too bad Audiogon seems to have morphed to fussy, picky buyers


For years I've bought and sold here with no drama but that seems to have been changing. Now sellers seem to want retail pricing for their products while wanting to low ball on anything they want to buy.

At the same time I see more and more fussy buyers nitpicking the purchase, requiring tons of hand holding and concessions after they buy a fairly represented good working order item. 

No longer fun for me unfortunately.
128x128cowan217
The issue probably has more to do with the fact that Audiogon seems to have become more mainstream over the years. Your initially closed-circle audio crowd has fallen prey to the likes of search engines that any idiot on the internet can operate. Audiogon’s marketplace ads are listed across the web now. Your trade-off is more potential customers, but also more undesirable customers. If Audiogon can’t regulate, then regulate your sales yourself by enforcing higher purchasing standards on your potential buyers. Minimum feedback requirements, phone call to purchase, etc.
I have been really fortunate, I generally ignore the unreasonable low offers
i have also had a few absolute saints lately, USPS lost a Benz Ebony H and the buyer was just amazing....
ups managed to deliver three boxes over three days with a weekend between.....
again, sainthood

to paraphrase winston churchill, agon is the worst system for sellers except for all the others--ebay is a total crapshoot and craigslist is overwhelmed by lowballers and outright scammers. from my experience, the substantial majority of buyers here are gentlemen and enthusiasts who deal fairly, but as others have said you're best off dealing only with members with a proven track record.
I have found the same is true on usaudiomart as well. Unfortunately my experience on Audiogon has been that way for years. Nothing new. Fleabay has it's own problems as well, namely too $$$ to sell items. One gets exposure but loses almost 20% on each sale.
I sold a pair of speakers on ebay, or at least I thought i did. The guy was hot to get them and we negotiated up to my full price. He paid immediately with PayPal. He called me the next morning begging me to give him his money back. I thought about it and declined. He became such a huge problem that the only way to resolve the issue was to return his money. The personalities out there can be down right wicked. He was an englishman on the east coast. It seemed like I got a more reasonable type on audiomart. Audiogon got expensive and there were too many low ballers. Audiomart is free, so far, and there is really nothing to lose by posting on audiomart IMHO.