My highest praise - for Audiogon


All too often, we hear the negative. Of everything in life. But today, I wanted to put forth my story. One that is positive. Of excellent thinking, planning, and execution when it comes to customer service.

My highest praise. My deepest thanks and appreciation. For who, for what? For Audiogon auctions!

Last night, I was involved in an auction here on Audiogon, and put in my bid for about as high as I would go on the item. A pair of Manley SE/PP tube amps(fabulous amps, congratulations to their lucky new owner). It was bested close to the end of the auction. I decided to stand pat. I will probably go with a new Rogue Magnum instead. Just a judgement call, trying to use my head along with my heart. But, I did see a bit more activity, and wanted to see how things ended up. So, at the close of the auction, I tried to check the winning bid.

To my surprise, it went into OT. Cool!

It goes like this, if there is activity in the waning moments, it goes to OT. No sniping. The winner will be the true winner. The honest and fair winner.

I remember Audiogon's real time auctions back a couple of years ago. Very cool. My biggest complaint about auctions is how someone swoops in the last 5 or 10 seconds, and steals something I was set on. All's fair in love and war? BS. It's low down and cowardly. In fact, last year I lost a pair of black pearl earrings for my fiance on ebay. Believe me, if I ever come across the person who did this, I am still mad enough to tar and feather them. I honestly mean this. With all my fiber. They will pay...

Auctions should be where the person who wins is the one willing to pay the highest price. The highest bid. Auctions should not end precisely at a certain time, but should end once the highest bid has been submitted.

As I said, I did not end up with the amps, but I would have had I WANTED to. And, THAT is the only fair way to play.

THANK YOU Audiogon!!! You are doing it right!
trelja
Easy to navigate. Great discussions. Passionate, helpful, knowledgeable members who seldom resort to personal attacks even when opionions diverge widely. Great used gear. Blue book, manufacturer directory ... Pretty cool all around! Thanks Audiogon.
Agreed audiogon as a great site(in fact one of only two that I visit everyday) and as far as a marketplace I don't think it gets much better in the cyber world. And of course who can forget the diversity of the members, one hell of a community that I am proud to be part of :). ~Tim
I guess I should be known as lowdowncowardlyscumbag Artemus from now on. Gee I didn't realize I was so morally corrupt.
Nice comments, everyone, and I send kudos to my online friend, Trelja, for starting this thread. I've been frequenting A-gon for about 3 years now, and with one minor exception a year or so ago, I have had uniformly positive experiences with everything about this forum.

During the past 3 years, I have bought and sold a fair amount of audio gear, and -- with one minor exception with a seller -- my experiences have been uniformly positive. In an era when corporate greed (Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, etc.) and the "screw you, Jack, I've got mine" mentality is far too prevalent, how nice it is to be able to enjoy a hobby with a large number of really fine, decent people.

We're fortunate to have a site such as Audiogon -- but let's always remember that the quality of this site ultimately hinges on the honesty, integrity, and sense of community from our members. Thanks to everyone who contributes to this site, and a warm round of applause to the staff who run Audiogon.
Yes, A-gon is a very nice site & the auction feature is more than fair. Like anything else, you have to use common sense when making any deal.

I want to point out that not just for the NCAA championship & the Superbowl, but for all games, when the buzzer sounds at the end of the game or contest, that means it's over. At least every game I've ever played in or watched or heard about. (Of course unless called due to weather, etc.) Even if somebody scores during the last microsecond of the game it counts & the winners with 1 second on the clock are now losers. Well guess what? That's what happens on ebay.

Trelja, I've had my heart set on some items before but was outbid in the closing seconds. I don't harbor any animosity towards those that won & I accept that they were willing to pay more for the item, regardless of it's perceived value. In every situation like that the winning bidder was willing to pay more & usually they bid at the last second. It's just one of those annoying trends like all the slow drivers on the interstate who've decided the center lane is now the slow lane instead of the right lane.