Is it just me, or is EVERY used piece of car audio equipment for sale around the net "Brand new!" or "Still in original package!"...?

Nearly every amp or sub you see for sale from somebody (not particularly on this forum, of course!) has "never seen power!!!" or "been sitting on the shelf in its box for a week!!!". I find it hard to believe that people across the world are just buying thousands of dollars worth of stuff and then after shelling out a mittfull of cash, it hits them.... - "I just figured out I don't have enough power to run it!", or "I changed my mind and want a new setup!".

Seems sorta fishy to me... I wonder about the integrity of all these claims lately - It's everywhere. I give credit to those who are actually honest about their stuff.

Just felt like ranting.

 

Ive bought a few high end things off the forums now and i havent been pleased at all. First was a pair of kicker l7's which one was done so i had to get it fixed. and the second was just recently i bought a set of focal polyglass and when i opened them today the who driver/coil seems to be ceased!?!?! i guess used tryign to save some money is NOT the way to go.

My reccomondation, save your money and buy new from a local dealer. Warrenty is a great thing, and your supporting the little guy.

Kyle.

 

well majority of these claims I see are on Ebay, how can these online stores sell stuff so dirt cheap for "brand new"

some of it is nearing dealer cost for some products which is sad

 

Well my stuff personally is used like once or twice. Like for a total of an hour. And then I pack it away till I can install it. Which leads to me buying new stuff before then, and having it sit around. So I sell it.
But obviously I can't vouch for everyone else.

 

As a dealer I have stuff that may be new and definitely sits around for awhile, sometimes quite awhile as it may get buried under mountains of other stuff. I just came across a brand new set of Eclipse aluminum cone subs for example, even though they are brand new and never seen the light of day, they are now last years model and need to be cleaned out. I know that if I were to advertise something in any type of condition, it would indeed be exactly said condition. It is too easy to get burned from people you do not know and trust and most of the time they do not care about you anyways. The net is full of scammers and those that have been scammed. One of the scams running is the very one that this thread started with. Know who it is you are dealing with.

 

For me I stuff I want you can't really buy at a dealer anymore. I'm only really interested in old school PPI stuff (mainly art series)

I did find a PPI DEQ230 EQ for $700 at dealer, but when I checked out ebay $200 tops for a good used one.

 

Now that I think about this, I saw the same old Rockford amp last week no fewer than 4 times, all from different customers looking for a part for it. Amazing how things make the rounds.

 

From my experience, at least 4 out of 10 that are repeat sellers of new stuff are shops trying to fly under the radar. They sell a bit cheaper, no receipt and then don’t need to honor any warranty claims etc. The other pitch I’ve seen is that infact they don’t have what they’re offering but ask you to come in and check out their other stuff. Its pretty weak.

Now, I’ve sold a ton of stuff that was near mint or excellent. I’m the type to offer up receipts, even if the stuff is a bit older. I am always weary of buying used electronics from car audio to computer. I’ve bought a LIKE NEW, EXCELLENT video card that fired up and pixilated like crazy. After further digging i realized the previous owner had tampered with it, but now I’m stuck. For the $100 i saved im now $200 out

There’s nothing wrong with looking for a deal, but at some point you have to draw the line because the savings aren’t that great. I rather have warranty for another $50

 

Maybe I'm just lucky but so far all of my experiences buying on Ebay or through this forum have been very good. The key is to trust your gut and most of the time you will be right. Of course, along with trusting your gut you have to try to find feedback on the person before you commit to buying. Luckily a lot of the scammers are too eager to get cash from you and it comes across that way in e-mails. If it seems too good to be true it probably is. You figure out how much risk is involved and then decide if the cash is worth the risk. Sometimes the retail outlets are the best bet and sometimes not. I figure I've bought half of my stuff online and half from authorized dealers. IMO when dealing with a store go to a smaller private outlet as I have always had better customer service as compared to big box stores. The second hand market has as much to offer as the stores so good luck hunting.

 

Here's a prime example of what I was talking about....

Read the bottom sentence, underneath all the specs that the guy has written in blue.
- "Never hooked up..."

eBay: ORION 2500 D MONO AMP 2500 WATTS (item 150033525508 end time Sep-20-06 15:44:46 PDT)