Audiogon question

[cubdog]

I'm just wondering if anyone has purchased form the Audiogon classifieds? Are the prices fair in general? Have you had better luck with equipment being received in the descibed condition and have they been well packaged? I guess I am asking for a comparison between E-bay and Audiogon. Thanks for your imput.

cubdog

[braillediver]

It's always a crap shoot regardless of where you buy. For prices you'd be well served by just watching and more watching. I always go back to Ebay and check active and completed auctions for a reference.

1 bad deal out of 4 on Audiogon and no real problems on Ebay but the Big Money for me was spent on Audiogon.


Mitch

[styler]

i've yet to be burned on an audiogon purchase. however, if you visit their forum, fraud has been a big concern lately. as a result they have changed the buying and selling processes. there is less a safety net on audiogon... it used to be that you could leave a person feedback without ever buying anything. that has since changed. given that most of the gear is high end, you can usually contact the seller directly, and that helps. IMHO audiogon listed prices are merely a starting point, i dont think i have ever paid someone's starting price. when the really good deals show up they go FAST. i put my reynauds on and they sold in less than 5 minutes! given all, i have had all good experiences there. for selling, their fees are reasonable and theres no percentage like fleabay. overall its a good site, but their search function SUCKS.

[doucanoe]

I'm just wondering if anyone has purchased form the Audiogon classifieds? Are the prices fair in general? Have you had better luck with equipment being received in the descibed condition and have they been well packaged? I guess I am asking for a comparison between E-bay and Audiogon. Thanks for your imput.

CD, I have had about 8 transactions on Audiogon with only 1 that was marginal. I think that there are more actual audioplile sellers on Audiogon than e-bay in my opinion, however Like styler was saying that seems to be changing a little. One thing about Audiogon is that I usually spoke with the seller by phone to get better feeling about the transaction.

Some great vintage but most of the gear is high-end. Prices are mostly negotiable but be prepared to bring out the long green. Audiogon is not the best place to find that $30.00 Sansui or Kenwood TOTL.

Look me up if you want Im (Rmc) on Audiogon

RC

[OvenMaster]

I bought on Audiogon and the price was MORE than fair! Yamaha CA-1010 integrated for $150 total. Well packaged, too. Most of the components I've seen there, however, are a bit up the ladder, price- and quality-wise.

My eBay deal (Yamaha T-80 tuner) was priced right, less well-packed, but still arrived in near-mint condition. I personally have no complaints with either. But a friend bought a pair of speakers on eBay, and was never told a tweeter was blown.

Tom

[Markus111]

I'll second the responses above. What you see a lot more of on Audiogon than on ebay are people who are the original owner, and took good care of their equipment. The pieces I've bought on Audiogon came with all original packing, box, manuals, cords, even the twist ties. You get a chance to speak to the seller also, which is a big plus. I've had 8 good experiences there, and no bad ones. Still, Caveat Emptor (buyer beware!)

Mark

[wizard_len]

I have bought a couple of things on Audiogon, never had a problem. I agree with previous posts that there is more personal contact. I got the phone number from both sellers and spoke at some length before I put down my money. I also agree there are few outright steals there and not many $30 receivers. Overall, I have had good experience there.

[mattybumpkin]

Audiogon is a great place (like AK) with a great bunch of dedicated people (like AK) who like to talk audio (like AK). I have completed many buy/sell transactions there and have never had a problem. I personally have sold items to people in China and Norway, both were great transactions.

With that said, with any transaction, you need to be careful, do your homework, and follow your gut. A'gon has gone more commercial with many Ebay'ers spilling over to their site. As such, it is not as "safe" as it used to be. Still, most are straight shooters.

Regards,

"M"

[doucanoe]

A'gon has gone more commercial with many Ebay'ers spilling over to their site. As such, it is not as "safe" as it used to be. Still, most are straight shooters.


In regard to the above...
A-men brother "M", You can see it changing weekly.

RC

[pbda]

I've only bought once on Audiogon, and I paid top dollar for what I got, but the seller was the original owner and the item was in top-notch condition. But as with any of these online sites, you have to be very careful.

[RichPA]

My experiences with Audiogon have so far all been good; higher end and higher prices than elsewhere, but a reasonably good chance you're dealing with a fellow audiophile. As others have noted, be careful and make sure there's personal contact.

[soundoc03]

I have found that some incredibly good gear goes often for less on Audiogon. For example an Oracle lV TT and a Luxman CL-35mkll went for considerably less than what would have resulted in a bidding war on eBay. The latter sold for $400 less than one in similar condition just 2 weeks ago. The caveat however is that you must act fast as both of these item were sold within hours of being posted. On more mundane items such as cables I have offered sellers 15 to 20% less than their asking price and closed the deal w/o any hassle whatsoever. I agree that you can better size up the seller on Ag and the numerical rating system is much better the the qualitative terms on eBay such as "near mint" or "like new" which are often very exaggerated.

[oldschool]

My experience has been that the quality of gear is better and the transaction more 'personal' than eBay. I agree with the other posters that some of the eBay spillover is apparent. A 6 on the Audigon scale would be mint or near mint on eBay - however, I recently saw an Audiogon ad with a 10 rating that did not come close to meeting the Audiogon scale.

Each transaction is unique - whether eBay or Audiogon. Be careful, do your homework, contact the seller and pay your money.

[grumpy]

bought there once about 3 years ago and got burned on a 500 bucks cart. asshole dealer !

Didn't buy there again till maybe 6 months ago. had a better experience. Just sold my first item there last week.

[Nailer]

I've had 15 transactions on Audiogon and all have been positive. As far as pricing - most prices on Audiogon are high, but there are decent deals to be had. Like any online market the real deals sell quick.

I really miss Audio Mart.

[Workingslug]

IMO Audiogon is a more personal site than E-Bay as you have telephone numbers in which you can contact the seller and discuss the item that is for sale. E-Bay is more like a Department Store as they list a larger variety of items where as Audiogon mainly is concerned with audio items. As to the pricing, I agree with the other comments that you just have to perform the research and then decide what is it worth to you. I also agree that the sellers on Audiogon tend to have their equipment listed with more accurate and fair descriptions than E-Bay.

[blackwatch26]

I have bought three items off Audiogon for decent prices (not give aways), a pair of Wright Audio Mono 10s, a Bluenote Bellagio TT, and swapped a Grado cart for a Benz even up and have been pleased with each. All of the sellers were very friendly and honest and each accepted my offer quickly without undue haggling.

As with anything, YMMV.

Rick

[spot]

My experience with Audiogon has been better than Ebay. Descriptions are accurate, and prices typically track their so called blue book values. One has to pay, I guess $50 for a year's subscription of their blue book, which is a waste if you are going to buy or sell only a few items? But nevertheless, their own version of the blue book is helpful. Ebay I think is still a shot in the dark, although I normally insist on talking on the phone before sending money. My highest expenditure on Ebay was for a Rel President tuner, which I had won and after I sent the money, the seller changed his mind; said he would miss the tuner too much! Had to put a stop on the check. I have also had problems with tubes especially vintage ones mono plate 2A3s and globe 45s. A seller sent me a bunch of shorted tubes. I also think the Ebay feedback system is a joke. I have never bothered to leave anyone bad feedback. What's the point? They would reciprocate too.

[Yamaha B-2]

Vintage gear from Japan (with a few exceptions, like rare tuners) seems to sell at fairly low prices on Audiogon (with the exception of a CR-820 someone is asking $275 for at this time). In fact, not much in the way of vintage Japanese gear with names like Pioneer, etc. Folks there tend to deal in the higher-end names, like Mark Levinson, Krell, Threshold and the like. So not too much for the value-conscious vintage shopper. That said, I've bought and sold many times on Audiogon and have been very pleased, both coming and going. But almost always is in high-end gear. I shop there for high-end interconnects, cartridges, etc., as they usually sell for less than half of new. And, just picked up a Yamaha CDX-1100U TOTL CD player in mint condition with original box, manuals and remote for $125. Bought from someone I've dealt with before. So, while growing, it is a smaller world than eBay and one can usually interact directly via e-mail and phone with the seller prior to closing the deal to get a better feel.

[shelby1420]

I have had good with both, many more buy and sells on the bay but good all around.... i think the potential is there to have many more problenms on the bay as apposed to audiogon IMHO!!!

[Antonio Machado]

I have had just excelent experiences purchasing at Audiogon. Virtually all my system comes from Audiogon classified, never a bad experience in these five years buying/building my system. Nevertheless, I second all our friend's comments and suggestions: (a) try to contact the seller by phone directly, not just through e-mails, (b) check the feedback and (c) negotiate the price, even when the seller writtes "firm price" it never hurts to offer... :) Good luck, let us know your decision/experiences, Best, Antonio Machado.

[redcoates7]

The one thing to be especially careful of on Audiogon is the "dealers" section. I know from long personal expereience that guys like American Theater Systems pawn themselves off as an "authorized dealer" on Audiogon fro many brands they don't carry...and Audiogon refuses to remove the offending ads as long asthe poster pays their bills!

Personal listings are usually pretty good though...lots of enthusiasts, and a lot of folks that want to see their gear go to a good home.

As always though, watch yourself!

JC

[Negotiableterms]

All of my really high-ticket items (over $5K) have come from Audiogon. There are no silly bidding wars, and I like the fact that you have to talk to the seller before anything happens.

I avoid new Audiogon members for about the same reasons that newbies on Ebay and here are viewed with suspicion. Someone who shows up and instantly wants to sell high-ticket items should be on eBay. If it were up to me (and gawd knows, no one wants that!) I'd have a rule that until you have 100 positive feedbacks on eBay with less than 3 negatives, you can't sell on Audiogon or here. That would actually eliminate a lot of the con artists leaking over.

As things sit, you have to be as careful now on Audiogon as eBay, but the goods are overall higher quality, and the percentage of fraud seems lower.

[mike175gr]

I have also had very good luck on Audiogon, with the exception of one guy that changed his mind after he received my money. It seemed thet he wanted an additional $300 for the speakers because "he had made a mistake" listing them for that low of a price. (he had my money at this point for about a week). I ended up resolving it with him, but it was very frustrating. All of my other transactions went great.

[crooner]

I got my Audio Research PH3 from a seller on Audiogon. Granted I paid top dollar, but I got a unit that looks and performs as new. Seller included everything including the factory screwdriver and an extra set of tubes. Happy camper!

[51derrill]

Audiogon members, in general, are honest and list their merchandise accurately. Audiogon management is something else altogeather. They defend the predatory selling practices of "Guild" members, One rymes with Blimp, and another has AM initials, and simply do not respond to private sellers with issues. In their Dispute format, they continually make controdicing decissions. There is no consistancy whatsoever, with the possible exception of their Arrogant refusal to answer Email, that might result in their "Proper Classification" of Sellers. If the Gon continues to ignor long time members correspondance, they will be "Gon" themselves!

[slow_jazz]

Every time I've bid on Audiogon I never hit the reserve price. They do want a lot of money for their equipment in my opinion. It is good stuff though.

[Tmac83]

I have only completed one transaction on audiogon which was for a Cambridge Audio CD4. I received the item and the display was non working, while the seller had claimed that it worked perfectly. I emailed him and he told me to send it back and he would refund my money no questions asked.

I think there are deals to be had on Audiogon but it is very similar to CL in that if you want the deal you have to act fast or it will be gone. As with ebay there are dishonest people, but more of the stuff is highend and I think people communicate better through Audiogon.

Is one place better than the other? I don't think so necessarily. I think it depends on what you are looking for and who you deal with. If you want higher end stuff Audiogon will probably have more selection than ebay. Are you going to deal with better people? Not necessarily.

TC

[outshined]

I have bought and sold on AudiogoN with great results.
As was pointed out already, there are less vintage Pioneer, Sansui, etc... but they are there.

People who peruse AG for stuff waste no time when checking out the "New Today" classifieds, so, be quick!

One thing that bugs me, though. is that some sellers ask for an additional 3% to cover PayPal fees if you use it. This is against PayPals policy, and AG says there's nothing they can do about it. Translation; They don't give a shit.

Otherwise, I would take the same precautions as any internet transaction. I would be extra careful if the seller has no feedback rating. It's easy to sign up, post a sale, and run like hell with your money.

[outshined]

Every time I've bid on Audiogon I never hit the reserve price. They do want a lot of money for their equipment in my opinion. It is good stuff though.

A trick is to set the reserve at a ridiculously high amount, in hopes that buyers will keep trying to meet it, especially for a rare or vintage or just plain coveted item.

This will ensure top dollar for the seller, most times, and then he will contact the high bidder and ask if you want the item at your bid price.

Happens all the time on ePay too. "Second chance offer"

[sleddogman]

I bought my (Pancor) Dynaco PAS-4 preamp on AudiogoN about 9 months ago and felt the price was fair market. I'm also considering another item currently listed there.

As folks have said, it's changed a bit, with the most noticeable to me being that some folks are taking Paypal nowadays (eBay spillovers?), but I would suggest calling and speaking with the seller before making final commitment and get as much detail as possible.

If you know exactly what you want, have done your homework, and the price is within your means, then it's certainly better than eBay.

[sleddogman]

One thing that bugs me, though. is that some sellers ask for an additional 3% to cover PayPal fees if you use it. This is against PayPals policy, and AG says there's nothing they can do about it. Translation; They don't give a shit.
It's actually only against eBay's policies, not Paypal's. Paypal can be used to conduct transactions and pay for goods and services outside of eBay and has no way of monitoring whether additional funds have been requested or included to cover the Paypal transaction fees.

It's not that AudiogoN doesn't give a sh*t, it more like, they're not eBay, plus how (and why) would they enforce it...?