Buying Crack on eBay

[Aural Robert]

I'm researching prices to sell off some of my gear as my new stuff comes on line and ran into this. Looks like a builder reseller thing happening. Doc are you ok with this? I thought I should point this out as to me it just does not feel right.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bottlehead-Crack-vacuum-tube-headphone-amplifier-with-Speedball-upgrade-/290943331876?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item43bd92ee24

Aural Robert.
... confusion will be my epitaph ...

[Dr. Toobz]

That's funny - I ran across the same listing when doing as you were, e.g., trying to figure out how much a used Crack might fetch. (I'm hoping to fund a Mainline down the road....). Not sure the listing in question will sell at that price; most used Crack amps I've seen tend to sell at prices only slightly above the cost of an unassembled kit. I doubt there's much of a market for built-to-order Bottlehead amps, but who knows? Seems to defeat the whole point of buying a kit amp, in my opinion.

[John EH]

I don't see how he's making money.  Crack and Speedball are about $400 without shipping and he has some boutique parts in there.  Heck the one I built I feel like my labor would be worth more than $100 or $75 if you factor in shipping.

It's wrong though to buy the kits and build them for the sole purpose of reselling them unless of course you have the permission of the Bottleheads I would think.

[Dr. Toobz]

Ah, it does have the Speedball; my bad. Just looked at the auction again. So yes, that would be a pretty low overhead.

Does anybody feel kind of weird about selling their amps? So far, the Crack is the only one I've considered offloading, and I feel strangely guilty about even considering the option.

[earwaxxer]

China is WAY ahead of anyone trying to resell a kit for a profit. Anything that is good and can be made and sold for less has already been tried and done. It doesnt make much sense to try to sell a simple design for a profit (except for a kit), because it will be copied and duplicated. The money is in the complex designs. I'm not saying that there is no purpose for complex designs. I have a very complex class A/B amp that sounds very analog, pure and simple. People get paid for doing things, even complex things, in the right way. You are not going to find a Quickie out there selling for $1000 I dont care what's in it.

[Paul Birkeland]

Anybody is welcome to buy a kit, build it, then sell it on eBay.  There's certainly no voilation of any of the rules, and the $500 price tag on that unit certainly shows that the builder won't be turning a profit. 

[Doc B.]

To be crystal clear here - I did not ban him. There were some personality clashes and he decided to stop participating here. He requested that I remove all of his posts, which I did. Please check facts before posting this kind of thing.

Anyone can buy kits from us. What they do with them afterwards is none of our business. I don't see anything wrong with auction myself.