HESITANT with NEW member sellers

I agree with jmcgrogan2.  Use your credit card through PayPal for ultimate protection.  

PayPal only care for 3% commission they earn on each transaction. 

As a fairly new member of Agon. I can understand your trepidation.
Agon is not responsible for your transactions. You have to exert due dillegence.
I think you have done well by steering away from purchasing  equipment from sellers with no prior rating/feedback.
Though I have to say, all of the sellers on Agon, that I have bought from, have been most accommodating and forthright and have allowed me to demo the equipment before buying. That was something I was really surprised by- allowing a perfect stranger to come into your home to listen to your equipment.
So, if you see something that catches your eye, but the seller won't be flexible, then politely decline the offer and wait for the next seller. I can promise you, you won't be sorry.

I agree with all the above, using a credit card on PayPal.

I have never had a problem either buying or selling on Audiogon, but a guy who bought a piece from me let me know that, years ago he bought a piece of high-end electronics, when it arrived, it was a factory box filled with books, not the amplifier he ordered.  Unfortunately, he did not use a credit card.

I almost got scammed about 11 years ago on a car and the sad bar is I am a lawyer.   My ears perked up only because of what I do for a living.  About 6 years ago a guy from overseas tried to run a scam on the sonus faber speakers I wanted. He had pictures up.  I asked him why they were listed at such a low price. He could sell them locally and get more. 1. Price is a red flag. 2. I asked him to take them out of the box to re photograph.  3. He wouldn't saying the were in the crates ready to ship. 4. I looked at pictures in the photo and go the serial number.  Googled it and realized that he has stick photos from the sonus faber warehouse.  I saw them in images. Lol. 5.  He spoke in email in very broken and bad English.  6.  He spoke in scammer voice. Lol. 7. He tried to direct me to offsite email. 8. Tried to have me pay by bankwire not PayPal.  9. I told him that if he went to Dhl office and boxed speakers there he said he was too far away.  Lol.  10. Tried to give sob story.  11. Didn't want to talk by phone.  12. Had a low audiogon rating.  13. Recently opened an account. 14. His only transactions were small and recent. Couldn't tell me specific things about the speaker.  Typically they pick a well known product and reduce it more than 65percent.  Typically they are overseas.  15. Googled the overseas address and it came up as a hospital.   Lol.   Those are just 15 tips to start.  They try to take photos with no serial numbers. They try to take 2 or less photos. Usually from the top down to lower your suspicion.   They hate PayPal. I got more but my fingers are cramping. Lol. 

I won't do business with new members unless they are a Nigerian Prince....