Charging A Fee To Demo An Amplifier In A Brick & Mortar Store

this is a joke! He owns a store and has the amps packed up already. The pic shows the amps out in a system, he should leave them hooked up to attract potential buyers.
Can you imagine if car dealers would charge for a demo run? They have to do more sanitizing than an amp would require.
Run, don't walk away from this place

As a consumer, I would expect the seller to demonstrate that the units actually work. At his expense.  If I purchased them untested, lugged them home to discover something was wrong then have to return them, is the seller going to compensate me for my time?  I think not.

We need to be compensated. Simple as that. Hope this makes this clear.

What a crock of ****, wait till he gets there, if he seems legit (a good salesman can tell).
Then set the amps up on a system that’s all ready up and running.
 Charging to do this is doesn't do your credibility any favors.

Cheers George

When I created this post, I was truly curious if high end stores were now charging for an in-store demo. I’d never before heard of such a thing.
I had no intention of being critical of the seller...I just wanted to know if this was now a widespread and common practice in high end audio. Had I’d walked into a hifi shop unaware of this practice and a guy told me there’s a $500 fee for an audition, I would’ve been offended and felt insulted. Now that I’m aware of it, I can choose to walk in their doors or not.

I love Audio Research preamps. I’ve owned several of them and I think they are amazing. I’ve always wondered if their tube amps are as good as their preamps.

I own two pairs of Pass Labs monoblocks that I’m thoroughly satisfied with. I’ve been member of Audiogon for 20 years. Without fail, year in and year out I keep hearing about the magic of tube amplifiers from members of this forum. I’d never entertain the thought of paying $60k for an amplifier...however, if the price was right on a pre-owned pair, I’d consider a change if the tube amps were all they were cracked up to be. 

The amps are now priced at $17k.

I’ve also had the same curiosity about high powered Class-A monoblocs.
I periodically peruse Audiogon to see if these megabuck amps have fallen into my price range. Well, the current monoblocks are in my price range. However, I don’t need any amplifiers....but if I can be convinced by proof of listening that these monoblocks in question are head and shoulders above what I currently have, I’d certainly entertain the thought of purchasing them. I could sell my current amps to absorb part of the purchase price.

This seller is asking $500 for an in-store demo.

If that’s his business policy, I have no quarrel with that. But I do have a choice whether or not to go along with it.

These amps for sale have no warranty.

My current system is here:

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/876

I see zero issue with that assuming the fee is reasonable and can be used towards store credit. Don’t tubes have a finite life? Smart guy. Separates the buyers from the pikers.