Add a Warranty section to Audiogon classified ads?

Hi Tvad, I think in theory it would be a great idea. However, as a retailer of used equipment in other arenas, here's some of the more common complaints we get.
1. But I didn't open it for (name the time frame past the warranty)
2. It took longer to ship, so I didn't have it (name the earranty period)
3. My wife/kids/husband didn't tell me it was here
4. But its 92 days, that's not fair.
5. You asked for UPS ground, and that time counts towards the warranty.
6. weekends shouldn't count

Ad infinitum.


In my industry, the better dealers give a 5 or 10 day right of refusal for any reason, and take digital pix of the instrument in the box, ready for shipping. As long as the unit does not come back damaged, and the customer calls and ships within the ROR, then we take the unit back. However, we occaisionally have customers we are virtually positive are just either getting free rental, or trying out for free, so we are careful as to whom we do this with.

It seems the best deal is to put in writng for each transaction between buyer and seller what the exact terms are, and then honor them. The biggest problem I have had in buying on Audiogon personally, has been liberal ratings of equipment by the seller. If it looks like it came from Fred Sanford's back trailer, it;s probably not an 8 :)

I agree this would be beneficial. A simple approach similar to ebay's return policy would be fine. You check off whether there is a warranty or not, state the duration (your pre-selects are good), and fill in a policy statement field. The policy statement addresses what is covered or not covered, and conditions for receiving a refund (eg unit must be returned in . . .), and other such specifics.

Here's a scenario...power supply fails in amp..buy same model used amp with this warranty...swap power supplies...file claim. I would be very leery of selling anything with this in place. Heck I'm scaring the crap out of myself, I may never trade again.

Interesting idea.

I think it opens up a whole box of problems. Used gear is sold without warranty the vast majority of the time. Most of us are not dealers and how can I warranty a product not knowing how it will be used, played, tinkered with. etc... on the other end?

Bill

Chrisla makes some very good points. In my experience in a very different industry it seems that there is no definition (substitute warranty) that a person with an ax to grind can't twist to suit their own purpose. I do think that it would be a good idea for there to be some language in the FAQ or in the terms of use that addresses DOA units. However, when dealing semi-anonymously over the 'net, there will always be disputes. In those cases, a person's feedback/reputation is all that remains. Its very difficult to enforce a contract/agreement, if one of the parties does not want to live up to it, w/o a court order, and we know that most of the issues here do not have enough $ at risk to make that a practical solution.