cheaper prices locally.
Supply and demand are always at work in free-market pricing. Supply of these is greater in North America than it is in Hong Kong, which keeps prices down there. Supply is nearly non-existent here, so the price is higher. And yes, by agreeing to pay what I did for them, I (not the seller) determined what the price was. It didn't seem like it, because he fixed the price and wouldn't budge... but I knew (since he had them hooked up and playing) that they would sell to someone else if I didn't buy them, so I did. I decided they were worth that price to me, so the demand was there.
If I were selling my TimeFrames locally, I'd probably say something similar to what that seller said, because of the first reason mentioned above: they do sound better than most speakers in their price range, and to get similar-quality sound, you'd normally expect to pay more money. I'd set them up in a good demo system, and let the buyer hear them. Then I'd suggest that they could hear for themselves what a bargain these were (even at $400, which would probably be my opening/asking price for them). I might even tell them that the speakers sell more cheaply overseas, but that wouldn't matter, because if they want them, they'll pay my price, just as I paid the previous seller's price --because the supply HERE is extremely limited. (Incidentally, I've seen perhaps a dozen Time Windows; it is only the TimeFrames that are rare here.)
Where he is being deceptive, is that he is in a market where the speakers are abundant enough that there is a market price, and it is well below his asking price. Yes, he is playing psychological games. I'd only make such a claim in a market where it was true. To do it the way he is, is somewhat dishonest, and has to be bad Karma.
