Buying used or sight unseen speakers a bad idea?

Often the best approach, if possible, is to do a pickup and have the units demo'd. That way cost is lower since shipping itself is risky. Also gives you a way to check the surrounds, grills etec. I have purchased over six pairs of speakers this way, and yes I rejected three other pairs.

Seems like a lot of classifieds have appeared recently here on Agon with feedback scores of 0. Perhaps it's just due to the un-economy, and people are needing to raise some money.

I will never buy with someone with 0 feedback again,thats a fact. I attempted to buy a pair of Totem Sttafs. The seller told me they were 6 months old, so I asked him to send me a pic of the serial numbers, which he gladly did. I paid him in full, via paypal. 6 weeks later still nothing but excuses and no speakers. He also stopped taking my calls or returning my e-mails.Finally he sent me an e-mail saying the post officce dropped one and broke it. I told him wanted my money back and finally had to dispute it with paypal and my credit card company. My money was returned within 24 hours after that call. In the meantime, I sent an e-mail to Totem with the serial numbers. The speakers were 9 years old.

Holy cow Sprink, what a dishonest jerk! I haven't bought anything yet on here but unless the seller had lots of good feedback I would only buy if I could pick up and see what was being sold and meet with the seller in person.

The real risk in buying used speakers is the typical listing - big heavy speakers, seller has "0" feedback, no pictures, and will only take a money order. Wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Also, I would not buy any speakers without plenty of pictures. I just don't "get" guys who list speakers with no pictures.