2. amps-preamps
  3. 190130-140513

A Better Way to Buy Gear - Help Needed

** this is a Sale-Process question... not a Gear question**

Hi All:

I intend to upgrade my stereo this year and have located an item that I want to purchase. Unfortunately, there is a ‘snag’ -- the seller insists on receiving the money before I get to see the item.

With this introduction, I would greatly appreciate knowing your individual/collective experience and advice.  Perhaps there is a solution!

 

About the Sale-Process:

The seller accepts only cash or PayPal Family & Friends:  He gets the money before I get the item. 

Because I would be without PP Buyer Protection, I would be stuck with any/all repair(s).

 

About the item:

The item is sealed in a box (NOS), so I cannot

    1. determine if it was damaged during shipping (to his house),
    2. power-up the unit and demo/confirm the functions. 
    3. verify the cosmetic appearance of the item
    4. verify that the correct item is in the box!
    5. Condition is advertised = 11/10

The item is big, heavy and expensive.  I have seen a photo of the box, but there is no meaningful information visible in that photo (e.g. company, make, model).

 

Additional information:

The seller lives in another State, a long way from my location.  A visit would involve a flight (or a long drive) and day or two in a hotel.  

The seller has a 95% rating. 

To me, a good rating means that I am willing to engage with a seller, but it does NOT justify sending the money without verifying the item’s existence/condition.

 

My question:

Because I am not inclined to send cash up-front, is there a better way forward for this ‘money-before-gear’ type of sale?

 

Thanks in advance for your replies, and happy listening!

inagroove
secretguy
1,718 posts
 

Run away!

grislybutter
3,117 posts
 

box unopened is preserving value

it doesn't though, if the seller has an invoice. And if you can't tell that a gear is new or used, don't buy expensive hifi stuff.

desktopguy
375 posts
 

My advice is walk away. This seller is absolutely full of crap

The "meta" factor here is that Paypal either has or has not yet implemented an IRS-mandated reporting mechanism to compel sellers who accept money via Paypal’s "Good and Services" feature, to declare proceeds of the sale on their taxes. It’s actually more nuanced than that. Most individual (regular people) sellers accept less for their F.S. item than they paid, and thus have no profit to declare from the transaction.

Having said all that, this G&S vs F&F thing has prompted many sellers to demand payment only via F&F. These are people who, a couple years ago, would have accepted G&S payments, w/ or w/o bulking up their price by ~3% to offset PP charges. But now many many sellers advertise payment only by F&F. They’re either misunderstanding the IRS mechanism involved--or just opportunistically using it as excuse to not accept G&S payments. .

I’ve interacted with a number of such sellers. For any item going for a few 100 dollars, I’ll play along. But for anything more expensive & larger, no way I’ll do F&F with a total stranger. I’ve gotten a couple sellers to accept my G&S payments; I’ve walked away from 2 or 3 sellers who would not.

The plain fact is that some % of sellers are dishonest, and this F&F thing only increases their number and gives them better cover to scam others. Don’t fall for it.

 

bjesien
1,310 posts
 

Tell the seller to go pound sand. His customer service sucks.

Admin
Audiogon Official

@inagroove  What is the listing id?  

 

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