I discussed this situation with Arnie tonight via email. Regardless of some of our prior thoughts, money is not the issue here. While he did acknowledge that the wanted ads obviously did not make them money, it wasn't hurting them either. It did increase traffic flow to the site and was a convenience feature for members. As such, it was deemed an "acceptable loss".
From what i was told, there have been far too many complaints made about transactions that were based on "wanted" ads. These complaints came from buyers, sellers, dealers, consumers, etc... Every aspect of participant or user that Audiogon caters to had something to say about a deal gone bad. As to why these problems weren't listed in the "dispute" forum with other transactions gone awry, there's a reason for that listed down below.
In order to try and minimize hassles and problems that revolve around products bought and sold through the aid of Audiogon and the wanted section, they are going to try and work out a system that will be a little more thorough. The goal is to come up with something that will offer both more protection and better communications between the buyer and seller. As such, it seems a noble under-taking and shows the concerns of Audiogon as it tries to take better care of its' members.
Since the system may require more work and attention from Audiogon administrators, a small fee may be required. Whether there will be a fee and how much will be dealt with at a later date. After all, what to charge ( IF anything ) could only be assessed once they can figure out how to most effectively deal with the situation at hand. Once that is done, they will have to factor what is involved in instituting such changes.
Either way, i am sure that the fees will be well worth what we pay for them. Keep in mind that i too have to pay for whatever services i make use of here, just like you or anyone else. Being a bigmouth on the forums hasn't bought me any slack, nor should it. To those i hear quacking in the back of the peanut gallery stating that they should charge me more, buzz off : )
Most of the problems appear to stem from over-anxious buyers not doing their homework and trying to jump on a "good deal" that someone presented them with. As such, there appears to be a BIG lack of communications taking place between buyers and sellers with assumptions being made by both parties. Buyers were too quick to purchase something without asking questions or seeing details posted like you would have on a for sale listing. At the same time, sellers weren't offering as much information about said product since they weren't asked such questions or required to post any information about the product to begin with. As such, a LOT of it may be a simple misunderstanding that could have been easily resolved IF both parties took the time to actually talk to each other instead of concentrating on making a quick deal.
As many of us have noted here, we've had great luck with wanted ads. As such, i can see that we, or at least i have, taken quite a bit for granted and been quite lucky over-all. With that in mind, Audiogon wants to remove the "luck" out of the transaction and work towards making both parties more aware of what is expected from all of those involved.
Since all of these problems arise out of a situation that Audiogon has no record or documentation of other than the initial "wanted" ad, they can't verify listed condition, what was included in the price, details of the product, what was considered acceptable payment, etc... As such, they have had NO way to work towards resolving these situations as it was strictly one party's word against another. Since many transactions take place over very brief phone calls, some folks could not even submit copies of email correspondance to support their side of the story. As such, Audiogon was getting stuck in the middle with NOTHING to work with. As you might guess, this is not a pleasant situation to deal with and that is why they took the steps that they did.
With that in mind, they are currently putting their heads together in the "think tank" to see what can be done about this. I'm sure that they would welcome any worthwhile and well thought out suggestions, as they too would like to bring this feature back to the website. I know that i'd like it back asap, as i just listed two ads not even two days ago. I must admit though, this has been a learning experience for me and i'll benefit from it in the long run. Sean
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