No escrow?

Thanks for the response.

I have paypal which is fine for small transactions of maybe a few hundred dollars. For larger sums though, using paypal seems dangerously gullible. I've been burned myself so know from experience, paypal will do close to nothing if a transaction goes bad. What happens if nothing is delivered? The seller perhaps gets a slap on the wrist from audiogon and has his account suspended. What do I get?

There are some great deals here and I'd love to be able to use this site. I can understand that escrow might be too slow for some sellers, but the reasons I've been given so far by sellers is that they don't trust it, but then, as a buyer, I am expected to either send a money order or use paypal and thus take on a huge risk. I did see some comment here on another thread to always use a credit card with paypal, so maybe that offers some level of protection for the buyer, via the credit card company?

I have completed something like 5 transactions (all purchases) in excess of $3,000.00 through Audiogon.

No complaints.

I do study feedback and I once even checked member's discussion forum threads, just to get some reassurance.

I don't think it was just dumb luck as most people hereabouts seem satisfied.

Use a credit card. If you do not receive the item, do a charge back, or use paypal. Money order can be cashed, and you may not receive the item. If seller refuses CC or paypal, look elsewhere, there is always something else at the same price or better.

Lots of pendejos make transactions on this site using paypal. You have some, SOME, protection. Like the other pendejos said above, check feedback, get a phone # and call the seller, get a feeling for the pendejos you are dealing with.
Escrow has been known to be full of scams, a bunch of pendejos around the world posing as escrow, taking your $. So why bother.
It may seem like an ocksee moron, but my advise is: be a smart pendejo.
Con Safos.

I always check how long the other party has been a member of AudioGon, check their feedback, and whether they have been active in any threads. This will give you a good idea of the other parties intent and integrity. If you are a new member, someone will need to take a gamble on you. Even if you are honest and have impeccable integrity, I would trust a longtime member with perfect feedback before dealing with you, not to say I wouldn't. I would always want to talk with a person with little or no feedback to establish a comfort zone or break off a deal.

You might want to try a few small transactions and get a feel for how things work. I have never had a bad transaction on this site.