I recently purchased a $4000 pair of speakers from a private seller off Audiogon site unseen. Reluctant to send 4k off into never never land I chose to use I-esrow. The buyer sends money to I-escrow (you can also use credit card for an additional fee). I-escrow notifies seller payment has been made. Seller ships merchandise to buyer. Buyer has a pre-determined inspection period in which to notify I-escrow if they accept merchandise or if they wish to ship it back. If merchandise is accepted, I-escrow sends payment to seller. This can avoid many of the problems described above and I would not make a major used purchase without it.
Buyer Beware!
Man, I'm pissed! What about sellers that post over $6000 in analog gear then they don't return any email answers for 2 days. Then you find after your 4th email the seller has deleted the item. He answered the 5th email in which I asked for an explanation with "when I checked my email this morning I had 50 emails on the _____ and I sold it to the first email which I thought was fair and deleted the listing since it was sold" This item was posted for sale at approximately 50 % of retail at around 11pm est this past Wednesday evening and I emailled immediately with a message I would pay his asking price. He didn't answer until after his deletion with his lame reply. I feel as though someone's full of sh*t. I can't leave negative feedback as there was no transaction per se. So buyers beware of first time sellers here. And check them for feedback or lack of. I've been a member of this community for about 6 months and really like buying and selling here. I also enjoy the boards. Maybe the Powers that Be here could create a new class of sellers here. Like something along the lines of a Verifed Seller or denote on posted ads that the individual is a first time seller. I apologize for blowing off steam, but I still think I've been lied to by someone who still has other gear posted here for sale.