The Music Room is Slipping

I agree leveraging a trade towards something you want isn't a bad idea.  I traded a preamp toward my Aurender N200.   Could have never have afforded it without doing that.  My out of pocket cost was a no brainer.    

I also bought my Cyrus i7XR integrated amp for about 40% of list.  That turned out to be one of my favorite components and the foundation of a really compact second system.   

I bought a few used cables from them also.    I usually try to keep it local but I would deal with them again

I knew a stripper once that told me "When I work I prefer to be paid".

Same goes for any business. No net profit = no longer open. 

What many audio guys object to is that their beloved item they paid $20,000 for 10 years ago is now worth $2,000 to a re-seller. It's hard to take the L on stuff you "invested" in but the free market cares not a whiff about your feelings. 

TMR purchase pricing is generally 1/3 of MSRP if it's MINT. Any flaw drops the price further. They also have learned what item sells fast (McIntosh for example) and what items sells slowly (formerly expensive not well known speakers for example) .

You can generally get 10% off their asking price- but you have to ask. 

Alternatively you can try to retail it yourself. You won't like the reality of the market's imposed valuations. If you have an ego problem you will be miserable selling gear. Buyers are in control here and the universe of buyers is shrinking. That means more competing items for sale and lower offers. 

If it flys, fornicates, floats or plays music- lease it. LOL! 

I’ve always had a good experience with TMR. I’ve consigned items with them, traded and sold outright to them. All good experiences. I will admit that I try to sell audio gear on my own through AG or USAM if the sale is under $3K. It just doesn’t make sense in my opinion to take a 30% haircut. More expensive items that are harder to sell, TMR is a great choice. They have large customer reach and all their gear for sale is reviewed for imperfection and tested. When your spending a good amount of money on used gear, that holds high value.

I disagree The Music Room has given me a fair price for items they have bought from me and in addition they offer the convenience of shipping the items to them at their cost paying the shipping price and providing you with the shipping materials.Having dealt with other big buyers they want yo to pay for shipping or have you transport said items to them at your cost. I factor this into the price that is given. 

My experience has been a positive one, they provide quotes quickly, when I’ve asked various questions about the offer or why they would or wouldn’t chose to buy a piece of gear they’ve been honest.  I’ve both bought and sold gear but overall it’s been a small portion of the gear I have bought and sold.  That said, that’s my choice, to buy or sell privately, that has its own sets of risks associated with it that TMR absorbs, which has real costs associated with it.  I’m glad they have been able to build their business out and are able to offer the platform, services they do to the Audiophile market.  From what I’ve seen during their evolution as mentioned by others, they have continually grown in their market knowledge, what sells quickly, what sells at a higher value to it’s MSRP, understanding inflation and the impact on used gear, makes sense, it’s how they make their money.