Selling hi-fi - any good sites (or have I missed a section here where you can?)

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I was just wondering if anyone knows web-sites dedicated to used hi-fi sales (free access) as I used to use hififorsale.com but it's gone and I have not found a similar replacement yet?????
 
We do plan to offer a classifieds section at a later date, but nothing as yet, sadly.

Personally - despite its frustrations - I find eBay a good way of reaching a global audience.
 
Thanks - sorry to sound 'so last century' but don't e-bay charge commission ? Not used it - due to the free options in the past!

Also - wonder what the hi-fi audience is on e-bay ... regarding more unusual brands ........ I suppose it's such a large audience it may cover all those bases too ... hmmmm
 
Yes, eBay take a percentage of the final fee, plus listing fee in most circumstances.

Is the hi-fi audience on eBay? Well if anyone searches for a product in Google, if there's one for sale on eBay, you can bet - due to the site's size/importance - that auction will be right near the top of the search results.
 
I've bought and sold on that other forum of the AV variety, they have a classifieds section. Prices are good and there are no fees.

I'm interested in Clare's comments about a WHF classifieds, one area where WHF beat them hands down is the user friendliness of the website, so a WHF classifieds would be very welcome.
 
We hope to make a range of enhancements to the site in 2010 - Classifieds is on my wishlist as part of that, but (as ever with online developments), no promises
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Clare - I know you currently have a no sales rule here. Does it violate that rule to post that you have certain kit listen on ebay with caveat emptor / not in association with WHF etc provisos?
 
Depends how blatant it is, to be honest: a regular forum member mentioning it in passing that they're selling something (but not starting a thread on the subject) could be OK; someone signing up to push an eBay sale would not be - neither would discussions on a sale.

For example, mentioning in a thread that you've just bought some new cables and are going to sell your old ones on eBay would be fine; adding a link to the auction would not be.

Discussing a purchase is also fine - wouldn't want to miss out on the next hilarious installment of Joel's eBay 'accidental' bids
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Fees on ebay are minimalat best**, and there user base massively dwarfs anyother site out there. If you ask me (as somone who sells alot on ebay) you would be silly to consider any other option if you are looking to make money.

** im 90% sure that ebay only make money on the insertion fee (which is pennys most of the time), the auction fee is a government introduced tax which all online auction sites have to follow.
 
mushroomgod:

Fees on ebay are minimalat best**, and there user base massively dwarfs anyother site out there. If you ask me (as somone who sells alot on ebay) you would be silly to consider any other option if you are looking to make money.

** im 90% sure that ebay only make money on the insertion fee (which is pennys most of the time), the auction fee is a government introduced tax which all online auction sites have to follow.

I disagree, I've bought and sold hifi on eBay. Selling fees are anything but minimal if you're selling a piece of equipment in 3 figures, listing fees are no issue, but the final valuation fees and the final insult, PayPal take their cut and you're left with quite a different figure! I use eBay to get an idea of secondhand selling prices and then go to the other forums classifieds. I sold a pair of MA BR5's and my Onkyo 905, both sold within a day, no hassle. Obviously, if you have no joy there, then eBay is the fallback.

eBay gives you a bigger audience, but a hifi forum classified gives you a more informed audience to sell to. I sold a DVD-Audio disc a few years ago on eBay and got left bad feedback because it didn't have any moving pictures!
 
Ebay: Expect to hand over a good 10% of your final value sale price. There's a scale of insertion fees depending on the listing price and PayPal will take their cut too. I sold a dozen or so LPs earlier this year, made £450 by the time all had gone, came away with about £400, so they do okay out of it. From memory, this also included PayPal fees.

There is a section in Ebay on fees, which goes into some detail.

As for hi-Fi for sale, it's back and you'll find it here: http://www.hi-fiadverts.co.uk - think it's still free but haven't listed anything on it since it changed.
 
my wife is a 'seasoned' seller on ebay and is VAT registered ... sells 60-80 items per week (mainly antiques/collectables) ... and sells fulltime (as a living)

Fees are pretty steep ... as an example, if you buy something for £50 ... then advertise it in 2 categories, add approx 5 photos, use a fancy border etc .... and it sells for £100, you only make approx £12 profit after listing fees, paypal fees and VAT....

(and it takes you approx 45min-1hr to photograph, edit the photos, do the advert and do the research) .... so yes, ebay can be pretty expensive, however if you are selling good items such as quality stereo/hifi equipment that can be shipped worldwide, there is no better place (at the moment) to sell than ebay
 
I was going to suggest using Auctiva, but they've now introduced a fee structure as well, though how it pans out for sellers in your wife's position I don't know. I pay £3 a month and can list 15 items in the month, anything over that is at 50cents (American) an item. Still beats Ebay, but when I reach my limit I go via Ebay. I make sure the stuff with lots of pictures goes on as a freebie though and I don't sell much. Kind of pays off in the long run!
 
I sell a fair bit on ebay, and I have to say I hate the site more than ever.

Seems more expensive to sell than ever and all the changes make it even harder for sellers.

I have given ebay very extensive feedback but none of the problems have changed.

I reckon I have about 30 more items to sell then I'm gonna quit, so sick of it!
 
sad part is that ebay is still the best place to sell as you get the most interest in the items (most hits per item/ biggest audience) ... and you get the highest prices for your items

Ebay know this so just do as they please and have shafted sellers by removing the ability to leave negative/neutral feedback (honest feedback) ... sellers are no longer able to leave neg feedbacks).... buyers know this and some buyers are using blackmail (threatening to leave bad feedback if they dont get 'discounts') ... one has to be very very carefull when selling used items and describe each and every scratch and minor flaw

ebay has also introduced the 'best match' system for sellers which is based on your DSR's (the ratings given by buyers in the section that has the stars ... bad stars and what happens is that your items appear on the lower /bottom pages of the search by default (can be changed by the viewer/buyer to 'time ending soonest' but most buyers dont bother so dont see your items on the bottom pages of the search

lots wrong with ebay at the moment and many powersellers are disgruntled .... there was talk of google starting up a rival site like ebay but not sure if it was just rumour .... then people sent mails to Richard Branson asking him to start up a site ... don't think he was interested

there are many other similar sites to ebay, but ebay is still the best at the moment.... (until a major rival starts a site)

Gumtree has also been bought out by ebay and would not surprise me if they will start charging to advertise there shortly (currently you can sell for free on gumtree)
 
If you auction on eBay, the final value fees are far higher than just 'buy it now' listings. Also, bear in mind that money coming through paypal attracts another 'fee/charge' - 3.4%, quite substantial (it is also owned by eBay). You might want to consider cheque, cash or bank transfer on higher value listings.

Also, people generally find Sunday afternoon listing endings get more response. You can schedule a listing to start and therefore end.
 
Also, people generally find Sunday afternoon listing endings get more response. You can schedule a listing to start and therefore end.

our experience differes from yours .... sunday afternoons are Carp / not good as many people are still out and about....

we find that sunday, monday and tuesday evenings ending the auction between 9 and 10 in the evening is good .... avoid fridays and saturdays (these are the best days to buy but worst to sell) ...

also list he items for 10 day auctions and list worldwide (if you can ship the larger items) .... get quotes from www.parcel2go for international shipping of larger items and always send items insured with a tracking number (some buyers are con artists and insist that you send the cheapest method ... they receive the items then insist that they did not, and you have no proof so end up refunding in full)
 
Hi

May be worth trying the following:

EDITED BY MODS - House Rules

Good Luck
 
Iv noticed with Ebay now that u cant put a reserve on anthing with a starting bid below £50 ,so if ur expecting to get say £70 for an item,u have to use a buy it now {lots of people dont seem to want to use these and will actually outbid each other above the buy it now price !} or risk it going for less than u want ,or start at a high start bid and nobody wants to know

Mark
 
Clare Newsome:
We do plan to offer a classifieds section at a later date, but nothing as yet, sadly.

Not sure why a classifieds section can't be supported simply by adding another forum to the website? It was easy enough to add a "Computer-based music" forum, so why not a classified...unless, of course, you intend to charge.
 
It's not charging that's the issue, but the logistics and implications - if we're going to offer classifieds, then we want it to be something a tad more sophisticated than 'for sale' notices.

We know from running classifieds on a range of other mags/websites that getting it right isn't as simple as it would seem.

We'll keep you updated....
 
Clare Newsome:
It's not charging that's the issue, but the logistics and implications - if we're going to offer classifieds, then we want it to be something a tad more sophisticated than 'for sale' notices.

Why?

Clare Newsome:
We know from running classifieds on a range of other mags/websites that getting it right isn't as simple as it would seem.

We'll keep you updated....

OK. I bow to your greater experience.
 
PJPro:Clare Newsome:

We do plan to offer a classifieds section at a later date, but nothing as yet, sadly.

Not sure why a classifieds section can't be supported simply by adding another forum to the website? It was easy enough to add a "Computer-based music" forum, so why not a classified...unless, of course, you intend to charge.

Unfortunately, I don't think it is that simple. WHF would have be seen to have rules in place to add a degree of protection to the buying and selling process, they'd probably have to be some sort of user feedback system and then there's liability issues, a disclaimer on WHF's part might not be enough with the sort of money/high-end kit which would likely to be changing hands. I don't know, but although a disclaimer may be sufficient in law, if there were too many bad experiences it may bring WHF as the hosting website into disrepute. Nevertheless, I hope they're brave and go for it!
 

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