For a long time, crypto was going up at a rate that you couldn’t lose. Is this what is happening with audio? With the way some audio companies have increased prices over the past few years, I’m noticing some used gear selling for more than when it was purchased new. Is it time to buy gear, hold for two years and resell for a nice profit?
Heavens NO! I know of no current gear which appreciates in price - somebody please correct me if I'm missing something. On the other hand, if you have something like a mint McIntosh MC275 (or a stack of them...), you'd make a fortune over the original cost back in the day. Just go back in time to 1964, buy a pallet-full of MC275s, then time travel back to the present. Better than crypto!
Vintage guitars never fail to appreciate as long as they're taken care of, but anything electronic is a huge gamble.
He should have invested in high-end audio gear instead. A couple of Boulder 3010 pre-amps at MSRP, a couple of SAT tonearms, some Oswalds Mill Audio gear, some of Audio Note's highest end and most exclusive gear. And how could you lose money. Just buy it. Store it in a spare bedroom. Wait a few years. And sell it at a healthy profit. The profit from churning such gear will certainly be enough to buy a Lambo. Certainly. Just like crypto (why do the crypto guys always drive Lambos?).
It went over their heads. If Ferrari is owned by Fiat, Lambo by inference has to be owned by trading a commodity if it is not to be owned by Fiat.
When I was a kid, I used to look through the tech hi-fi catalog and build my dream system out of all the different brands and components they had. Nearly all of what they carried was beyond my reach, a paper boy in the late 70s wasn’t actually crushing the weekly income bracket. But it was fun just to dream and think about how great it would be to have the gear and really hear my music. Not then, or now, would I ever think for a moment of gear as an investment, or something to show off to my rich pals. As much as I enjoy the gear, to me it has been and always will be about the enjoyment of music.
What is crypto? No, really. Do we even know yet? Also, no. The high end of hifi is probably not liquid enough. If you need to turn extra cash into something "real", talk to Larry Gagosian.
Really? High end gear generally loses resale value quickly, unless it's a rare item (limited edition). If you bought $10.000 speakers brand new today, but you had to resell them after a couple of days, how much could you ask? I'd say no more than $8.000. Nobody would buy a used item with less than 20% off.
A lot of cars were selling for more than they cost new not too long ago due to Covid-related supply shocks. Should you invest in new cars?
I'm surprised how close to retail some people ask for on newer used items. If you want to move something like that quick, best just to offer a great deal up front and throw in shipping. Personally, I'd rather buy new than 20% off on used. 30% more like it.
Probably not but there are limited cases where folks seem to be trying. Check out the Audiomart listings on that limited edition clear turntable Audio Technica came out with. Now that AT is shipping them there have been several listed as NIB for double the MSRP. Seems folks bought them in “speculation” of immediately flipping them for 50-100% more than they paid for them. Ditto on some UHQRs. Anything to make a buck I guess, not the way I roll. I find this behavior bad for the hobby.
No doubt there are some brands that command a higher percentage of retail in the preowned market...and there are some specific items, usually older or limited production, that command even more. Part of the pricing over the last three years or so was supply chain, part was labor cost and part was to cover finance costs for companies buying other companies and then having a big payment. If I'm selling preowned gear, maybe I'm happy...if I'm buying, maybe I'm not...but then again, the resale market seems to have slowed down a little with all of the market and economic uncertainty.
I have definitely had this happen recently, but the "profit" is minimal at best and is probably just tracking with inflation anyway, so it's a wash or a loss in the end, even if you technically made money. My crypto wallet, by comparison, has almost tripled since I first invested several years ago. There was a time like a year and a half ago when my money had multiplied 7 times from my original investment. Shoulda cashed out, lol. Anyway, they're not at all comparable.
No, audio provides actual material considerations for one's "investment." In other words, you get something that exists.
