When I had a store front I took trades and bought equipment, using Orion
as a guide. Although the wholesale prices are low, they were valid, gioven
that I had to check out the equipment, display it, demonstrate it, sell it
with a limited warranty, and give refunds when the occasional item turned
out to have an undisclosed intermittent problem, was not worth repairing,
and had to be tossed out. (Yes, customers sometimes put one over on a
store. All dishonesty does not reside in merchants.)
When I paid more than the Orion book prices it usually turned out to be
an error that cost me money, as shoppers have their own opinion of the value
of used items, and that value is not necessarily based on the objective
merits of the components.
As for the fast depreciation of CD players and non-collector amps that
Noussaine noted, this is proof that the Orion prices reflect the public's
demand. I found that audiophiles want the latest and greatest components,
and will not pay much for used equipment unless it has some mystique. But
the demand varies by locality. In my Saint Louis Missouri storefront I had
to sell some excellent components below what I paid until ebay gave me acces
to a wider market for components that had no local fans. Conversely a few
items turned out to have local fans, and I was able to make a substantial
profit on these items.
Individuals selling used components could possibly get Orion's retail
prices if they were willing to advertise, offer demonstrations, take the
risk of bad checks, and give 90 day warranties plus the privilege to return
for refund. The people who sold components to me at the low wholesale Orion
prices were not stupid. Generally they wanted a quick clean transaction that
did not involve inviting strangers into their homes.

Wylie Williams
The Speaker and Stereo Store



"Nousaine" wrote in message
news:YXo2c.58165$ko6.406981@attbi_s02...
(UnionPac2001)
wrote:

wrote:



Orion prices are not "low" they appear to represent the trade-in price.

Perhaps you are correct. This is the way Orion lists their prices:

RETAIL
used: $
msrp: $
WHOLESALE
mint: $
average: $

I made the (perhaps erroneous) assumption that "RETAIL used: $" was the
amount
the item would command when sold by a DEALER to a private individual, and
that
"WHOLESALE mint: $, and WHOLESALE average: $" were the prices a DEALER
would
pay for the items to a private person selling (or trading in) the items.
I
guess I'm just confused... : (

I think you have it right. My comment was just that Orion prices aren't
"low"
they just represent what you could expect in a dealer-related transaction.
What
you can get from a private buyer/seller in a given deal is another issue
entirely.

By the way a few years ago I had my staff conduct a time/price analysis on
every power amplifier and cd player listed in Orion going back as far as
the
listings allowed. Interestingly the trade-in prices (market value) of
those
electronic products fell even more quickly than the ACRS depreciation
schedules
from the IRS (within 3 years trade-in value of those products fell to 25%
of
the MSRP and by 5 years had leveled off at 5-7% of MSRP. The only
exceptions
were certain legacy collector products like MacIntosh power amplifiers.