How safe is it buying speakers form Ebay?

I have orderd my whole system through Ebay and Audiogon. I saved a load of money and all deals were good. I delt w/ mostly E-retailers like sounddistributors and audiovation. Another highly recomended E-store is 6th Ave.com. They were a pleasure to deal with and they beatCC by 415$ on the 3803! I did buy one pair of lsi7's by auction it turned out to be a real good deal.The #1 thing to look for in a private seller is positive feedback(You can usualy judge a good man by what other good people have to say about him.) The other things to look for in a private seller are feedback and speed and detail of responses to your email questions. Ask the seller a series of questions even if you already know the answers. The other thing to do is check around the forum. Alot of these guys can pick out a bad deal at a glance. I figured i saved over 2500$ off of total of retail. Make sure you shop around too. Go to Ebay and check previously sold items and check the price range before you bid. If i can help let me know. Here is what i got .

• Lsi 9's new - 475$ sounddistributors.com
• lsi7's - 380$ mint condition Ebay
• B&K 5125 amplifier- 608$ brand new with waranty Audiogon.com
• Denon 3803-608$brand new 6th Ave.com
• sony 5disc sacd player- 299$ circuitcity

CJ

Just be careful on the good feedback. See if the person was a seller on most of the feedback. Some scammers buy alot of cheap things to build up alot of positive feedback and then start selling. So check the actual items to see if a buyer or seller and the amount spent if they were mostly buyers.

Also, stock photos vs real photos. E-bay actually tells you to beware of this. Although not everyone has a digital camera, alot of people borrow them to put photos on e-bay. Stock photos are used by scammers to advertise non-existant merchandise. Sometimes they steal a photo from a previously run acution, so you still need to be careful

I agree with the poster who said to always ask questions. If they don't answer your questions, don't bid.

If you win an auction, never send money via western union. You are sending your money into a black hole.

My best way of assuring safety (non guaranteed however). Ask for the persons name, address and HOME phone number and even a work phone number. Then check it on an internet white pages to make sure they exist. If the number is unlisted, then call the person to verify. If it is an expensive item, even call the work number. Only mail to the address they sent you. Sounds like an invasion of privacy?? Tough, you are sending your money to a stranger, they should be willing to alleviate your risk.


I have been using e-bay for 5 years and seen and read about most of the scams. Three weeks ago, I ran questions past a guy who had very specific shipping cost requirements. Then I read his feed back and there were negatives from people who where a nickel short on the shipping cost. He kept their money and never shipped. His reply was that they did not honor the ad which said he would not ship if they sent the wrong amount. I sent him a question about the exact shipping cost and he never replied. After the auction, I sent him an e-mail saying I would have bid more if he had only taken the time to reply. He responded with an e-mail filled with profanity. I reported him to e-bay. Sure enough, a week ago the winner posted that he never got the item because the was 2 cents short on the shipping.

Most people are honest, but the crooks use that to their advantage. Always safer to pass on something suspicious.

Good luck

mgd99