The sad state of affairs of Audiogon has shaken the audiophile community as we all pause and wonder whether the "new" Audiogon will ever regain the glory days of the old site. There is nothing but confusion, chaos and disgust by members world wide as we sit and ponder the fate of this once noble site hoping it to regain a hint of it's old days. Sadly however such does not seem to be the case. There are never ending stories of lost links, inability to find listings, a search engine that doesn't work, scammers galore infiltrating the site amongst other things. It is also impossible to edit ones' systems even though the systems are shown as the data base was not carried over to the new site.
If I were to hazard a guess the site was changed by new ownership as means of collecting lost revenues as the old system allowed for internal communication amongst members which then allowed them to take negotiations outside of the control and auspices of Audiogon which then results in uncollected monies from the sale of the equipment.
There is an old saying that "if it ain't broken, don't fix it". Only problem now is whether all of the conversion of data or lack thereof resulted in such a quagmire making the new Audiogon unfixable.
There have been repeated cries from members everywhere that someone should take the initiative and build a new site. This is tantamount to a David and Goliath story but can it be done? Myles and others have suggested that it can be done but it would take time to establish credibility. In other words, "if you build it, will they come?"
My question to readers is the following. Given what we know now to be the sad state of affairs of Audiogon and assuming a new site can be constructed from the ground up what would you as the site developer include in your wish list from the perspective of
1. A buyer
2. A seller
3. The site owner
Let's reminisce to the days of an Audiogon that worked and have you list all of those things you feel the new site should have if it is looked at from all three perspectives of buyer, seller and site owner so that it is again a "win-win-win" situation for everyone
For instance as a seller I would want to be able to list 5-6 photos of the gear show MSRP, show asking price, list its condition, show buyer and seller ratings, feel secure in the transfer of monies etc, etc etc. As a seller would I be able to have either a direct listing or an auction etc etc?
As a buyer can I do a search of all listings, can I compare this gear to similar gear? Can I do a Blue Book search to determine the worth of the gear. etc etc
As site owner is it fair to assume a percentage of the sale price or would you eliminate this fee and instead make the listing fees such that this would be sufficient. Should listing fees be determined by the listing price of the equipment? Would you allow internal communication between members? Would you insist that all sales be handled internally between the site owners and the buyer-seller as Audiogon is striving to achieve now.
In other words given a clean slate and using developers to build something new from the ground up tell us how you envision building something "better" than Audiogon as we know it now looking at it from all three perspectives
My feelings echo that of Myles with the further caveat that "if you build it, will they come?"
However I think it would be fun to hear what everyone sees to be the perfect "next" Audiogon
Lastly, if such a site were born would everyone consider it and move their personal systems to this new site and use it for buying and selling?
IOW would you also like a site that has the ability to not only post your systems but also have discussion forums as there used to be
Finally, finally as Brutus said "there is a tide in the affairs of men" and could this be the right time to make a better Audiogon?
What sayest everyone?
If I were to hazard a guess the site was changed by new ownership as means of collecting lost revenues as the old system allowed for internal communication amongst members which then allowed them to take negotiations outside of the control and auspices of Audiogon which then results in uncollected monies from the sale of the equipment.
There is an old saying that "if it ain't broken, don't fix it". Only problem now is whether all of the conversion of data or lack thereof resulted in such a quagmire making the new Audiogon unfixable.
There have been repeated cries from members everywhere that someone should take the initiative and build a new site. This is tantamount to a David and Goliath story but can it be done? Myles and others have suggested that it can be done but it would take time to establish credibility. In other words, "if you build it, will they come?"
My question to readers is the following. Given what we know now to be the sad state of affairs of Audiogon and assuming a new site can be constructed from the ground up what would you as the site developer include in your wish list from the perspective of
1. A buyer
2. A seller
3. The site owner
Let's reminisce to the days of an Audiogon that worked and have you list all of those things you feel the new site should have if it is looked at from all three perspectives of buyer, seller and site owner so that it is again a "win-win-win" situation for everyone
For instance as a seller I would want to be able to list 5-6 photos of the gear show MSRP, show asking price, list its condition, show buyer and seller ratings, feel secure in the transfer of monies etc, etc etc. As a seller would I be able to have either a direct listing or an auction etc etc?
As a buyer can I do a search of all listings, can I compare this gear to similar gear? Can I do a Blue Book search to determine the worth of the gear. etc etc
As site owner is it fair to assume a percentage of the sale price or would you eliminate this fee and instead make the listing fees such that this would be sufficient. Should listing fees be determined by the listing price of the equipment? Would you allow internal communication between members? Would you insist that all sales be handled internally between the site owners and the buyer-seller as Audiogon is striving to achieve now.
In other words given a clean slate and using developers to build something new from the ground up tell us how you envision building something "better" than Audiogon as we know it now looking at it from all three perspectives
My feelings echo that of Myles with the further caveat that "if you build it, will they come?"
However I think it would be fun to hear what everyone sees to be the perfect "next" Audiogon
Lastly, if such a site were born would everyone consider it and move their personal systems to this new site and use it for buying and selling?
IOW would you also like a site that has the ability to not only post your systems but also have discussion forums as there used to be
Finally, finally as Brutus said "there is a tide in the affairs of men" and could this be the right time to make a better Audiogon?
What sayest everyone?
