Leary about purchase on audiogon.

hearingimpared

I'm thinking of purchasing a pair of Adcom 565 mono blocks to drive my 1.2 TLs.

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstran&1160313327

I've been going back and forth with the seller he claims he doesn't have a camera so no pics of the amps or proof of the Musical Concepts upgrades nor the upgraded power cables. At first he wanted a postal money order but I refused. He has on his ad that he takes paypal but emailed me that I had to pay 3.5% even though it wasn't listed as an extra cost. I'm kinda leary about this because when I check his history, he hasn't had any activity since 10/05. I asked for more info on himself as well a maybe an eBay history. He also isn't the original owner and doesn't know how old the amps are.

Any advise is appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

univera

I agree with F1 in the previous thread that 3.5% seems a bit high. Perfect feedback. A pair of non-modded blocks sold for the same price recently on Ebay, but that means nothing. If you are going to give him full price for the pair, see if he will knock his fee down a to 3%. I am a fan of getting someone's phone number on big dollar purchases. Something about putting a voice to the face you can't see.....It's one more piece in the decision making process. That way if something is amiss I can contact them or hunt them down. I feel shady people are hesitant to give out their numbers.

F1nut

Ask to speak with him on the phone. I don't buy or sell without a phone call. Email thru Audiogon, a few of his past buyers, ask them about their dealings with him. If you pay with a CC thru PP you'll have plently of buyers protection.

hearingimpared

His last transaction on audiogon was 10/05, I wonder if anyone would remember!!! I'm going to try the phone number idea and see if he goes for it.

Thanks,
Joe

hearingimpared

BTW anyone ever try the CAT5 DIY speaker cables talked about in another thread???? That kind of thing is right up my alley. . . I used to punch down thousands of 200, 500, & 1000 pair cables and punch blocks over my field engineering career.

Joe

dorokusai

It simply IS high. The rate for incoming transactions via PayPal(Premium Member) is 2.9%.

schwarcw

Pass or ask for a lower price. If he balks, walk. Plenty more fish in the sea. Seller won't respect you if you make a reaosnable offer then walk.

faster100

yup, 2.9% +.35 cents 3.5 is real high .... when its that kinda cash, just pass if your not comfortable

joeparaski

I have now been burned TWICE buying amplifiers on e-bay. Don't know if Audiogon has the same problem, but I'd ask him if you can pick up the amp. If he balks at that, get suspicious. He also says he includes shipping in the price....hmmmm...suspicious to me.

hearingimpared

I almost got burned on eBay on a Mark Levinson 333 monos scam in July. Won the bid for a cheep $3300 then the guy played out this long elaborate scam from Nottingham England . . . import/export company, scanned invoice, third party guy that would wait till I had the amps seven days then pay the seller, because he moved recently from Worchester Mass he would pay the freight costs, (the amp weighs 150 lbs) etc, etc. etc ==> Nottingham England, I wonder if that was Robin Hood's great great great great great etc grandson!!!

dorokusai

Buyer Beware...ALWAYS.

F1nut

I prefer to buy speaker cables that are made by speaker cable companies, made out of material for speaker cables. Not telecommincation wire made for the telecommincation industry. But, that's just me.

In general, Audiogon is a better and safer place to do business.

Mazeroth

The trick I always use is to get their address or zip (address is better) and plug that in to Yahoo maps or some other map program. Then, find a town or street near him (street works best if you have his exact address) and say you have a friend/relative that lives very close to him (give street where friend/relative lives) and ask if they can come pick it up and ship it to you. If they don't allow that you know they're full of ****. If they say OK to it, make up a line like you found out your friend/relative is out of town for 2 weeks and you'll just have him ship it.

wallstreet

My motto is, any hiccups, I'm out. It always works. On this deal, I'm out.

madmax

Me personally, if I thought the total price was reasonable, I would have pulled the trigger on his feedback alone. Everyone does stuff their own way though and of course there is always the chance you wont be happy.
Good luck!
madmax

unc2701

Usually I roll with the local pickup question, ask for a phone # and a home address. Most urban counties have tax lookup data, so you can see if the name matches the address... plus you can try a reverse look up on the phone #.

I bought my krell integrated off a guy with zero feedback, but the phone number matched the name and the home address, plus his house was worth $450,000 so I figured it was legit and everything worked out great.

criverajr

His feedback seems very good and has come from some established Audiogoners, feedback on Audiogon is agreed to by both seller and buyer through Audiogon so, just go with your gut, if it doesn;t feel right then pass.

CRj

hearingimpared

I've tried all of the feedback tips in this thread and the guy really checks out A++++. I pulled the trigger on the deal this morning.

Thanks once again to all you folks.
Joe

polkatese

you'll be fine. I had several transactions on Agon, they tend to be more passionate with their gears, so, you'll get yours.