Buying/Selling Stereo Equipment Online, Shipping Has Become Cost Prohibitive.
Selling Stereo Equipment online has become increasingly difficult due to multiple reasons. You can sell on your own website, someone else’s website, Facebook, Craigslist, eBay, etc., etc. Unless you sell locally there is the good old shipping cost. Viewing ebay auctions one would think half of the sellers offer free shipping. Their auctions actually state “Free Shipping.” It must be free right? Not so fast…take a look at the “Buy it Now” Price or the Auction starting price. Some start off at a ridiculous amount, but there is free shipping! The shipping is included in their starting price. I personally have dealt with people who think if they buy something for $50.00 with free shipping it is a better deal then paying $30.00 with $10.00 shipping. That’s right…they are not smart enough to realize the item for $30.00 plus 10 bucks shipping is cheaper then the $50.00 with free shipping. NO, I am not kidding. There are many people who can’t compute that the total price is what matters. You know the sum of the parts equal the whole. So what’s the problem?
The problem is shipping has gone up in price in the past year or so where buying certain audio components has become cost prohibitive. Lets take selling a small Technics receiver on ebay. Ok, you list it at $25.00 -$50.00 starting price for an auction. What’s wrong with that you ask? Ok, here goes: You had to travel to purchase the receiver, you have to clean the controls, replace some lamps, etc, Clean it up, you have to write a description, take pictures, post it up on ebay. Now you have to answer questions from individuals that have had brain transplants from flies and other insects. Questions like “will you do a buy it now for $30.00 with free shipping.” Here is the problem, for that small Technics receiver the minimum amount of shipping you can charge is $35.00 just to break out even if packed correctly to avoid damage. See the dilemma? You can’t start the auction at $80.00 with free shipping because no one will bid or buy it. If you start it at $25.00 and charge $30.00 shipping it will upset most bidders that the shipping cost more then the unit. And here is some news for you…if you ship this receiver for $30.00 from NY to Ca it’s going to cost more and you will lose money on shipping. Now, add in ebay listing and final value fee charges, paypal charges and the newish ebay shipping charges, packing materials/boxes, time and energy spent, and how much did you make? NOTHING, in fact you lost money. This is why you see what appears to be outlandish shipping costs. They’re really not, most sellers lose money selling equipment online unless it’s high-end units that sell for $$$$. It’s near impossible to sell the nice Pioneer mid-range or small Sansui, Kenwood, Technics receivers. The shipping cost is simply just to high. If you show the correct shipping cost on your auction, no one will bid. If you add it in and give free shipping the starting amount you have to charge for the item and the shipping is just too much and no one will bid. Plus all the other pitfalls of selling on line. The shipping dilemma stops sellers from selling quality mid-range audio gear and buyers from getting what they want at a reasonable cost. Welcome to the new world.
To sell your old stereo equipment, please contact us at cashforstereos.com, or call 718 698-2428.
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