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My list of seller red flags

I’ve compiled a list of annoying things sellers do. If I see any of these red flags I will not buy from them. Ideally every seller should agree to not do any of these before they are allowed to sell online.

- Overpriced
- Don’t talk about any flaws
- Keep re-posting
- Use unrelated keywords in ad so ad comes up when you search for different brand
- Paranoid language like " Cash and Carry only", "No spammers", No Trades...
- Using all CAPS and !!! marks

- Used car salesman lingo like"only $xxx , a great deal, a steal , and the worse, RARE "
- Ad consists entirely of copy/pasted info. from manufacturer website
- Any textspeak
- Gimmicky pricing like $999 or $995 or the worse, random price like $927
- Saying price is "Firm"..

- Reducing price by insignificant amount to bump ad
- Tooting own horn, i.e describing how awesome their product is.. Comes across as desperate to me..
- Seller saying they will lose money or taking a big loss .. Not my problem..

- Selling several items in one ad and updating the ad to say "SOLD" on certain items.
12inch45rpm
ejr1953
918 posts
 
Most of this equipment depreciates quite quickly.  How much is a used piece of equipment worth?  As much as anyone is willing to pay for it.  I agree with all comment in this post, good to see that I'm not the only one who has dealt with sellers who exhibit some of those characteristics.

One the "buyer" side, I have had bad experiences with those who want to deal with the negotiation by email or cell phone, bypassing the Audiogon formal "offer" feature.  I had one guy call me and after the "dance", seemed to come to agreement on the price.  He drove the 90 minutes to get to my house for the pickup, when he arrived said that he thought about the price we agreed on and could only offer me $600 less.  Of course, I don't deal with people who do such things, let him know that.  He actually asked if he could see the unit.
fbgbill's avatar
fbgbill
307 posts
 
I tried to buy an amplifier from someone on Audiogon. I made an offer which I thought was very reasonable. The offer was about 8% lower than their asking price. I never heard a thing. I really wanted the amp so I messaged them directly and ask what they might want for the amp. Never heard from them. This is someone that list a lot of items for sale. Needless to say I bought from a dealer and actually got a great deal. The amp on Audiogon is still for sale over six months later. Sellers please respond to request. At least say not or counter offer. 
jw944ts's avatar
jw944ts
327 posts
 
Don’t count on negative feedback...Audiogon prevented me from leaving reasonable and appropriate negative feedback after seller decided to back out of agreed on sale....
mahler123
3,387 posts
 
As usual,  I thank uber for introducing a note of reality into a thread.
Some of the complaints here are valid, others are petty.  The one that got me was the poster who complains if they don’t get an immediate response to a phone call or email.  Do you think it is possible that the seller might have a day job unrelated to audio and not be able to drop everything to answer your questions?  I’m a Physician and I am not going to take of my PPE to answer your question that minute.  If I ask a question I expect 48 hours to be a reasonable window. After all, these a a fair amount of dollars being thrown around and are typically not impulse 
purchases
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