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Change needed at Audiogon

Dear members,

I don't know how others feel about stupid inquiries from non-members about items for sale but I will no longer even bother to answer them. I take great care to word the ads as accurately as possible and include enough photos to properly show the listed item. I also try to be realistic with pricing.

I certainly don't mind being asked to soften my price or to do something a little special for an interested party. But when I list the item as being sold only in the U.S., including original box and manual, and the price is firm with the buyer paying for shipping and then an UNKNOWN person with a Hotmail account asks if I will ship to Canada, lower my price and inquires if the equipment includes the original box and manual I get angry. Can't these people read??

As a verified member I would like to see the owners of this website make two changes. We sellers should ONLY receive emails from registered users that have a REAL email address. I don't mind a buyer's real identity being hidden from me during the initial correspondence but feel strongly that Audiogon should know who they are. I would also like to see Audiogon institute a verified "buyer" service for a reduced fee. I know, as a seller, if a buyer were verified I would take even the lame inquiries more seriously. A verified buyer fee could be quite low and upgradeable to full verified status for the monetary difference.

The benefits would help everyone have a little more confidence with each other. It would provide an influx of revenue to Audiogon. It would save all the sellers the grief of crank inquiries.

I want to close this rant with expressing how much I value my association with the fine folks that provide this service and the community involved. All of my sales and purchases through this site have left me feeling that I have made friends. It's just a few anonymous jerks that need to be filtered out.

Feel better now,
Patrick
lugnut
artmaltman
769 posts
 
I think Audiogon already has a "verified buyer" program. I'm sorry to hear about your negative experiences. I have not personally had experiences like this.

I also "verify" buyers by discussing audio with them. It's fun and clarifies their real level of involvement with the hobby.

Art
glreno
224 posts
 
I accept it, but no need to apologize. I read your previous post, and just mentioned it for fun. Didn't mean to rub it in.
rosstaman
455 posts
 
AJ is right on! We as consumers can get ripped off by any person; via the internet, classifieds in periodicals, or shopping in any store. The same is true for selling items. I believe if someone is intending to rip someone off, eventually they'll find their pigeon. Each of us should take precautions when conducting any transactions. Audiogon does a good job at taking responsibility on their end. We as individuals need to do the same. If a person doesn't want to do business with non-members or non-verified members, they should state that in their ad! I've tried numerous times to get verified, but audiogon says there's a glitch whenever they try to confirm with my bank. And I pay off my credit card in full each month. So I'm not verified. Does that make me untrustworthy? I also use a hotmail account specifically for audiophile purposes. Both my wife and I are professionals who receive far too many emails a day. Having a separate hotmail account allows me to keep all my audiophile correspondence in one email account, and if needed, I can refer back to it to verify or disclaim the nature of a transaction. As far as receiving many bogus inquiries, that's just the nature of retail sales; regardless of what you're selling, where you're selling it, and how you're selling it.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!
Ross
jaguar1845
18 posts
 
Do you realize that a member can post a negative feedback against you without any transaction occuring between you and that member on Audiogon? Read Audiogon rules. This should never happen as it violates the rules of Audiogon membership.
pbb
1,140 posts
 
Cross-referencing this thread to the various rants about dealers being, well shall we say, high-minded or insensitive, I can't help but wonder if what we have here is the amateur seller's equivalent. Sure you have to answer obvious questions, if there was a qualifying test for purchasers many a sale would not see the light of day. Insofar as shipping to Canada, many times purchasing model railroad items on ebay I had to inquire about how serious a seller was in indicating shipping to the US only. Many a time the seller replied that, on second thought, it wasn't a problem. Maybe model railroaders are naïve, who knows. Mr. Lugnut, are you more averse to changing your mind than your audio equipment? Sure it's easier to not sell any piece of equipment declared surplus in one's system, but once you enter the marketplace you should expect to sweat a little sometime. How about the other fellow who posts ads for good equipment at ridiculously low prices and feels that he has no obligation to sell at that price if someone accepts his offer? Would we accept a dealer doing this? If you start in the buying and selling game, you should expect that every prospect will not turn out to be a buyer and that all prospects may not be as savvy as you. You should adopt an attitude similar to that you would want displayed by the type of dealer you would patronize. If all else fails, you could always sell to a dealer and let him/her field unwanted inquiries and pay the price to avoid dealing with the riffraff.
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