Anyone else receive low offers right away ?

The truth is that Audiogon sellers "relative to other online auction sites" give very high starting prices. If you really want to sell something and want to see how much it is worth, put it in for $1 and see how much it goes for. I don't know what the non-selling auction percentage is on audiogon but it has to be quite high. I think this also has to do with the fact that many high end audio stores essentially use it as their online outlet. Meaning they are not offering "deals" just listing their inventory. We're in a recession, it's a buyer's market. It's not outrageous for a 10 year old piece of equipment to go for 80% of list price. You may think it's worth a lot, but when the market is saturated the price naturally should go down. I think people simply overvalue the worth of their equipment (which is natural) but if they were not afraid of the true value to the public they would just list if for $1 and see where it would sell (and it will sell this way) vs having the majority of auctions on this site simply time out.

Phd, I agree with you that prices have been going up lately. Maybe it's due to the lowballers, maybe it's due to Audiogon's high fees, maybe it's due to the weakening dollar, I don't know for sure. It makes me wish I had held on to some gear so that I could sell it now for more $$$. :)

As for Bigby and Invenio78, I see that you are rather new here, welcome. That being said, maybe you should be on the sellers side of the fence for a while before you start seller bashing. As I tell my adult children, it is easy to tell someone on the other side of the fence how they should be living, especially when you have not been on that side of the fence. As someone who has been both a parent and a child, a buyer and a seller, I am able to understand what it's like to live on both sides of the fence.

There are good people and bad people on both sides of the fence.

We're in a recession, it's a buyer's market. It's not outrageous for a 10 year old piece of equipment to go for 80% of list price.

?

Yes I notice low ball offers a lot. What kills me is guys who make plenty of money and can afford to pay market price or there abouts still make stupid low ball offers. This happened to me about 3 years ago and it turned out to be a Doctor who lived in my hometown. It was my understanding he does this ALL the time. I refer to them as bottom dwellers but its part of buying and selling online I suppose.

@Jmcgrogan2 and Jdoris

I was not trying to "seller bash", I apologize if it came off that way. Quite the contrary I think audiogon has a very respectable seller community. The point I was trying to make (and perhaps not clearly) was that used electronics in general devalue substantially over short periods of time. This goes for both consumer and audiophile electronics. How much is a used flat screen TV bought 10 years ago for $2000 worth today? Maybe $50. I know that high end gear holds value better, but I don't think an 80% depreciation of an electronics component over the course of 10 years is unreasonable. At the end of the day, it is the market that determines the value of items. The fact that the majority of items listed on Audiogon do not sell tells me that "overall" sellers are overpricing their goods. This is not inherently bad, but I think the data supports this conclusion. It's a careful balance of trying to make money vs trying to sell a product. I simply don't see many items starting at $1 (which would ultimately guarantee a sell at the community determined value) but rather many items on sale for minimal discounts that ultimately do not sell. Perhaps my interpretation is wrong but going through the listings most equipment listings do not have any bids on them despite being listed for extended amounts of time. Audiogon is (fortunately/unfortunately) more of an "outlet store" with moderate discounts than a true "auction house" where bidding starts very low and value is determined by the community. IMHO. I respect all other opinions however. :)