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Showing results for tags 'sales of used equipment'.
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On several audio blogs and/or web sites I have recently seen complaints of "very slow sales" for used higher end audio equipment. While I do not have access to actual sales numbers from USAudioMart or Audiogon, et al, I wonder if we are reaching a point where our buy and flip audio-culture is in danger of collapse? This would be very bad news for an industry which is fragmented and certainly must suffer from some degree of oversupply. A quick glance at the exhibitors listing in the guide book for the 2016 T.H.E. Show in Newport, CA. lists pages and pages of various manufactures, and anytime you study the various publications posting on the Daily Audiophile web site you see the names of unfamiliar audio companies which propagate like river toads. One wonders where do they come from, and how do they stay in business? I mean even Russian kleptocrats and Chinese tycoons have to draw the line at one gold plated dCS all in one box music server. The problem, as I see it, is that as sales decline for used equipment, the audiophile will slowly become unable to purchase new, "improved" equipment. We are a small niche in the home entertainment industry. We only have so much disposable income, only so much closet space. When the only way to move your old $10K amplifier is to sell it for under $1K, you have to consider your next purchase very carefully. The next item you buy may have to be your last, because you will never be able to sell it....at any price.