Can anyone recommend a person in the Philadelphia area to come look at my deceased husbands audio collection. Tune amps, headphones, gold cables ... I need to sell and want decent advice. Please email[email protected] I don’t really know how to use this forum so email best if ya have any advice. Thank you! Julie
If I were you, I'd contact the Philadelphia Audio Society. I don't have any personal experience with the group, but if they're still active (it looks like much of the web presence is a bit dated), then presumably they've got enough sense of community that they'll help you without trying to steal valuable equipment at a fraction of its value.
Not a bad idea either. Like you said, I wouldn't want somebody taking advantage of this situation. First thing that needs to be done is to document everything in the collection, than it could be researched.
Take a picture of all the equipment & make sure to get the name brands of them in the picture & post them in the forum. You can upload pictures from your phone to www.imgur.com & then just copy the links to them here.
Julie, if you do find out the brands and models of the gear in the collection, you can put that information in
https://www.hifishark.com/ and see what recent sale prices have been. Audiogon.com also has a bluebook option you can buy that offers similar functionality.
Is there anyone in her vicinity that could give Julie a hand?
She's got enough to deal with; her late husband's equipment should be the last thing on her plate, but something that could ensure some financial stability in the future.
Admin Audiogon Official
@julierae100 Sorry for your loss. If we can help in anyway, send me an email to [email protected], attention: Tammy
A very good friend of mine who has done this kind of thing before stopped by Julies house today and made a list of all the gear. He will be researching prices for her and she can decide what she wants to do. I was just happy to be able to put these two folks together and my friend is very trustworthy, hence the desire to have him get involved before some vultures sweep in.
True kindness here. I am grateful for Bill and Hank who came to my place well out of his way to help. Thank you all who responded with love and humanity. Ira was a truly good souls who would do anything to help anyone..and he did. He was a special education attorney and effected some so many. So it should be for anyone but just thought I’d let ya’ll know you are doing a solid for a sweetheart of a guy. And for me. Thank you and may karma be a thing!!
I do not live in the Philly area to be able to assist you, but I wanted to pass along my
sincere condolences for the loss of your Husband. Please do not hesitate to reach out to this group in the future in you need more advice or if you have further questions. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts.
Hi Julie, I too am so sorry for your loss. I am in the philly area and would be happy to to refer you to a local good ,honest person, but it looks like billjojo as well as the rest here are already moving in the right direction. What a difficult time. Reach out again if you need anything.
Julie - My deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers to you! So sorry to hear about you loss.
I am relatively new to this forum but regard and respect the wonderful people here who are knowledgeable and willing to help.
As such, though I never had the pleasure of meeting your husband in person (or other Audiogon folks out there!) he has been a part of this group/club/family(?), thus a loss to the rest of us on Audiogon, etc. as well.
Best wishes to you to find peace, solitude and support during these trying times.
Godspeed to you and your families Julie, when the list is complete let us know because I will be able to send that list out to the people who be interested. If I have it by Sunday, will get it out. Again, truly sorry for your loss
You have my sincerest sympathy and condolences for your loss. I worry about my wife going through the same thing and this thread has restored a bit of my faith in humanity. I wish you peace and comfort during this difficult time. And to all of you who weighed in so quickly and selflessly, thank you so much, you are credit to this forum.
I think that this feel good moment among the members is touching, but you must beware of on-line personas. The only way for you to be certain that you are getting the best and fair price for these components is to place these items on a venue which will give them national exposure.
Contact and hire an auction service! It would be a terrible mistake to trust anyone who will benefit from anything but selling this stuff at the highest possible price. Please heed my advice!
Call Albert Sportis owner of Precision Audio and Video in Chicago at 773-720-1542 and tell him Larry Edwards from Denver sent you. He is a large dealer and he might buy all of the equipment and resell it. He is honest and can offer you some advice.
Do not sell to a dealer for obvious reasons. I think that other members need to understand that you should treat your late husband's equipment as an investment and should approach selling it as you would any other commodity. I would be more than willing to buy the entire collection but I am going to offer you an amount which allows for a fair degree of profit when I sell the collection. You want to reach enthusiasts that want these items for their personal use not as a vehicle of profit.
Thank you for the advice! Do you have an auction service to contact? I may need to sell quicker than what national exposure would allow for but worth investigating if feasible. Thank you again. julie
I am sincerely sorry for your loss. My best advice is not to do anything in a hurry. When you feel up to it, record the brands and model numbers for future reference. Take some time to contact some of the people named above. Albert Portis, or Larry Edwards would probably be a good place to start. Although we have no way of knowing what equipment is in your collection, it could be valuable.
Above all, resist the temptation to have well-meaning audiophiles hurry to your home to evaluate what you have. Get a few quotes so that you can decide who, or which method, will bring you the highest return. It may be that the best method will be auction. If possible, try to contact one of you husband's audiophile friends (assuming he had some). Just remember the old adage: Decide in haste, repent at leisure. Best of luck in whatever you decide!
I don't really get the warnings about accepting help from local audiophiles.
Sure, be on the lookout for grifters, but getting a full list of items is useful. They'll give an estimate of value and Julie can have Tammy @ audiogon look up the average resale price of each item to get another opinion. Then it's just a question of how quickly she wants to sell. If not in a hurry, posting online and waiting for offers will maximize profit. If in a hurry, selling everything to a dealer will do.
Regardless, getting the list and then average resale will allow all offers to be considered for fairness and she will not be taken advantage of.
I would suggest contacting Proxibid to get a list of participating auction services in your area. I have bought thousands of dollars worth of audio gear and associated from Proxibid without any problems. In each case the auction service shipped me the items. My guess is that they would come to your house, get details about the equipment, take photos and do all of the listing. I hope this helps.
Dear please don’t be in a hurry to sell do your research first. Your husband’s equipment will sell. I’m so sorry for your loss. My love of this forum has gone to a new level of respect and their kindness is a wonderful thing to see. You are blessed.
Hello from New Zealand. I have a perspective for you to consider. We audio nuts love our gear and it is important to us. When it comes time to sell - in this case you - it would would be nice if the gear goes to a good home. I deal with residential property as a profession and hi-fi as a hobby. What I find not only with myself but for vendors of a much loved home it is important that the property being sold goes to a good home. I think it is likely that your ex would like his hi-fi gear to go to a home where it would be appreciated.
Julie, sorry for your loss. There are several resources to determine the value of the items. You can list them yourself and ask for top dollar, fair value, pretty good deal, or really good deal to move them faster. If you or a family member can do it, you keep most of the revenue. There are also some businesses than can help in selling, for a cut.
If you want to move it faster, as a complete sale, there are dealers who would buy it, but they are buying to resale & make money on it.
You just need to determine how fast you need to move it, and if you want to get fair market value, or less and move it faster.
I am very sorry for your loss. I live in Villanova close to the city. If you need any help please pm me. I can come photograph the equipment if you need. It is very easy to see how much similar equipment has sold for to get an estimate of its value.
First, I wish to offer you my deepest condolences on the passing of your husband and am sorry for your loss.
Secondly, I wanted to mention that I am also local to Philadelphia, located in Wynnewood, and would be happy to assist in any way I can. I’ve been buying and selling used audio gear for over 35 years and used to sell it at retail many years ago.
Recently, I’ve been helping a good friend sell off his high end audio collection as he and his wife are looking to downsize into smaller quarters. I will send you an email to introduce myself and give you my contact information. As several had suggested, multiple pictures and a list of gear is the place to start and then you can figure out selling options from there. There are several options to sell without fees & I also have a network of local audiophile friends as well that may be able to help in the disposition of these assets. Again, so sorry for your loss.
There is another consideration here. What this lady may want is just a few options of what to do with this equipment. She just lost her husband. She may want to simply know what it’s worth and move it out in one fell swoop. I helped a lady who one time in the past to sell they a large collection of her husband‘s 78 RPMs. She didn’t want the nightmare of trying to sell everything individually. Imagine the nightmare of her trying to sell each piece individually. All she really asked for was the value of the equipment. That could include the original price, the present retail and the average selling price individually. Money may or may not be her top priority. It is very nice to see so many Good Samaritans offer her advice. We don’t however want to give her a giant headache by encouraging her to take on a project she isn’t prepared to handle.
Admin Audiogon Official02-11-2020 4:35pm@julierae100 Sorry for your loss. If we can help in anyway, send me an email to [email protected], attention: Tammy
Hello @julirae100
Condolences for your unexpected loss.
My best advice is to NOT sell to ANY dealer. Contact the Admin above who posted earlier and I am sure that they can assist you in auctioning your late husband's gear on Audiogon.
Hey Everyone- I am thankful for all of the feedback, concerns and information. I believe that for now I have enough to go on to move forward. Lots of help and support and while I’m not an audiophile, I’m a smart cookie and won’t make any ill-ad used decisions. Truly thank you!!
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