Would you buy Home Theater gear on EBay?

[rlpiii]

Originally Posted by kloneman

The stuff I usually purchase is so ancient that "support" is a non-issue anyway. My latest acquisition is about 30 years old, and its original maker has been bought and sold several times, and the company is now in China of all places to end up.

Nice museum quality buy!

[kloneman]

Originally Posted by rlpiii

Nice museum quality buy!

Hey, I am known as "Master of the arcane and obsolete"... The real fun starts of course when I open them up and start going though them, beginning with replacing all of the old HV capacitors and crappy Monster Cable.

Thanks again for helping me get them home! I never would have found their prior location.

[picochan]

I think ebay's a great place to pick up great deals. The only caveat is that you really should know what you're looking for/at before you make the purchase. There's enough buyer protection online, so as long as you know what you want, I'm sure you'll find great deals on Ebay

[kloneman]

Originally Posted by rlpiii

Nice museum quality buy!

I'm going to Chicago on Monday. Where was that place that had the U-1s?

[GrtGrfx]

I think it's as smart to buy used audio/video gear as it is to buy used cars: let the other guy pay the full price and the "drive-off" penalty, and get the same thing for a more reasonable price. I'll get good-quality equipment for maybe half off the new cost and I won't have to worry about the gray market warranty worries of online sellers.

I have bought almost everything in my home theater except my Panasonic plasma TV from eBay sellers. I probably saved over $5,000 while keeping worthy used gear out of landfills. I've only had one problem with a seller misrepresenting a component (NAD speakers, he labeled them as a newer model than those actually delivered), but it wasn't a big-enough problem to cancel the sale. These speakers still sound fine today.

Depending on the day and time the auction ends, items can be totally cheap or practically retail. There's an art to that.

I've also sold over 100 items myself on eBay, carefully packing each item, accurately describing them and making sure everything worked as advertised before posting for sale. Many other AV enthusiasts do the same.

For buyers, the single most important thing to remember is you must decide what the absolute maximum price you'd feel is fair to pay for the item you want, and DO NOT bid over that amount. You may lose a lot of auctions, but you will never feel you paid too much for an online AV item.

NAD T750 AV receiver (refurb, bought on eBay, $460 not $900)
NHT Super Ones, (used, bought on eBay, $250 pr, not $499 pr.)
NHT SW10 sub (used, bought on eBay, $149, not $499)
NHT Super Zeroes (used, bought on eBay, $75 pr, not $250/pr.)
Denon DVD1920 DVD player (bought on eBay, refurb, $179 not $350)
Harman Kardon turntable (used, bought on eBay, $125, not even avail. retail, discontinued over 20 years)
Grace F9 Ruby phono cartridge w/2 replacement stylii (magazine review demoes, bought on eBay, $100, not $900)
Monster 12' sub cable (used, bought on eBay, $10 not $89)
Sony CD player, since sold, (used, bought on eBay, $25 not $149)

[rlpiii]

You still paid too much for the monster cable