2. misc-audio
  3. 134802-75518

Is Agon becoming the eBay of audio?

I realize that this has been dissed before.
FWIW I'm a regular window shopper on Agon and have noticed a trend by sellers to misrepresent their wares and disregarding Agons condition rating guidelines in higher frequencies.  More listins stating item as"new" when item is obviously not and asking for top dollar. As of late for example an ad was placed for an item as "new" when owner admits that it is 1.5 years old and has at minimum 200+ hours of use. This in itself would be rated a 9/10 at best by the Agon rating system. Sellers are more defining and rating their product based on cosmetics than on functionality. For those buying it is increasingly important to do some deep research and close inspection of represenation pictures by enlarging available pictures to avoid disappointment. 
It is my opinion that buyers should not let emotions or immediate wants sway their common sense. At first sign of questionability be prepared to walk away.
Let the buyer beware

128x128gillatgh
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,211 posts
 
Audiogon is no different from ebay in many regards.

Audiogon is smaller, audio focused and the average customer is more interested in audio and sound and probably has more disposable income than the average ebay customer.

Not sure Audiogon does anything special from a quality assurance or customer satisfaction perspective to distinguish itself?   Seems like pretty much anything goes.   


mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,900 posts
 
I agree it's annoying that many sellers don't seem to bother reading through the Audiogon Grading Scale rules (also annoying when buyers ask "why the 8/10 rating? are there scratches?"), but is it really that big a deal? 7/10 and 9/10 are mostly the same for my purposes. If it's rated 9/10+, and seller didn't list "first owner, bought yyyy-mm-dd", and it doesn't have great pics that show a pristine unit with packing, then be suspicious and ask questions.
tooblue
1,927 posts
 
I honestly look at these misrepresented adds as a good indicator of who I am dealing with or might I say, not dealing with.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Well said, tooblue. 
trelja
3,223 posts
 
+1 tooblue.

I've been selling off a bunch, here, AA, USA Audio Mart, and ebay.  Things definitely seem different these days from when I've bought and sold from 1999 - 2016.

For one, it seems there are more folks who flake out than I ever previously experienced.  Next, you list a component at $2000, and receive more and lower (like $350) lowball offers than you'd ever expect or believe.  In all honesty, I'd prefer finding a younger person or someone of more modest means to give these things to for free than some of the people I've received emails from.

And not wanting to disappoint anyone, I rate everything conservatively.  Unless it's new and only had the box opened to check it, I don't rate anything a 9.  An 8/10 to me is something used, but otherwise in very good to excellent condition, something our partners would feel proud of, cosmetically.  These day I rate most things one step lower (maybe I'm in the wrong?) at 7/10, which brings a thousand questions ala, "there's a 9/10 that looks worse than yours...what are you trying to pull here / is this the right person / are these the actual pictures / how did you acquire this item / does the thing even work???"

Best is a guy with ZERO feedback on several sites and I'd never encountered previously who gave me that uh oh feeling from jump street.  I've been on this site, AA, and ebay since 1999, and in the end, he insults me yet again, claiming my "stellar feedback" must have come from people I've fooled (or shilled?)- sorry, Michael / Swampwalker, his words, not mine...  Thankfully, in the end, this one didn't get done with him.  Let's just say sometimes the best deals are the ones you don't make
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