ebay vs audiogon

Oh Please. There is some sort of fantasy that Agon is such a gentlemans forum, where everyone is respected, information is gladly given and everyone is on the up and up. I have bought and sold 20 items here. I have dealt a lot with flakes, people who want to buy and then back out.

IMHO this forum works best when the buying/selling function is seperated from the educational function. I find it very frustrating when the 2 are intermixed. When I sell items now, I qualify the heck out of people up front, just like I do in my business. Selling is about dealing with high probablity prospects and not about educating readers more about audio. The Forum is the place to gather and learn about audio. In fact I have learned a great deal by reading and asking questions.

Ebay is straight forward and has better safeguards built in. Agon requires more diligence.

Not everyone reads the fine print when they sign up for paypal. It seems to be a common practice on A'gon to charge these fees in their ads & I'm sure most people thought this was OK. I for one don't want to go to jail for 20 years over paypal fees. Ha Ha just kidding! Nor have I or would I report this to paypal (better things to do) but it is good for the seller to be aware of this fact.

Depends on how simple you want your life to be. If you've an item that is well regarded and price it right, on A-gon its gon rather quickly without hassle and big seller fees other then the cost of the ad. With E-bay, the only way you can be sure to get your price is paying extra fees on top of their seller fees and waiting. I do think there may be potential for receiving an even higher price there then here on A-gon. However, that 'OBO' could mean 'or better offer' just as easily as 'or best offer'. Would it be a bad idea to having your listing here state just that, along with a time frame for making a decision?

Hi - I have used both eBay (766 Positive Feedbacks & 1 revenge Neg from a dead-beat bidder) and Audiogon (29 pos, no negs) at various times with almost no problems whatsoever. I do check feedback carefully, and will not buy ANYTHING from anyone who doesn't own the merchandise. If I have any suspicions, I ask a question before bidding to see if the seller knows anything about the item they are selling. It also would take something really rare for me to do business outside of the USA; not from xenophobia, but shipping overseas (or even to Canada, sorry) can be expensive, and very slow. I have found great people in both venues, and have enjoyed most of my transactions. Some people are obviously only in it for the money, so they're not particularly communicative. But, if they handle the transaction professionally, I don't mind. Bottom line? Don't buy, or bid on anything until you have investigated both the item and the seller.

Enjoy!
Ed

I too have used both services. I have been a buyer on Audiogon and both buyer/seller on eBay (under the same handle - "treyhoss"). I decided to sell on EBay based on the fact I would see similar equipment bring more money on Ebay than Agon.
As far as the Paypal fees, I can see where some sellers would ask people to pay for these (I'm not one of them - yet). I always put mine up in the auction format with no reserve and beginning at a reasonable price as I have found this brings the most attention. However, in the auction format after you factor in the EBay listing fees, settlement fees, shipping fees (which most honest sellers can end up getting screwed on) and then an additional 3% for Paypal, you end up netting far less than you expected. It may sound cheap to ask for the 3% but if you're the buyer you need to know the terms of sale.
On a $500 item why should I be out another $15 just because someone wants to pay me with Paypal? The whole reason I even accept Paypal is because I got sick of people asking if I took Paypal - even after saying I didn't in the listing!!!! ...but that's another post:-)