Audiogon charges a small fee, but I always list here (as well as other places) out of a sense of loyalty. I did sell a few things here that did not get replies on other sites.
Over time, the cost of the ads is nothing. This site is free don’t forget.
You will see the same item on hifishark with different prices. That’s because some sites have no fee while others charge various fees that start out added to the desired price.
I have bought and sold, here as mentioned, eBay, Reverb, US and Canuck Audio Mart. ...
If ebay, don’t mess with Friends and Family, there is no prrotection buying or selling unless you send or get an invoice for ’goods’, and pay the extra protection fee, which you can offer to split with a buyer/seller, or lately I think just tell the seller you will pay the protection fee, send an invoice.
Local Pick-Up, buying or selling, is tempting, limits your buyers of course. I have a heavy Fisher 500C Tube Receiver I am hesitating to list. When I do, it will be: Local Pick-UP OR, buyer make arrangement with UPS Pack and Ship, which I have used a few times successfully.
I live between NYC and Philadelphia, so a buyer might come here, do you have affluent cities nearby?
Buyer pre-arranges with UPS, (give them size and weight of item), they give you an estimate.
Seller simply drops the item, unpackaged, unprotected, at the designated location nearest their home, IN YOUR NAME.
Once in their hands UPS gives an exact price to buyer (once a bit lower, another a bit higher, never a surprise from the estimate IME).
Buyer pays UPS to package and ship it, UPS is thus responsible for shipping, and any dealings are by you, not the seller which can get confusing.
BTW, I always say, fund your buying account with your best credit card, so you have their ’fraud’ protection. I sometimes call my credit card co before purchasing, discussing the intended purchase, they keep records of those conversations.
Another consideration, when buying, like a used camera or audio equipment, is you can separately buy warranties from a few Warranty companies, for price categories, new or used, some listed on eBay as options by the sellers, some, just do a search.
I bought a 3 year warranty for a new Tonearm from Russia. I called the warranty company before, and told them, there is no way they will be able to ’replace with ... refurb or ’equal used’. They said, ok, we’ll give you a full refund it it gets to that. It needed re-wiring, VAS did it, they reimbursed me in full.
best of luck