I too have been frustrated by non-member inquiries, but I also have sold some things to non-members. I have had members ask questions that are already answered in the ad, so I don't think closing the site to non-members is a solution, unless you want to limit your customer base. I know it's frustrating, but that's all part of selling. I'm also sure that, on occasion, I've asked a dumb question or two myself, or missed something already stated in an ad. I do like the "verified buyer" idea, but be cautious of a labeling process that is accomplished by the use of a credit card and the submission of the personal information of the card holder. The amount of stolen credit card numbers out there is overwhelming. Imagine, if you would, an e-tailer's files being hacked, and all of the personal and credit card information for card holders stored in their computers now accessible to criminals. The card holder doesn't know his card is being used because it's still in his or her wallet. If the purchases are small (such as ad purchases), the card holder may not notice these charges for some time. This isn't a fantasy. It's already happened to several internet businesses that I know of.
The use of feedback has always been my guide to a seller's or buyer's integrity. But now there has been a number of stolen identity cases where a username with excellent feedback is high-jacked and used to post a fraudulent auction. There is an article about it on Cnet, if you're curious. Education is the best protection for judging buyer and seller integrity. There is a wealth of information at www.theauctionguild.com, www.fraud.org, www.nw3c.org, and www.ifccfbi.gov. Read and be familiar with all of the warning signs for internet fraud, and the tactics used by criminals to accomplish it.
Lately I've seen a couple of threads bashing Audiogon for one thing or another. I don't mean to imply that this was the purpose of this thread. Quite the contrary, this seems like constructive criticism (and ranting:)). But I would just like to say this about Audiogon: Having recently been involved in investigating internet auction fraud, I have found that Audiogon is a site where your safety from these characters is a primary concern of theirs. They are very supportive and communicative. I haven't had the same response from other audio or auction sites. There was a time not long ago when the entire first two pages of one audio site was nothing but bogus ads. It took weeks for them to pull these ads after being notified. In the meantime, someone was victimized. It seeems like some of these sites won't pull ads or remove members until an actual fraud has occured, regardless of the evidence of the ad being fraudulent beforehand. Audiogon is the ONLY site I have worked with that is proactive with this type of fraud. As far as settling non-fraud related problems, they also initiated a dispute resolution process soliciting member feedback that no other site has. Even though everything can be improved upon, I think Audiogon is the best sales site for audio equipment, and is the only one I will now use.
Sorry if I got off the track a bit. I had to rant some as well. By the way, I have a Hotmail email address. Where do I turn myself in:)?
