In article ,
Eric Anderson wrote:
I am from the Detroit area. You would think that the personality you all
are describing would be unique. It is not! Why does it bother them if you
browse or if you say your are just looking? Many retail outfits LIVE on
that principle. As far as deals. About 30 years ago, I bought a Teac 3340,
4 channel reel to reel tape recorder with 10 1/2 reels for $250 (as I
recall, it was worth about $1500). It was like new. In the same pawn shop
I saw items (microphones, tools, etc), as you all have pointed out, higher
than retail. I would sure like someone in the business to explain this
philosophy. It might help to explain some of the same mentality I am seeing
in the real estate business now.


I'm not in that business, but the explanation _is_ fairly simple. The
'secondary' re-sellers price based on 'what they know' about the marketplace.
If it is a piece they are familiar with, for which there is a 'mass market',
they will sell at a 'significant' portion of list price, and offer to pay
'less than that', when buying, of course. With stuff that they are _not_
familiar with -- high-end, 'pro', stuff, for example, they don't have any
real idea of the 'worth' of the pieces, *or* _how_long_ it will take them
to find a buyer. Thus, they'll only offer to pay a 'pittance' (pennies on
the dollar, or less) for the item -- finding _any_ buyer for *that* item
is much more of a gamble than with well-known 'consumer' stuff, and price it
'to sell'. They're not interested in maximizing their dollar return, as much
as maximizing the turn-over of the inventory.