Got my player. hope everyone else was finally able to collect their winnings.
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Thank you, Lou! I'll give you a call. What's disappointing is that requests to return phone calls and e-mails to Quaker City Auctioneers have gone without reply. No one ever answers the phone, and no one returns a call. They seem to lose interest in the transaction after receiving the wire transfer. Personally, I believe a deal is not yet complete until the customer receives the item safe and sound, preferably, as quickly as possible. |
Joe, If it's any easier for you, I'm off work tomorrow and live in Wynnewood. I have to go to Havertown tomorrow morning and could easily slide by Broomall for you, then meet up with you later in the day to give the items to you so you can ship. Call me if you need 610-357-7844 Regarding TSTO, back in the mid 80's/early 90's when Scott was the manager, the store was like a high end audio museum and I bought a lot of gear from him back in the day. Sassafras Audio, Danby in CC, Chestnut Hill Audio, David Mann & Community Audio were also good audio stores as well. Soundex was an old house where they always use to stack up their audio gear on top of turntable dust covers, I could never understand that... Lou |
Hello. This is an update to the several members who have contacted me in regard to pick up and shipment of your items. I have reached out to Quaker City, and requested that as someone who works during the normal and expected hours of a day job, could we make arrangements for me to stop by outside of that time. I am currently waiting for their reply, and will update everyone once I have more information to pass along. Hopefully, they will show some flexibility in this situation. Thank you, Joe |
Spoke to the Auction house and they are allowing pickup wednesday thru Friday of this week 8am to 4 PM. Have received their confirmation of my wire transfer which I am sending to you. Apparently this info is enough for you to pick up -am also relaying your contact info to the Auction house person(B Wolf)to aid in making the pick up as smooth as possible. Believe address is 1001 Sussex Blvd,Broomall,Pa. 19008 Here is the copy of my wire transfer info.. PAID IN FULL - THANK YOU FOR YOUR WIRE. Thank you for participating in the HiFi House Auction. Payment is required within 24-48 hours in cash, bank check, business check w/bank letter of guarantee(payable to QUAKER CITY AUCTIONEERS), or wired funds. NOTE WE DO NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. Please contact us with your anticipated removal date and form of payment to [email protected]. REMOVA FROM THE HIFI BROOMALL STORE AT 1001 SUSSEX BLVD IS Wed 8/20-Fri 8/22 from 8:00am - 4:00pm. If you require shipping, feel free to contact Steven @ Better Crating - 610-874-9494 OR the UPS Store in Broomall. They can give you a quote. If your item/s are small enough, Quaker City can package and ship your items, but payment must first be made on the invoice received for the lots. You can provide us iwth your UPS or Fed Ex account number and arrange this with [email protected]. Thank you, Cindy Merback Quaker City Auctioneers, Inc. 215-426-5300 |
You're exactly right, Bifwynne. I live in Lafayette Hill. It's actually, Miquon, but no one's ever heard of that place. With the budget cuts of the USPS, they closed our Post Office, and we got absorbed by Lafayette Hill. I should say that some have heard of Miquon, as there's a train station on the Manyunk - Norristown line. What's nice is I can get to my job in Center City in 25 minutes. Unless it was the place on Old York Road across from the Atrium Mall, which I thought was HiFi House back then, I don't remember Music & Sound in Jenkintown or Willow Grove. Interesting there was another high-audio shop you brought up in that area, as we also lost Soundex more than a decade ago. I remember visiting the HiFi House location in Broomall when I was a teenager, and it was more or less a warehouse. They had a row of Paradigm speakers lined up in one giant room, from cheapest up through the most expensive in their midlevel (Studio?) line. Had some moderately priced Adcom and Bryston gear in the center of the speakers, and the guy told me to listen to whatever pairs of speakers I wanted, for as long as I wanted. I know in the past several years they tried to go WAY upmarket from those days, audiowise, after trying the HT route. It seemed one of the (the guy people got to see) owners had bet big money on things panning out. Obviously, they didn't. You probably know my friend's store, TSTO (formerly, The Stereo Trading Outlet) in Jenkintown. To be honest, I have no idea how Mike stays above water. That store used to have so much life and excitement. Back in the 80s and 90s, when the store had a ton of used gear from all manner of manufacturers, you could literally get a PHD in high-end audio by simply visiting one or two times a month. Nothing like that exists today, and probably never will again. These days, it's difficult to walk in there to see a fraction of what he used to carry, no other customers around, and a silent phone. I made two great friends(Audiogoners Mechans and Sufentanil), and we used to visit a lot. Michael (Sufentanil) loved being around Dave and Carl and all of their banter. After Dave suddenly passed away several years ago, the place just isn't the same. But as you said, good (no, make that great) memories... |
Trelja I won a few things and I might have to take you up on it. The discussion with one of the suggested shippers - Navis or whatever was a disaster. The guys was an arrogant jerk. Apparently I am not the only one who felt this way. I spent the good part of yesterday trying to figure out payment and shipping. At least the former has been dealt with. That 15% premium at the Audiogon site struck me as a surprise. I did not notice it before bidding. Thankfully I also bid on relatively small items. But I feel sorry for the place and I cant say I dont feel a little bit like a vulture. |
Trelja, I gather you live close to the Lafayette Hills section of the Philly burbs. I lived in the area for many years ... a long time ago. It's close to the Valley Green part of the Philly Fairmont Park. I share your sentiments about the demise of B&M audio stores. Are you old enough to remember Music and Sound Ltd?? They started in Jenkintown, then moved to Willow Grove. That's where I got my start in audio. M&S sold me a preowned Crown IC-150 and DC 300 set, and new Infinity 2000a sspeakers, w/ ESL tweeters. Had that stuff for 25 years. M&S loved ARC gear. That's why I pick-up ARC gear again, some 35 years after my modest start. Well the old days are gone and ain't coming back. Sigh!! But hey ... many memories are easily retrieved ... I just pop a CD into the old CD player, or spin some old LPs. Right now I'm listening to The Best of Dion and the Belmonts CD. Takes me back. |
Admranger, Trytone, Vnttg, or anyone else, if you have further problems, please contact me offline. Not sure where the items are currently, but I live next door to the golf course that hosted the auction. I could pick items up for you in the Philadelphia area, and then ship them out to you via USPS Priority Mail for small items or FedEX Ground for larger things. HiFi House went down in a day. I have a friend who has a competing store just down the street from one of their locations. He said they were leveraged way, way, way over their heads, and the bank (think he may have told me it was a new bank?) called the note, and that was that. The brick and mortar situation is crushing, for us as shoppers, the communities in general that host them, and obviously, those who make their livelihood from these businesses. Over the past 15 years, for various reasons that we've debated here countless times, things have collapsed. I miss spending my free time traveling to the myriad stores we once had in this area, and discovering high-end audio. |
I was able to get them to agree to ship my small items. I'm going to send them a bank check and they'll mail my items to me. That's really good news. This could have been done so much better and with less stress for everyone. Because of the shipping uncertainty, I only bid on small items that I figured could be easy to ship. There were a number of items, including some of the big speakers I would have bid on otherwise... Oh well, live and learn. |
I won a few items. Called Better Crating Service as recommended by Quakers Auction House, left several messages! Also, they added PA tax whereas I live in a different state. Also sent an email to them to ask to rectify the invoice and recommend other shippers. Will keep you informed. By the way, when I received the flyer (via email), it clearly stated audiogon members would be able to pay via Paypal (18%), that is 15% premium and 3% paypal. Now payment has to be by cash, certified check or bank transfer! Pls keep us updated on this subject. I will do the same. |
Good luck. I was quoted over $250 to ship a 17 lb disc player that i won for 50$. Add in the fee,taxes,wire transfer fee and it becomes a big problem. Am trying to get an old college chum to pick up and ship to me. If there is an Agoner that wants to make a profit of about 50$ would be willing to pay you to ship to me. Many thanks. Ls |
I bid on about 18 items. I took into account the auction fee and having to drive about two hours each way to pick up the items. I got outbid on everything that I bid on. Some of the winning bids were higher than what you would pay on Ebay or Amazon. Add in the auction fee and the gas/tolls to go pick it up and you're about at retail. I guess people got caught up in the auction mentality. Anyway, I'm kind of glad I didn't win anything; just one less hassle to deal with. |
So I contacted the auction house about assistance with shipping and was told they aren't offering any. They said they have too many items and can't handle the workload. I guess that I will have to hire a packer/shipper if I win anything. Anyone in the local area have any recommendations for packers/shippers I should contact? |
Remember, if you win any of the items here or online, you have to pay a 15% "Buyers Premium" onto of your winning bid. Also, no credit cards. I watched and have to agree that most of the stuff was going for about what you would pay for "mint used" and some of the stuff didn't have boxes/accessories. Some of the stuff sold for close to retail. I guess some of the bidders got caught up in the auction mentality. I did see a few good deals like a new 55" Panny Plasma for $600 and a new 65" UHDTV for %1550. |
Agreed, I registered and was an approved bidder. Could figure out how to make a bid. Lot's of junk. Bifwynne: you need to go to bidspotter and log in on the hi fi house auction, then click the 'bid now' button starting at 11am EDT today to get into the online auction. You'll put in the same username/password and then you should be good to go. BTW: in case I can't get a response on shipping and I actually win some of the things I've bid on, is the PA location convenient enough that you could take the stuff to a UPS store and have it shipped to me? I'd pay up front, of course. ;-) |
Bifwynne, I remember you live in the area. They were a high-end shop, but I reckon they didn't keep big ticket items in stock. I'm wondering if any of their demo gear is up for sale... http://www.hifihouse.com/wilson-audio |
I was surprised at the low quality stuff in the first part of the listing, definitely not typical Audiogon gear. As I read further I started seeing some quality interconnects, but the starting bids appeared close to (maybe above) typical retail for excellent condition used. What irked me was the poor photos and no description. I see this frequently with on line commercial/industrial auction houses, but, they assume you inspect the merchandise in person. In this case I would bet 80-90% of the Audiogon audience is more than a few hours away so in person inspection isn't going to happen. I'm not sure who initiated this arrangement, but Audiogon should have insisted on a higher quality presentation. I'm sure there is a lot of money at stake for Audiogon, but that's no reason to lower your standards! As for shipping, there was a reference in the "small print" to a local company who would pack and ship for you, i.e., it's going to cost more than the typical Audiogon transaction. |
I agree that they are a mess. However, what store is this being liquidated? That's a ton of gear! I did manage to get on and approved for bidding. I'd still rather buy from here-real people with real interests and much better communications and knowledge. Now if I lived nearby that might be different... |
Their live bid software doesn't seem to support mobile devices so I lost interest today on that. Stuff was going pretty cheaply though from the limited amount of items I watched sell. Never could get logged in even though my account worked fine from home last night. I asked them a question on shipping items, combining shipping, etc. and haven't had a response. Perhaps they'll get to it before the auction ends and I might bid on a few more things... It doesn't appear to be very well run in my opinion. It certainly isn't up to the standards of the Audiogon members I've had transactions with in the past! |
I am interested in how it goes in general with so many items listed at once, including many vaguely described parts and components in some cases. Starting bid prices seem about 50% of going prices new otherwise, which is what the best used stuff typically goes for anyhow, so no great deals likely, though certainly a lot there to sort through and choose from. WHo knows the condition of any particular item? Plus maybe no satisfaction guarantee or return policy in that it appears to be a liquidation kind of deal. Always best to ask the seller any questions up front. I am curious how it goes. |