How is U.S. Audio Mart for used equipment? any other good sites I should search?

pglbook

I have bought most of my vintage stereo gear on this forum and have had great results but have recently expanded my search to other sites to look for stuff that does not come up for sale too often (I have upgraditis) on this forum. One site, other than audiogon, which I see come up a lot is U.S. Audio Mart. I am not familiar with this site. Does anyone have experience with buying stuff on there? Can I buy with confidence on sites like audiogon and U.S. Audio Mart? What should I watch out for (I know to pay via pay pal and have items insured, etc; anything else to be aware of?)? Any other sites I should be looking at? Thanks.

displayname

Anything that's going to be peer to peer selling has some risks. Just like paypal. Audiogon and US Audio Mart are of equal quality in my mind. I do like that they flag who is a dealer on both of those sites. Also if you find a dealer you like (even outside of your area) many of them will have used sections on their sites, or links to their accounts on Audiogon/Audio Mart. You can message sellers on both sites, which I think is important as you get into higher dollar stuff.

Below I linked a few other sites that I have not personally used, but I have talked to several people who speak highly of them.
https://echohifi.com/
https://tmraudio.com/ - this site seems to be where all of PS Audio's trade-in gear ends up.

displayname

Forgot to mention - ask around here too. Skip from this site has a dealer account on US Audio Mart. I'm sure several members here have accounts on those sites as well. Just gives you one more connection/trust point with sellers potentially.

Hermitism

I've had two transactions on US Audio Mart and they were both positive. A little over a year ago I posted a Wanted Ad for some specific speaker stands and someone responded within a couple days and I ended up getting some new old stock stands at a great price. It went very smoothly. Then this December I purchased an integrated amp from there, another positive transaction at a great price. The site has it's own feedback system similar to the way eBay works, except you have so many days/weeks to go back and revise your feedback comments, unlike eBay. The site allows you to import feedback from external sites like eBay (that might be the only one, I can't remember) and it allows you to link your Paypal acct also to show you are Paypal Verified. This allows buyers/sellers a little more to go on when buying/selling from someone they don't know. Both times I spent some extra time communicating with the sellers just to give me a sense of who I was dealing with. Of course, both times they never took the time to leave me feedback for my awesomeness! I love mankind... it's people I can't stand!

After being here for a few years I understand why you guys are so protective of this forum's Flea Market. Something I really didn't understand when joining. I've bought a couple things here and I felt stress-free throughout the transactions even though I had never met the people in person before.

I guess every place is gonna have a few bad apples, but my experience was positive.

treitz3

https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/146395/audiogon-alternatives-the-master-list/p1

Tom

DaveHo

Have bought & sold on both US Audio Mart & Audiogon. Never a problem.

Mikey081057

I look on https://www.hifishark.com/.

It aggregates a bunch of sites and is searchable with links to where they are.

pglbook

Thanks for all the comments. I am currently looking at a nice amp on U.S. Audio Mart and have communicated via e-mail with the Seller a few times today and he seems like a decent person but he has no feedback on US Audio Mart (although he does have 3 other items currently for sale). He says he is the original owner and has told me (via e-mail) the provenance of the piece: where he bought it, where he got it modded etc. Plus pics show it is in mint condition as he says it is, both working and cosmetic condition. It is about $200 above my $900 budget and seems to be a little on the high end but I know those amps rarely show uop, especially in mint condition, so I am contemplating getting the amp. I was not familiar with U.S. Audio Mart as I have bought most of my equioment on here in the last 5 years and trust the people on here implicitely. I guess my question how much of a risk am I taking. From the comments, it seems like a pretty safe bet. Seller asked me how I was paying; I guess to see if he could come down since I mentioned in one of my e-mails about it being a little over my budget. Pay pal would be the only form of payment in which I would be protected in terms of loss/damage, etc. Is that correct? Thanks again!

motorstereo

Another good place to buy would be audiokarma's bartertown. It's well worth the $25 a year if you've been stricken with upgraditis and want to buy used gear.

msg

I've had great experiences so far on USAM, knock wood. I'd prefer to go USAM over Ebay, personally. Seems like on USAM you'll find more, well, regular audio enthusiast types, and not just flippers.

Great list Tom! I forgot about that. I just went to go "insightful" it, and un-insightful'd it because I'd already insightful'd it back in 2017.

Hifishark is another good site to use for saved searches that can help you turn up listings in different places. I thank tonyb for that one, it's served me well. Most of what it's referred me to has been USAM, Head-Fi, or Ebay. It even shows listings here on our Forum, which could be one of the ways we get guys surfing in. I know I've hit other forums like this, straight into a post, and I have no idea whether there are buying rules, so I think it's good we're starting to see the terms stipulated in advance in the listings here, so the new guys surfing in don't get slammed for asking to buy.

Hermitism

msg was that bad apple I was speaking of!

Mikey081057

Been wathcihng these for months....

Somebody better buy these... too tempting

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649457547-usher-b10-wdiamond-tweeterand-newest-internal-wiring-amazing-bass-and-stunning-midrange/

pglbook

msg wrote: »

I've had great experiences so far on USAM, knock wood. I'd prefer to go USAM over Ebay, personally. Seems like on USAM you'll find more, well, regular audio enthusiast types, and not just flippers.

Great list Tom! I forgot about that. I just went to go "insightful" it, and un-insightful'd it because I'd already insightful'd it back in 2017.

Hifishark is another good site to use for saved searches that can help you turn up listings in different places. I thank tonyb for that one, it's served me well. Most of what it's referred me to has been USAM, Head-Fi, or Ebay. It even shows listings here on our Forum, which could be one of the ways we get guys surfing in. I know I've hit other forums like this, straight into a post, and I have no idea whether there are buying rules, so I think it's good we're starting to see the terms stipulated in advance in the listings here, so the new guys surfing in don't get slammed for asking to buy.

Thanks, msg. I am familiar with HiFi Shark and it was actually via searching HiFi Shark that I discovered U.S. Audio Mart. It is a good site that searches various sites for you.

pglbook

displayname wrote: »

Anything that's going to be peer to peer selling has some risks. Just like paypal. Audiogon and US Audio Mart are of equal quality in my mind. I do like that they flag who is a dealer on both of those sites. Also if you find a dealer you like (even outside of your area) many of them will have used sections on their sites, or links to their accounts on Audiogon/Audio Mart. You can message sellers on both sites, which I think is important as you get into higher dollar stuff.

Below I linked a few other sites that I have not personally used, but I have talked to several people who speak highly of them.
https://echohifi.com/
https://tmraudio.com/ - this site seems to be where all of PS Audio's trade-in gear ends up.

Thanks. What is the risk of paying via pay pal (by regular pay pal, not friends/family pay pal). My understanding is that I am protected against loss/damage, etc., if I pay by pay pal. Isn't that correct? I would think that pay pal would be the only comfortable way to pay because, no matter how nice and honest a Seller may sound via e-mail or phone, the bottom line is that Seller is still a stranger and thus caveat emptor.

halo

Caveat emptor my friend. Anything can happen but, I do believe, USAM is a pretty good site. I bought and sold there and I cannot think of any issues. As long as you pay via PayPal, you should be protected.

Hermitism

Another cool thing about hifishark is the Sold/Expired tab. I think I learned this from Dan. After searching for something, click that tab and it will show past listings and past listing that were marked as sold. It also shows repeat listings and their duration. This is good for figuring out what something is worth or it's fair value. If something sold in two days, that price might be a bit low. If something was relisted three times at the same price and took 3 months to sell, that may have been a bit high.

pglbook

halo wrote: »

Caveat emptor my friend. Anything can happen but, I do believe, USAM is a pretty good site. I bought and sold there and I cannot think of any issues. As long as you pay via PayPal, you should be protected.

Thanks, halo. There's only one thing that has prevented me from having already made the deal: my budget (it's about $100-$150 more than I was looking to pay). But I know that's a silly excuse, ha. Although I think the amp may be $100 ovepriced (only 2 sales on eBay in last 6 months; last one sold on eBay for $100 less than US Audio Mart Seller's price I am looking at). But they do not come up for sale often and this one is in really minty (Seller listed it as a 10 and it looks like it) condition (which is important to me) so I know it will most likely happen. This rabbit hole never ends.

gudnoyez

I have bought off Audiogon and US Audio Mart, with good results.

indyhawg

I have bought on US Audio Mart, Bartertown, and Audiogon a few times with great results. Facebook has a few pages also for audio sales. I have bought a couple items there. Both times, were awesome sellers.

halo

@verb has had exceptional results on Craigslist as well.

dragon1952

Audiogon is great and US Audio Mart is also cool. Other sites I check frequently are here, of course, Audio Asylum, Audio Circle, Head Fi and Computer Audiophile...they're all good.

verb

halo wrote: »

@verb has had exceptional results on Craigslist as well.

Yes I have!

nooshinjohn

The only time I ever had a deal blow up on me was on USAudiomart, and they did nothing to assist in solving the problem. Never again for me...

vrno

Absolutely the worst place to buy used stuff are audio marts. These are practically owned by sellers, they are prevalent especially on their forums where they boost each other in scamming buyers by writing absolute nonsense (many of these nonsense were debunked by Audio Science Review) and of course banning those buyers who discover these scamming schemes. For example, I sent a seller a link with the confirmed sold price of an item in support of my offer and I asked the seller to send me the link in support of his price. Instead, the seller sent me an attachment files with a virus. I again asked the seller to send me the link and the seller started to f. with me. I cursed the seller and the mart banned me. This is the way they get rid of buyers who are well aware of their scams. It happened to at least a dozen of buyers I know. They do not need true buyers audiophiles on the site, only naive people who they can scam easily by boosting products with fraudulent claims (fraudulent because the other side cannot express their opposing opinion since they are immediately banned). The "rules" they have are a mockery, it is a sellers scam, plain and simple. Just read those rules, it is ridiculous, they are more complex than Encyclopedia Britannica (more complex the rules easier for them to invent a reason to ban a buyer as this buyer can spread the truth to other buyers/sellers via emailing system, forums, and they stop that by all means).
Much better site than audio marts is Audiogon although there is a lot of scammers there as well, but there are some reputable sellers. Audio marts should be reported to the authorities in US and Canada for supporting sellers' scams against unsuspecting buyers.

VR3

Never had a problem on USAudiomart, audio on, ebay, etc. Like all things in life, all questions, if it feels wrong, it probably is.

jdjohn

Reverb is good, too. It's primarily known for instruments, but they have some straight-up audio gear as well.

VR3

Jody is alive! reverb is a good site for sure

TEAforONE

I've never had a bad experience on audiomart. I just picked up my J2 on there. Great communication from the seller. Everything went off without a hitch.

msg

vrno's post made me laugh. sounds like someone familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

F1nut

msg wrote: »

vrno's post made me laugh. sounds like someone familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

It's a troll.

msg

A funny specific grumpy one!