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Questions about selling gear

cmarinkovich

cmarinkovich

New Member
A couple years ago I came down with the sickness, leading me to begin purchasing large amounts of vintage audio gear (speakers, receivers, record players, 8 track players, vintage alarm clocks, consoles, records) . I reasoned that I would find what I like and flip the rest. I am now dealing with a disgruntled wife. I also fear that American Pickers may show up at my house if I do not reduce my inventory. I was wondering how much time and money would AKers recommend investing into restoration of equipment which they intend to sell. I am also not sure which avenue I will be using to sell. I have read many Ebay and Craigslist list horror stories. Any input into the amount of restoration to do, quality of components to use, or avenues for selling gear will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
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American Pickers sucks, they rate a clean vintage tube amp for $250 while a junk bicycle for $2000. Made a deal and left with the Tube Amp. Leaving the owner a dreamer of that dirty bicycle. Totally BS
 
This is a great question. I'm going to guess that the answer is "it depends" (not only on the equipment being discussed, but also how you value your time), but I'll wait to see what more experienced sellers have to say.

For example, if a piece of equipment has an electrical fault that an experienced technician can fix quickly and cheaply, that's probably worthwhile (especially if the technician is the owner). On the other hand, you'll probably never make back the money that your time is worth in fully refinishing a set of speakers.
 
Depends on how much time and $$ you have / want to put into it. I;m guessing if you have a disgruntled wife she doesn't want you spending days/hours/months in the garage/shop fixing stuff and she probably doesn't want you putting money into stuff just to sell it. Am I right?

Personally I would value everything first and then put effort/money only into the items that will return a good profit. The other stuff I would take a quck look and see if I can do an easy fix (Deoxit, fuse, etc.?). If there seems to be bigger problems I would just sell it off.

I keep stuff that is decent and an easy fix and very clean. Anything else I turn over. I just don't have a lot of time to work on stuff and have limited ability. So I turn it over if I think I can't get it going easily myself. Unless I come across a unicorn like a SX-1980 in good condition in someones basement for a couple hundred bucks. Then I would send that to a professional. But I have revived a nice SX-980, a SX-838 and a couple turntables.

If it's not really good gear or doesn't work and you probably won't get to it, move it along!! That will keep your wife happy and allow for you to drag home an amazing deal if you stumble on it, without repercussion. I take inventory and clean out every couple months when I have been on a buying binge. I sold a pair of Kappa 6s on CL that needed polydomes for $40. I paid $15 for them. I made a little $$, it made space and I hooked someone up.
 
That is the question.... It's not simple and sweschler is right, it comes down to how much you enjoy it and/or how you value your time. My advice is sell the low-hanging fruit (working, good shape) to immediately help with the WAF, play with the ones you enjoy most get them cleaned up and sell off the least-favorites, and get rid of the junk however you can. My problem comes in the middle group, there are too many I enjoy playing with. :)
 
Other than a belt or foam, or just general cleaning, you almost never get out what you put in, in my experience. Flip it cheap and let them deal with it.
 
I wouldn't put any time or money in anything I did not plan to keep. Prices have soared on vintage gear so you should come out ahead selling everything "as is". Time is precious, more so than gambling on repairs that may net you a small profit. Just my 2 cents.
 
Have a yard sale.

Play some music and have fun.

Set your prices low and go down from there.

Advertise on CL a week in advance and put signs up the night before.

Take your wife out with the proceeds.

This is what I do and it works a treat

Good luck.

Eric
 
cmarinkovich said:
I was wondering how much time and money would AKers recommend investing into restoration of equipment which they intend to sell.

Any input into the amount of restoration to do, quality of components to use, or avenues for selling gear will be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Think about the gear like old cars. Some are valuable, most are not. That doesn't mean there isn't someone out there that won't buy them however. I was given a pile of gear awhile back by someone who "wanted to take care of me" for helping him out. I didn't want anything but it was important to him that he did not get the help for free so I carted away a lot of questionable gear. I put it into piles, took pics, and put that on craigslist with a low price per pile. It was all gone within a couple days. I would suggest that for you. If there are some nice pieces worth restoring put them aside. But, be brutally honest that they are indeed worth it and not a bunch of Escorts, Malibus, or Mirages. Those were all OK when new but don't really warrant above & beyond measures to restore now.
 
From my perspective, if you aren't going to get any return back by fixing it up, then don't. That means if you buy a cheap turntable for $40, and you can sell it for $100, and it is missing a cartridge or a belt, it is hardly worth your while to purchase those items and then sell it. Better to list for $50 or $60 and be done with it.

However, if you get a high end turntable like a Denon dp-1200 with a bad channel for $100, and by repairing it, you can get $300, it is well worth the effort to do that repair. And finally, if you buy a pair of speakers for $20 and you can't sell them without replacing the cracked foam surrounds, then pay the $50, get it done, and sell them.
 
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