It's been said before, but I'll say it again...

I try to involve a phone call too. If I'm spending or getting "big" bucks, I want to make sure that the person on the other end is a decent soul...

I agree with all of the above. I think it's true that normally cordial folks do this unconciously sometimes. It's the "instant message" culture. My reaction though is to doubt the person's sincerity and credibility. Normally this first impression is changed through further dialog, but not always.

There's a fine line - I'm sure none of us want to hear about how nice a day it is or to be introduced to the person's family, but a nice greeting and a complete sentence describing the offer like in your examples would be nice.

Not another complaint about the lack of courtesy and decorum evinced by Audiogon respondants. Hey, we are a reflection of society at large, we might as well bitch about the moral decay of the fabric of society, the idiots that talk on cell phones in their cars, or the people that irritate us by wearing green shoes. If you are surprised by this, then you aren't paying attention.

Lousyreeds, I haven't had that kind of experience at all. Terse emails may be the product of messages sent by cell phones.

I'll be honest and state that most of the transactions I have had on Audiogon have been quite good, and everyone is really rather civil. Occasionally I have gotten a lowball bid that is a bit too low, but I just say "No Thanks", and move on.
I typically exchange emails with sellers (of equipment I bought) and/or buyers (of equipment I sold) well after the sale, in order to either make sure what they bought was satisfactory or that I was satisfied with what I bought. And typically, we usually BS about our systems, or our musical tastes.
In fact, the first person I bought something (an ARC PH-3 phono preamp) from on Audiogon, has become a good friend. We get together every couple of months to listen to each others systems, and compare recent musical finds, and to toss down a couple of drinks, and sometimes we just get together for lunch during the week.
So I guess our experiences here on Audiogon have been rather different.

PS I wish you good luck in all of your future transactions here on Audiogon.