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
granted there are lowballers trying to get lucky.  If they succeed one out of 300 times, they will forever keep trying to recreate that high.
Sellers are at the mercy of how much of a market there is for their particular product.  For example, if you browse multiple selling sites, there are Revel Salon's selling for $5800, $11,000 and $14,000.  As of today, all 3 have been listed for months.  All 3 sellers have different motivations for selling and different reasons for pricing.  Usually the sellers who are in love with the system they bought think everyone else should be equally in love with it and pay accordingly.  While buyers live in a world where most of what is sold as used is no longer the model being sold and has been updated - therefor making it obsolete and worth less. 
My quality 20 year old speakers sound no worse than any new high end speaker in the same price range.  I sympathize with those saying they would rather keep it than dump it for almost nothing. after all, quality doesn't (shouldn't?) go out of style.
But here are realities I wrestle with: try buying an expensive speaker only to have a newer version released 6 months later. If you try to exchange it at the dealer you will get 25% to 40% less than what you paid. WHY?


There are many jerks out there however this being said there are still many good buyers.
As a seller,  when you use the "make offer" button on Audiogon, you've pretty much opened yourself up to just about any offer imaginable, low ball or otherwise. While I agree lowball offers are infuriating, If you expect to get 70 to 80 percent of retail, you're just not being realistic in expectations. This is especially true about used cable purchases. IMO.
@whiskeypirate,  moto_man---  I had some communication as well with a Cyprus seller a year ago or so re/Icon tube preamp .  He was going to send it to Britain for voltage conversion if I recall.  I didn't go for it , felt it a bit odd to be entering into such a long distance transaction.  
I have been buying and selling on here since  03.  I have had mostly good results .   A poster earlier pointed out that being the market for A'gon has been greatly expanded which has brought in many , many  others that normally would not be on this site and are not particularly grounded in the respectful style of negotiation that many here have cultivated whether selling or buying.  
I have not been selling or buying for quite awhile and gearing up to move some equipment out.   Although,   that may not be so easy with my tuners due to the rarity and the work that has been done by qualified techs ,,esp techs that have quite solid  reputations in the FM tuner world.   That world of course being likely the smallest niche of music listeners.   I have moved out of the bay area and have now resorted to listening to my favorite stations via the internet.   I did sell a Burgess custom 2A3 SET amp a few months back and was delighted with the smooth transaction as well as the seller paid my asking with no hiccup what so ever.     
To flesh out the tuner part-- Will be very difficult to get close to what I would like for whichever tuner or turners that I sell although I have seen some high bidding on Ebay over the years.   Go figure.. It all just depends what one is selling and if there happens to be someone on a mission to get what is being sold.  
At any rate,  hearing others on here regarding the nightmares that can unfold has one trying to come up with a way to ensure that a buyer can not just return on a whim.