No Sellers willing to do COD anymore???

All transactions on this site involve a significant degree of mutual trust between the buyer and seller, whether that be prepaying or COD. I have participated -- as both a buyer and a seller -- in a significant number of deals and have not had a problem. I also have the greatest degree of respect for the fair manner in which AUDIOGON monitors activities on this site.With that in mind, here are some common sense guidelines that might avoid some of the difficulties noted above, especially with respect to higher priced equipment. (1) Get to know your buyer or seller, preferably via a phone call; (2) If the individual has no feedback, request verifiable references; (3) Avoid those with excessive negative feedback; (4) If there are one or two pieces of negative feedback, request an explanation; (5) If COD, request prepayment of all shipping charges in advance, and possibly an additional amount as a demonstration of good faith; (6) For COD, only use FedEx Air since that insures your payment will arrive within 24 hours of delivery of the equipment; (7) If you are willing to accept personal checks as payment in full or for advanced shipping charges, state specifically in your ad posting that it may take as long as 10 days for personal checks to clear and that no shipment of any kind will be made until the check clears; (8) A Postal Money Order (PMO) remains the safest form of payment, although there have been one or two reports of counterfeit PMOs, but in general they are even more reliable than a Cashier's Check or Bank Money Order. There is no absolute fail-safe, foolproof system, but with a little effort you can virtually eliminate the problems in your transactions. I have been an audio hobbyist for 38 years, have thoroughly enjoyed the friendships I have made and the music and equipment I have acquired, and intend to continue having fun.

If someone wants to do COD, I have them pay the shipping charges up front. That way I am covered if they decide not to accept the shipment. I have been burned once and that is enough. I add the cost of the COD to the buyer's shipping charge. I have only done COD as a seller once or twice.

Your feedback should be enough to dispel fears.

Tim

I would think that anyone would prefer to ship something COD, specifically FedEx. Yes, it's more costly, but the stuff usually gets there more quickly and is handled more safely too! Additionally, the seller gets his certified funds the next day after the buyer has received his equipment. I prefer to both buy and sell on COD. I've always requested speaking with the individual in person first and required a fax copy of the certified funds prior to shipment. I've offered to do the same when purchasing and so far it has worked quite successfully. As others have said, there's usually a factor of trust that's involved in any transaction, whether it be in person or here on the web. If you don't feel comfortable doing business with someone, then don't. Consistent positive
feedback will give some degree of comfort to buyers and sellers, but you can possibly still get burned if you don't follow good business sense. Remember, most of us are doing this for the love of music and the pursuit of buying equipment that allows us to enjoy it more. Be kind, be professional, be courteous, and above all, be honest.

COD is fraught with holes. I've sold quite a few items here, always with cash upfront. I provide my home and work number and I offer my banker as a reference to verify that I've lived and worked in the same area for a long time. In return, I always pay for shipping, insure the box, and provide tracking numbers the minute things are picked up. I try to be a solid citizen and prudent at the same time. As a result, I've never been burned and find everyone I've encountered here to be into this stuff like me. If you can't work through this with a seller (meaning getting to a level of comfort that they are who they represent themselves to be), don't buy from them. It is that simple.

I rather not bother with COD.UPS took a long time sending the Money orders to me.You can specify like I did that you only want postal money orders or will not bother.I did COD once and it was a leap of faith.I put everything up front but UPS took 3 weeks to send the money order.Postal service has a dollar limit which is 500.00 and you can specify cash only which will be converted to a postal money order sent to you,you have that choice.You can do the same with UPS ask for a POSTAL money order as they dont accept cash.I hadnt dealt with FED EX yet and I usually deal with the Post Office only,as I work for them and using the competition would be taking the few crumbs away from me.But I rather accept a postal money order up front,I really dont like personal checks andsome bounced on me,not for a lot of loot but still it's loot that I lose plus bank charges.When someone send s a check i let them know that it's 3 weeks for clearence and that usally get me the postal money order that I asked for in the first place.After all I might not have too many feedbacks here on Audiogon but I always let folks know to check out my feedback on EBAY which is over 800 positives.Cheers.