AudiogoN went nuts !

Elberoth

Member Sponsor
Dec 15, 2012
2,007
253
1,170
Poland
They started charging $25 to have your telephone number listed ! TWENTY FIVE bucks !

They should give this option to everyone, free of charge, to increase safety. This is in their best interest to do so to improve the AudiogoN tarnished track reckord.
 

elescher

Member Sponsor
Sep 12, 2010
201
1
0
New York
You are not providing the whole story. They are offering (as an option) an advertising package for $25.00 that is a flat fee (no commissions) which also lets you include your phone number. They are not charging $25.00 just to list your number.
 

still-one

VIP/Donor
Aug 6, 2012
1,633
150
1,220
Milford, Michigan
This is actually a good deal for a high dollar item as there are no transaction fees associated with the listing.

I think i agree with you.

Jim
 

Peter Breuninger

[Industry Expert] Member Sponsor
Jul 20, 2010
1,231
4
0
Wow, flat fee! I've been suggesting that for a while. It's a great deal and is wonderful, IMHO. They are very smart to do this with all the new competitors. I would keep the flat fee program for a year and then ease it back. They are also aggressively pursuing selling direct:

 

Ki Choi

Member Sponsor
May 13, 2010
764
29
1,590
Seattle WA area
On the other hand, Audiogon is paranoid about deals happening outside of their system. If one would ask questions or send message on one of the ads with phone number or email address, it gets automatically flagged as SPAM and the message would get never delivered. Sometimes without even notifying the sender. At least eBay would warn you and let you remove it before resending.

I once was selling a pair of $12K speakers, and had reached a deal with a buyer. He wanted to see more photos so I sent him my email address in reply so that he could let me have his email where I can attach photos. Audiogon cut off all communications after seeing my email address in the reply message without notifying either parties. The buyer backed out of the deal after not hearing from me and got suspicious. Thanks to Audiogon, I lost out. When I complained, they said it was done automatically... it was too late do anything.
 

Elberoth

Member Sponsor
Dec 15, 2012
2,007
253
1,170
Poland
This is actually a good deal for a high dollar item as there are no transaction fees associated with the listing.

That is provided the item sells the first time, which is rarely the case. Clearly, they want more sellers to pay $25 insted of $4. $25 is an equivalent to comission on $2500 item (if you sell it the first time you list it, and $5000 if you list it twice).

Besides, why only some ads should offer another level of protection and not the other - is beyound me.

And there were the times when the ads were $2, and you were able to send PM messages with email addresses, phone number etc to everyone ...
 

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
3,139
14
36
Smyrna, GA
That is provided the item sells the first time, which is rarely the case. Clearly, they want more sellers to pay $25 insted of $4. $25 is an equivalent to comission on $2500 item (if you sell it the first time you list it, and $5000 if you list it twice).

Besides, why only some ads should offer another level of protection and not the other - is beyound me.

And there were the times when the ads were $2, and you were able to send PM messages with email addresses, phone number etc to everyone ...

You clearly want too much money for your stuff. I always sell my gear with the first ad, with the exception of some exotic cables.
 

Elberoth

Member Sponsor
Dec 15, 2012
2,007
253
1,170
Poland
It is debatable. I eventually sell it, most of the time for as much as I wanted.

Another thing is that some expensive, exclusive gear will not sell even if you offer it for -50, -60 or -70% off retail. You just need to find someone who knows about the product and is looking for it.

Do not get me wrong. I do not have much problem with a higher flat fee instead of listing fee + comission. One thing I do not understand is why AudiogoN does not offer the phone number option to everyone. Obviously, they care more about the profit than security.
 

mmatuva

New Member
Oct 26, 2012
30
0
0
I am fine with the option and, absent any other information, think it's a good idea. As I understand it, it is completely the seller's choice, so depending on (obviously) the dollar amount of the item itself and how confident the seller is that it will sell, they can make their own decisions about which approach works better for them on that particular item. I give them credit for giving sellers an option and think the approach is reasonable.
 

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
3,139
14
36
Smyrna, GA
I am fine with the option and, absent any other information, think it's a good idea. As I understand it, it is completely the seller's choice, so depending on (obviously) the dollar amount of the item itself and how confident the seller is that it will sell, they can make their own decisions about which approach works better for them on that particular item. I give them credit for giving sellers an option and think the approach is reasonable.

Selling expensive gear at fixed price is a good option to have. I always post stuff over $1K as featured for $24 total anyway. I personally would not put my phonenumber on the site - open invitiation for abuse, but this is just an option you can elect not to excercise.
 

Bill Hart

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2012
2,683
174
1,150
My biggest gripe about the overall direction that Audiogon has taken- apart from the security/scam issues, the disabling for a long time of the ability to send private messages and the various bugs that afflicted the new software format- is 'mission drift.' They don't understand that their core business- the raison d'etre of the Gon- is as a clearinghouse for used, typcially high-end equipment. Make that difficult, and the core business is in jeopardy. The owners seem to believe that they can remake the site into a 'content rich' one that is about 'lifestyle' with all the filagree- offering a demo recording they produced, creating member system profiles, 101-type articles, etc. All very nice, but largely beside the point. Most of the denizens there don't need to be told the basics and could care less about the 'social media' aspects (like me on Facebook?).
Even the discussion boards there seem to have fallen off in activity because in the effort to 'remake' the site, they lost sight of its real purpose.
 

mep

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
9,481
17
0
Yep. They don't realize they have become a...

horse.gif
 

mmatuva

New Member
Oct 26, 2012
30
0
0
I've followed Audiogon off and on over the years. I purchased an item a few years ago that was a seamless transaction, but am a relative newbie selling there. Not being an apologist for them; but, I have to say that my experience has been pretty positive. In a few cases, I've had questions or minor technical problems and the help staff has responded promptly and helpfullly. Most impressively to me--I had an item that I "sold"; however, the buyer never paid and after multiple messages said his friend would pay me "soon." I immediately contacted Audiogon to explain and they a) refunded my listing fee, b) refunded the selling fee (which was billed and paid immediately when the item was marked as sold, and c) let me relist the item, even offering a discount on the featured services (which I didn't take, but appreciated the offer). So, I know others have had problems in the past, but I have to say that, in this recent instance, their customer service was terrific. Your mileage may vary, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due.
 

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