Should Escrow be Required?

NO, buyers and sellers should have freedom to negotiate their own terms.

I don't know about "requiring" escrow, since AudioGon, like E-bay is "only a venue." A good start,however, would be a valid credit card (that is cross-referenced with the billing address and telephone number of the holder) in order to register, buy and sell.

Secondly, I agree with Mike. I personally only buy with a credit card through PayPal or COD. I know that these payment methods are not full proof, but there is at least some form of protection from scam sellers. COD with a bank money order actually works very well. If the seller sends you a box of bricks, you can open it in front of the courier and then refuse it. If the product looks good, you still have a few days to make sure it works and the condition is as advertised, because you can put a stop payment on a bank money order as a last resort.(Don't try to scam someone with this method if everything is as described, because you will go to jail!)

Most important, try to get as much info about the seller as possible....address, home and work #'s etc...Call the number to make sure that person really lives or works there. I use the reverse phone directory or check out the address with his/her countys' property records through the recorders office online. Of course, not all counties have this on-line info available nor does everyone own property, but every bit of information helps to confirm the seller is legit.

Finally, as we all know, if the deal is too good to be true, it's not.

How does escrow protect the seller? I have never used escrow, but it seems like the buyer has all the control in the matter. Aside from the fact that the money is in place, there's a number of things that could go wrong, and now the person that owns the gear (the seller) has less control than the buyer. I like to ask for a phone number, call them and ask all the questions I want. If everything sounds good to me, I go online and do a reverse lookup to verify that the phone number they gave me comes up registered to the same name and address that I'm sending the money to. I'll also confirm everything the we agreed to (on the phone) in writing via email just to be sure that everything is understood by both parties. It's no guarantee that I won't get ripped off, but neither is escrow.

Dmason.

You caught me! ;-P

Mike

No,Escrow should not be required. I also agree with Viridian. Feedback or not Get sellers Phone number and talk to him. I will not buy any expensive gear unless I speak to the seller and ask the importent questions and get a positive feeling for the seller. Its no gurantee but its better that emails.