Selling on ebay vs Audigon

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.

Yes, it is a tough world trying to simply sell honestly. Your sales tactic is very close to mine except for Auction vs.  buy it now. I have been an Electronic Technician all my life.  Sometimes I must put in a great deal of time refurbishing an item, especially the way I do it. I do each item as if I were going to use this permanently myself. Early on I had some equipment that I had a lot of labor in and the item just happened to not garner as much interest as I had anticipated and sold for peanuts. Like a situation now that I am facing. I bought two McIntosh MC2100 amps 52 years ago. They have been absolutely a joy to use. I had never had to do any repair on either one this whole time. I decided to make them ready for sale since I upgraded to some more powerful Bryston 250 wpc amps. ALL new capacitors that are current production upgraded caps. Plus removal of all original output transistors and replaced the installation with very high end thermal transfer insulators and transfer grease compound. Nothing was spared in this effort. I would hate to sell this pair at auction for a lowball price of something like $1,000 when I feel that they are worth far more. 

I find this type of interraction very productive and cathardic. After reading many posts like yours and mine a person can more easily determine which venue best suits the Seller's standards. I have no idea whatsoever what fees here are for selling. I will probably list my amps here and see what happens. I also take ample pictures and videos. Nobody likes surprises. Then, occasionally there ARE buyers that want to continue dealing off of the bay. I have done this  on occasion and it has worked out just fine. after my listing period had run out. One thing I am firm on is being cheated ....I never let  the bay run over me. They have threatened to ban me twice even though my feedback profile is way over 2,000 positive and zero negative. 

I have bought audio equipment from both and had good experiences ans bad.Mostly with equipment breaking down after like 30 to 60 days later.Are people  selling stuff that they don't aren't 100 % good...I think so.