My highest praise - for Audiogon

I too have been an Agon member for about 3 years now and I tip my hat to the staff and members. I have met some wonderful people and picked up some pieces of equipment that if not for this site I would not be able to afford. As the auctions go, I do get disappointed that I have not got some pieces that I really would have liked to have. I try and look at it from the respect that it just wasn’t meant to be, and it always seems that something better always comes along. Patience really is a virtue.

I am also an avid member of ebay, but when it comes to my audio equipment it is not even a consideration anymore. I have seen too many scams and people paying way more for the same equipment that you can buy it for right here on Agon. Too many people get caught up in the auctions with the “I’m going to win this no matter what” attitude. That’s when it’s time to walk away. When it comes to auctions, my rule of thumb is to always place the maximum bid that I am comfortable with and is a FAIR price for the piece. When it goes beyond that you can’t get upset about it because, TO YOU, it is beyond a fair price, and you have to look at it from the respect of someone just paid too much money for that item. I hope this helps in some way to soothe your conscience and ease your mind.

I also have the highest praise for Agon. It is truly the ONLY high end marketplace for me.

Good thread Joe, and I agree-- Audiogon is the best. I don't participate in the auctions much, but have certainly gotten a lot of use out of the Classifieds, both buying and selling. Cheers. Craig

Very nicely said and i agree. Sean
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Agree with all praise of A-Gon, but must agree with Artemus, Driver, and Ryan about the invalidity, in my view, of the auction complaint. I don't understand just where the supposed foul is that Trelja and JC are so upset about, and I *really* don't understand the animosity generated toward people who, in their estimation, were apparently willing to "overpay" for an item. This is what a free market allows for. It may indeed suck that somebody was willing to pay more than you for an item you really wanted, but what of it? Let it go. It's happened to me many a time, and the best thing for it is to just pretend it's as if you never bid the item in the first place. What else can you do? I routinely go onto ebay and bid the minimum bid for records that I'm interested in, but don't absolutely have to have. Most of these I will lose, but every so often one slips by under the wire and I get a record for a better than reasonable price. Does this make me a crook because I paid less than the "book" - the mythical "fair market value"? No - because I *was* the "market"! Then there are the times when I really do want a record, but decide not to bid my highest bid first, because I don't want the proxy to quickly inflate the market to the level of my maximum, in the case of there being significant other interest. Doing this, however, tends to mean that one must be prepared to watch the auction like a hawk, and to bid again right up to and including the very end. This, of course, is a risky proposition; I might be able to win with a bid lower than if I had max'ed 'er right out of the gate, but the chances are also greater to lose if I generate a last-minute bidding war, or am too busy to finish what I started. There's a lot to said for discouraging your opposition earlier than this by letting them run up against a relentless proxy. In any case, this is the nature of an auction - they can be nerve-racking, anxiety-causing, and deeply disappointing - in other words, as JC learned about himself, they are not for everyone. But this doesn't mean that they are by nature unfair (absent any fraud, of course). The best way for anyone to approach an auction is to know your limit before you start bidding, to stick to it, and to consider the process itself as a form of entertainment, a lot like betting on the ballgame or buying a lottery ticket: You may win, you may lose, but you took your joyride just by participating.

I guess the only thing I can say to those who do not see the dastardly ways of sniping is to correlate it to a sucker punch.

Yes, the guy who gets the last deadly shot in wins. Yes, if you really wanted to beat the guy you would have thrown the punch before the other guy was ready in a perverse shoe on the other foot thing. Yes, I already prefaced my comments by the "All's fair in love and war" mantra that is the ultimate license to screw anything or anyone in the universe.

The sports analogy is like comparing apple sauce to orange juice. I am a lunatic sports fan, and have never witnessed any game along the lines of this. Oh wait a minute, I forgot about Rosey Ruiz...

Fairness, equity, and looking someone in the eye are a better means of conducting oneself. At least, in my opinion. This isn't a perfect world, but I will support the Audiogon method over the alternative.

I apologize for this slipping into a disagreement. My real point is to thank Audiogon for doing things in a manner I see as a better way. I am glad it is different here than ebay, where all is fair in love and auctions, people are being taken in increasing numbers, and a the sounds of a growing backlash are becoming more and more audible.

Thanks again Audiogon, my good friends, and everyone here who makes it great!