ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hello All,
As many of you followed me through from the initial idea, start up, progress, 'world domination', then tragic implosion of LifeStyle AV I just thought I'd let you good people know before anyone else that I've launched a new website! I'm not sure wether to cheer or cry if I'm honest...
Nothing glamorous, and I've no intention to start a "LifeStyle AV Mk2" - but as I'm getting offered almost nothing from the official B&O Dealers still hanging on in there (who are resorting to trying to sell it themselves) I need to try and source some B&O stock in the UK. Nothing large scale, just a small operation is all I'm looking to achieve. I'm not interested in anything bigger.
For the last year and a half I've not been doing much other than selling off my own personal items to pay the bills, plus pick up some scraps from the dealers - and I've got to the point where I'm running out of things of my own to sell... My Father in Law has agreed to invest some money into a new business venture (totally away from B&O and 'AV' altogether) later this year, so in the meantime I'm hoping to buy and sell some B&O to help raise capital for this.
I was lucky to have a fantastic customer base at LifeStyle AV, many of whom have contacted me since with requests for this and that - so hopefully I can match supply with demand and make a living for a little while. If you don't try, you'll never know.
Anyway, here it is :
www.beobuyer.co.uk
I will say again that I'm not 'back in the game'. It was never my intention from the day I closed the doors at LifeStyle AV to start again - but if it can make me a small living for a year, I'll be happy.
Matt (ex LifeStyle) has agreed to help when he has time, too - which will be nice. After 13 years of working together 6 days a week, 8-10 hours a day I do miss the old chap!
Anyway, there you go. Let me know your thoughts if you have any. You're all the first to know about this.
Kindest Regards
Lee
Hi Lee,
An excellent idea, that is.
Of course I have nothing to sell, but it’s good to know someone still cares about the marque.
Thumbs up then, and good luck!
Jacques
Lee,
Nice website - the photos are fantastic!
Good luck!
Beo4 'til I die!
Good luck to you! hope it works out well.
Very slick and professional looking site Lee. I wish you the best of luck with this as a bridge until your ship comes in. Being across the pond I can't really help, but hope it's successful for you.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Good luck Lee, nice looking site!
New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 28's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay Portal, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0
Mikipedia on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Mikipedia
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Old: Beosound 9000 mk3, Beolab 3's, Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.
Good luck Lee, good looking and very manageable site with very clear messages, will spread the word where ever I can.
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
What? No love for the BL2000?
Jeff: What? No love for the BL2000?
I was going to say something similar about the BV9!
More for me I guess
Hi Lee
I own and run the largest B&O fan page/group on Facebook. You can advertise your website and sale items freely on there with no restrictions if you want :)
www.facebook.com/groups/beovintage
Good idea Lee. Where are you going to sell your item,s ?
Cheers Sandy
Beosystem 6500.
Ouverture,
Beosound 8.
Superbly designed website, great photos. Wishing you the best for this new venture and for your future plans!
Kind regards, Steve.
Steve.
www.soundsheavenly.com
Founder of Sounds Heavenly Cables and Brand Ambassador for Bang & Olufsen
Sounds Heavenly are proud to sponsor BeoWorld!
Please check out my YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/soundsheavenlycables
Llewelyn Guildford: Hi Lee I own and run the largest B&O fan page/group on Facebook. You can advertise your website and sale items freely on there with no restrictions if you want :) www.facebook.com/groups/beovintage
That's extremely kind of you! I'll drop you a PM if that's ok?
rfc1: Good idea Lee. Where are you going to sell your item,s ?
I'm hoping to match them up to buyers straight away, just adding a very small profit to cover my expenses and living costs.
Anything beyond that, I'll hit the classifieds and auction websites!
As mentioned, I'm under no illusion this will be a 'proper' business - it's just a stop-gap. I'd be silly to waste 35 years of experience and 14 years worth of contacts for now.
If your 35 years of experience doesn't tell you then I will, you are truly bonkers!
Regards Graham
Graham.. it's a stop-gap. I am not 'starting again'
The pre-owned B&O business (as I used to do it) is dying on its feet - or is already dead. It's just about 'wheeling and dealing' now. Low overheads, matching sellers and buyers, and taking small margins. I'm happy with that. I neither need nor want the stress and pressure of a full-time B&O business with staff, overheads and all the bills which go with it.
Sure thing :)
Hello Lee
Very best wishes in the new venture
I'll have a look and see what I have - but fear items will be too old.
By-the-way, when I click on the link I get an error page displayed - when I type www.beobuyer.co.uk - it works
TEL
Thanks for that TEL. It was because we changed the meta-tag after I posted the original link, I think!
Try it now. I'll be interested to see if it works. :)
It works now.
Excellent. Thanks Graham.
It was also a bit selfish of me not to give a nod to the person who designed the site, Simon Robinson. I first met him when he was an official B&O Dealer in West Sussex (UK) and now he's creating very slick looking websites for a living! Quite a different living, but he's always been creative - and his store was always immaculate as he's quite the perfectionist...
One Little London
One thing which was important to me was budget, and what he's delivered versus the cost was ludicrously cheap.
Anyway, there you go. Thank you Simon
Fantastic website Lee! The design of it alone deserves to generate a thriving stop-gap!
I've sent you a private email to your beoworld admin address
Cheers
Nigel
All the best Lee - nice website.
I remember Simon from days of old... he has done a great job on your site.
Might have a few pieces you could 'broker' ... Some turntables, a couple of Beosounds.
folkdeejay: All the best Lee - nice website. I remember Simon from days of old... he has done a great job on your site. Might have a few pieces you could 'broker' ... Some turntables, a couple of Beosounds.
Thank You! I've stayed in touch with a lot of UK Dealers who aren't involved any more. Nice people, and many have gone on to lead happy and fulfilled lives in the wild.
Always happy to have a bid on anything on my lists! Send me an email
Wonderful news Lee - and please say hello to Matt.
The BV11, Lab 18's 19's and 14's have been the best investment I've made.
Would love to bid on an Eclipse if and when you get one ...
Good luck with this 'hobby"
Tom
Good luck with the new venture Lee.
If we have anything we can do a deal with I'll be in touch.
Very best regards
Opman (Nick)
Wilmslow
It's a "minefield" out there at the moment Lee,but I hope this works for you sir!
Best wishes,
Nick
solderon29:It's a "minefield" out there at the moment Lee....
I think most of the mines have already gone off! It's more of a crater-filled battlefield, but I get your point.
Good luck with the new business, Lee! Hope you'll be doing fine and it's very nice to see that you didn't give up the passion!The website looks nice and modern although it hurts to see a Beosound 9000 placed on concrete floor. ;)
Congrats and best of luck with the new venture Lee.
No interest in a Beosound Century. One owner,complete with box?
i like your website. It looks good and communicates well.
Simon
Beo Century ,Beoplay V1, Beocenter 6, Ex-Beolit 12, Beotime , A8. Beolit 15 , Form 2i , Beolab 2000, Beoplay A3.Beosound 1
Lee, the website looks really good, you just need lots of SEO optimisation to drive traffic to it, I am sure Simon can give you some pointers in the area
hope it all works out for you nicely n 2019 :-)
Thank you everyone!
A nice trickle of bits and pieces coming in - mainly vintage and needing repairs. I won't make a fortune from it but it's a living, for now
Yes, good luck with it Lee - one thing I miss about LifestyleAV was the honesty in marketing products, particularly TVs - Lifestyle used to put the number of days used on all the adverts - since Lifestyle went you hardly see that anymore.
I bought a few peices from Lifestyle and when they arrived, they were so well packed and in such good condition that you felt like you were buying something new. They are still in use, amongst them BL2000, BL3500 and BL6000's
Wish you all the best with this stop gap and you deserve to do well.
Andrew:I bought a few peices from Lifestyle and when they arrived, they were so well packed and in such good condition that you felt like you were buying something new.
Sadly it mattered less and less to the consumer as time went on. It was all about price, price, price.
People would see the same item for 25% - 30% less on eBay - and that set the 'benchmark' for price. The only way to get the sale was to match the eBay price, then offer the superior levels of service.
The more the prices went down on eBay (and by gosh, did they..) the smaller my margins became. My overheads never changed, though. In fact, they increased. Add that to the dealers all having to sell their pre-owned themselves (which they appear to be not very good at, looking at some of their eBay feedback) to pay their own bills, and you have the perfect storm of no stock being available, rapidly decreasing margins and increasing overheads.
It still makes me a little sad that I don't have LifeStyle AV any more. I did nothing wrong apart from being forced to hang onto the coat tails of a company who are in a rapid decline. "All my eggs in one basket" is the saying. However, everything happens for a reason. There's another path for me, it would appear!
As for the site, I'm really enjoying talking to people about their classic and vintage items actually! I think B&O will still be seen in a positive light in the future thanks to the great products they made in the past.
Andrew: I bought a few peices from Lifestyle and when they arrived, they were so well packed and in such good condition that you felt like you were buying something new.
I bought a few peices from Lifestyle and when they arrived, they were so well packed and in such good condition that you felt like you were buying something new.
That probably was the reason for Lee to stop at that time - he was too good!
It is hard to compete, when you have such high standarts, if people aren’t willing to pay more than what they see for private sales on ebay.
Good luck with your new venture, Lee.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
Oh - Lee (himself) beat me on that conclusion.
Millemissen: Oh - Lee (himself) beat me on that conclusion.
Yes, I would rather buy something in tip top condition than grab a bargain and spend a fortune getting it repaired.
I believe there was a marketing slogan at one point by B&O which was along the lines of, for people who put quality above price. Sadly these days people don't do that preferring price over quality.
You know when to steer clear when someone says "we didn't have any tapes, speakers, records or cables to fully test but the lights come on and things spin"
Good luck with your stop gap .
We are turning away stock daily here as we are moving mostly to the restoration of the vintage B&O which we have been doing for the last few years and was always where my passion lay, our days of 2000 miles a week are finally over forever, swapped for time at home with our 2 beautiful rescued Shepards , im happy to send equipment your way , especially the newer stuff that holds no interest to me
We had a good run while it lasted
I know what ever you do youll do it well, you always did
All the best jason