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sell here and give ebay the boot

turbomustang

turbomustang

Well-Known Member
I like most of you am looking for that special piece of gear and spend alot of time on ebay trying to find it .
my question is with all the enthusiasts that are here that buy and sell on ebay why are there not more items listed here.
I would much rather buy from a member here than on ebay but when I post in the items wanted page I get no offers and when I look at the gear that is posted for sale most are so old you know they are long gone and the ads never seem to change.
I have a few things to sell and was thinking of posting it here first but just wondered why more people do not do that also?
 
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I'm pretty sure that if you are a subscriber you can access Barter Town where members list quite a bit of equipment.
 
my question is with all the enthusiasts that are here that buy and sell on ebay why are there not more items listed here.
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While buy/sell/trade does occur here, it's probably a good idea to remind one's self occasionally that the main focus/purpose of AK is to bring people with a common interest(audio) together for discussion/interaction and to foster the hobby in general.

I don't think i'd spend much time here if the main focus was for conducting business.

With that said, a subscription is well worth the price of admission here.:yes:
 
Yes... Pay the $25.00 become a subscriber and you won't be sorry. Barter town is the place to sell and buy.
 
Urizen said:
As mentioned above, AK's Barter Town available to subscribers. Also, AK's classifieds:

http://audiokarma.org/ads/
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This is good advice. I'll second (third, or fourth) it. And while there are many reasons to become an AK subscriber ---least of which is paying to sustain something you think is valuable because server space isn't free--- Barter Town isn't exactly a buzz of activity. I think Bowtie was right in saying that buying and selling isn't the focus of AK. We're kind of the inverse of Audiogon, which I see as a very active resale marketplace that happens to also have a forum.
 
I'm just putting a plug in for barter town. I just sold a tube pre, di box, Nak head demagnetizer, standalone-dac and traded some cd's for cables within the 2 days that I signed up!

I personally think it's awesome. Glad my gear is going to another ak'er on top of that.
 
don't get me wrong I like this site like it is and now I plan to subscribe for the added benefit of barter town ;

I just would rather buy gear from someone who has owned it and cared for it rather than the yard sale find purchased just for the potential windfall of cash.
 
the fact of the matter is that most subscribers perusing BarterTown [usually] don't want to pay the "going rate" for items. there are of course exceptions for rare pieces and other circumstances, but this is quite generally true and i think most people would agree. many subscribers end up listing their items on Audiogon and eBay to make more money. OTOH, there are other good reasons to sell on AK instead, and the "going rate" is a very debatable concept anyway, but money is money. and of course, there are some AKers that hate selling on the other sites and will drop their BarterTown prices as low as they must to find an AKer buyer.

now, as buyers, we AKers can seem "cheap" because we are already good at finding our own scores. so unless we are looking for that particular item that gets listed, we likely would not want to pay a fair market price when we might be able to find a score on an equivalent piece within the next few weeks or months. yes, it is nice to buy from someone you can trust to be honest and pack well, but, for example, local CL transactions are relatively risk-free as well and there are many great deals to be hunted down. i do wish there was more selection on BarterTown, but as has been said above, this is the way things work here because we are more focused on the discussion side of things.

the most common thing to do as a seller in BarterTown is to decide what you think a fair open-market asking price is, then factor in some sort of AK discount (small or large) and leave the ad up for a while. then, either right away or after some period of time, also post a listing on eBay, CL, and/or A-gon for the higher price.
 
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and where is that exactly?

Danimal said:
I'm pretty sure that if you are a subscriber you can access Barter Town where members list quite a bit of equipment.
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I've just become a subscriber, and I've seen the classified section before, but is this Barter Town I've seen referred to something different?
 
I once saw an eBay seller (don't recall who) who had "Audiokarma Member" published at the bottom of his listings. I thought that was a good idea.
 
kirk57,

In response to: "I've just become a subscriber, and I've seen the classified section before, but is this Barter Town I've seen referred to something different?"
Once your red subscriber button goes active, just go to the forums section and your subscriber private forums will be at the top section of the list.
Regards,
Jim
 
kirk57 said:
I've just become a subscriber, and I've seen the classified section before, but is this Barter Town I've seen referred to something different?
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Kirk, I have repaired your subscription. When someone just donates, we are grateful, but the software doesn't think it's for a subscription. Using the subscription link in the user control panel will direct the money to the proper place, and start your subscription as soon as you pay.

Anyway, you are good to go.
 
Ah, there it is...

luvvinvinyl said:
Kirk, I have repaired your subscription. When someone just donates, we are grateful, but the software doesn't think it's for a subscription. Using the subscription link in the user control panel will direct the money to the proper place, and start your subscription as soon as you pay.

Anyway, you are good to go.
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just needed to log out and come back in, now I see it.

Cool! more stuff to explore!
 
I've listed a couple of things on Barter Town, probably have a few more to go. The way I look at it is that a sale through BT is going to be to someone I "know," have fewer hassles, no fees, and require less effort overall. For all that, I'll list something at a fairly substantial discount to what I think I can get on eBay. If I get no takers here I'll then take my chances elsewhere.
 
turbomustang said:
don't get me wrong I like this site like it is and now I plan to subscribe for the added benefit of barter town ;

I just would rather buy gear from someone who has owned it and cared for it rather than the yard sale find purchased just for the potential windfall of cash.
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Thats why Audiogon is always such a good bet, many sellers are serious and excited by audio, not just Flippers.
 
Another good site is Polks forums, under their FS section. I have bought a couple of items from the guys over there and have been very pleased with the communication and generousity of the members.
 
I found that certain items are in more demand here than others. I posted 8 -10 items and had only 1 bite. That was for an EICO 667 tube tester that I sold for less than market value.

I also bought some Polk monitor 10s for less than what they were worth (IMHO) It is about Karma. What comes around....

I did not have pics of any of my gear...that does not help my cause. Also even though I know the gear I have for sale is in great condition, who would believe me? The guy who bought the tester knows.

Most of my gear is MOTL to BOTL anyway, and most here are looking for the goooood stuff.

Barter Town is a bargain. I know AK is not ebay, but I trust it much more than ebay. You will not find the same selection as ebay, but you wont get DOA stuff as much either.
 
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