Buying used or sight unseen speakers a bad idea?

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.

My favorite story about buying used speakers on Audiogon dates back to April of 2007. Stillone and I spoke several times and eventually he said that he would ship me used Dahlquist DQ10 speakers with the understanding that if I liked them, I could send him the money. I did like them and did send him the money. However, to this day, I can't believe he went through all of the trouble without any guarantee that I would either pay nor send his speakers back to him. The audio world has all kinds and Stillone is at the top of the heap!

If you're familiar with the sound of a certain speaker then there's the normal risk issues-shipping, and condition. In this case going by other buyers recommendations is reasonable due-diligence. If you're not familiar with a speaker I think you really have to audition them. If the seller won't allow an audition I think you have to pass. Just a note on shipping. If you can pick up yourself - do it. If you can't - go with a freight company. UPS/FedEx, and the others, are high risk for large items.