Comment to Natalie: I have no personal or business connection with Audiogon, but I think your characterization of the Audiogon staff as "boneheads" is unfair and unwarranted. I also disagree with your comment that the feedback feature is "one of the largest jokes on the Internet" (can you quote some specific data to support this view?).
From my perspective, I think the audiophile community has been very well served by this site and by the staff who run it. Over the past several years, the A-gon staff has made a number of improvements to the site, often in response to requests from members.
Further, there are many members of Audiogon who have been diligent in building a positive reputation as both buyers and sellers, and to characterize the resulting feedback as essentially pointless is neither useful no accurate. I agree that there is certainly room for abuse in the feedback system, and perhaps 10-15% of the feedback is inflated, so I'd like to hear your specific ideas about how it can be improved (without instituting an additional fee). It's much too easy to simply be negative without offering a better alternative.
From my perspective, I think the audiophile community has been very well served by this site and by the staff who run it. Over the past several years, the A-gon staff has made a number of improvements to the site, often in response to requests from members.
Further, there are many members of Audiogon who have been diligent in building a positive reputation as both buyers and sellers, and to characterize the resulting feedback as essentially pointless is neither useful no accurate. I agree that there is certainly room for abuse in the feedback system, and perhaps 10-15% of the feedback is inflated, so I'd like to hear your specific ideas about how it can be improved (without instituting an additional fee). It's much too easy to simply be negative without offering a better alternative.