Homeowner Offers Crestron System on Craigslist for $8,000

It’s not often you see a high-end Crestron system pop up for resale online.

But that’s exactly what a homeowner in Charlton, Mass. is doing by posting his seven-year-old, 16-zone multiroom audio control system on Craigslist, a popular trading Web site, for $8,000.

Is this a sign of the times? That might be your first reaction.

Is it a homeowner who is literally ripping a system out of his home because he needs the money? No, it’s much worse — the sale is perhaps an indictment of our industry from an over-sold customer with an under-utilized system.

The post says: “I have a Crestron system currently installed in my house that I would like to sell. All components are in excellent working condition. One Amplifier has two small cosmetic scratches as seen in the first image.”

The system “on the block” includes:

• A Crestron processor
• Multiple touchpanels and keypads
• An amplifier
• A power supply
• UStec structured wiring and fiber optic infrastructure

When contacted by CE Pro, the homeowner said the system is currently configured to just distribute audio throughout the house.

“While I recognize that it can do so much more, I don’t have the skillset to implement these features and don’t want to spend the money to have somebody implement them.”

The homeowner, who is a software engineer, paid about $30,000 for the system in 2001.

His solution is to unload the system and install his own DIY system that will “enable me, with my skillset, to implement some of the more advanced features that I would like in a home automation system.”

Sadly, I suspect that if the stock market crashes any further, you might see some other homeowners tearing out their systems and putting them up for sale to get some cash.

By the way ... there are no offers for the system yet.