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Change needed at Audiogon

Dear members,

I don't know how others feel about stupid inquiries from non-members about items for sale but I will no longer even bother to answer them. I take great care to word the ads as accurately as possible and include enough photos to properly show the listed item. I also try to be realistic with pricing.

I certainly don't mind being asked to soften my price or to do something a little special for an interested party. But when I list the item as being sold only in the U.S., including original box and manual, and the price is firm with the buyer paying for shipping and then an UNKNOWN person with a Hotmail account asks if I will ship to Canada, lower my price and inquires if the equipment includes the original box and manual I get angry. Can't these people read??

As a verified member I would like to see the owners of this website make two changes. We sellers should ONLY receive emails from registered users that have a REAL email address. I don't mind a buyer's real identity being hidden from me during the initial correspondence but feel strongly that Audiogon should know who they are. I would also like to see Audiogon institute a verified "buyer" service for a reduced fee. I know, as a seller, if a buyer were verified I would take even the lame inquiries more seriously. A verified buyer fee could be quite low and upgradeable to full verified status for the monetary difference.

The benefits would help everyone have a little more confidence with each other. It would provide an influx of revenue to Audiogon. It would save all the sellers the grief of crank inquiries.

I want to close this rant with expressing how much I value my association with the fine folks that provide this service and the community involved. All of my sales and purchases through this site have left me feeling that I have made friends. It's just a few anonymous jerks that need to be filtered out.

Feel better now,
Patrick
lugnut
ucmgr
173 posts
 
I say let anyone play that wants to. When I first started buying here, I had no feedback, no verification, no nothin'. I joined when I saw that there was a lot offered here on Audiogon, not just tons of equipment, but great people with a common interest. I tried to conduct myself as a honorable and trustworthy gentleman and hoped that the way I spoke and communicated and was willing to go the extra mile to prove my sincerity would tell the real story about me. I chose later on to become verified, mostly because I felt it would give my membership more validity and possibly make other members consider me to be more fully committed. That was my choice! I've sold to non-members, but honestly, I get a better feeling initially from a member, and even more with one that's verified. That doesn't mean that you can't get jacked around by a verified member. You just might not feel so bad about it. I'll try to do business with anyone; member or not, verified or not. I'm just not smart enough to always know who the bad guys are...Skip
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
Right on, Angela100! When I'm selling something on this site, I want as much exposure of my equipment (uhm...that doesn't sound quite right!) as possible. If the person is not a member, he or she might be new to the site, new to the internet, new to high end, or just might be a reluctant joiner. WHO CARES!!! Sure, most are just low balling tire kickers. But aren't many sales closed that begin with just a casual interest? As for stupid and irritating questions, haven't we all been guilty of these when we were first getting our feet wet in high end? Stupid questions may eventually lead to a rather educated individual! Happy Tunes!
drewfidelity
178 posts
 
I consider Audiogon to be the ultimate website for those of us unfortunate enough to choose high end audio as our hobby/lifestyle. It is a blessing. Do you remember when you had to advertise your components in the back of Stereophile? All the wacko calls? The two months it took for your advertisement to appear?

I welcome any bothersome question or unreasonable offer on the equipment that I advertise for sale or auction on this website. Many of those initial "unacceptable offers" have become mutually agreed upon transactions and many of those "stupid questions" were important to the good person who needed clarification. I appreciate the opportunity to reach as many of us as I do for the tiny sum that is asked when I list a component. To me all of the responses to my advertisement is the whole idea behind listing an item, to create interest.

I do completely agree, however, with the expansion of the verification process. I believe that it lends credibility to both buyers and sellers alike. There are always going to be people on the Internet who will look to take advantage of someone else through dishonesty. The verification process may not stop that from happening, but it can certainly help to limit it from happening. I know that for myself I often speak to the person that I working with on purchases over $500. I think that it makes us both feel more comfortable. I also generally prefer to work with people who live within 100 miles so that I can physically see what I am paying for and that those who are purchasing from me have the same opportunity.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

Drew
bob_bundus
1,834 posts
 
I'll also take all the inquiries that I can get; you really never know. But I completely agree that members make better traders than nonmembers - likely from experience.
The funniest one I ever got was a nonmember who wanted to base his offering price not upon fair-market, but upon what *I* paid for the cables I was selling. I said what I had to say to close the deal, but he was getting them at about 25% of retail which was actually somewhat below fair market, so I didn't lose any sleep over that one. Of course I lost $ on the deal; I sold at about 50% of my purchase cost. At least they're finally outta here & they found a reasonably good home.
jeffloistarca
1,004 posts
 
Interesting reading. A few things come to mind... I recently sold a CDP to a non-member. He was referred to my ad by a member, and he then contacted me. We traded emails and spoke on the phone several times. Terrific guy to do biz with and all went very smoothly; I did suggest the gent sign up here and buy/sell here regularly. Sell to a non-member? Why not.

I tend to be suspicious of Hotmail and Yahoo email addresses but as Sean points out, many folks use this as their only way to send/receive email. Approach with caution in the event someone is trying to hide their identity to pull a scam.

Verified memebership...well, if you live in the United States of America then you can be verified. This policy has irked me for a long time and caused me grief when I quoted Elvis Costello in an initial thread on the subject. Should you choose to live in any other country you have no chance becoming an AudioGon verified member. I've made the grave error of remaining a Canadian citizen and living in Canada so I cannot be verified. I suppose it doesn't matter to Lugnut cuz he wouldn't sell to me anyway but I'm sure other members think twice and wonder why I'm not verified? My take on things...when I'm selling something I don't care where in the world a buyer lives so long as he pays me in U.S. funds and is willing to pick up the shipping. Same with buying stuff, if it's an item I want and I consider the cost of shipping reasonable I don't much care where the seller lives. Removing the blinders provides for many more opportunities. Sincerely, Unverified Jeff
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