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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
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,866 posts
 
I’ve sold a number of items this year; there are still high quality buyers and sellers on audiogon; it’s still a good marketplace. I do find that I have to price items a bit lower than I would’ve in the past. And there have always been tire kickers and low-ballers; I make it quite clear in my ad wording that I have low-to-zero tolerance for this, and I don’t give them the time of day if they try it anyways.

I remember when the site redesign some years ago was such a huge issue; unfortunately we lost a lot of traffic here that didn't come back. However, now that all the kinks/bugs have been sorted, I really like the end product. 
zak42
5 posts
 
Had buyers both here and ebay make accepted offers, or win auctions then back out. Seems like taking payment details at the offer/auction time is an easy fix for that.
madavid0
214 posts
 
The real problem is that everyone is poor and can't afford even massively discounted high end. 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Snake oil can be defined as anything that’s not DIY or Mogami or Radio Shack. Anti Cables and DIY Duelund cables are very questionable and probably snake oil. Anything with little arrows on them is pretty much a dead giveaway. And anything cryod, well, do I have to spell it out? 
lilmsmaggie
273 posts
 
Is Agon becoming the eBay of audio ...
I sure as heck hope not. 

I first became an Agon member back around 2005.  It was different back then.  I bought and sold a few items, the last being a GamuT D200. 

Not sure what happened but the buyer contacted me and said it blew up.  Luckily, I knew the importer at the time and he contacted the buyer and graciously replaced the amp.  

Tried selling a few more items (Rotel & NAD) here on the Gon back in 2014.  A lot of looky-loo's and low-ballers.   Took a hiatus away from audio but now I'm back. 

Not sure if I will be buying or selling this time around.
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