Am I the only one?


I have tried to sell one piece of equipment on audiogon. It has been up for a month, and just shortly I renewed my ad because it did not sell. My question is: how many people have had a buyer back out at the last minute? I only ask because this has happened to me three times while selling this one particular piece. It makes me question whether the audiogon buyers are really interested in things, or just want more information about products. The excuse from each buyer was the same. A situation arose, and they were not able to (at the last minute) not able to make the transaction. I get pretty bent out of shape when people say they are interested, ask me to take the time to figure out shipping to their area, and then say something has come up and they can't buy. Anyone else with this situation, or is it just me? What should I do about it?
s7horton
It happens quite often. Not everyone is like this, but there are a lot of tire kickers out there. Many people will make it sound like they're interested, just to get some info or even to chat just to satisfy some curiosity, and then never follow through. It's part of the process, not much you can do about it. Until someone actually writes "I'll buy it", you can't really get upset with them for backing out. But if they give you a totally firm and unequivocal commitment and THEN back out, you have every right to put it on their feedback. It won't do you any immediate good, but it will serve as a warning to others and might also get that person's attention that their word ought to mean something.
It happens all the time. Don't forget, you are essentially in the sales business on Audiogon.
It happens a lot, take it from someone who sells a lot. And then, just so you know, an item that was listed here Sunday night, a Technics tuner, I bought, no questions asked. Guy wrote back, said we had a deal, asked me to call next day to work out the shipping and such. I call him next morning for particulars, he tells me that his son wants it and he won't be selling to me. Peeved, you bet, but in the grand scheme of things not worth staying upset over. And that was from a buying standpoint. From a selling standpoint, I get 5 to 1o inquiries asking all sorts of questions for every buyer I get. Some even invest in long distance phone calls, and yes, in a few minutes you realize they only want to talk audio, but thats part of it. Please realize as well though I have made some tremendous friends and made some tremendousm deals from buying and selling on the internet, I have been invited and am going to Hong Kong shortly because of it. Something we would not have been able to do just 10 years ago. The pain is worth the gain. Good selling.
I had an item for sale recently, one gent was quite interested. After several emails back and forth, he told me he was making a commitment to buy and asked me to delete my ad. The money order would be sent off within a few days. Since he was the first person to inquire, and the first to make a firm commitment I informed other interested parties the item was sold. Done, the thing is sold, right? Nope. Same gent writes me back the next day; there was an illness in his family therefore he could not follow through on the purchase. Bizarre excuse. In any event I relisted the item and sold it for my asking price two days later. One thing that came to mind in reading your post: if your item isn't selling quickly it's either because it's an odd-ball item that few want, or the price is too high. Price can be fixed, odd-ball stuff, well...it could take time. I dread selling things, but quite enjoy buying stuff here. Best, Jeff