finallygotmyheresies Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 About a month ago a guy was selling a set of KLF's here on Craiglist. If I recall correctly it was a pair of KLF-20's and a KLF-C7 for about $400. A couple of days after the listing was taken off 2 new listings in a different area of the valley went up. KLF-20's for $600 and a KLF-C7 for $300 or so. Now today I noticed a pair of Walnut Chorus II's up for $1,000 and earlier this week a pair were listed for $700. Man I sure feel fortunate to have gotten my Fortes last week before the flippers snagged them. The seller of the Forte I's actually held them for me because he said that I sounded decent on the phone and he didn't want to deal with the others he had spoke to before me. I can't imagine how aggressive these flippers must sound. Anywho....the point of my post is that flippers annoy me and I'm happy to make a dent in their pockets by grabbing stuff before they get their greedy fingers on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Yeah, a pair of Belles popped up down the road a ways for $800, but a flipper snagged them before me and put them on Craigslist for $1,400.00. I called him up and said that I barely missed those from the original seller and would really enjoy having those speakers. I told him I would pay $1,000.00 for them which he accepted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 (edited) the point of my post is that flippers annoy me and I'm happy to make a dent in their pockets by grabbing stuff before they get their greedy fingers on it. I'm a flipper, he's a flipper, wouldn't you like to be a flipper too? Seriously, I have flipped and will flip again. I do not oppose the flipper ideal, just the obnoxious jerk flipper ideal. I have bought lots(multiple item package deals) of gear from a single ad and seller to get the main item I want to keep. Then I flip the unwanted items to recoup(or profit some) $$$ shelled out for the whole package. This kind of flipping I am all for. Obnoxiously hounding a seller with dishonest tactics to "force" seller's price down only to flip for "fair market value" or "unfair market value" are the flippers I loath and make me to my stomach. Bill Edited March 1, 2015 by willland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 If we all continue to post 'Alerts' here referencing items that we have no interest in ourselves then we can assure that other members can continue to pay higher prices for flipped items that they want. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minermark Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 (edited) My Flippin days have passed much to the displeasure of many. I have a standard, of, will do a Grand (in miles) for a Grand (in Dollars). And after procuring said speakers, upgrade w/new Xovers, (Crites just to remain stock), then resell them for what i paid no matter where i got them or what i had into them. I got to sample everything i was interested in when wanting Klipsch. The wife ended up happy after sampling Ks to Bells, she keeps the Ks and Scalla back ups. I however had to go with EAW in the end, much to my neighbors demise I think anybody that can Flip and keep it reasonable is doing good by PWK. Edited March 1, 2015 by minermark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fjd Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 (edited) Funny and interesting phenomena, how reality TV sure has glamorized the “business venture” of flipping and scalping and how it has become a "way of life" for many. In the past, we have seen people raid our trash pile at the curb and we have even noticed that certain items taken out of the trash end up on Craigslist, just not by us. Regarding the "alerts" section, after the many things I've seen I believe that the “flippers” and “scalpers” that have done this as a type of “business venture” have found the item that may be underpriced long before an “alerts” section post and they have become very experienced in the markets and what can be flipped in the current condition or what may need broken down and sold as parts. You see it with any item that has limited supply and potential excess demand such as tickets to various types of sporting events, concert tickets, houses, basic junk that belongs in a land-fill, and practically any type of quality audio gear that is no longer made, especially vacuum tubes and speaker drivers. They buy and list for a higher price because they know that the "market" for their price will eventually come to them and sooner or later someone will stumble onto a listing and open their wallet. I’ve had a fairly large “bucket list” of audio gear that I wouldn’t mind trying if the price was reasonable and have run up to 100 different “pushed” searches on eBay alone in order to evaluate supply and demand and selling prices. I’m not sure if some of these eBay “re-sellers” have day jobs or just lax internet policy on their day jobs; however, if I wait for the email “push” of newly listed items, most of the “deals” have already been picked off. A couple of weeks later I see the same item listed as “buy it now” with a “re-seller” at double, triple, quadruple or much higher depending upon what they perceive the market to be. I’ve been looking for a pair of Community VHF100 compression drivers recently to pair with my M200s for a project and my search indicated that “NOS diaphragms” were listed at $30 each. By the time I clicked the search, they were all sold. A few weeks later the same diaphragms were listed by the $30/ea buyer for about $160 each and now all have been sold. A couple of years ago I was looking for a pair of Sylvania 6SN7 metal base tubes and the email came in showing a seller with two pair of NOS tubes for $195 / pair, which is not bad as they routinely sell for that price each; however, they were already sold by the time I logged in. Two weeks later the same tubes hit my search again, but from another seller that I have bought tubes from and this time with a 'buy it now' price of $498 / pair. It took a few relistings; however, the seller eventually sold the tubes for the buy it now price, just not to me. I’ve just learned to enhance my level of diligence in checking and understand the price I’m willing to jump quickly at when something that is NLA becomes available and is extremely high on my list. If I miss, I evaluate that flipper/scalper price because I know the market quickly shrinks at the “new price” and if acceptable in the context of my budget and desire, I will do business, otherwise I just continue my search with the same patience and diligence with the understanding that eventually an item will show up again. Edited March 1, 2015 by Fjd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Unless you keep it forever, you are in fact a "flipper" of sorts I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheric Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 (edited) I buy the speakers, use them for a (short) period of time then find something else I want...I need to sell these speakers to buy the "other set"; is that flipping? If I could sell the "old" speakers at a better then purchased price, would that be wrong? After the seller and the buyer agree upon a transaction; what the "new owner" do with his property is his choice... My .02 cents. Edited March 1, 2015 by cheric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
001 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 (edited) a "flipper", in this regard is someone who intentionally looks to buy stuff cheap, only to turn around & jack the prices up. selling something you have owned for years (or a short period) at about the same price you got it for is NOT flipping. or even if the market has driven up the price of a somewhat rare item you have owned for a long time. things do increase over time, cars, coins, gold, antiques etc etc flipping is what fjd mentions above, when all you do is scour CL or other places (like the alerts section here) with the sole intention of taking advantage of other buyers. by taking advantage of, i mean basically snagging up all the good deals only to jack up the price so you can make a profit & line your pockets. just makes finding a good deal for the average joe that wants to OWN the item even harder. basically ruining the hobby for the non flippers. but i digress, essentially that is what businesses do, in my area we have many "stores" that do nothing but that, they frequent estate sales, auctions & garage sales looking for items they can mark up & make $$$. same with pawn shops, they are there for desperate people that need money for whatever reason & then openly re-sell the item for 2-5+ times what they paid for it. personally i would probably excell at that but my morals seem to get in the way. takes a special kind of person to take advantage of you in your hard times, only to turn around & take advantage of the next guy in the door by jacking up the price. but in reality, businesses do that every day, from the groceries you buy to the pair of jeans you are wearing, guaranteed that sears buys levis for less than $10 a pair & charges you $40+. technically every business out there is a "flipper" Edited March 1, 2015 by klipschfancf4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fjd Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 (edited) a "flipper", in this regard is someone who intentionally looks to buy stuff cheap, only to turn around & jack the prices up. selling something you have owned for years (or a short period) at about the same price you got it for is NOT flipping. or even if the market has driven up the price of a somewhat rare item you have owned for a long time. things do increase over time, cars, coins, gold, antiques etc etc flipping is what fjd mentions above, when all you do is scour CL or other places (like the alerts section here) with the sole intention of taking advantage of other buyers. by taking advantage of, i mean basically snagging up all the good deals only to jack up the price so you can make a profit & line your pockets. just makes finding a good deal for the average joe that wants to OWN the item even harder. basically ruining the hobby for the non flippers. but i digress, essentially that is what businesses do, in my area we have many "stores" that do nothing but that, they frequent estate sales, auctions & garage sales looking for items they can mark up & make $$$. same with pawn shops, they are there for desperate people that need money for whatever reason & then openly re-sell the item for 2-5+ times what they paid for it. personally i would probably excell at that but my morals seem to get in the way. takes a special kind of person to take advantage of you in your hard times, only to turn around & take advantage of the next guy in the door by jacking up the price. but in reality, businesses do that every day, from the groceries you buy to the pair of jeans you are wearing, guaranteed that sears buys levis for less than $10 a pair & charges you $40+. technically every business out there is a "flipper" Many interesting observations. In some respects a flipper or scalper is just another type of “middleman.” Everywhere you look we can find a “middleman” that is essentially a person who plays some type of an economic role of an "intermediary" between the producer and the retailer or the ultimate consumer. Many times the "middleman" is needed and can be extremely valuable to the distribution chain, but there are just as many times where the middlemen just seem to drive the price of a project or item higher and higher. Even corporations have “middle management” and huge "marketing budgets" that are types of "intermediaries" and often seen as necessary in certain good economic times and deemed unnecessary during certain down economic times. I find it interesting that while the internet has eliminated certain middlemen with the cottage industries that can now sell direct efficiently to consumers and pass on savings, the internet appears to have created just as many "opportunities" for new middlemen that are now often referred to as flippers and scalpers. Are they necessary? In some instances I would say yes such as in estate sales as they can perform a function of moving many items to a much larger geographical landscape where before the internet you may have had more of a local interest group and more items ended up in land-fills. In other instances probably not so much. How many times have we heard, “if we could eliminate the middleman and deal direct” when duped by a clever salesperson that just landed a big commission check on us while we find out someone else got a much better deal? Edited March 1, 2015 by Fjd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 shame on all you DEE-LAH'S , - stop the madness - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finallygotmyheresies Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 My comments are directed at those out there that are aggressive towards regular people trying to sell stuff. I never really thought much about it until the last guy I dealt with expressed his displeasure with people calling him. I think it's a good guess that they are the same ones who are flipping other Klipsch speakers here. Personally I have only made money on speakers I've sold on eBay with no reserve auctions. I've never tried to make a dime off of anyone on this forum, it just doesn't seem like the right thing to do. I come here for pleasure, not for business. I've never even broke even on anything I've sold here, just trying to help get that next piece of gear for me or help someone else get what they want. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finallygotmyheresies Posted March 1, 2015 Author Share Posted March 1, 2015 There's nothing wrong with being a flipper(for profit buyer and seller) but that doesn't mean I have to like the practice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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