Eighteen disputes are listed out of literally thousands of transactions. My personal experience is that putting an ad in my local Portland Oregon newspaper and dealing with the general public who have minimal knowledge of high end gear has led to a lot more problems and lot more strange people with time to burn than this site has. They call, you wait, they don't show, they call again, they offer you 10 cents on the dollar then can't believe that your Siltech speaker cables aren't included. This is truly demoralizing stuff. You don't get a feedback rating on the person who shows up at your door so if you think that there are less hassles in this type of transaction you are sorely wrong. Just call your local police department. That said, I find that two types of items are particularly hard to ship without damage, particularly for the inexperienced packer, and those are speakers, particularly large, heavy ones and turntables. In both of these product groups original packaging and double boxing can make a world of difference but is certainly no guarantee of arrival without damage. So, in the end, I too would think twice, just not for the reason that you have outlined. But, in the end, Audiogon lives up to it's name. Audio gone.
