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[Steve Crump]

Over the past few years I keep adding gear and selling gear and for some reason what I have keeps growing. I don't rent gear for other people to use, but I have on occasion let some people, a wedding band with a blown amp on a active speaker (waiting on a new amp), a church with a fund raiser when the rental place in the next town over was rented out, the local community theatre (wife was on the board), the local chamber for an annual meeting, use pieces of my gear. At points when I tried to sell gear on Craigslist all I received calls from was "low ballers". Well now I am once again buying some new gear for my use and I am contemplating selling my old gear, but I hate dealing with "low ballers".
I could rent???
I just want opinions on why or why not. I am buying some new gear from JTR and I currently run a Yorkville Unity setup with (4) tops and (4) subs, I also have a QSC pair of 15s with (4) 18" subs, then (2) RCF Evox 8s (which I think I may sell). Do you think I would regret renting? How do you keep from getting screwed...
A year or two ago I was ask to run sound for a group of out Nashville "Friends of Lola" (nice group of people) at a outdoors farmers market in the next town over. The venue provided the gear, which was rental. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the gear was low end and when the guy dropped it off part of it was not working properly. He said that they mostly rent to DJs. He made a trip back to the store and brought some gear they use when they are hired out to provide gear and staff.
Long story short is I am not sure what to do. I am not sure I want a DJ or some guy who doesn't care because it is not his gear tearing my stuff up, but on the other hand if I can't get a fair price for it, wouldn't it be a way to make some money off it?

[Debbie Dunkley]

Over the past few years I keep adding gear and selling gear and for some reason what I have keeps growing. I don't rent gear for other people to use, but I have on occasion let some people, a wedding band with a blown amp on a active speaker (waiting on a new amp), a church with a fund raiser when the rental place in the next town over was rented out, the local community theatre (wife was on the board), the local chamber for an annual meeting, use pieces of my gear. At points when I tried to sell gear on Craigslist all I received calls from was "low ballers". Well now I am once again buying some new gear for my use and I am contemplating selling my old gear, but I hate dealing with "low ballers".
I could rent???
I just want opinions on why or why not. I am buying some new gear from JTR and I currently run a Yorkville Unity setup with (4) tops and (4) subs, I also have a QSC pair of 15s with (4) 18" subs, then (2) RCF Evox 8s (which I think I may sell). Do you think I would regret renting? How do you keep from getting screwed...
A year or two ago I was ask to run sound for a group of out Nashville "Friends of Lola" (nice group of people) at a outdoors farmers market in the next town over. The venue provided the gear, which was rental. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the gear was low end and when the guy dropped it off part of it was not working properly. He said that they mostly rent to DJs. He made a trip back to the store and brought some gear they use when they are hired out to provide gear and staff.
Long story short is I am not sure what to do. I am not sure I want a DJ or some guy who doesn't care because it is not his gear tearing my stuff up, but on the other hand if I can't get a fair price for it, wouldn't it be a way to make some money off it?

I am the worst at keeping gear after purchasing new gear and it keeps growing - but having witnessed round here how equipment is abused by folks who own their stuff, I dread to think how it would get treated by those who don't. Not to mention how drunks and idiots treat gear.......
I would think the guys who rent must have a pretty airtight contract on rental... I personally couldn't do it - I just keep advertising on CL and waiting on the genuine buyers to call me.

Just something to consider..... if I advertise something and it doesn't sell after I renew the ad the maximum number of times with small reductions in price, I take the ad down and try again in a month. Sometimes I even try a higher price ( surprisingly it sometimes works) and sometimes lower but I just keep trying ignoring the obvious low ballers along the way. I have hardly ever had to let something go lower than I wanted to... just a thought.

[Steve Crump]

I am the worst at keeping gear after purchasing new gear and it keeps growing - but having witnessed round here how equipment is abused by folks who own their stuff, I dread to think how it would get treated by those who don't. Not to mention how drunks and idiots treat gear.......
I would think the guys who rent must have a pretty airtight contract on rental... I personally couldn't do it - I just keep advertising on CL and waiting on the genuine buyers to call me.


Just something to consider..... if I advertise something and it doesn't sell after I renew the ad the maximum number of times with small reductions in price, I take the ad down and try again in a month. Sometimes I even try a higher price ( surprisingly it sometimes works) and sometimes lower but I just keep trying ignoring the obvious low ballers along the way. I have hardly ever had to let something go lower than I wanted to... just a thought.

You are echoing the way I truly feel. I think I was just hoping for some magic wisdom just because I hate trying to sell stuff. I really don't think I have the right personality to rent anyway. It would really piss me off to have some damaged gear and have a renter arguing with me that "he didn't do anything wrong, it must have been my gear".
Thanks for your input...

[Paul G. OBrien]

I rent gear but I do not and will not dry hire because there is simply no way to police the gear. Even people who aren't malicious can be careless, a pair of 3yr old powered speakers got their first scratches last weekend when a customer I was setting up for tried to be helpful and placed them on the stage as monitors but didn't notice they were upside down.. and then proceeded to slide them across the stage into position. The scratches aren't terrible but that just goes to show.. the first time I allow somebody that isn't me to handle some gear it suffers damage.

So the only way to do this and keep gear in good shape involves a big time investment, I deliver, setup, and strike all of my rentals which means some late nights but I routinely get compliments on the appearance of the gear, all the other rental gear in town that I have seen looks like it was dragged down the street behind a truck. I'm not the cheapest in town and I still have all the work I can handle and therefore have no problem making gear pay for itself so it can work but you have to be prepared to make the commitment.

[Robert Piascik]

My opinion is that most people have an inflated idea of what their old gear is worth. If you advertise it at a price and nobody wants it then the price is too high. You may not like it and you may not agree but it's a fact. If it was worth what you're asking somebody would buy it. You may be selling it because you have something newer, well, other people want new gear as well. As an example, we saw it time and time again when the market was flooded with cheap digital boards. Person after person advertised their old analog board as "perfect for an install".  Well guess what, for the most part the people supplying for those installs wanted the latest greatest stuff not outdated analogue technology. Get more realistic with your asking price or keep the gear if you can make money with (as long as it doesn't cost you more insurance or storage or other expenses).

[Tim McCulloch]

Two different topics:  dry hire rentals and used gear sales.

Rentals:  Bah, humbug!  I know there are folks here at PSW who make good ROI from rentals but we never figured out how to do that with the clientele we seemed to attract.  Lots of technical hand-holding because the user wasn't as sophisticated as he/she claimed and too many demands for fee reductions when the renter couldn't make the equipment work in spite of a demonstration when the gear was picked up.  Toss in technical damage from improper operation and cosmetic wear-and-tear and it just wasn't worth it to us.

Sales:  put it on CL until somebody buys it.  Debbie is spot on about pricing - sometimes too low is just as bad as too high.  Realistically you can expect about 50% of what you paid for it unless it's still sealed in the original box, then you get 65%.  If you're not sure about a price do a "completed auctions" search on eBay.  Remember to factor in the commission & fees to eBay when determining the actual proceeds to the seller.

Because of eBay's ridiculously buyer-centric policies we no long sell with them.

[Steve Crump]

My opinion is that most people have an inflated idea of what their old gear is worth. If you advertise it at a price and nobody wants it then the price is too high. You may not like it and you may not agree but it's a fact. If it was worth what you're asking somebody would buy it. You may be selling it because you have something newer, well, other people want new gear as well. As an example, we saw it time and time again when the market was flooded with cheap digital boards. Person after person advertised their old analog board as "perfect for an install".  Well guess what, for the most part the people supplying for those installs wanted the latest greatest stuff not outdated analogue technology. Get more realistic with your asking price or keep the gear if you can make money with (as long as it doesn't cost you more insurance or storage or other expenses).

I don't disagree with you, but last time when I was going to sell my Yorkville Unity setup I was asking $350.00 each for the U15 tops and $250.00 for the UCS1 subs, or $2,000.00 for all thinking it would be a quick sale. I thought that was a fair price and I have to admit some "tire kickers" wanted 18" subs and a lot of callers were put off by it being a passive system, active being the favored in our area for bands and small sound companies. If I decide to sell and it doesn't work out I may just keep it for backup.
Where do you draw the line on value? I can't go out and buy a passive box the same quality as the U15 for $350.00. Especially in the shape my cabs are in. Of course I may have to cut my loses and move on in regards to my gear. These are the dilemmas....
I am open to opinions on the value of used gear also...

[Steve Crump]

Two different topics:  dry hire rentals and used gear sales.

Rentals:  Bah, humbug!  I know there are folks here at PSW who make good ROI from rentals but we never figured out how to do that with the clientele we seemed to attract.  Lots of technical hand-holding because the user wasn't as sophisticated as he/she claimed and too many demands for fee reductions when the renter couldn't make the equipment work in spite of a demonstration when the gear was picked up.  Toss in technical damage from improper operation and cosmetic wear-and-tear and it just wasn't worth it to us.

Sales:  put it on CL until somebody buys it.  Debbie is spot on about pricing - sometimes too low is just as bad as too high.  Realistically you can expect about 50% of what you paid for it unless it's still sealed in the original box, then you get 65%.  If you're not sure about a price do a "completed auctions" search on eBay.  Remember to factor in the commission & fees to eBay when determining the actual proceeds to the seller.

Because of eBay's ridiculously buyer-centric policies we no long sell with them.

I may try CL again after I receive the new gear. I bought the gear five years ago and only used it once in the past 2 years because of a house gig I have been doing for two years, so do you think 50% of what I paid is a good starting point? I know you can't see the gear to establish a real opinion, but assuming it is in good shape.

[Rob Spence]

I only cross rent to other sound folk. All others buy production to some extent even if it is deliver, set up, come back later to get it (travel time charged for ).

I too have pretty much given up in eBay.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Scott Holtzman]

I only cross rent to other sound folk. All others buy production to some extent even if it is deliver, set up, come back later to get it (travel time charged for ).

I too have pretty much given up in eBay.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

We have a tight network locally and have started to actually plan purchases to gap fill for each other.  It's a cool symbiosis and it allows us to join forces and do more than we could do without any formal partnership.  All the guys I cross rent with are honest and we try real hard not to steal each others customers.  We also all know we are out going for the same business but never discuss opportunities unless they are too large for us to handle.


Dry renting to strangers would be tough.  The guy at Qwipped is always trying to get me to dig in deeper but I have never won a deal off his platform. 

[ProSoundWeb Community]