Why are Ebay Prices so Low on New A/V Components?

[mike280z]

Are Bose items on Ebay reproductions? Because the prices of the Boses sysytems, like the Lifestyle 35 & 50's systems are very cheap.

[wasch_24]

I don't know if they are replicas but I bet you are going to get a lot of replies to this question. Most of which are going to state that the people selling them have finally realized what pieces of doodoo they are and are willing to pay someone to take them.

[topspeed]

Are Bose items on Ebay reproductions? Because the prices of the Boses sysytems, like the Lifestyle 35 & 50's systems are very cheap.

...and yet they are still a poor value.

Could they be replica's? It's certainly not beyond reason. However, keep in mind that the normal mark-up for electronics is enormous, many times over 100%.

[poneal]

Many items on ebay are Z items meaning they are factory remanufactured and usually carry the original factory warranty. This is the case on many items from Harman Audio. The item should (but not always) state this in the writeup.

[92135011]

Dont think they are replicas...
I'm thinking some people may just be selling them with a lower margin.
and How cheap are we talking about?
At the end it may not be worth it anyways...
shipping is a pain when buying from ebay, unless it is from the same town or something. Well...I suppose its not so bad for bose since they are lighter than most speakers.
If you were to transport a pair of standups of 20kg each, I think you be spending 100 bux just on shipping alone. And don't forget, even if you buy at a dealer, you can usually talk down the price pretty goo (at least 25-30%)

[jackz4000]

Possibly, but probably not replicas. Myself, I would stay away from Bose. But it isyour money. With the legitimate refurb sellers on Ebay the item went back to the factory where it was brought back to factory specs. Some will give the full warranty and some only a 90 day factory warranty. It depends. Here we are talking only about refurbished by factory and sold on Ebay by the manufacturer. There are also sellers who sell refurbs which come with little or NO warranty, so do your homework. As well as broken "new" units of dubious history. Do the research.

You can get some good deals though: ie: 2 1/2 years ago I got a refurb Phillips CDR on Ebay for $138, at the time retailing for $330. I bought it through Phillips, with a 1 year warranty. It worked great for 2 weeks and then the "play" Cd door would not open. Sent it back to Phillips and 10 days later it was back. Since then, it has worked just fine.

[Mash]

Mike280z
There are MANY reasons something may be offered at a greatly reduced price on eBay. Excluding private used one-unit sales,
1. Obsolete/last year's model
2. New unit satisfaction-garanteed warranty return, now B-stock
3. Early failure warranty return, now B-stock
3. Closeout because of poor sales
and so on....

You simply HAVE to read VERY carefully, like a Philadelphia Lawyer, and (I know you will be shocked!) some sellers on eBay do simply lie. But there are dealers who have been peddling closeouts or whatever on eBay for years and they do explicitly describe exactly what they offer. I suggest you CAREFULLY read the offerings of several competing dealers. You should be able to figure the situation out if one dealer is somewhat more expensive than the other dealers because careful reading will usually tell you why his merchandise is probably better. Then you will understand the 'game' being played on that item.

I know Cambrige Sound Works peddled their discontinued B-stock 12" powered woofers for $175 on eBay and those new-unit-satisfaction-garantee-return woofers had been a decent deal in the Cambrige Sound Works catalog at $600 new.