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Selling used gear is a frustrating ordeal!

Lazarus Long said:
The last guy that bought something from me pissed all over my bathroom floor. I guess he felt entitled to do so because he spent $1050. I usually set stuff up in my garage, and will go back to doing that 100% of the time. I’m also getting a no public restroom sign.
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Selling out of my house is inviting unwanted problems. But if a novice buyer is unsure then make a house call to their place with gear. Interview them carefully. Learn what they have, what they know, what they need etc. Take a $30.00 up to one hour cash in hand at the door delivery, applicable to $100 setup and leave after the sale is done. Keep it simple. Used to sell TV's & surround sound setups. Made a number of sales delivering and setup on my time. One guy gave me $300. I left a few tools there but didn't care.
 
Just Tuesday I drove west 90 miles to meet Ryan J. half way from his home in Dodge Center, Minnesota to sell him a receiver I'm selling for a friend. Thought I'd be a nice guy and help him out. We had been messaging for a few days and I got to know this person. He even showed me many pieces of gear he had and asked how I thought they should be used together, etc. Tuesday noon arrives and there I sit, no Ryan. Sent a message, called him, only to have the call go to voicemail. I can see on the messaging app that he's seen my messages, but no response from him since he was a no-show.
180 mile round trip drive, $30 in gas, and four hours of my time wasted. Now this a$$hole has made it so I will never drive any distance to meet up and sell ever again.
No more mister nice guy.
 
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kwayde said:
Just Tuesday I drove west 90 miles to meet Ryan J. half way from his home in Dodge Center, Minnesota to sell him a receiver I'm selling for a friend. Thought I'd be a nice guy and help him out. We had been messaging for a few days and I got to know this person. He even showed me many pieces of gear he had and how I thought they should be used together, etc. Tuesday noon arrives and there I sit, no Ryan. Sent a message, called him, only to have the call go to voicemail. I can see on the messaging app that he's seen my messages, but no response from him since he was a no-show.
180 mile round trip drive, $30 in gas, and four hours of my time wasted. Now this a$$hole has made it so I will never drive any distance to meet up and sell ever again.
No more mister nice guy.
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For a good time call Ryan J in every truck stop bathroom wall you can find.
 
The worst thing for me is the ghosting. Man up and send a text or email telling me you changed your mind. It's business, my feelings won't get hurt.

I recently sold a small Marantz for a fair to good price and the number of dreamers who contacted me was unreal. I stopped giving a **** about whether it sold or not and eventually my buyer came and the transaction was smooth. It just took a couple of extra weeks.
 
It's gotten to the point I just sell stuff I don't want to this flea market guy in town. He gives me less than half of what the stuff is worth, but I don't have time to waste on flaky people who A) don't show up at all B) show up high on meth and try to trade me randon garbage from the back of their pickup C) show up and nitpick every little scratch
 
RunOutGroove said:
No doubt... My problem is really flaky buyers that either offer me far less than my reasonable asking price, before even looking at the thing, ones who say they're interested and never follow up and others who say they're showing up to buy the thing and never do.

There's limited market for a lot of this stuff and I realize that I may have to list stuff over and over again before it sells. I just sold a subwoofer though that I must have had on the market for 6 months or more... so with a bit of patience, it can work.
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Those aren't flakey buyers, they are flippers, the version of them that everyone dislikes. They don't care how much they offend you. In fact they don't pay attention at all because they have a whole bunch of these same responses out there, and they just care about the response that means you might take their offer. I have a saying, it ain't sold until merchandise has changed hands and both parties are satisfied. I had one guy become friends with me until the time came for me to go to Toronto. The night before I left, I sent an email to confirm. No response, bring it with me anyway, since I had the space. Never heard from him again. But, I had already learned about all the different ways things can go wrong, so I was expecting that result. No big deal. But it does go to show you.

I had a backgammon game for sale locally, and was not expecting a fast sale. A guy in Alaska contacted me, and he was interested, after a year and a half!. We emailed each other about backgammon, and I described the unit. It was very special because it was from the 70s, was leather, and had never been played. It still smelled of new leather! And it had gorgeous aged Bakelite playing pieces. Butterscotch and Chocolate. Anyway, he game me my price of $500 US, and I had only paid $22 CAD at an estate sale.If I had been a top seller on ebay, I would have gotten about $1000.

kwayde said:
Just Tuesday I drove west 90 miles to meet Ryan J. half way from his home in Dodge Center, Minnesota to sell him a receiver I'm selling for a friend. Thought I'd be a nice guy and help him out. We had been messaging for a few days and I got to know this person. He even showed me many pieces of gear he had and how I thought they should be used together, etc. Tuesday noon arrives and there I sit, no Ryan. Sent a message, called him, only to have the call go to voicemail. I can see on the messaging app that he's seen my messages, but no response from him since he was a no-show.
180 mile round trip drive, $30 in gas, and four hours of my time wasted. Now this a$$hole has made it so I will never drive any distance to meet up and sell ever again.
No more mister nice guy.
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Been there and got the T-shirt. I will do it again, but they need to send me a deposit first. If they don't show up, I keep the money. Make sure you value your time appropriately.

I've learned not to wait for people to show up. I make sure I can do something while I wait. And I won't deliver any more unless they pay me 30% or thereabouts by etransfer. Same thing for holds. 30% Firm. And if they say that's crazy, just say your time is not free. No money, no hold.
 
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I've been lucky as of late selling about $1700 worth of gear in the last three months.For the most part it was pretty smooth.On the other hand I've dealt with most every negative thing mentioned here in the past.Its a necessary evil dealing with cl flakes if you want to clear the stuff out.I learned that wording of the ad makes a big dif in keeping the flakes away.
 
kwayde said:
Just Tuesday I drove west 90 miles to meet Ryan J. half way from his home . . .
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I've been lucky and had the opposite experience with an AK member. We met about 60 miles from here, within minutes of each other. Pleasant transaction that went smooth and he even gave me a $20 tip for gas money. After I left, I wished I hadn't accepted it. He already saved me the hassle of packing and shipping a quasi-monster receiver.

If we ever meet up again, I'll buy the beer. :beerchug:
 
I've never had a problem with CL. My ad states that we meet at a local garden center, I would never have anybody at my house. We agree on the price and that's it, cash only.
If they need to see the component in operation i bring an inverter to demo. A few times i've made videos of the component in action...calling the perspective buyer by name...and emailed it to them.
 
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I have more stuff than I can use right now, but fortunately, I didn't spend too much in buying most of the things I might want to sell.

While I might sell some things in the future, it's been worth it to me to gift some things to people I know who want a stereo system. A set to my parents, a set to one of my employees at the office, and one of my old college classmates wants a set as well (but that's more likely after Christmas).

If I do sell some things in the future, I'll probably try to sell them on Bartertown on AK, and not looking to make money, but to pass things along that might be used, or to give things to people who can fix and use them more ably than me
 
My last sale went extremely well. A gentleman on another forum was looking for a pair of Frazier speakers, (and I had an extra pair). We conversed through FB messenger, and the forum. I gave him my "break even" price. We discussed a time to stop by, and audition them. The day of the sale, he messaged me and said he was about 15min. behind schedule. So, I waited. He actually was very close to on time, and even backed into my driveway, (pretty sure he was a serious buyer). After auditioning with his music, he said he'd take them, and actually gave me $50.00 OVER my asking price. I really do not sell much from my home. My wife is a little leary of strangers in the house, so for the most part, I audition everything in the garage, (bad acoustics and all), when I decide to sell.
 
I've been buying and selling stuff since the birth of the internet. I used to do Recycler magazine back in the day too.

I follow a few principles. 1) If the other party is abrasive, its not worth the aggravation to deal with them. Hard pass. 2) I am upfront, shoot straight, set a time and wait. If anything changes, I dont get my feelings hurt. I move on to the next.

A guy tried buying a set of speakers from me. I offered him 12k, from 18K new. He goes on about nobody pays list, I wasnt selling at list, and that the comparative deals online were not their final prices. I said ok, we are too far apart in price. Thank you for your time, Im not selling that low. I saw he was disarmed when I turned to leave. Whatever. I didnt even take pleasure in it. These are just things, stuff. Buy quality, buy smart and someone will want it, at the right price.

Dont invest in agreements, promises or the prospect of selling fast. A deal is only done after your paid.
 
I'm giving away unused gear because I just won't want deal with the pin heads out there. Most is promised already. After trying to sell a few things on Audiogon, I ended up canceling my account after 20+ years.
 
I have to say that buying and selling here on Bartertown has always been great. CL, Reverb, and Ebay has been mediocre, at best.
 
I've sold and bought items on Bartertown and at AK get togethers. Went really well.

Otherwise, I've sold audio stuff to local used audio and record shops. Didn't get near what they will resell it for, with a short warranty. But no hassle sales. And it's gone. Someone else, maybe a young one getting started, will enjoy.
Local record shops were really busy when I've visited this season. One having trouble finding enough gear, for demand.
 
When I decide to sell something I just want it gone, so I price it so someone will get a good deal and the flippers can still make a few bucks. When I know it's a flipper or it's going over seas, I bring out other stuff for a package deal. Are the flippers late sometimes? Yes, because they are still at some other persons house trying to haggle.

If you don't want to wait for people or deal with tire kickers, sell it on eBay.

Rob
 
I believe you have to have a "targeted audience" and this helps screen those bargain hunters and just "curious :whip: folk" out.

Also, there are reasonable :dunno: expectations, and most times it will not mesh with the personal value the owner has for his "stuff".

When I do buy, which is rare :naughty:, I put forth my humble value of the artistry of audio components, and often times I have gotten great audio for next to nothing. Most folk just seem to want to give their "valued stuff" a good home :hug:
 
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