Conduct on Audiogon



I am relatively new to Audiogon and have a question about how business is conducted on this site. This morning I made an offer to purchase an interconnect at a certain price and if the seller responded within the day. I received an e-mail from the seller indicating "I'll accept your offer" and notifying me that he would accept paypal or a money order as payment. At this point I have made an offer, he has accepted, and I am thinking we have a deal. 42 minutes later he sends me an e-mail saying he needs me to reconfirm within 10 minutes or he is going to sell to someone else. Of course I am not monitoring e-mail on a minute by minute basis since I have to keep my day job in order to support this expensive habit, and the guy turns around and sells this thing to someone else. In the regular, non-internet, world where I operate this type of conduct would be total b.s. But when I ask this guy how he can agree than simply back out he tells me this happens all the time on Audiogon. Is this really the case? Does this type of conduct merit negative feedback or am I overreacting?
bink
I have found most individuals on this site (although some have tasteless humor) to handle themselves very well.
Thus, a more consise response would be yes this is considered poor edicit and does merit negative feedback.
The last time someone did that to me they got negative feedback. I for one give each potential customer 24 hours to respond to my last e-mail before I move on. I can't stand people like that. You have a right to be ticked but yes this does happen all the time. (By rude people) Just forget about it and move on. You will soon find the true blue audiogon family and have many pleasent deals:~)
Feedback is not appropriate in this case, due to the fact that a verifiable agreement had not been reached. Please note that Audiogon policy states that one of four events must have occured before feedback may be submitted:
- Buyer winning a bid at auction, if reserve is met.
- Seller receiving a bid at auction above reserve price.
- Buyer sending payment to a seller in a verifiable form.
- Seller shipping an item to a buyer in a track-able manner.

We understand the frustration that would be caused by the set of events presented in this thread. However, when dealing through a classified ad, there are too many variables in concluding WHEN an agreement has been reached. In the above described scenario, it appears that the seller was waiting for a final confirmation before considering an agreement to have been reached. Apparently, the buyer thought otherwise. Perhaps the seller should have indicated within the "I accept" email, that he is expecting a confirmation to finalize.

To us, this appears to be a case of a miscommunication, rather than a seller "backing out". It seems more a question of whether both parties "knew" they had an agreement or not.

We have been working on an online system that will better define the process of reaching an agreement through a classified ad. Admittedly, it is rather vague currently, as we have left it up to the two parties to negotiate in whatever manner is comfortable. We hope to have a formalized "offer-accept-finalize" method online within the next 2-3 months. Our apologies for not having something in place sooner. We are all learning as the internet keeps evolving.
You'll find out that it takes all kinds to make the world go round. His "10 minutes to respond" is QUITE ridiculous to say the least. Chances are, you'll come out better in the long run by NOT dealing with "Mr Impatient". When things "just didn't work out", i've always ended up finding a better deal on a similar piece of gear just a short time after that. Just look at it as "not being meant to happen" and count your blessings. It could have been a LOT worse. Sean
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PS... I think that you'll find that most "regulars" on this forum and in the buying / selling section are quite good to work with.
According to your description of the transaction, you tendered an offer, and he accepted. By any reasonable standard, you had an agreement to buy his piece. It sounds like he got a better offer than yours AFTER agreeing to your terms, and, rather than do the honorable thing and uphold his agreement with you, he created an "out" for himself by suddenly requiring you to contact him in a ridiculously short period of time to "confirm." Likewise, if you had backed out after the seller accepted your offer, it would have been just as unethical (although buyers have done that to me before). For the seller to call what he did common practice at this site is weak justification for his actions. It's bad form no matter how you slice it, and Audiogon should permit buyers to document such behavior through feedback.