Actually, the weirdest was probably from a guy that wanted to know the religion of the owner of the hifi company in question before he bought the product. Did he buy it? What do you think?
"Do you smoke? Do you drink? Do you have a dog? How old are you? Are you married? How tall are you, how much do you weigh? What is your hair color? What do you do for a living? How long have you been doing this? How long have you worked there? Where were you before? -------->"
Finally, I asked, "Are you interested in the piece, or are you interested in me?" Once he got over the shock, the answer was that an audio component was a reflection of the owner. What really threw him for a loop even more that I decided it wasn't worth doing a deal with him.
Actually the common "Why are you selling?" --gets me. I hate to tell them of my drug problem. I; on the other hand "never" ask why they are buying. Tim; will I have to sell some blood to buy your gear?--Or,do you take pints in trade?
Are you the original owner? No, I am at least the third. The manufacturer, the dealer, then me.
Has it ever been serviced? No, it has not broken down yet. Maybe after I sell it.
I know where people are coming from, but if an item is well cared for, who cares how many owners? If something has been serviced, does not mean it is a lemon. With high end gear, more times than not it means it is in better shape.
Hey Tim. The person who asked your blood type could be Asian. In Japan that's what they ask, as opposed to the "what's your astro sign" out here. I'm of Japanese decent, but have red, white and blue running through my veins, and when I heard about blood type profiling from some people from Japan I couldn't believe it.
Actually, I've been really lucky. I've never dealt with any oddballs, only cool fellow A'GoNers.
Also: a guy who lived about an hour away by car, asked if I could bring to him a digital cable I was selling for $50, so he could demo it and decide if he wants to buy it.
I always like to "how does your XXXX Amp compare sonically to the ????? amp?" Like by some cosmic chance, I have owned that very amp and done a comparison of the 2.
the person who asked me that question is a member here, and had 2 weeks earlier commited to a purchase of another piece of gear I was selling.He had been working for 4 weeks on getting the funds together for a $105 Power Conditioner i was selling. I never received the money for that item, and when I replied to him about the amp comparison question, I mentioned he had offered to purchase my Conditioner 2 weeks ago and where was that check. As expected, he went into hiding and was never heard from again.
A pet peeve perhaps, and Sugar touched on it: "has it ever been serviced"? I personally think that when a component has been sent back to the manufacturer for some problem, they check it out thoroughly so it doesn't come back to "bite them in the ass" . At least that's been my experience with Sony, Sonic Frontiers, McCormack, and Syn. Res.
Most frustrating deal was the 6 weeks of about 40 emails to FINALLY satisfy a nervous buyers needs. We talked about shipping alone for 2 weeks, but in the end it FINALLY went OK. But blood type?-- I'd rip out and bury my hard drive if I got that one. Cheers. Craig
Will the amp you're selling hum like all the others that I've tried/bought? I replied that there's a problem that he needed to attend to before he bought another amp. I refused to sell to him.
For those who are curious out there(and so you guys won't have to ask me again, if we are to do a transaction) I am AB+. FWIW I didn't reply to him/her/it sort of freaked out by the whole thing!
IF the questions and concerns are too weird, aka too anal, DO NOT SELL. A more normal and reasonable buyer will appear, never fear. The only bad experience I've had on all of Audiogon was with an anal type whose signs and symptoms I should have read long before I shipped my item off. I learned from that experience, though. The rest of my buyers have been ok.
I agree with you SC53. I sold an Adcom power conditioner and listed it as "very good" condition. The person who bought it who did not ask about condition had a fit because they found a small nick in the paint on one corner.
I sold my VPI Aries setup here on agon, and had one intrepid inquirer ask if he could pay for the table in monthly installments over the next 12 months. Hello? Am I a bank now, or maybe you should just get a friggin' job....I told him sure, I'll take the full purchase price upfront as a downpayment, with 0% interest thereafter for 12 months. LOL
There are some deadbeats on agon, you have to admit...
I'm with you sc53. Whenever I get the 128 questions or the "I MUST get another $10 out of you" type, I know it's not going to be worth my time to deal with this person.
"Gosh, you're WAY OVER MY HEAD with these questions. Try tech support (and getting a life)."
I don't think it is unreasonable to ask about the history of a component. If the unit has been serviced it may or may not indicate a problem. If you feel comfortable buying something that has made a couple of trips back to the factory, knock yourself out but I will pass. I ask for serial number and try to get a feel for the person selling. I want to know that I can trust them and if I have a bad feeling a walk away. I am also not interested in a unit that has bee sold several times. Again, I don't want to discourage you, but I don't want something that has been shipped around several times and may or may not have problems. I have bought and sold a lot of things on this site with good success so far by being carefull. I don't want to be offensive but if you find my questions to hard to deal with I will move on, spend my money some other way, and we will both be happy. Thanks
I forgot to mention that I call the factory with the serial number and ask about service history, upgrades or changes since manufacture date, etc. Anal? Annoying for the buyer? Probably; but I have read to many posts on this and other forums where someone thought they were buying something different from what they really bought. Again, if this is more than you want to deal with, I am not your buyer and we will both be happy for me to deal with someone else. Before I spend several hundred dollars I want to protect myself as much as possible. Good luck
Lets see you are upset because of stupid questions, but the other person on the other end has not seen or sometimes heard the product being sold . Some people keep their equipment very well and others really do not care how it looks or the problems they have had with it and just want to dump it. So if a buyer has any questions to ask about it and you have nothing to hide you should be willing to answer them. There have been many threads about people being fooled on the buying side of things and not all people are honest so by talking or asking questions on the buyers side puts the buyer more at ease to make the transaction. Did you ever send thousands of dollars across the United States hoping everything would work out okay? At some point the seller has your money , you have nothing If you do not like to answer questions do not sell. The reason for this forum is to share knowledge and you as the seller will be sharing part of that to the people who have questions about what you are selling.
Yes, I guess we do get annoyed by certain questions. I cannot even count the number of times I have gotten a long list of general questions about a brand of audio gear and I tell them the information is available at: www.insert-company-name.com
I would think this would be obvious to someone using the internet.
Speaking of weird questions- When someone asks "How are you?" etc and they don't really care to hear the answer in the first place and are just trying to be polite, tell them you have been shooting herion, it will get their attention quickly!
Not a question per se' but a MAJOR pet peeve perhaps-- exceptionally picky, anal buyers, and paranoids . SOME BUYERS INSIST ON MINT, NEAR NEW, PERFECT, MINIMUM A'GON 9/10 CONDITION, AND THEY WANT IT FOR 1/2 OFF RETAIL, THEN WANT TO HAGGLE YOU DOWN SOME MORE, WANT A GUARNTEE, AND OVERNIGHT OR 2ND DAY SHIPPING INCLUDED. Emphasis intended! I should've started a pet peeve thread.
I've had potential buyers try to haggle a reasonable and fair price down, but then are willing to pay for expensive fast, premium shipping????
A'Gon, eBay etc. are sites for selling (mainly) USED equipent! Some don't seem to get that, and think the seller should offer everything a dealer does. To me, trust, integrity, and honesty, and this includes information sharing, are essential to most succesful deals-- and I've had 75-80 on A'Gon and eBay with only one deal that left a "bad taste in my mouth". Why don't others ever talk about these values? Do they feel it show weakness? Personally, I think it shows strength of character.
To some buyers, getting the best possible price, guarntee, and shipping, for a like new component seems to be a very important part of the transaction (game?). Sorry about the "Rant". Craig.
I go out of my way to be polite, friendly, reasonable and professional when making significant purchases of any kind, but as a buyer I ALWAYS ask "why are you selling" and I am happy to answer this question in considerable detail when selling.
How the seller responds -- in their tone as well as their openess with information -- invariably gives me clues to the type of person I am dealing with and their honest perception of the condition, performance and value of the item for sale.
"I love it, its mint but I'm desperate for money or I switched amps and they don't work as well anymore" etc puts me as ease as a buyer and increases the chance of a deal much more than "why do you ask" or any response that smacks of annoyance or none of your business. Does the seller have something to hide?
Why is this such an annoying question? Perhaps someone is suggesting that it is annoying because it is irrelevant -- that it is all too easy for sellers to lie on this question? Now, I really want to buy from you...not. Maybe I just don't get it.
Of course, this question is a separate issue from peoples ATTITUDE and I too reserve the right and delight in choosing NOT to deal with certain buyers.
But you can ask me anything you want about anything. Why would I let that annoy me?
Cwlondon makes a great point. I posted earlier on this tread because the snobometer was pegging big time! This is a problem with high end audio. We don't just see it happen with dealers but now we are seeing it with people who are trying to sell things on the net. If you want to sell you have to make someone comfortable enough to buy. Having said all of that, I have also had some strange questions from people. One guy asked me if I really thought the amp I was selling sounded good. I didn't know what to say other than yes I think in the price range it is one of the best sounding amps. He said okay and bought it. First he trashes it, then he buys it. Go figure.
Lest we conclude that only buyers make dumb remarks, here are a few of my fave statements made by sellers:
"It has a few scratches and dings but you can't see them." (Huh?)
"I sent it back to the factory for an upgrade." Which upgrade? "Uh, I'm not sure. Some smoke came out of it one day and it stopped working so I sent it in." (Uh, dude, that's a repair, not an upgrade.)
"If you don't know exactly what this amp is going to sound like with your system, you shouldn't be buying it."
"I won't sell you this preamp unless you promise to buy better interconnects than the ones you have now." (Cross my heart and hope to die, sir.)
"I doubt that your ears are good enough to appreciate this amp." (Well, excuse my humble dust. I'll run right out for a new Beltone.)
"Wait, let me get a pencil. OK. Now, itemize all your gear for me in detail and give me the dimensions of your room." ('Scuse me, is this an equipment sale or an adoption hearing?)
I have some stuff for sale here and at another site.Just tonight I received 3 emails from one person.email 1) please call me at ______ I'll buy it.I included my phone number in the ad for anyone wanting to call me.I dont feel it should be my dime to call someone long distance to answer questions.I emailed him back my phone number.email 2) How much is it?? IT HAS THE PRICE IN THE AD!!I emailed him the price.email 3) I'll think about it.And he wanted me to call him long distance!....frustrating!
I was selling a guitar amp, and a guy had me tell him everything about it in great detail forever. Then says, thanks for the info 'cause I'm thinking about buying one for a lot less and now I know this is what I want. I was so mad at this guy. I remember this experience whenever I visit a dealer.
This wasn't a question but an e-mail regarding a power cord I was selling for 250.00 OBO.This cable was well worth this price and I later got close to this amount from another buyer,but this particular e-mailer says,"I'll pay you $50.00 cash". Well,am I supposed to be impressed enough to take the offer because it's real,cold,hard cash? I guess he trusts sending cash through the mail.Duuuhhh!?!?
No weird questions, but I had a buyer who wanted my VK-75. He asked plenty but talked real S-L-O-W. This drove me up, down and sideways along the wall. After going through this, I wouldn't hear from him for weeks then suddenly have to suffer all over again. After awhile, I told him to get lost as he was IRRATING.
Kinda nice revisiting this thread and seeing the names of some of our oldtimers.(Many mirroring my thoughts,exactly.) I guess this thread did turn into a pet-peevs kind of thing. Great place to vent, me thinks. In this hobby, many or most are moving up. A piece's age vs how many owners and the price being asked all need to be factored in. You could be buying a piece that had only one owner/ no service history/ and then have it die on you 2 months after the purchace. Anal and CHEAP can be a sad combination in a prospective buyer.
How about this post-sale question: "I don't like how it sounds. Are you willing to reverse the deal?"
Fancy this, it's an immaculate component, they buy it of free will, then contact you and ask to refund because it doesn't sound like they imagined!
Of course this was after he had asked the pre-sale question, "Do you think I'll like the sound of it?" I wasn't going to step into that one. I told him he had to make up his mind whether to take the chance and that I would not refund if there was were no mechanical/electronic issues.
He still called to request a refund due to how it sounded. He was slow in paying and tried several times to get the last $10 off. I agree wholeheartedly. Don't deal with a chintzy person. I think he changed his mind about expending the money and was trying to get it back. Are these people really from planet Earth?
Had another guy want to know the dimensions of the speakers I was selling...because he needed to know where in the house to hide them from his wife! I'm surprised he didn't ask me to recommend hiding places!
I thought, Hey guy, that's YOUR issue; don't bring your dishonesty at home into my life.
Reading these posts made me laugh because I know they are true. My experience although not exactly gear was similar to some. I had a bunch of Stereophile Magazines for sale on here, for real cheap, like .50 cents or $1 each, I cannot remember exactly. But, anyway this guy says he wanted to buy some of them, like $12 worth or something. So, I weigh them and had a shipping estimate (media mail) that was either $12 or slightly higher and he asks; "Will you ship for free?"
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