Friends,
I used to buy on Audiogon forever-ago, stopped 10-12 years ago for reasons already mentioned. The last straw was when Agon dropped my very positive ratings as a buyer when they updated the site a few years back.
What I want to offer is: IMHO there is no substitute for making the effort to build good relationships with a few authorized dealers who carry the kinds of gear you are interested in. I tell them what I want, set my parameters clearly and practically and tell them I can wait awhile. They have always come through for me. Some of them I met on Agon and have never met in person.
I have not bought new in many years and I have gotten great (sometimes unexpectedly great!) values on high end gear either demos or trade-ins of current products or even new in factory sealed box. Sometimes they come up with it, sometimes they get a get a great deal from their supplier or another dealer who is a friend of theirs supplies it.
They follow up very conscientiously with their sales to me because they know that sooner or later I will be back for more goodies. I now also sell off my old gear through dealers. They handle all the details and send me my $. For me the transactions have to be win-win and it is well worth the few % if costs me so i do not have to be involved in any of the details of selling.
For someone who has spent their life looking for deals (and honed their haggling skills), now that I am older (quite a bit), I'd rather spend my time listening to my system, tweaking what I have, planning what I want to upgrade next when the $ shows up, and window shopping Agon and occasionally researching its forums. And I'd rather invest my time, energy and attention into rewarding and satisfying areas other than the connection between my ears, brain & heart.
Please respect and support dealers. Some have gotten big and very successful at the business side of things, many of then just make a living at something they love. The same thing that has us all on Agon.
Leon
I used to buy on Audiogon forever-ago, stopped 10-12 years ago for reasons already mentioned. The last straw was when Agon dropped my very positive ratings as a buyer when they updated the site a few years back.
What I want to offer is: IMHO there is no substitute for making the effort to build good relationships with a few authorized dealers who carry the kinds of gear you are interested in. I tell them what I want, set my parameters clearly and practically and tell them I can wait awhile. They have always come through for me. Some of them I met on Agon and have never met in person.
I have not bought new in many years and I have gotten great (sometimes unexpectedly great!) values on high end gear either demos or trade-ins of current products or even new in factory sealed box. Sometimes they come up with it, sometimes they get a get a great deal from their supplier or another dealer who is a friend of theirs supplies it.
They follow up very conscientiously with their sales to me because they know that sooner or later I will be back for more goodies. I now also sell off my old gear through dealers. They handle all the details and send me my $. For me the transactions have to be win-win and it is well worth the few % if costs me so i do not have to be involved in any of the details of selling.
For someone who has spent their life looking for deals (and honed their haggling skills), now that I am older (quite a bit), I'd rather spend my time listening to my system, tweaking what I have, planning what I want to upgrade next when the $ shows up, and window shopping Agon and occasionally researching its forums. And I'd rather invest my time, energy and attention into rewarding and satisfying areas other than the connection between my ears, brain & heart.
Please respect and support dealers. Some have gotten big and very successful at the business side of things, many of then just make a living at something they love. The same thing that has us all on Agon.
Leon