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Should Audiogon forum dealers be held to a different standard?

Usually, people take a measured approach in trusting salespersons because of conflict of interest - commission vs serving customer’s interests. It’s great when you find one you can trust on your behalf.

However, I noticed that sometimes when an audio dealer posts, they’re met with seemingly automatic skepticism beyond the usual - like they are automatically dishonest about helping audiophiles, they just want the sale. I do like them informing us they’re dealers in their posts which allow us to scrutinize their claims more closely.

Should Audiogon forum dealers be held to a different standard than other members?

 

FWIW, when I first got interested in high-end audio, I had a very bad experience at an audio store trying to push a sale of an inferior sounding system. So for years I avoided dealer opinions for lack of trust and did all my own research. Luckily, lately I found a knowledgeable audio dealer with whom I can trust - his knowledge was invaluable in my purchasing decisions.

kennyc

Showing 1 response by clearthinker

clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 

No.  All dealers should work to the same high standards.

It is said that bricks and mortar dealers add value by giving objective and useful advice to customers and that justifies their sticking to list pricing and not discounting (as well as the cost of their bricks and mortar, of course).  But can we be sure that advice is really objective and useful when they have so much skin in the game.

eg   Advocating a more expensive component when a cheaper one is just as good or better.

eg   Advocating a component where the dealer's gross margin is larger.

eg   Advocating a component that will take the dealer's sales of that marque over a super-commission threshold.

Gotta have a busload of faith to get by?

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