Audiogon Ethics

Last year, I got well and thoroughly ripped by several A-gon members when I made a post that pointed out a misleading ad by a dealer. I nevertheless agree strongly with you that we, as fellow audiophiles, need to maintain a level of fairness and integrity in our dealings with one another.

My suggestion is to first contact the person in point and share your concerns. Tell the person that you feel ethically obligated to others who use A-gon to make the truth known. Give the person a fair chance to respond to your E-mail, because it is possible that the person may have another unit for sale, and not the one you sold to this individual.

If the person makes no attempt to be forthcoming and honest about this matter, then I believe you are quite correct to inform your fellow Audiogon readers.

It is all about ethics and threshold of ones moral convictions. I recently bought a unit from a member at a price considerably less than its value. I had all intentions of keeping it based on reviews. It turned out to have terrible synergy with my current pieces and now getting ready to sell at its current value and will end out making a profit on it. I felt guilty and contacted the seller to ask if he would be offended by my placing the unit for more than I bought it for. The point is I needed his approval to clear my concience because of the integrity I have for myself as well as others. I would contact that individual and warn other members accordingly if I am indeed CERTAIN that it was my unit.

In the past year I've gone through a lot of equipment in my pursuit of finding a particular component that I'm happy with. A lot of the items I bought I simply turned right around & sold when I determined they were simply not what I was looking for. Conversely, a few of the items I sold were very soon back up for sale. Every single item had a higher asking price which doesn't necessarily mean it sold for that amount.

Here's another example. I had for sale an item & advertised it for the fair market price. Somebody emailed me & asked me if it was the same item I had bought from somebody else that this particular person knew about at xxx price. I said yes, offered him the same price & never heard a word from him again. Was he really interested in this item? Was he working on his Jr. private dick's license? Most of the time the asking price is on the high side & it is expected that a little bargaining take place. Lowballing is totally different & I won't even go there.

Another deal I made involved trading amps. Originally I had no desire for this trade but the other party contacted me a second time after a few weeks of "will buys" & "gotta haves" so I decided to try it out. Well, to make a long story seem that way, while I was waiting for delivery of this amp I made a deal with a dealer to trade it in on some new speakers. I got the same money that I paid for it because it was at fair market price. I noticed shortly thereafter the other party had the traded item up for sale also. Did I care? No. Would I deal with this person again? Absolutely. We both got what we wanted or thought we wanted at the time.

Thing is, there's not a lot that can be done. The only action you can take is directly ask this person if it is indeed the same item & if so ask that the ad be modified. Otherwise you can report the situation to A-gon, as you have first hand verifiable knowledge of said discrepancies. You do have this information, i.e. SN, copy of receipt to prove age, etc., correct? I bring all this up not to agitate you but to point out just some of the frustrations. If they say it's not the same item there's nothing you can do.

The only thing I can say is do indeed stick to your values while at the same time not get too bogged down in the inanity of it all.

There's an current thread in "Disputes" regarding counterfeit ProAc speakers. I think the serial # should be added as a required field in in ad. To me it is just as important as condition. With all the current questions over transferrable warranties, anyone who is selling or buying should think of the serial # as one of the deciding factors in a transaction, I do! As far as the manufacturers are concerned, that number is more important than any description or condition claim in an internet ad.
Selling or buying a legitimate audio piece should be like
doing the same with a vehicle. At least there you match the VIN # to the title...

Daniel

You also have to be leary (not Timothy if Tireguy is around) on buying tubes on this site - go to Upscale Audio's web and he points out a few cases which have occurred both here and ebay where fakes are presented as rare NOS.