How do you pay? Why?

A couple of comments ...

Checks of any variety, whether personal check, cashier's check, certified check or money order, are all susceptible to fraudulent use (fraudulent money orders and cashier's checks are actually the tools of choice for most negotiable instrument scams). It can take a month or more for your financial institution to discover the fraud, and the above posts are correct that you cover the loss, not your bank. I won't even accept cash given how easy it is to counterfeit currency and how stupid it is to physically carry a large sum of money in cash to the bank.

I will only accept payment by wire transfer, as this is by far the safest way to receive money. The fee for a wire is typically $20-$25 and the money is in the seller's bank account in two days or less. There is no worrying about whether a check will clear or is fraudulent, or who will pay a 3% fee (which can add up to a lot of money if you're buying or selling expensive gear). As a buyer, I like PayPal because it allows me to immediately "seal the deal", but as a seller, I tend to be selling fairly valuable gear and I am not going to be dealing with any 3% fee or fears of forged checks, etc.

Once a wire transfer has posted to your account, it cannot be reversed or undone by the remitter (the person paying). That is why a wire transfer is the only way a seller who wants to avoid problems (fraud, chargebacks, etc. - see below) should accept payment, and why payment by wire is by far the most common way that commercial transactions involving real sums of money are done (and the only way they are done for large commercial transactions).

As for PayPal, okay, okay, I'll come clean. The above posts attempt to explain that buying something (such as an amplifier or LP's) via PayPal in conjunction with a typical credit card permits the buyer to process a credit card chargeback in the event of fraud or where the goods do not conform to their description. In such cases, your credit card company essentially reverses its payment to PayPal for the amount of the transaction, and PayPal is left to collect from the seller (or you, the buyer, if they can't collect from the seller). If you as a buyer process a chargeback, you need to anticipate that PayPal will attempt to draw on your checking account linked to your PayPal account in order to cover its loss, so you must immediately close your PayPal account and/or arrange for your bank to deny any attempted draws on your checking account from PayPal (this may require account closure, depending upon the bank). It may be that the "fine print" of your agreement to use PayPal states that buyers will not use chargebacks (or if they do, promise to indemnify PayPal), but it would not be cost effective for PayPal to enforce these rights except where it involves more than $15,000-$20,000 (i.e., it's too expensive for them to hire a lawyer to sue you if you process a chargeback). Of course, PayPal's fee structure takes into account that 0.0001% of their customers are sophisticated enough to use chargebacks, so cry no tears for them.

In any event, this is the reason that (i) I refuse, as a seller, to accept PayPal under any circumstances, as an unscrupulous buyer can do a chargeback simply because he does not like the product -- a wire transfer is the only way to protect yourself and get deal finality, and (ii) as a buyer, I always use PayPal in conjunction with a credit card, as I can do a chargeback to negate fraud or handle unscrupulous sellers that lie about the condition of goods they sell. In fact, I buy everything I can with a credit card, as the ability to do a chargeback allows me to reverse problematic purchases (for the record, I have never, ever had to do a chargeback, but I have that option if I put it on a card). One cannot, generally speaking, do chargebacks with a debit card, incidentally.

Fedex and UPS insurance is poor quality and the adjusters generally try to deny claims (and take anywhere from thirty to ninety days or more to act). Anyone who ships a lot on Audiogon should open a commercial account with a professional freight forwarder such as BaxGlobal, as they have real insurance and expertise with high-value goods. If you are a buyer and the object of your fancy is valuable and prone to damage in transit (e.g., tube amps, CD transports and speakers, as opposed to interconnects), don't buy it unless you can drive to pick it up. If you are in the boondocks and absolutely have to ship with a consumer shipper like Fedex, insist upon careful double-boxing, buy with a credit card, buy the insurance, ship it overnight so they have less time to trash the package, and cross your fingers.

BlindJim: Good information. I will check with my dealers to see what they are doing re: Bax and alternatives.