1. Ads featuring borrowed/stolen photos. There's one running now that I was interested in until I noticed the pics looked familiar. Makes you wonder. 2. Items priced outrageously high, especially when an identical piece is listed for 25% less. 3. Used items rated 10 or even 9. 4. Won't go into the "gears" type but there are plenty of them.
Greedy dealers. Wise guys. My system is the best..........but looking for advice. Two guys with tree opinions. Guy that can't let go. My friend's uncle got it - it sounds great. What do you think about my system ? Well... I don't. Wait...now do ?!#. You make me!!! Who the @#$%&* are You again and where did You get my $%%&**&% email. I just got this brand new $5,000 sp-cables they are the best I ever own. I am sure they are - congratulations. Guys with " Magic Genie " and his truck full of equipment. But then again, who is perfect?
1. Sellers who post "obo" then get upset because you offer $3000 for the posted $3200. When I see "obo" this indicates that they are willing to consider less (or more) than the stated price- yezz, noo???
2. Members who post their political opinions when someone is merely pointing out a conceert they enjoyed, or music they like, or even a message in a song. For instance- the great talented American- Bruce Springsteen!!! Or the great John Lennon. Go someplace else on the web to vent politics. This site is about music, sound, stereo, and sometimes we might even become friends.
Those pretentious, self-annointed legends-in-their-own-minds who claim their ears are better than those of the rest of us. Therefore, they are in a better position to judge sonic attributes and their judgements should not be questioned.
BTW, I enjoy Bill Feil's comments and calling out of those who think they are wise. No matter what you do there is always some detractor. Keep it up, Bill.
1) "I'm rating it an 8 but it's closer to a 9" 2) "Minty" 3) "Great product. Heartbroken to have to give this up. Worked great in my system" etc. in conjunction with "Low hours, lightly used" etc. 4) People who get snarky over a typo. We're not writing a thesis, just making a quick post in a forum.
"Serious inquiries only;" oh yeah there are sharks all over the 'gon. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Lame excuses for why it is being sold. Look, sometimes you just want to try something else and don't need more boat anchors in the house collecting dust.
Use of the word "schill" for "shill" (It pisses the fish off)
"Lowballers politely ignored." (How do they know?)
Use of the word "snarky" in any context
Requiring a reason for selling
People that make a big deal over typos, grammar, punctuation, syntax, accuracy, factual representation, scientific proof, empirical evidence, or common sense
Smart asses
Gawdbless: cockney rhyming speech? In your boat race*!
Those who dish out advice with great conviction and yet are unwilling to stand up and be counted or criticised through sharing photos of their virtual system; like a toy dog that only barks loudly from behind the safety of a fence. If you know enough to speak your mind then pony up and show us some pics!!
non-US buyers who ask you to declare under penalty of perjury on a US Customs form that a $1500 cartridge is actually a "used record player needle" given as a "gift" with a value of "$45."
Vinyl sellers knowingly or otherwise representing products as "first issues" or "original releases" when they are not.
A good example is Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane currently offered for sale ($45 WOW) on Audiogon. Seller is representing as original stereo issue when in fact the first 4 Jefferson Airplance albums were issued on the black label (in mono and stereo). Not until "Bless It's Pointed Little Head" in 1969 was the orange label employed.
I see dozens of misrepresentations every day scanning the LP For Sale section and the sellers are asking outrageous prices.
Don't take it for granted any of these sellers, including the guys with the huge "personal collections", know what they are talking about.
People with nice gear that I'd love to own, but when you look at their system it's in the living room with no room treatments, one speaker behind the couch and the other one halfway in the fireplace with a huge TV in the middle. Then they post about some minor change they made, like they changed their cable lifters from ceramic to hi-temp ceramic and the result was "jaw dropping - You gotta try this!"
Audiofeil nice observation.. Audiogon is NOT the place to buy LP's (I have bought maybe 3-4 LPs here) for your reasons listed and high prices. I buy VERY CAREFULLY on ebay. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose (like more surface noise than rated) But I win more than lose.
Sellers who post an ad, you ask a question, they reply and you say no thanks for whatever reason.....but they think just by responding to the ad was an agreement to purchase.
By far, the most annoying thing is when sellers don't list the age of the gear they are selling. Especially, when they grade speakers 9/10, and then you come to find out they are 5-6 years old.
When I make every effort to ask all the right questions of a seller (pertaining to re-examining and disclosing any cosmetic, functional, or shipping concerns) and their equipment still arives with blatant/obvious issues absent of any shipping-related reasons, I really get irritated at the complete waste of my time (almost a dozen times). This goes for inadequate packaging concerns, and the disceptive substitution of original packing materials, ie; any old "box".
People with nice gear that I'd love to own, but when you look at their system it's in the living room with no room treatments, one speaker behind the couch and the other one halfway in the fireplace with a huge TV in the middle. Then they post about some minor change they made, like they changed their cable lifters from ceramic to hi-temp ceramic and the result was "jaw dropping - You gotta try this!"
Good one!
It makes you wonder about those that report similar jaw dropping effects on minor tweaks and yet they share no setup pics at all !
At the moment, receiving a D.O.A. speaker, well packed with no damage to the box or cabinet, having paid $100 for shipping/insured and being told by the seller, I need to wait for UPS inspectors to make a determination before I ship it back, at my loss for a PayPal refund... I suppose crossover damage could have been done during shipping, I don't know, just pretty discouraging...
dealing with damage claims w/shippers. (UPS & FEDEX is worse) My advice is TRIPLE BOX....original double boxes & packing are compromised once they've traveled once. Put another padded box around the originals. Learn from me, don't go thru the hell I've experienced twice in the last 2 yrs.
Posters who claim a component makes their system sound like a real/live performance and then after that component receives an update claim that the updated component is now somehow more real than before.
On this site -- the constant demand that buyers pay the seller's PayPal fee. Some are even adding *more* than the actual surcharge.
This is nonsense. PayPal specifically prohibits this type of advertising; it is equivalent to charging a surcharge for using credit cards, which is illegal.
And it is in strict violation of the PayPal Seller Protection agreement -- meaning, if there is a problem with the transaction and the buyer cites the advertisement demanding fee payment, then the seller has no recourse to get PayPal to help recover his product.
I simply refuse to even consider ads that do this.
Sellers pay their own PayPal fees. If you want to recoup the cost of the fees, then add them inside and stop with the misleading low price.
A buddy of mine always wanted to open a 'handling store'. Just so sellers wouldn't have to go to all that trouble to handle products and then charge for it. Drop the package off, we'll handle it for you for a fee, then it is on its way to the buyer. Quick and simple.
Wire manufacturers claiming their wire is "more accurate". Know what we use in a cal lab to measure dc to parts of parts per million? Pure copper wire and buff the ends before connecting. Wire mfrs do different things with cables to make diffent results IMHO, not necessarily to be more accurate. You want deeper soundstage, wider soundstage, etc etc, all that can be achieved by mix and match.
Companies that won't sell you their product over the phone/Internet. Hey, dealers, it's 2007! Wake up and smell the information superhighway that Al Gore invented!!! ;>)
Buying secondhand cd's where the seller has written on the Inserts!. Or shops that put the sticky price labels on the Inserts also Instead of the plastic cases, that are Impossible to remove without defacing the Insert.
Sincere Apologies to Viridian for continuing the whingey, whiney, disgruntled, pee'd off, cheesed off, fed up to the back teeth peeves of hi-fi drudgery.
Folks who won't negotiate. Folks who price their gear out of proportion to recent sale prices. Folks who state "fair and/or firm" pricing. That's for the buyer to decide! Folks who abuse the quite strict Condition Scale.
Folks who don't CLEARLY list if any original accessories, documents, packaging etc. are missing, damaged or non-OE.
Audio manufacturers who spam the used ads. Two stand makers are guilty of this. And that speaker manufacturer. And that Somebody Audio whose tagline doesn't say what is actually being sold, but some irrelevancy like: Don't Miss This One! or Listen! Look! End of high-priced cables! You have neve heard it like this before! Grab this fast! Hand-built! Ends soon! Cheap can sound great! Stop, Wasting, Our, Bandwidth!
Companies that won't sell you their product over the phone/Internet. Hey, dealers, it's 2007! Wake up and smell the information superhighway that Al Gore invented!!! ;>)
Personally I applaud manufacturers who set and stick to geographic restrictions. These manufactureres rely on a retailer network to put the product "on show" for the consumers. Those dealers need to be protected. A manufacturer who had a dealer network and is transitioning to direct or web sales is undercutting his retailers.
I griped above about manufacturers who use Gon to sell their product lines. I want to qualify: I see retailers who use the Gon to move trades, demos and other used components. I have no problem with that - it's using the Gon for what it was made for. Used inventory can be hard to match to a buyer at any acceptable return if one is restricted to a limited pool of floor traffic. Using a national (world, really) marketplace, retailer and prospective consumer both win. But if a manufacturer wants to sell his line of goods on the Gon, fercryingoutloud - there's a proper way to do so. Buy one of those big glossy sponsor ads that precede the list of classifieds! I can imagine one exception to that rule: Small manufacturers who use Gon expertise to help design and evaluate a developmental product, are up front about it, and document the goings-on in the Forums. Jade Audio comes to mind. I consider that another everybody-wins situation Thanks for reading my rants. cheers apo
What I dont care for are people who contact you to sell you something based on reading what you post in private, like trolling for a sale....I dont agree with it and some times it may actually be a breach of dealer network agreements.
That's sort of my situation. I buy used gear that conforms with what I remember from when I did hang out in retail shops. Most of them looked at me (worn jeans, Harley shirt) and treated me indifferently. One shining exception was this fellow in Berkeley who spent over twenty hours listening to me and showing me different products, how they worked or didn't work together, the elements of speaker placement, many other things. He treated me like I was an old friend. I bought two big items from him at list. It seemed like the right thing to do for all his service. Mind you he didn't expect that outcome ... which made my decision of support that much more "right" feeling. Now I do not have access to retailers. I would like to go to audio shows (like the RMAF) when cash and health permit. Basically thoughI have to extrapolate from what I learned a decade ago, and I tend to buy top-line equipment from that era. For more modern or unfamiliar products, it's all in how to read reviews and comparos, be they pro or amateur. That's how I narrow a list of "things I'd like to try", and I wait patiently for good deals on used gear. So far I have been very fortunate. For specifics, please visit my system. But for new hot gear, I'm pretty much out of that loop. cheers apo
Excellent point Chad. Hyenas are everywhere !!!!! A little exposure would put theme on a very tin ice. P.S I will bring a snow machine just to keep things moving faster.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
