Buying Pet Peeve - Pictures


I must admit one of my favorite activities is scouring the Internet looking at ads of used audio gear. For years, I have been keeping tabs on the used audio market.  Prior to the internet there was Audiomart, the Audio Trading Times and the back of Audio magazines and now the internet has made it all very easy.

 

It seems that USAudiomart, EBay, Craigslist, FB Marketplace, and Audiogon (not in that order) are the best places for used gear and I’m constantly checking into these sites, even when I’m not looking to purchase gear.  You never know when that rare gem will come up for sale, and you better snap it up before someone else does.

 

What I have found over the last 6 months or longer is that either sellers have become lazy, or perhaps just stupid?  The internet has been around long enough for people to know that good pictures are the key to selling gear, and the key to getting top dollar, yet I continually see really poor pictures of gear.

 

It irks me daily when I see it, and I end up yelling at my computer just like I will yell at my tv while watching a sporting event.  

 

My 2 biggest picture pet peeves are:

1.  someone selling expensive speakers who can’t be bothered to take the grills off or won’t take pictures of the binding posts or speaker rears

2.  A seller consumed with the mod that he did on an amp or preamp and takes multiple pictures of the inside of the unit but forgets to take pictures of what the actual unit looks like.

 

There are other poor photo practices like taking pictures in a dark room, using that old flip phone to take pictures, or just being lazy and not unplugging your gear and taking some stand alone pictures.  
 

*** Sorry if this offends anyone, that is not my intent.  I’m just finally venting after seeing this occur so often.   

 

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My pet peeves for pictures are:

1) Taking all sorts of pictures of the front and sides of units - but not showing the rear with inputs/model number, or the condition of the pads with headphones.

2) Not clearly showing the auxillary itmes- such as a remote that is not OEM - or a frayed power cord, tuner antennae and connectors.  Like they are trying to trick you.

I think the used market may not suit you.  Perhaps keep to new gear.

You can, of course, always ask the seller to post more photos.

I won't buy gear from seller who won't even clean the gear of dust or take the equipment out of the rack that they're selling. Or present it in an appealing and attractive way way. One seller on eBay would always include his cat in the series  of photos  sometimes standing on top of what he was selling. 

I complained earlier in this thread about dust and leaving speaker grills on, but after reading what some other have written, I realize that I'm not very picky at all. Some members here want everything but a guarantee from Sears!