Selling on ebay vs Audigon

I am pretty sure that there are plenty of people who have lived in four and five story walk ups, Who have heard someone tell that joke. It’s pretty common to see a workmen sweating as they’re lumping up the stairs. It’s priceless when they believe that there is possibly an elevator lol. 😝 

I can only say through experiences had and those experienced by others that are well understood to myself. That if parting with sale item goods is off high importance and the 'closed won' of the sale is not done Vendor / Buyer as a face to face.

When sale item goods are sent to buyers who remain strangers , there is much increased odds that the unwanted experiences to be met, are going to be met.

The most deceitful stranger, with their knowing how to abuse their buyer privileges and Vendor as a concealed customer. When met in the flesh as the buyer, is with little option as the buyer, to be part of a fair sale or decline the purchase. 

I sold a McIntosh power amp on eBay a few months ago. It was the first time in over a decade that I’ve sold anything on there. I sold it in 4 days at a price very close to my asking price. And it was to a local buyer who picked up the unit with cash. So that all worked out great. But I felt the selling fees were outrageous.  I’m not sure if I would use them again. 

It would be difficult for any venue to be, in my opinion, as unfair and truly dishonest as the other site has been. It takes two people, working together, to solve most problems. I have always been 50%  The other side demonstrates that they have little or no respect for a Seller.  In my most recent battle with them it took a combination of THIRTY TWO chats and phone calls before I reached a person that took the time to research the facts and come to the clearcut conclusion that I, as Seller was being cheated by a dishonest buyer. I had refused their demands that I refund the buyer 100% infull. Finally the bay decided in their infinite wisdom to refund the buyer themselves. I found this to be totally unbelievable. To top off that action they told the buyer to KEEP the item! In the 32 times I interacted with the bay I was lied to multiple times. I also found it interesting that ebay refused to accept anything I had to say to them in writing. They would ONLY discuss a situation on the phone with one of their phone reps. I am so ready to distance myself from them.  

I don't know how to look up how long I've used eBay but it's been about as long as you have. I've sold dozens (maybe over 100) of items over the years. I've also used USAM for a few items but never Audiogon.

I've had good success on eBay over the years but the last thing I sold was returned for a reason I didn't feel was justified. Before that I've was scammed a couple of times but those cases didn't cost me any money. Nevertheless, I will keep using eBay for two reasons.

1) I sell all of my items as an auction with a low starting bid. Every item is guaranteed to sell whicy is a big factor for me. I have nearly always received a fair price and in many cases my gear sold for more than I thought it would. I don't like the process of listing an item on USAM and receiving lowball offers. When I put an item on eBay I know it's going to sell in a week and I'm willing to take whatever I get.

2) eBay has negotiated discounted shipping rates which makes the delivered cost of the item significantly lower to the buyer. The process is easy and seamless to get the item shipped.

I've got a couple of items to sell at this point and I'll see if my luck holds out. I post a lot of pictures and a lot of detail on the item I'm selling. I've had a couple of times where the buyer challenged me but the issue they had was clearly explained in the description. In other words, they didn't carefully read the description of what they were buying.

Your post is interesting because I share your frustration. My experience is that people are getting worse. They are more dishonest, more confrontational, more crass, and more unreasonable. Transacting business with average everyday people is getting more difficult all the time. I feel like I just can't trust people anymore. It's a real bummer.