customcoco
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2011
- Posts
- 1,682
- Likes
- 86
Hi everyone,
What if you could easily and safely trade your beloved phones with fellow head-fiers ?
What if you could enjoy new cans for a week or two, no strings attached ?
What if you could have enough time to enjoy high-end cans for a week, for less than a decent dinner ?
Well, now you can.
Since @moriez' idea turns out to be way simpler than mine (which, if you happen to be too lazy to read about it, featured a slightly complex selection system) I decided to adopt it for a series of trades.
We still have to discuss the rules, and those first trades will certainly help us shape them.
Still, here are some of the ones we thought of :
If you'd like to post an offer and have it featured on the list, please use our template.
Feel free to share any idea !
You can access the list here.
The next few paragraphs are about what led me to start this initiative. Feel free to skip through if you just want to know what the Club’s about.
Trading list here here:
I had owned the Mighty HD800 for about 6 months when I felt the wind of change coming.
As such I started to look around for a replacement. The trouble is, while 1 hour listening sessions in a dedicated store might be fine to evaluate the « performances » of a pair of cans, they can’t really tell you whether you’ll still love them in the long run.
Since headphone rentals are not available to us Europeans yet (to the best of my knowledge, at least) I started to think about a temporary trade.
I started a thread on a local forum whose members I have to thank for their precious advices. While I got some offers, none of them grabbed my attention.
I needed a larger audience.
I opened a classified on HF. I expected to be flooded by offers involving 20$ Brainwavz IEM’s from 1st time posters, but they never came.
Instead, I got a few serious offers from well established like-minded individuals.
I eventually traded my pair for a pair of HE560’s, initially for a week.
Everything went smoothly, and I finally decided to part with my 800’s for good.
The trading virus quickly spread through my mind...
I left my classified open and bumped it every once in a while.
Out of sheer curiosity, I traded those newly-acquired 560’s for a pair of FAD Pandoras.
Again, the transaction was both safe and agreeable.
We traded for about a week, and had a pleasant discussion throughout which keeps on to this day.
Now, I’m waiting for a Stax SR4040 system to get to my door from yet another member.
On to what I have in mind :
Those previous experiences led me to believe that a larger headphone-sharing community could perhaps be created.
Something that would fill the gap between friendly trades and what I did.
I, along with one of the persons I’ve traded with, was thinking about a two-time selection system.
An aspirant member would apply here, on this thread, in order to be introduced to a separate group whose discussions would be kept private.
Aspirant members would be evaluated by the community, who will accept or decline admissions based on a set of rules that remains to be discussed.
Once accepted, new members would be given a temporarily restricted membership (cost limitation, or perhaps having to ship first when trading with an established trader) then have to complete a first trade in order to gain access to full-on membership.
Again, it is not about having as much members as possible, but about creating a safe and comfortable environment in which people would share knowledge, goods and good times.
Obviously, members would have to follow some other rules such as, fully insuring shipping both ways ; respecting a precise packaging norm etc…
Also, that Club would be strictly limited to European frontiers.
One the one hand, for obvious reasons (lack of taxes etc...) and on the other hand to avoid the nerve-racking experience of shipping dear things across the pond.
If it happens to be a success, it could certainly lead to some other analogous initiatives.
What would you think of such a system ? Feel free to comment, ask questions and criticize.
Trading list here here:
I had owned the Mighty HD800 for about 6 months when I felt the wind of change coming.
As such I started to look around for a replacement. The trouble is, while 1 hour listening sessions in a dedicated store might be fine to evaluate the « performances » of a pair of cans, they can’t really tell you whether you’ll still love them in the long run.
Since headphone rentals are not available to us Europeans yet (to the best of my knowledge, at least) I started to think about a temporary trade.
I started a thread on a local forum whose members I have to thank for their precious advices. While I got some offers, none of them grabbed my attention.
I needed a larger audience.
I opened a classified on HF. I expected to be flooded by offers involving 20$ Brainwavz IEM’s from 1st time posters, but they never came.
Instead, I got a few serious offers from well established like-minded individuals.
I eventually traded my pair for a pair of HE560’s, initially for a week.
Everything went smoothly, and I finally decided to part with my 800’s for good.
The trading virus quickly spread through my mind...
I left my classified open and bumped it every once in a while.
Out of sheer curiosity, I traded those newly-acquired 560’s for a pair of FAD Pandoras.
Again, the transaction was both safe and agreeable.
We traded for about a week, and had a pleasant discussion throughout which keeps on to this day.
Now, I’m waiting for a Stax SR4040 system to get to my door from yet another member.
On to what I have in mind :
Those previous experiences led me to believe that a larger headphone-sharing community could perhaps be created.
Something that would fill the gap between friendly trades and what I did.
I, along with one of the persons I’ve traded with, was thinking about a two-time selection system.
An aspirant member would apply here, on this thread, in order to be introduced to a separate group whose discussions would be kept private.
Aspirant members would be evaluated by the community, who will accept or decline admissions based on a set of rules that remains to be discussed.
Once accepted, new members would be given a temporarily restricted membership (cost limitation, or perhaps having to ship first when trading with an established trader) then have to complete a first trade in order to gain access to full-on membership.
Again, it is not about having as much members as possible, but about creating a safe and comfortable environment in which people would share knowledge, goods and good times.
Obviously, members would have to follow some other rules such as, fully insuring shipping both ways ; respecting a precise packaging norm etc…
Also, that Club would be strictly limited to European frontiers.
One the one hand, for obvious reasons (lack of taxes etc...) and on the other hand to avoid the nerve-racking experience of shipping dear things across the pond.
If it happens to be a success, it could certainly lead to some other analogous initiatives.
What would you think of such a system ? Feel free to comment, ask questions and criticize.
What if you could easily and safely trade your beloved phones with fellow head-fiers ?
What if you could enjoy new cans for a week or two, no strings attached ?
What if you could have enough time to enjoy high-end cans for a week, for less than a decent dinner ?
Well, now you can.
Since @moriez' idea turns out to be way simpler than mine (which, if you happen to be too lazy to read about it, featured a slightly complex selection system) I decided to adopt it for a series of trades.
We still have to discuss the rules, and those first trades will certainly help us shape them.
Still, here are some of the ones we thought of :
- Before the trade, be sure to state a perfectly non-interpretable agreement.
- The date on which packages must be returned has to be clearly understood.
- Take dated pics of your heaphones before you pack them.
- Pack them in a crush-proof package, preferably in a box inside a box (think matriochka).
- Packages have to fully insured both ways, this is not arguable.
- Packages have to be tracked, not arguable either.
- Re-use the packaging if it is strong enough, no need to throw it away.
- Always communicate the tracking infos to the other trader as soon as you leave the package.
- When trades happen between an established trader and a newcomer, the newbie HAS to ship first.
- Always leave Feedback when a trade is complete, use the URL of our classified as the one from which you traded.
If you'd like to post an offer and have it featured on the list, please use our template.
@customcoco (do not copy paste that, type it)
@YourUserNameHere : Offer: YourStuff
Request : WhatYouWant
Definite Trade: Conceivable or not
@YourUserNameHere : Offer: YourStuff
Request : WhatYouWant
Definite Trade: Conceivable or not
Feel free to share any idea !
You can access the list here.
