Elizabeth, The reason buyers are becoming more and more picky is because the selling side is becoming more and more like ebay, trying to pass off a 6/10 piece of crap as a 9/10 beauty. This BS gets old real fast. Even though the seller tells you to send it back for a refund it will set you back $100 or more in shipping to find out it wasn't what you thought it would be. All I can say is wait until it happens to you. It has urged me to buy more equipment new instead of used. It is unfortunate Audiogon does not tighten up a little to keep people honest. For those who remember Art Bender's Audiomart, to become a member you needed a sponsor, so not everyone can start buying or selling. If you were misrepresenting as a seller or not following thru as a buyer you soon became history. I made many purchases back then without a single problem, but what is going on here is scary and it is only the beginning.
Premium membership
Would you pay for a premium membership or gold membership type subscription here ?? This type of system where selling items to these type membership only persons would be available as well as other services. This I think would keep the non payers who commit to making a purchase from being a nuisance to members selling. These defunct payment type of people would most likely not buy into a membership, and if they wanted to buy an item from a paying membership person that they would have to pay a non refundable fee to Audiogon to buy something from a paying member trying to sell an item.