Estate planning question

figure out what you want first:

• easy process
• good home
• highest price
• please the family

You can't have all 4. They are kind of conflicting goals.

I think expecting 25% is realistic because the dealer will drop the price to 50% of the value and will keep half of the proceeds. 1/6 is pure greed.

Being in the business for for well over 30 years I have seen this scenario several times. I would personally recommend contacting all the high end dealers within 50 miles or so from your house and have them come over to inspect all the gear. Let them make a cash offer or sell on consignment. Then have them pack and move the gear out with a complete list. The gear is then out of your space and you have the cash, or you get payments as the gear sells off. It's better to work with a local dealer, especially if you have purchased from that dealer. 

OP might want to investigate the Saturday Audio Exchange on Belmont in West Town.  People there might have a recommendation for him

My wife knows exactly what my stereo costs and intends to keep it if I croak first. Our death instructions when we are both gone is for the executor of our estate keep the stereo for their own use or sell it and keep the money. The executor knows what it’s worth. I also included resources for them to find fair value and how to sell the items, and the name of my trusted audio salesman.  I chose the executor poorly if they cannot figure out how to sell it for an appropriate price. 

noromance

06-17-2026 at 05:40pm 

Actually, there’s a service some entrepreneur, or Audiogon themselves could provide. The entire system could be listed, Blue-booked, and auctioned when the time comes. 

 And they too will be in business to give you pennies on the dollar.

All I want to know is this, the last thing I’d ever think of if I had to liquidate or instruct my family how to liquidate the stereo, would be TMR. I bought from them twice through the years, they were nice enough, but how did they get to be the Official Recipients of dead audiophile booty? A few of you guys just put it out there .

In every modality, the sharks are always swimming in order to give your people bubke and take your sh*t for nothing and dispose of it at the going rate they didn’t know when they were talking to your heirs.

This stuff is easy enough, believe it or not. Even my flightiest son can handle going to Hi-Fi shark and selling every model number in the rack 20% less than the current going rate. In fact I think that’s a good set of instructions for all of our peeps.

Get a yellow sticky pad, write ’check Hi-Fi shark for current pricing’ on the back of each component.

Values are not necessarily sketchy in our little hobby- compared to people who were into coin collecting, art, rare metals, G*d forbid diamonds... you need some intrepid heirs.