How to ebayer's sell amps/subs brand new for half the price?

[#45 10+ year member]

I was curious, there are tons of amps/subs brand new on sites like amazon or ebay for only half the price of every major retailer out there. i got most all of my equipment except HU and fronts off ebay and their great. ...but how are they doing it exactly? and how do sites like Crutchfield able to compete with them?

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[outsideshot23 10+ year member]

buying in bulk i would assume has its advantages.. and you make the same money selling twice the merchandise for half the profit,.... volume..

 

[#45 10+ year member]

ah, of course, shoudl have thought of that. thanks.

i thought maybe there was some inside shady stuff goin on

but sure other merchants feel the hit? crutfhfield seem to go on strong.

 

[05fronty 5,000+ posts]

only problem with the ebay site's and amazon is you don't get the customer service help like crutchfield. they have to pay their peeps

 

[JL Audio 5,000+ posts]

only problem with the ebay site's and amazon is you don't get the customer service help like crutchfield. they have to pay their peeps

you can always just ask dr.subwoofer.

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

some of the equipment floating around ebay is also refurbs that are being passed off as new

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Along with the help and warranties at Crutchfield you also get free install instructions or wiring/dash kits with a HU. You can do that on eBay.

 

[05fronty 5,000+ posts]

i got stuff from crutchfield before. i got my excelon deck from them in fact. you just have to wait and see when they clearance stuff out like i did at the time and the prices are on par with ebay's

 

[lionfamlee Premium Member]

eBay used to be a lot better until all the companies started selling stuff on their and thus rising all the prices.

To the OP: A lot of those products are refurbs. Not bad if they let you know up front. Rockford used to have a store called Desert Audio; I brought a T10001BD for $210 shipped (new birthsheet) and a T110D4 for $80.

 

[Phillips_211 10+ year member]

ebay is now mostly online sites that sell the stuff. they just advertise it on ebay. These online sites are dealers for equipment. so something that would cost us $100 brand new would cost them $50 and they will sell it for $75 and make a $25 profit, not hard to do

 

[ctmaudi 10+ year member]

A lot of the Ebay stores arent authorised dealers, so they can make up their own prices. Its cheaper, but you dont get any warranty from the company. If you are going to buy something, and want the warranty, call the company that makes the product to see if that store is authorised, or if they will warranty stuff thats not from an authorised dealers. Some companies like Sundown will only warranty it if bought from an authorised dealer. Others like Cadence dont really care.

 

[Heeltoeclutch 10+ year member]

ah, of course, shoudl have thought of that. thanks.i thought maybe there was some inside shady stuff goin on

but sure other merchants feel the hit? crutfhfield seem to go on strong.

crutchfield has the whole beginner market who have not discovered the other online places like sonic, woofersetc... crutchfield comes up before them and other places always in my google searches. Their site instills confidence and is tempting for people overwhelmed with choices wince they offer great customer service and free install accessories. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[d77543020 10+ year member]

i does **** for authorized dealers who get equipment at cost and still cant beat ebay prices

 

[#45 10+ year member]

Along with the help and warranties at Crutchfield you also get free install instructions or wiring/dash kits with a HU. You can do that on eBay.

yeah, MSRP of my MTX Elite 1501d ($799).

On ebay for less than that amp alone, i got the same Elite 1501d amp unopened ($399), 25 feet of 1/0 guage copper Power wire,($39) a refurbished MTX xthunder 300 watt amp ($69 from Tigerdirect.com) 2 pure copper 1/0ga terminals ($4.00) and went to local shop and got a Pioneer HU ($199) retail....all except for the xthunder amp was brand new in retail packaging.

i don't quite think Crutchfield's copy and stapled install instructions and wiring/dash kits together can top that deal. That's kinda why i can't figure out how they get by selling for that much, i mean i assume they buy in bulk too and yeah they have good support which costs $$ but Google is free. Crutchfields warrantee of course is likely the big thing. i never had much in the way of issues with such stuff but i can see that being important for some. guess i've been lucky so far. I've had a few other subs and amps from ebay too, still work to this day in use by friends

They must make a killing profit off each item they sell. I'm in the wrong business

 

[dkdub 10+ year member]

I've dealt with crutchfield warranty issues enough to direct anyone I'm installing for to buy from there on *most* occasions. My last round was a BA passive crossover that was missing a jumper and one of the inductors was coming unglued. They sent another full comp. set and paid for the return shipping of the defective unit. If it weren't for their return/warranty policies I would have had to eaten the cost of the components as they were bought upon my recommendation.

Are there cheaper sellers available? Yes

Are there cheaper items that last? Yes

Do I want to gamble with someone's money? No thanks.