Audiogon is becoming the hub for scammers.

 PayPal is at present the best way to guarantee that neither the buyer nor the seller is cheated or scammed. A seller doesn’t get his money until the buyer has received his goods and is genuinely satisfied that he’s gotten what he was promised.

It doesn't work that way, never has. What you are describing is an escrow service, which PayPal is not. As soon as the money is in your PayPal account you have access to it even before you ship. You can use it to buy other things or transfer it out to your bank.

The buyer can come back and file a claim if not satisfied and PayPal can take the money back, but PayPal does not hold it until the buyer states they are satisfied. 

I'm currently waiting for the buyers bank fraud investigation findings. (I sold the goods here in December).

Buyer claims that they did not make the purchase, this was after the buyer received the goods. The bank via Stripe took back the money, this cost me an additional $134. 

I'm down two thousand +/- and I don't have my goods. (Buyer does not respond).

Don't know if the bank will be impartial?

Audiogon and Stripe cant do much for me, its up to the bank.

The buyer was a member only a few weeks before the purchase, do we need to avoid new members?

I have had nothing but good experiences with buying (and selling) equipment here. I personally don't think that AudioGon has nor should take on responsibility for policing its members, other than to actively mediate a dispute if possible, and ban those who are involved in any sort of fraudulent conduct if satisfied that there was in fact fraudulent conduct and not some misunderstanding or dispute.  If they take on the responsibility for "policing" members, then they are exposed to liability if the make an error.  I, for one, always check feedback before buying equipment, make sure that I have a phone number and email that is really the seller's, see how they respond during the purchase process and use PayPal or even some escrow service for a high-priced purchase.  Even those with perfect feedback can go south, but it is much less likely.  I like AudioGon and I don't think that it is any more of a "hub for scammers" than any other online marketplace, and probably less so than most.

@jji666  wrote:

I always work to engage a seller in a substantive conversation about their gear, audio in general, what have you.  Scammers are not usually capable of holding that conversation in a way that doesn't raise red flags.

Exactly this. I might take a chance on an unknown seller on eBay with limited feedback if it's a $100 item, but on the audio forums, with high-end gear that costs thousands, I never make a transaction without talking to the seller first. If he's hesitant about providing his phone number, no deal. If he seems less than knowledgable or less than forthcoming, no deal.

Never had an issue here or on US Audiomart. The last gentleman I bought from didn't have a PayPal account, and working through escrow.com was such a hassle that we abandoned the process halfway through. But we spoke to each other on the phone a few times and after that I trusted him enough to bypass third parties and their hoops and fees ...and I paid him cash (via Apple Pay). Seemed (too) risky on paper — I admit a scam was still possible, though my BS detector told me this guy was for real  — but it was no problem in practice. After four or five days I received exactly what I paid for.

I wouldn't recommend this. But I do recommend picking up the phone and getting comfortable with the buyer before forking over the money.

Yes well I bought a McIntosh preamp on Audiogon  used it worked for 4 months and is now Dead....but it still looks great.Collecting dust on a shelf in my back room.