Our consignment program is intended to take all of the headaches out of selling your High Performance Audio equipment. When you are ready to part with your HiFi gear - whether due to upgrading, down-sizing, moving or cashing out - we believe you can make the most money with the least amount of hassles when you consign with TRM. Don’t get stuck with the headaches of selling through 3rd-party marketplaces. These marketplaces all claim to make the process easy and painless, but they rarely actually deliver on that promise. The reason for this is simply that they can’t. They can not deliver on that promise anymore than the owner of a flea-market or antique store can promise each vendor within its walls that they will have easy and painless transactions. That is because They are only providing the marketplace. As the seller, you are still the vendor - with all of the responsibilities and risks of running a business.

Marketplaces do provide a valuable service by providing the customers, the “store” and the general rules of engagement. Some of them also provide payment processing. And unless you’re using a free service, they generally provide some level of arbitration and “safety” guardrails that minimize the chances of outright fraud, false identities, theft or harassment.

Those are all very valuable services, but they aren’t free. Marketplaces like eBay and Reverb can have fees as high as 10-15% of the sale price. And yet, when you list in these venues, you are still the vendor. And when you decide to sell your products online yourself in one of these marketplaces, you are still taking on some or all of these roles: 

  • Product testing
  • Editorial content writing
  • Photography
  • Digital photo editing
  • Sales
  • Customer Service
  • Tech support
  • Fraud prevention
  • Packaging and Shipping
  • Shipping damage claims processing and protesting 
  • Post-sale Negotiations
  • Feedback disputes
  • Warranty Claims
  • Returns and Chargebacks 

How would you like to be relieved of ALL of those responsibilities and headaches and still get the same amount of money in your pocket in the end? Here’s where The Music Room can help. The exact financial outcome can vary, and not every product qualifies. However, if you have a well cared for, valuable, technologically relevant HiFi product that is ready for a new home, we’d like to invite you to utilize TMR’s consignment services so we can show you just how easy it can be. You’ll never want to go back to the “old way” of doing things again. When you consign with The Music Room, we take on the role of the marketplace and the vendor. All you have to do is box up your gear to start the process and cash your check at the end. We do the rest. Of course, depending on the situation, there could be a few other things we need your help with, but you get the idea. Our process is Fast, Safe, Easy, Fun and Fair.

How does it work?

With our consignment program, TMR takes on the role of both marketplace and vendor so that you can sit back and let us do the work for you. With over a decade of experience, we have successfully consigned over 10k pieces of HiFi gear for thousands of customers.

 
Step 1
Qualification

 Not every product qualifies. We'll need to gather some basic info to get started. Depending on how many products you have, this part will usually only take 5-10 minutes.

Start here if you're ready
Step 2
Shipping

We have a team of logistics experts that will help make this part as easy as possible for you. In most cases, we'll cover the costs too (some limitations apply). We will make sure your product arrives here safely.

Step 3
Sales & Pricing Strategy Assessment
(You can skip this one if you want!)

 Every piece of HiFi has a story. We want to give you a chance to tell it. Every customer's situation is unique - we are happy to listen to yours and adjust our sales, marketing and merchandising strategies accordingly. We'll ask you a few simple questions before your product goes up for sale, and tailor our service to your situation. If you'd rather save time and skip this step, that's OK too! Our team of experts will make those decisions for you based on the best information available and a combined 100+ years of experience. After all, this is supposed to be easy.

Step 4
Listen to some great music.
(Please don't skip this one!)

We've handled all the details and have your product up for sale now. Our sales, marketing and pricing teams are working on your behalf. It's time to pour yourself a drink, put on a record and enjoy some music. We've got this.

Step 5
Collect Your Payment

 It can vary in either direction, but the average time from list date to sale date is less than 45 days - with about one third of products selling within the first 7 days. Payouts can be made by check, ACH, PayPal, Venmo or even trade credit (*get even more this way).

 Now here's the part most people can't believe when they hear it - you get paid out immediately once your product ships leave our doors. You don't have to worry about returns (even though we do offer a 14-day return policy which adds value to your product). Our customers even have a 45-day warranty and lifetime support on every used product we sell. Because of the confidence we have in our certified pre-owned program, we issue all payouts right away with no further risk or obligation to you.

 


 

 

Our consignment program is a premium service for premium products. We only accept modern, high-performance, audiophile products in good working condition.
Click here to see some of the brands accepted.

 

The real question our consignors ask is "how much will I save?" Because of the extra care and the guarantees offered by our CPO program, we often achieve a sale price above private-party market value. Combine that with the savings of time, hassles, and other actual monetary costs, and the service quickly proves to be a tremendous value that our customers use over and over again. Our rates range from 15-35% with a minimum $249 fee for components and speakers and a minimum $50 fee for cables. Click here to see our full pricing schedule.

 

As a TMR consignor, you'll have access to the most effective pre-owned audio marketplace in the world at tmraudio.com - with over one million monthly visitors and an unparalleled reputation. We do utilize some 3rd party marketplaces like Audiogon as well, but the majority of our sales are facilitated by our knowledgeable sales team.

 

Once your item(s) arrives at our Colorado HQ, it will go through our multi-step, CPO intake process which includes cleaning, testing, professional photography, photo-editing, marketing review and editorial content generation. This process generally takes 3-5 business days at which point your product will be featured exclusively in our "Fresh Arrivals" section for 7 days before being pushed out to 3rd party marketplaces for maximum exposure.

 

The average time from when a used product is listed for sale to the time payment is issued currently averages 47 days. About 30% of our used products sell within the first 7 days. Of course, some products will take longer but it's rare for anything to sit on our warehouse shelves for more than a few months.

 

The TMR appraisal team starts by researching historical sales data from our own transaction history. With over 70,000 transactions in our history and well over 500,000 appraisals of HiFi gear, our proprietary database is the deepest in the industry. But we don't stop there! We research beyond our own data to see the most recent sales trends by comparing standard sources such as Audiogon Bluebook and eBay transaction history. We also pay for other premium research and pricing tools, so when you get a quote from TMR you can rest assured that we have landed on a fair market value that will get your product sold.

 

Our process isn't just about cashing out the value in your products. We are adding value to them. We do this a number of ways:

  • Pricing Expertise - It all begins with our appraisal process which leverages data and expertise earned through hundreds of thousands of audio appraisals and tens of thousands of successful sales. Your product will be reviewed regularly for optimal pricing and will undergo weekly price-drops until a sale is achieved.
  • Detailed Professional Photography - our customers have confidence because they see exactly what they're buying.
  • Sales Support - our customers can get trusted, expert advice from our sales team by email, chat or phone.
  • Marketing Support - SEO, Google Shopping, Email Marketing, Newsletter Exposure, Video Content, Product Reviews - these are just some of the tools that our marketing team may leverage to get your product in front of the right customers.
  • Trusted Reputation - our customers don't hesitate to shop with us because we've worked to earn their trust. With 100% feedback ratings everywhere we sell, our reputation speaks for itself.
  • Certified Pre-Owned Program - our customers are often willing to pay more because our used products are backed by a 14-day satisfaction-guaranteed return policy and a 45-day warranty.
  • Lifetime Support - our customers get lifetime tech support after the sale.
  • Trade-in Program - our customers have more to spend because they can expand their budget by trading in used audio gear toward their purchase.
  • Easy payment & financing options - we remove any obstacles to completing sales by providing best-in-class one-click checkout with easy payment options and up to 36 month 0% interest financing.
  • Fast & reliable global shipping - We can ship virtually any product anywhere in the world.
 

Yes, our sales team is very adept at the art of negotiation. We will field offers and negotiate with legitimate buyers with the goal of balancing best pricing vs. fastest sales.

 

In most cases, TMR will cover all costs associated with getting your product(s) to us. In cases where there are additional costs to you for custom packaging or palletizing, we'll let you know those costs in advance so that there are no surprises or hidden costs.

 

Don't give up hope. We have a lot of experience with this problem and can often help with custom solutions. You can contact our logistics team to start a conversation.

 

We can put together custom rates and solutions for special circumstances. If you need help with a large lot or estate due to major events such as death or divorce, we can help. We can direct the proceeds to the estate or designated beneficiary.

 

No problem. We understand that situations can change. We simply ask that you cover the minimum fee for processing ($249 for components and speakers; $50 for cables). That fee typically covers our round-trip shipping costs and some of the time invested. Just let us know if you've decided to keep your product for whatever reason, and we'll return it to you promptly in secure, professional packaging. The digital images of your products and any other relevant marketing assets can be transferred to you upon request.

 
Check, PayPal Friends & Family (no fees / taxes) or ACH. 
 

If you're working with a TMR sales rep already, just let them know you've got some gear you'd like to consign. They can help you get started right away. Otherwise, just fill out this simple form to kick off the process.

 

Absolutely. Our roster of loyal consignors includes many of the most well-known manufacturers and distributors in the industry as well brick and mortar HiFi stores across the country. We're huge proponents of supporting local HiFi shops, and a turn-key trade-in or consignment outlet is just one way that we do this. If you are a business that spends time liquidating used equipment, contact us for more information and / or custom solutions.