Audiogon got tired of me bitching and actually threw me off the site......it's more complicated, but you get the idea that they are no longer a site for third party transactions, but trying to make buyers and sellers the PRODUCT. Good riddance....but I do need a reliable site to buy and sell gear. Audio Asylum is good, but not enough content.
AGon train wreck
- Thread starter Glory
- Start date
I can not post there! Not even a super positive post. No reason why! Maybe because of the HiDiamond cable rip.
They, Gon, have destroyed themselves. Met 2 of them @ RMAF. Seemed like normal people as they were M/F. No horns or demons in them but they just may be the nobodies of the train wreck.
Agreed. Audiogon threads involving certain manufacturers get screened. If what you post is at all controversial or negative toward one of these "special" manufacturers, it does not make it past the screening process. If it does, it often takes a few days to get posted while other posts go up instantaneously. It is no longer a free and open forum.
However, despite its issues, it is still one of the best places to buy/sell gear. As an alternative, I would like to see the remaining dealerships form an online exchange/cooperative market for used gear. Owners could drop off equipment, it could be inspected, sold, packaged and shipped all on consignment to other dealers or individuals for a small fee. This would open up the market for used brands from dealerships beyond the local customer base. It is already being done this way through Audiogon, buy why not do it on a dealership network site instead with the dealers acting as the middlemen instead of Audiogon. This would bring people back into the brick and mortar stores to drop off gear, get to know the salespeople and hand over some of the risk to a legitimate business.
I think of Reno HiFi which has become the defacto Pass Labs dealership. If you want to buy or sell a Pass product, you don't need Audiogon anymore. You just contact Reno. Create an alternative marketplace to Audiogon which is composed of dealerships instead of individuals. To work, the fees would have to be very low, but I think there would be peace-of-mind and confidence in the process.
In them or on them? I didn't see any horns or demons on them either. I did suspect there were horns and demons lurking in them though.
Audiogon was mainly known as a market place - it was a wold reference in the used audio market and even now there is nothing equivalent. Being a marketing forum I always expected some screening on negative posts - otherwise the forums opinions could affect sales of products. I always considered it as an example of a positive type forum, where you could refer to synergies and ask for positive advice, but not to complain or post extreme negative opinions. It was not a debate space as WBF - if you crossed the line your posts would be erased. It happened to me several times, and every time, after I reformulated the post for a more friendly or less incisive opinion, the post was published. Several of the debates on members systems are still references of opinion about the high-end, openly showing the best of high-end debate.
I still post there from time to time, and I regret that the new management is not being able to re-establish the good old Audiogon, keeping the old equilibrium of trade and opinion.
If it was not for the fair trade of Audiogon I would not have tried many excellent pieces of equipment bought from people who were mostly friendly and serious sellers all over the world at nice prices. And the generous advice of the enthusiastic owners of the great systems was great. Some are now at WBF, unhappily others decided not to join.
I only had one negative experience at Audiogon - I bought a pair of cable at a very low price - the type of sales we refer as too good to be true. The cables arrived in mint condition and the seller offered to sell two additional pairs at a similar price. I accepted and paid but never got them. The guy had some sense of humor - the phone number in his Audiogon details was the one of the local county jail!
I still post there from time to time, and I regret that the new management is not being able to re-establish the good old Audiogon, keeping the old equilibrium of trade and opinion.
If it was not for the fair trade of Audiogon I would not have tried many excellent pieces of equipment bought from people who were mostly friendly and serious sellers all over the world at nice prices. And the generous advice of the enthusiastic owners of the great systems was great. Some are now at WBF, unhappily others decided not to join.
I only had one negative experience at Audiogon - I bought a pair of cable at a very low price - the type of sales we refer as too good to be true. The cables arrived in mint condition and the seller offered to sell two additional pairs at a similar price. I accepted and paid but never got them. The guy had some sense of humor - the phone number in his Audiogon details was the one of the local county jail!
I would never buy without a cc or paypal. How can I say this so many times? Prepare to protect yourself! I know that A-on cannot return anyone's money, and they state that. I just was hood winked out of $7K on a Hegel H30. Paypal and my cc company (Wells Fargo) came through with flying colors.
Although nowadays most of the time I use paypal I have done many successful payments using bank transfers. Remember when I started buying from Audiogon there was no paypal in Europe. Even today when I buy from sellers I know pretty well I prefer to avoid extra fees - banks are rich enough without my help.
IMO it entirely depends on the seller.
I have sold and bought multiple $10+ items (the most expensive I sold was friends Dynaudio Master Evidence spekers @ $50k which I sold abroad acceptin a wire transfer) and never had any single problem.
I repeat this over and over again - CALL THE SELLER. The scam artists are not audiofiles. You will know in a matter of seconds if you are dealing with a real audiophile or not. Ask him about his system, previous gear choices etc. If he claims to be the first owner, you can ask for the serial # and check with the manufacturer wher the item was first sold. See if he has a virtual system on audiogon, check his audiogon posts etc.
IMO all of those people who got scammed on AudiogoN didn't do a proper research first.