I just sold a piece of gear through TMR and found it to be a very satisfactory process. The equipment sold quickly and this is one way to insulate yourself from having to deal with after the sale issues. It comes at a price, of course, because the TMR commission is pretty stiff. TMR provides a good service, however, and for me it’s worth it, for others maybe not. But it is a way to eliminate the buyer issues that OP is concerned about
Has anyone sold over $35k worth of equipment over the net? How do you protect yourself?
I currently own a Moon 861 amp. I am considering buying a Moon 891 preamp/streamer. Sometimes, I get a bit nervous owning this much in gear. If I ever wanted to sell it, we are talking about $35k payment through paypal or a like service. I read where a buyer could dispute the transaction with their bank even if they bought it through paypal (or zelle) and the seller would lose the money.
Has anyone else sold this much in gear before over the net? How do you handle this kind of risk?
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@bigtwin +1 in God we trust ,,,,,everybody else pays cash,
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100% @bigtwin For smaller purchases, PP F/F is fine. Anything major, wire transfer, or cash on pick up. It is up to the buyer to vet the seller through conversation, feedback, etc. Always ship fully insured, after payment received and cleared into your account. Many will ask you to devalue the shipment to save them on duties or taxes. Don't do that. I recently sold high value speakers to Taiwan; the buyer completely trusted me based on USAudiomart feedback. |
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More like 15K of gear in this market :p There’s no way to 100% de-risk anything. That said, I’ve sold a lot of audio components over the years (always at a loss), certainly into 6-figures, and no incidents of note. I’ve only ever sold through dedicated hifi audio marketplaces: e.g. here (audiogon), usam, head-fi. That’s a decent 1st filter. Next, you judge the potential buyer. All-green if their communication is good and feedback is 100%. I’ve sold to members with no feedback before, but I’m very wary of anyone with a NEW account and no feedback. If they communicate poorly, request anything weird, or I just simply get annoyed by them - I STOP communicating. It’s really that easy. You get to be as picky as you like up front, BEFORE money changes hands. I generally use PayPal, and don’t require friends & family. Probably your bigger risk here is damage or loss in transity, and there UPS and FedEx are pretty good in my experience. I’ve had UPS lose a VPI speed controller - that’s it. Either use factory packing or do a REALLY good job. |
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