Dealer Ethics? - Anonymous disparagement

Swampwalker - that's exactly what I mean by unannounced dealer. Someone who appears to be a non-commerical person but who is actually a seller of a competing product. I guess the immorality comes about when it reaches a threshold and when a competing product is dishonestly criticized. I don't like that at all. A dealer can be a guy who believes in his product line & comment favorably on it. No problem. It's a gray area to be sure, especially when accounting for personal taste.

I've recommended components that I happen to have for sale without making a notation. It's still my honest opinion. The obvious moral of this thread is Buyer Beware. I trust audio magazines a lot more than chat rooms. They have a vested interest in maintaining a perception of consistent objectivity. Some of the regulars here who have consistent open minded opinions are very valuable to me as well. Thanks guys!

Let's see what cg70754 has to say. Maybe he could make a special offer to Audiogon members for a set of Pipedreams-beaters for under $500?

Audigon- I just attempted to rate John 1's post above and checked off +1, +1 and it showed up as -1, -1. What's up. And John 1, I'm with you all the way to the point where you say you've commented favorably on gear you sell without disclosing that fact. Many hi end pros are valuable contributers to this forum, but if you have a potential financial interest, you should let us all know. Sorry about the mess up with the rating; now I know I don't like it.

swampwalker: the likely reason why your "vote" showed up as -1, -1 is that the tally on the post before your vote was -2, -2. as i understand it, the tally you see on any post after your vote is cumulative, counting the vote you've just made. good hunting. -kelly

swampwalker: i just confirmed my suspicion. i, too, rated john_l's post +1, +1 and the tally came up 0, 0.