Most amps we buy back are in the $4K range. We sold them for $6500, as we are the manufacturer. We do not retail. My guess is nobody paid $12K even though it was the retail price. Same thing that's done with most every brand.
Evidently you did not Google me or you might understand why people buy from Verastarr. Its a history of making some of the best products in the industry. It has nothing to do with resale, as resale is not why people buy from us. I do not recommend anybody buy because of resale. Buy for performance and quality. Commonly the smaller, handmade audio products outperform the "well known" brands.. Its been happening for years..
Do you attend audio shows Joe ?
The SSA-64 is special because of a massive dual differential Class A input stage, with very high quality film and foil capacitors. Besides this it has a massively overbuilt power supply. These both mean extremely low noise and very clean, dynamic presentation. "Well known" brands will not use parts like these as they are cost prohibitive and not available in large quantity.
This is common knowledge in the Hi-Fi arena. Hope this helps.