Audiogon member since 2003. As I’ve gone into the rabbit hole of this hobby, I have made tons of purchases over the years here, and on other sites. Only in the last 5 years have I had any problems.
These items, all rated as 8 or 9, arrived in the following condition: an amplifier with a loudly buzzing power supply, a power conditioner with a circuit breaker that kept tripping, a disc player with a failing laser mechanism, and a tonearm with integrated wire that has a poorly soldered cartridge clip. Was it bad luck for me, or poor vetting of the seller? All sellers had 100% positive feedback with no negatives.
I said I was done buying used, but I saw the tonearm at a great price and I couldn’t resist. Now it’s my problem to deal with. With the other items I was able to get them fixed at a minimal cost to me, but I might not be so lucky with with the tonearm. Although the problem seems simple, the manufacturer said the repair is going to be costly.
Moral of the story, I’m not buying used gear anymore unless I can get a warranty or insurance (Square Trade saved me from an expensive repair on one of the items). I’ve been burned too many times in the last 5 years.
