Buyer Beware!


Man, I'm pissed! What about sellers that post over $6000 in analog gear then they don't return any email answers for 2 days. Then you find after your 4th email the seller has deleted the item. He answered the 5th email in which I asked for an explanation with "when I checked my email this morning I had 50 emails on the _____ and I sold it to the first email which I thought was fair and deleted the listing since it was sold" This item was posted for sale at approximately 50 % of retail at around 11pm est this past Wednesday evening and I emailled immediately with a message I would pay his asking price. He didn't answer until after his deletion with his lame reply. I feel as though someone's full of sh*t. I can't leave negative feedback as there was no transaction per se. So buyers beware of first time sellers here. And check them for feedback or lack of. I've been a member of this community for about 6 months and really like buying and selling here. I also enjoy the boards. Maybe the Powers that Be here could create a new class of sellers here. Like something along the lines of a Verifed Seller or denote on posted ads that the individual is a first time seller. I apologize for blowing off steam, but I still think I've been lied to by someone who still has other gear posted here for sale.
sober1
Alexc: Was Jason from the San Francisco area? It is a large world, but I had a Jason from SF booted off of Ebay a while back for schilling his Hi-fi auctions. He admitted to doing so in an email to me and I forwarded it to Ebay. Not the brightest bulb, but dishonest. Just curious as this would not help your situation.
& your point is.........? Let me see: I have a financial emergency. I must immediately generate cash so I price my audio gear below market value. This generates more activity than normal, even after the items sell. Of course this drives home even more how this financial emergency has cost me money, as the excess emails remind me how I was forced to sell for below market. Now this, rather than depressing me further, makes me happy to cheerfully email everyone back & tell them how sorry I am that they were not the lucky one to benefit from my misery? Wow! I am one heck of a guy!
Well, here's one involving a dealer. I was the high bidder on an entry-level integrated amp auction that closed on Wednesday night. I received a telephone message this evening (10 minutes before the dealer closes for the week) that they didn't have the item after all. This was after the dealer was able to confirm the country of origin on the item (it's manufactured in either of two countries) during the auction. I've only been following this site for a couple of weeks, but after this I think it's time to delete the bookmark. Were this involving more than just a couple of hundred dollars (and a couple of thousand miles), I would consider a consumer protection claim.
I recently purchased a $4000 pair of speakers from a private seller off Audiogon site unseen. Reluctant to send 4k off into never never land I chose to use I-esrow. The buyer sends money to I-escrow (you can also use credit card for an additional fee). I-escrow notifies seller payment has been made. Seller ships merchandise to buyer. Buyer has a pre-determined inspection period in which to notify I-escrow if they accept merchandise or if they wish to ship it back. If merchandise is accepted, I-escrow sends payment to seller. This can avoid many of the problems described above and I would not make a major used purchase without it.