seller etiquette

I guess common courtesy in the audio business is expected to be less, much less than in other commodities. I've purchased a lot of used audio equipment in the past 40 years, but typically from established brick and mortar or friends. But I do buy&sell firearms, vintage tools, art, books. When contacted by a potential customer that says they will buy my product in X amount of time, I give them that amount of time and a little more for unseen reasons. I typically don't have any problems, nor have I had problems being the buyer, and giving my word to the seller that I will be there when I say, then they sell out from under me. Guess it's just an honor thing. 

Send a deposit.  Works every time.  Some people say they will come or buy and never do.

knock1

283 posts

10-13-2025 at 08:44am 

@ozzy62 +1

The seller sends OP email, the OP does not respond, the OP is surprised and offended!? Really?

This.

If you want traditional customer service - buy from a retailer or direct from the manufacturer. You want to save some bucks buying private, here is the only rule which matters: the seller doesn’t owe you anything until money changes hands. 

This one was probably mishandled on both sides. Frankly these future payment promises are annoying, and as seller I would not agree to it if I thought the item was desirable enough to get a faster sale. And if I were they buyer, I’d offer to pay up front if it really had to be a pickup in 3 days.

Don’t like it, don’t trust the seller enough? Pick a seller you do trust (feedback research), or go through retail channels. I know some guys don’t like to use shipping carriers but I generally prefer it - works well into the flow of a private transaction. Mishaps with UPS or FedEx are exceedingly rare with proper packing (factory packing). To be fair, a large subwoofer sucks to ship, especially if you’re going between east and west coasts ugh. 

as others have suggested, there's a different set of unwritten rules for established members, as opposed to new ones--i.e. if my prospective buyer had a long trail of positive feedback i would absolutely feel compelled to honor our deal, whereas if the buyer was an unknown, i'd probably have handle it like the op's seller. no aspersions on the op, who i'm sure is an honorable gentleman, but many of us have experienced phantom offerors who simply disappear.