Audiogon to enable email communication again

[ack]

I am sure a lot of you have gotten the email by now...

On August 21st, 2013 we will be releasing an update to Audiogon.com and the way Sellers and Buyers communicate. This will enhance the purchasing process for all Listings to improve the overall experience for everyone.

1. Buyers and Sellers will now be able to reply via email. Communication between Members will be easier. You will no longer be required to login to your Audiogon account to respond to messages. You may simply hit reply via your personal email to all Audiogon messages and they will reach the intended recipient.

2. Upon accepting an offer, Buyers' contact information will now be provided to the Seller. This new process means that as soon as a Seller accepts an offer we will reveal the Buyer's contact information, which we hope will facilitate easy and instant communication.




The new purchasing process will look like this:


​

• Seller accepts an Offer
• System NOW reveals Buyer's contact information and provides it to the Seller

• System records the transaction and completes the sale

• Buyer submits PAYMENT via paypal

• System deposits balance (total - transaction fee) directly into the Seller's PayPal account

By streamlining this process, transaction fees will be deducted when a Buyer submits payment (when applicable) and thus ensure that the entire transaction can be completed, closed, and archived at the time of checkout. There will no longer be the need to go back and manually close orders.

 

[Steve Williams]

But Peter aren't members still precluded from sending emails to members for reasons other than selling something. Weren't we used to be able to do this

 

[AMP]

The new purchasing process will look like this:


​

• Seller accepts an Offer
• System NOW reveals Buyer's contact information and provides it to the Seller

• System records the transaction and completes the sale

• Buyer submits PAYMENT via paypal

• System deposits balance (total - transaction fee) directly into the Seller's PayPal account

By streamlining this process, transaction fees will be deducted when a Buyer submits payment (when applicable) and thus ensure that the entire transaction can be completed, closed, and archived at the time of checkout. There will no longer be the need to go back and manually close orders.

While I welcome the idea of being able to communicate with buyers with less hassle this checkout process makes little sense. Is the buyer now paying Audiogon and they are then transferring proceeds to the seller? What about those transactions that don't take place with PayPal as the payment method? I've sold about $50K worth of gear on Audiogon in the last 12 months and of that only $4500 was transacted through PayPal. The rest were bank wires.

 

[KeithR]

does Audiogon protect buyers now like an Ebay?

 

[ack]

We have to see how this revision works, but it sounds like you should be able to simply ask a question as a buyer, then the seller can email you back directly. (You can still do this today if you trick the system by, say, spelling out your email address in your ad, as I do; ditto for the phone number). If so, you will again be able to complete the transaction outside of audiogon. The paypal thing may be an attempt to add buyer's and seller's insurance to the transaction, but we'll have to see the details. All in all, it sounds like a positive move, but we really have to wait and see.