Buying & Selling Tips

 Staying safe when buying and selling online:
A super guide to online trading by HiFi Hunter

HiFi Hunter has written a brilliantly detailed guide to buying and selling your hifi equipment online and has kindly given us permission to share his knowledge with our HiFi In Touch users. We have provided some important extracts but trully recommend following the links to the original article. 

Buying Tips 

Skip to selling tips 

Step 1: Know What You’re Buying

So you’ve seen an item which has taken your fancy. The first thing you should do is research it and find out all you can about the item. Make sure its exactly what you expect, does what you want and has the necessary connections you need.

 Now your clued up on the item, check that the sellers item matches. Look out for model/specification discrepancies....Read More

Step 2: Know What It’s Worth

Now you have a good idea of what the item is and what it can do, you need to gauge what its really worth. Some sellers are naively optimistic with pricing, some don’t have clue and will seriously under price.  

Whilst searching, you may notice the item your interested in, has been listed on many sites over a long period of time. Or has been listed on eBay several times and gone unsold. In these situations, you may have a good chance to barter the asking price down....Read More

Step 3: Making an Offer or Bid

Now you’re armed lots of knowledge of the item, and roughly what its worth, you can make an offer or place a bid. Each forum has its own rules and etiquette on how to proceed with an offer. Some insist on all communication on thread (e.g. AVforums), other prefer it via Private Message (PM) (e.g. HiFi Wigwam), where as many classified sites give you an email address or phone number. eBay items will either be an auction or Buy-It-Now....Read More 

Step 4: Paying and Receiving Goods

As the buyer, an element of trust is expected. It is common form for the buyer to pay for goods up front, then let the seller post them once your funds are confirmed and cleared. The exception to this rule is when you collect an item, where upon cash payment is the default choice. 

For distance buying, PayPal is the default choice, particularly for eBay auctions. This service lets you pay by debit/credit card, instantly transfers funds and offer protection for the buyer and seller alike. All fees are passed onto the seller. Some sellers may ask for a ‘PayPal gift’ payment, to avoid paying these fees, however this will negate any protection otherwise afforded. Some forums rule against this too.... Read More

Step 5: Don’t Get Scammed!

As with all private transactions, there is an element of trust, which is unfortunately abused sometimes. On this page, I am going to raise your attention to a few common scams that have been doing the rounds and catching some buyers out. Do read over these and familiarise yourself with the warning signs. Ultimately, if something looks ‘too good, to be true’, it probably is.... Read More

Selling Tips

Step 1: Preparing to Sell

Here is a few key things you should do prior to selling an item of Hi-Fi or Home Cinema. Follow these to ensure your sale goes well. 

First things first, are you sure you want to sell this item? Ask yourself, whether you’re are doing the right thing. Will this sale be something you’ll regret at a later date? A new piece of kit, may give you a different sound, but is it really better? Give yourself time with your new replacement kit, before selling your old item; the new item may appear better at first, but quickly grow fatiguing. Is the item a rare or limited edition item, that would be difficult to replace, if you wanted to go back to it?... Read More

Step 2: Photographing

Photographs are key to selling an item; items with tiny, blurry photos invariable sell for less and take longer to sell. These days digital camera’s are cheap and many phones have very good cameras built in, so there is simply no excuse. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide on producing some good looking photos.... Read More

Step 3: Pricing

Knowing how much to ask for kit can be difficult and forums are littered with the question: ‘How much is X worth?” Ultimately an item is worth as much as a buyer is willing to pay for it. Ask for too much and your item will remain unsold for some time, yet ask too little and it’ll will be gone quickly, but leave you wondering if you cut yourself short.... Read More

Step 4: Writing Your Description

We’re almost there, you’ve sorted some good looking photos, you’ve got a good idea of price, now you need to write a goo description of the item. The aim here is to entice someone whose half interested and to give an accurate portrayal of its condition.... Read More

Step 5: Postage and Packaging

Although you’re not posting you item quite yet, now is a good time to get your packaging ready, so you can measure and weigh up your item. Then you can provide an accurate postage quote on your listing. If you just take a guess, you may cut yourself short when you actually come to post the item. Or over estimate, such that buyers think your taking the p*%$ and be put off. 

Don’t want to post your item? Understandable, if your item is huge, heavy or extremely delicate. However this will invariable have an effect on the price you’ll fetch and the time it will take to sell the item. Especially if you live somewhere rural or less densely populated.... Read More

Step 6: Listing Your Ad

Finally you’re ready to list your item online. But where should you list? Some forums are better for different types of kit and some places incur fees. My advice is to first try listing on sites that are free, then try those that charge, if you have have no luck initially.... Read More

Step 7: Following Up

Now that your ad is live on one or more forums/sites, don’t forget to follow it up. Regularly check your emails, for questions or replies.... Read More

Step 8: Completing The Sale

With a bit of luck, you will now have found a buyer for your item. Maybe you accepted a slightly lower price they offered, maybe they didn’t barter. The key thing now is to get paid and get the item to the buyer.... Read More

Step 9: Don’t Get Scammed! 

In this final section I’m going to list a few common scams that have been doing the rounds and catching some sellers out. Please read and look out for the warning signs.... Read More