Is it too much to ask....

"My question to RW is... who is lazier? The seller who does not post specs on his product, or the buyer who is not interested enough to look up the specs on his own? "

They are both lazy IMHO.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

A url reference that the buyer can copy and paste to the reference site with the correct specs can suffice. That is probably the approach I would take to provide teh most information possible efficiently.

WHen the buyer checks, having some correct specs available via the add adds seller credibility, which matters.

Sellers can publish what they want or not for whatever reason. If it works it works. But more information is usually better than none, especially with expensive items.

What if a buyer asks a question about specs? Do you bother to help them out then or tell them to do their homework elsewhere first before inquiring?

Seeing an ad for an expensive esoteric item in particular with nothing at all to justify the cost other than the cost itself is a major negative to me. If I were the seller, I would not assume the buyer has the high opinion of the product needed to justify the cost.

Touting expensive gear with nothing measurable to justify the cost is a common practice of audiophiles that is often criticized. I guess if only another audiophile can appreciate what a product offers due to factors that are not measurable or reportable, then why bother publishing any facts? The enlightened audiophile will know? Or is this just a way to market a product whose asking price cannot be justified quantitatively? Its a valid question.

What if a buyer asks a question about specs? Do you bother to help them out then or tell them to do their homework elsewhere first before inquiring?

Mapman, I answer any questions a buyer may have. As to how much numbers mean to anyone in this hobby, I suppose you would have to decide if you feel that music is an objective listening experience or a subjective listening experience.
Personally, I do not get hung up on numbers, they tell you nothing about how a product sounds. They may be of some use when trying to integrate a system though, matching impedences and efficiency requirements, etc. For the objective, who listen by the numbers, I suppose numbers mean more. I lost interest in numbers during the THD wars of the 70's and 80's when global feedback was used to artificially decrease the THD. Amps had "better" specs and sounded worse.

As always in this hobby, YMMV.

"They (specs/numbers) may be of some use when trying to integrate a system though, matching impedences and efficiency requirements, etc."

Exactly! That's why some numbers are important!

A seller that knows which ones matter most impresses me and establishes credibility that helps with all the rest.

You know the more "murky" stuff that might help actually distinguish a product from its numerical peers or just be a lot of BS.

If I am interested in a product and the seller doesn't
provide even the most basic specs or worse, list a product and not say if it is an amp, pre, speaker, etc then I will not buy from them. If the pictures show a lot of dust (are you that lazy that you can't even bother to make the piece you are selling look saleable?), stuff piled on top of it or no pictures and the seller refuses to send pictures then I won't buy from that person. If the seller or buyer doesn't have any feedback then again, I won't do business with that person unless I am selling the item and I get paid via Paypal first.

Lately, there seems to be a lot of jerks selling and buying in the classifieds. And yes, I look at the ads every day and even if I am not looking to buy something, if something catches my eye I may buy the item provided my minimum criteria has been met.

There seems to be a lot of arrogance here as of late and IMHO our hobby can do without it. I always list the minimum specs, take nice pictures, the item looks clean, and I always make a sale within the first week. As a matter of fact, I have listed stuff I thought would never, ever sell but amazingly it does and I am sure it is because the ads look good and the price is right.

There was a guy selling an Audible Illusions Modulus 3A preamp here a couple of months ago and he had the list price of 3,895.00!!! I politely sent him a message saying that price was for the much newer Modulus3B and that the 3A sold for at least a grand less and he told me to go f#%$k myself. So much for honest sellers.