AUDIOGON or AUDIOGONE??

Toolfan66

Man it sure seems to me that it has really thinned down compared to what you could find in years past..

IMO.. Audiogon is now Audiogone... it $ucks....

tonyb

It seems to have been taken over by dealer demo's and the DIY crowd. What some think their used gear is worth gets pretty ridiculous, you just have to scout out the deals though as with any audio site.

Look for stuff that hasn't sold, or the ad expired. Then offer them up a price well below their ad price, betcha they take it.

Moose68Bash

I have made a few purchases on Audiogon, and I have never had a problem. I've tended to buy from the dealers who sell on Audiogon, but have made a few purchases from individuals.

I, too, have noticed that the number an variety of items seems to have diminished recently.

Do you think sellers are going elsewhere -- e.g., eBay, the various audio marts?

EndersShadow

DSkip wrote: »

Listing prices are high when you consider there are many avenues for that now that do not charge. You do get more exposure with agon, but others are growing in popularity.

Yup, USAudioMart, CL (since you can use sites like searchtempest to search geographic areas), and other free sites are killing em.

Personally I dont deal with Audiogon... rather put it on eBay if I have to pay for a service......

tonyb

I do think though on Audiogon, you have a better chance at a problem free transaction than on Ebay. Too many scammers on Ebay for my tastes.

Emlyn

Outside of this forum, I actually prefer Ebay for general audio sales. The audience is huge which offsets the high selling fees a bit because selling prices may be higher with more interest and bidders. I have bought and sold on Audiogon, but not for the last few years. Used to be I'd search for something like "Spendor" or "Harbeth" there and see a couple dozen sets of speakers for sale. Now it's more like one or two. For high dollar stuff with only a few people who may be interested in it, Audiogon is fine and a better option than Ebay. My big annoyance with Audiogon was receiving insulting lowball offers and idiots who couldn't take no for an answer, like offering $600 for an amp listed at a fair price of $1200 which sold for that much on Ebay.

WagnerRC

I have purchased many fine products and never had an issue. Know what you want to pay and most are willing to deal. Happy Customer for sure.

Erik Tracy

Most of my experience on audiogon has been positive - both as buyer and seller.

The only bad experience was when I was selling - and the buyer was whiney and demanding updates almost on an hourly basis for delivery status and threatened to report me when I didn't respond for a day.

mrbiron

tonyb wrote: »

I do think though on Audiogon, you have a better chance at a problem free transaction than on Ebay. Too many scammers on Ebay for my tastes.

This is one of main reasons i've use 'Gon. Even after reading all of the PFB threads....
With all of my transactions, i've even had multiple emails back and forth with most of the seller/buyer for general experience with the product. Something a little more intimate than the Ebay way of "Holy ****!...someone bought this thing. Get it out the door before they change their mind. NO REFUNDS!"

Joey_V

For me, audiogon is still #1. I have bought all my gear and sold there. No issues. Bought the Strads and the Boulder there wihtout issue.

DaveHo

Used to buy & sell frequently on Audiogon. They raised the fees. But then they re-did the site & it tanked. Gee, that sounds familiar. I don't even look there now except every once in a blue moon and haven't bought anything in years. Here, UsAudiomart, & CL is where I buy & sell these days. Will buy off eBay, but I've sworn them off for selling. Too much risk of getting screwed with their buyer-centric policies.

SCompRacer

My last pre amp purchase was through Audiogon. My last sale had some way off the wall low ball offers that didn't deserve a response. I've tried US Audio mart but it didn't result in any sales.

I still like to talk to folks before plopping down cash or selling something.

Joey_V

Audiogon is great for me. I have had no issues with purchases above $10,000. For me to involve myself in a transaction like that on ebay would make me very uneasy.

They are also updating the forum so it's going to be real cool

rooftop59

Joey_V wrote: »

Audiogon is great for me. I have had no issues with purchases above $10,000. For me to involve myself in a transaction like that on ebay would make me very uneasy.

They are also updating the forum so it's going to be real cool

I'm glad you've have a good experience, but honestly I would MUCH rather make those major purchases on ebay than audiogon. You have a much bigger company backing you, and as others have stated, their policies are very buyer-centric.

What's audiogon gonna do if the sale goes bad, ban the seller? And your out thousands of dollars? Paypal is what saves you then hopefully.

DarqueKnight

For the types of things I look for, Audiogon is great. My last two experiences as a seller, in 2012 and 2014, were very positive.

Joey_V

rooftop59 wrote: »

Joey_V wrote: »

Audiogon is great for me. I have had no issues with purchases above $10,000. For me to involve myself in a transaction like that on ebay would make me very uneasy.

They are also updating the forum so it's going to be real cool

I'm glad you've have a good experience, but honestly I would MUCH rather make those major purchases on ebay than audiogon. You have a much bigger company backing you, and as others have stated, their policies are very buyer-centric.

What's audiogon gonna do if the sale goes bad, ban the seller? And your out thousands of dollars? Paypal is what saves you then hopefully.

The legitimacy of the seller is ultimately what I am buying into. I talk to the guy and I send his name for a background check. I also vet the guy too.

If something's off, the transaction does not proceed.

What audiogon does is puts together like minded individuals with similar interests and typically similar financial levels. With ebay it's a mish mosh... And I have like 200+ feedback on ebay so I'm pretty saavy.

I usually don't do paypal, if I'm doing a transaction - it means I have no fear of the seller and in that case, I'm doing a bank transfer. Call up my banker and she does the rest. No charges and no fuss.

But you're right, if something goes south, there is no protection. It's something you need to understand prior to jumping in.

But again, the hi end community is small... people know people.

An example - I sold one of my speakers for $18500. This all went behind the scenes and everyone involved was vetted and known. No one had any issue with anyone and we trusted each other. The guy cut me a personal check and sent it my way. I could've just never shipped the speaker but I am trustworthy so I did my best to make sure everything went without a hitch.

The guy didn't even ask for pictures, just trusted me that it was a 9/10 on audiogon scale.

Smoothest sale ever.

The item sold within 2 hours of getting the word out. And the transaction was smooth as silk.

When you're dealing with good individuals just as you are, there should be minimal issues.

tonyb

People buy used cars every day for thousands of dollars with no warranty from people they don't know.

Joey is right though, you have to know who your dealing with on the bigger ticket items. I wouldn't sent 18k to some DB on Ebay, that's for dang sure.

rooftop59

Yes I bought my sequoia with 52k miles on it for 17k on Craigslist. The difference? I took the car to a mechanic who went over it carefully. I didn't do nearly the amount of work Joey did for the speakers with background checks credit checks and what else. I have for kids and a full time job, sorry I do not have that kinda time for a speaker purchase lol...but if you do more power to ya.

Why wouldn't you spend that kind of money on eBay? They are a massive corporation who protects the buyer often to the detriment of the seller. That's my only point.

tonyb

Why ?

Because of the scammers that hang out there. Sure, they have some legitimate sellers, both private and corporate, but the vast majority of every problem I've ever heard about came from Ebay. Maybe that's because of the sheer number of transactions they do, I dunno, not worth the risk to me or the time vested when things go south.

rooftop59

I understand not wanting to deal with ebay, My point is that you have far less protection on audiogon or one of other optiosn like usaudiomart. If, as you say, something goes south on audiogon you have NO recourse unless you used paypal, and then you are essentially relying on the some company as you would on ebay, except there you technically have two layers of protection (ebay and paypal).

I am not a big fan of any major corporation,including ebay. I am just saying that the facts are you have a much better chance of not getting screwed as a buyer on ebay than audiogon and other outlets, that's all.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what either of us think...;-)

tonyb

I would disagree mainly because the clientele on dedicated audio sites are much better than on Ebay. Comes down to the people you deal with, no corporation is going to save you from the low life's of the world.....especially when it comes to money.

Moose68Bash

I've had a few sour transactions on eBay, but because I always use PayPal. I've always received full reimbursement, including shipping, etc.

On Audiogon, I started down the road to purchase a pair of B&W 800s from a guy who sounded OK, but required a bank transfer through a bank in Ireland.

My wife examined the guy's pictures of the speakers on Audiogon, noticed that the tile on the floor in the pictures was just like the tile in another listing on eBay. I contacted the lister on eBay, asked hime about the picture,s and he confirmed that his pictures had been heisted and, shall we say, "repurposed."

When I told the Audiogon lister I wanted my wife's nephew to audition the speakers before we closed the transaction, he said I had to pay up first.

Did I pay up? Of course not.

Several other transactions on Audiogon have been fine.

My point is similar to Joey's, you have to do your homework and be very careful on Audiogon.

You can be a little "faster and looser" if you use PayPal on eBay.

Joey_V

Moose68Bash wrote: »

I've had a few sour transactions on eBay, but because I always use PayPal. I've always received full reimbursement, including shipping, etc.

On Audiogon, I started down the road to purchase a pair of B&W 800s from a guy who sounded OK, but required a bank transfer through a bank in Ireland.

My wife examined the guy's pictures of the speakers on Audiogon, noticed that the tile on the floor in the pictures was just like the tile in another listing on eBay. I contacted the lister on eBay, asked hime about the picture,s and he confirmed that his pictures had been heisted and, shall we say, "repurposed."

When I told the Audiogon lister I wanted my wife's nephew to audition the speakers before we closed the transaction, he said I had to pay up first.

Did I pay up? Of course not.

Several other transactions on Audiogon have been fine.

My point is similar to Joey's, you have to do your homework and be very careful on Audiogon.

You can be a little "faster and looser" if you use PayPal on eBay.

Yeah man.... I would not bank transfer to Ireland, that's a nono.

I remember WLD helped me locate BW800D2 from a guy in Houston.

We could not agree on terms because he would not allow us to meet in a neutral location... I wasnt going to go to someone's house with 20K on me and get held up or beat up and kicked out. Forget that. But yeah, right before that was going to go down, I got 2 friends of mine to commit to the trip and we were going to have conceal carry and the money was going to be with the third guy outside the house waiting in the truck.

But yeah, when my parents found out the plan - my dad went ballistic. He was like what are you trying to do going to someone's random house with that cash, if he held a gun to your head, who cares if you just saved a few grand.

So needless to say, the transaction never happened. There was just too many "what ifs".

Audiogon is nice because it allows people with the same mentality to mingle.

That's the bottom line.

For protection, I agree Roof, paypal is a good way to go about it.

Btw, does ebay actually offer buyer protection or is it paypal that does the majority of that?

rooftop59

eBay and PayPal are now seperate and they both offer protection.

It's just like with a credit card. I have done two charge backs in my life, had a pretty straight forward case both times, filed out the paperwork, got my money back. I don't love corporations, but credit companies like PayPal do offer invaluable buyer protection.

But yes, of course, if making a major purchase, you better do your homework. No company can save you from your own stupidity. I think that's Tony's point, and well taken. But I am talking about when it's not your fault (or u can't buy in person). For those cases I like the extra protection.

Joey_V

Roof you're also right... Maybe I have been too trusting... Maybe I should use paypal in addition to the vetting
That I do

leftwinger57

Like here, The Dozin site and many others have changed their formats or layouts if you will. I still see speakers going for reasonable and not out of this world prices. They are far and away still better then Higher-FI whose price list seems to cater people who live in Dubai or some filthy oil rich country. I still cruise the site but did like the older format and selection. Still way out of my reach, C/L or a generous forumite for that's me....

http://www.higherfi.com/audio_speakers/1

Joey_V

Leftwing,

What the heck is higherfi? Is that like an online store or another audiogon?

I spoke to one of those guys on the phone, he had an english accent IIRC... really just wanted to do business and talk business. no chit chat.

leftwinger57

Joey ,it's a site that caters to those who have tons of mad money, people whose gear would not be "worthy" of Audiogon. The speaker makers of this high end stuff are so expensive it's insane. they do have a U.S. phone number but where they are based and if they actually have stock on hand I don't know. Their banner reads
"Worlds Largest Online Dealer Of Luxury Audio" These are just the speaker pages. Check out their amp prices.

http://www.higherfi.com/audio_speakers/1

gmcman

"leftwinger57 wrote: »

Check out their amp prices.

http://www.higherfi.com/audio_speakers/1

That's just beyond insane.

Joey_V

leftwinger57 wrote: »

Joey ,it's a site that caters to those who have tons of mad money, people whose gear would not be "worthy" of Audiogon. The speaker makers of this high end stuff are so expensive it's insane. they do have a U.S. phone number but where they are based and if they actually have stock on hand I don't know. Their banner reads
"Worlds Largest Online Dealer Of Luxury Audio" These are just the speaker pages. Check out their amp prices.

http://www.higherfi.com/audio_speakers/1

Holy ****.

Let's leave that site alone then. Only big boys play in that sandbox.

I just looked at the prices... I can barely stop laughing. Wow. More power to those who that site caters to...

leftwinger57

It should read --If your insanely rich and couldn't care where your easily made dollars come from we'll take care of you. I think they meant they will take you for a nice ride...lol I'm kinda surprised you dudes never saw this site...