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Ads:minimum, lush, full disclosure? your style?

In phrasing for sale ads, a wide variety of styles and forms are used.
Some ads have minimal 'ZEN' like forms, just the bare minimum of facts needed to get the message across, and a sale.
Some sellers have extensive ads, with the wording as if from a company pamphlet,
Some ads give the personal details of the owners experience, the age and former use of the item.
As BOTH a seller, and as a buyer: What kind of ads do YOU like?
I post this because the problem of disclosure: Do we (as fellow hobbyists) need to tell the full tale of the product? Or, are we like any marketplace, where the motto has always been: "let the buyer be wary" (not 'beware" as sometimes written) Meaning anything not straight up illegal is OK?
i would wish for, and hope fellow AudiogoNers, both buyers and sellers can become more informed and make better decisions in posting and reading "For sale" ads.
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My take on some issues: Zen like posts: please, at least tell WHAT it is in the header! Ads selling: Ozoul GZX 4503 do not inform, they just annoy. Some folks don't even tell what it is in the body of the ad. (though, on the other hand, if you ONLY want to sell to someone already looking for this item, it IS the way to go.
Long 'pamphlet' ad are nice, they tell you the seller is trying, and give a lot of info. But may tell nothing of the personal history of the product.
The ads wherein the seller is omitting key facts known to the seller, because, after all, it is a: "Buyer be Wary" world. i wish this folks woulf come around to realize this is a hobby and should not just be a business. (though for some sellers it may be exactly that a business.. i wish buyers could note the difference!
And then the purpose of my post: to ask sellers for full disclosure: a new friendly standard to sell in a hobbyist friendly place: Teling if you are the second or third owner, the AGE of the product, what you actually paid, any difficulties you had with it, (even that you found it in a dumpster!) any triumphs. kind of as if you were selling it to a close friend. Which, we all could be.
So, what do you want in an ad as a buyer, or do as a seller?
elizabeth
elizabeth OP
6,726 posts
 
The post from Kurt Tank specifically refers to a discussion thread going on over at Audio Asylum in the Vinyl section over that very ad and seller. His pointd reference to my opinion places me in the position that i did in fact tell the seller he should return the buyers money, an idea the seller is against, for his own reasons. Further interested parties need to head on over there for more details. Suffice to say i gave my opinion, the seller did not like it.
Chayro chimes in referring to the same thread in a rather more humorus vein.
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What should you do if you have a disatisfied buyer Gopher2K:16:56:52 03/28/20 (93)
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93 is the number of responses at the time I posted this here.
I hope this issue does not hijack this thread, even though it was a basis for the question. Thanks
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Here is the link to the thread that Elizabeth is talking about. Disputes can get ugly very quickly, hopefully both parties have common sense, unfortunately this is not always the case.

Cheers,
John
tvad
9,467 posts
 
This is what call a Jack Webb listing..."the facts, ma'am, just the facts".

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1275101483&/Empirical-Audio-off-ramp-turbo
theo's avatar
theo
2,331 posts
 
I agree with Tvad. Keep it simple, honest and direct. I don't need the specs, those are available from the mfg. website. If it is not made you can request from the seller.
I don't need to hear the kid free-dog free-smoke free-ozone free room stuff. When someone oversells it causes me to wonder what is he not telling me. Give them facts age, number of owners and any marks or problems.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
03-30-10: Theo
I agree with Tvad. Keep it simple, honest and direct.
Actually, I linked the particular listing not because it's an example of what I consider good advertising, but rather because it is so ridiculously barren.
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