reubensm
Well-Known Member
Hi all, I was just reading through the unfortunate experience of our forum member flanker when selling his Jeff Rowland Capri Preamplifier. Thought I'll pen a few words as it is always the buyer's misery that is talked about but the seller is almost always forgotten. I personally know flanker, have visited him, bought stuff from him and kept in touch with him, and I must say, my buying experiences from him have been the best. All his gear is still in perfect functional use. Really sorry to hear what he went through.
I have had several selling experiences myself on HFV and luckily, I must say, majority of them have been good. As flanker has related to, many of us are not selling for profit or as part of a business. Its just that we have equipment that we have invested in, and find it difficult to part with. Hence we look out for fellow enthusiasts to take them over, often at prices much lower than what we've spent for them. Also remember that most of the time, equipment would have remained with us for less than a year before the intended sale. From the seller's perspective, there are risks as well. Most used electronics (especially mass market vintage stuff) may work well with the seller but after a shipping commute, may fail. Similar risks with shipping related loss or damage. I learnt lessons with packaging the hard way, but when a buyer reported damage, I always offered a full refund. Sometimes stuff which we advertise does not sell on the forum and despite getting offers from outside, most FMs keep dropping the price, increasing loss, just to ensure that the equipment stays within the forum.
Also a lot of us started small and have gone up the value chain with more expensive equipment and greater audio ambitions. Stuff that some of us advertise are very niche products and legendary in their own right. These are not mainstream mass market products. A lot of the entry-level or mid-level group of forum members may not understand or relate to the value of these pieces of equipment. Recently I advertised for 2 Technics SP10 MK2 turntables. I got some really funny queries, and some really weird offers
. One wanted to know how the SP10 MK2 compared with regular Technics turntables while another asked me why the price is 1.65L when I spent only 4k for it He forgot to read that it was 4k USD Just as like with Flanker, one request was for me to fly someone down to listen to it. Hence, I finally had to go outside of the forum and a wonderful opportunity to score was missed. A major headache is the part-payment syndrome. I have learnt how to politely decline despite being very uncomfortable with doing so. Then there is the buyer who is a fence hitter, not sure about the buying decision but keeps on at it for days and sometimes weeks together, thereby blocking the seller from offering the item to the next in line. Usually sellers like myself decide to part with something only if something better is waiting and funds are needed. When we buy from online sites like ebay or from private sellers abroad, they are usually not ready to wait for payments, hence we try to clear off stuff fast in order to raise the funds for paying them. These delays can get very frustrating. My advise to prospective buyers of high value equipment would be to do their research well, establish a buying intention (factoring the budget) and then move forward with discussions. When buying high value electronics, online price comparisons have to be done keeping in mind assumptions and dependencies. For example, recently a Technics EPA 100 tonearm was on sale on ebay.com with a but-it-now price tag of $50. The buyer had written a long story about the qualities of the EPA 100 tonearm and somewhere at the bottom mentioned that the advertised piece was damaged and was being sold for parts. The actual selling value of an EPA 100 tonearm in great condition if not NOS can go as far as $1000 USD. The rule often ignored is, while checking the price online, ignore the highest and lowest and look at the averages. Also don't just evaluate the price but read the advert completely and ascertain other facts associated.
Also, from my personal experiences, lower value stuff will pass on easily as the demand is higher, but for higher value stuff, keep alternate options open.
Disclaimer: this note is not intended to hurt the sentiments but to give a broader perspective to what happens behind the scenes. Also it is always a buyers right to choose whether to buy or not and that is duly respected.
I have had several selling experiences myself on HFV and luckily, I must say, majority of them have been good. As flanker has related to, many of us are not selling for profit or as part of a business. Its just that we have equipment that we have invested in, and find it difficult to part with. Hence we look out for fellow enthusiasts to take them over, often at prices much lower than what we've spent for them. Also remember that most of the time, equipment would have remained with us for less than a year before the intended sale. From the seller's perspective, there are risks as well. Most used electronics (especially mass market vintage stuff) may work well with the seller but after a shipping commute, may fail. Similar risks with shipping related loss or damage. I learnt lessons with packaging the hard way, but when a buyer reported damage, I always offered a full refund. Sometimes stuff which we advertise does not sell on the forum and despite getting offers from outside, most FMs keep dropping the price, increasing loss, just to ensure that the equipment stays within the forum.
Also a lot of us started small and have gone up the value chain with more expensive equipment and greater audio ambitions. Stuff that some of us advertise are very niche products and legendary in their own right. These are not mainstream mass market products. A lot of the entry-level or mid-level group of forum members may not understand or relate to the value of these pieces of equipment. Recently I advertised for 2 Technics SP10 MK2 turntables. I got some really funny queries, and some really weird offers
. One wanted to know how the SP10 MK2 compared with regular Technics turntables while another asked me why the price is 1.65L when I spent only 4k for it He forgot to read that it was 4k USD Just as like with Flanker, one request was for me to fly someone down to listen to it. Hence, I finally had to go outside of the forum and a wonderful opportunity to score was missed. A major headache is the part-payment syndrome. I have learnt how to politely decline despite being very uncomfortable with doing so. Then there is the buyer who is a fence hitter, not sure about the buying decision but keeps on at it for days and sometimes weeks together, thereby blocking the seller from offering the item to the next in line. Usually sellers like myself decide to part with something only if something better is waiting and funds are needed. When we buy from online sites like ebay or from private sellers abroad, they are usually not ready to wait for payments, hence we try to clear off stuff fast in order to raise the funds for paying them. These delays can get very frustrating. My advise to prospective buyers of high value equipment would be to do their research well, establish a buying intention (factoring the budget) and then move forward with discussions. When buying high value electronics, online price comparisons have to be done keeping in mind assumptions and dependencies. For example, recently a Technics EPA 100 tonearm was on sale on ebay.com with a but-it-now price tag of $50. The buyer had written a long story about the qualities of the EPA 100 tonearm and somewhere at the bottom mentioned that the advertised piece was damaged and was being sold for parts. The actual selling value of an EPA 100 tonearm in great condition if not NOS can go as far as $1000 USD. The rule often ignored is, while checking the price online, ignore the highest and lowest and look at the averages. Also don't just evaluate the price but read the advert completely and ascertain other facts associated.Also, from my personal experiences, lower value stuff will pass on easily as the demand is higher, but for higher value stuff, keep alternate options open.
Disclaimer: this note is not intended to hurt the sentiments but to give a broader perspective to what happens behind the scenes. Also it is always a buyers right to choose whether to buy or not and that is duly respected.
Last edited:
