audiogon is a curious hybrid of commercial site and anything-goes user forum, and it's a fair question of whether a dealer should be allowed to, in essence, advertise to free, especially since a non-dealer has to pay to sell its gear. i personally find the flagrant hucksterism of one or two particular dealers annoying, and i may choose not to read their posts or to buy from them, but there are also dealers who are very knowledgeable and illuminating, and like anything else you gotta take the good with the bad.
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.