Shop for used A/V equipment online, safely
Author:  Shane Mattson

The Internet has made buying and selling used A/V equipment such a convenience, hasn't it?  I have been buying and selling used equipment via the Internet since its inception and have learned (sometimes the hard way) quite a bit over the years.   Unfortunately there will always be someone out there taking advantage of us honest folks, using every trick of the trade to con even the most seasoned Internet trader.  This article focuses on safely purchasing used equipment over the Internet.  Some of my suggestions are based on common sense, however these suggestions are often overlooked when our trusting instinct prevents us from making the right (safe) decision. 

Research price.  Find out what others are charging/paying for the item of interest by searching the Internet.  Some sites offer an equipment blue book service that works very much like the auto blue book most of us are familiar with.  I suggest starting your search on www.ebay.com , www.audiogon.com, www.videogon.com,   www.audioweb.com , www.audioreview.com  and   www.google.com .

Research the seller.  In most cases, feedback is the seller’s only reference, therefore use caution when purchasing equipment from someone with negative feedback.  A seller satisfied with a less than perfect feedback rating may neglect to tell you about a scratch they thought was insignificant.  Granted, there are times when people post negative feedback as part of a malicious attack against someone, therefore all I can suggest is that you use great caution when dealing with a seller who has negative feedback. 

Product Description.  Detail, detail, detail.  There are sellers who choose to list an item the lazy way, without a detailed description and/or pictures.  Do not settle for this.  Ask the seller to provide you with specific detail such as the condition, age, number of owners, environment used- in and unit serial number.  Obtaining the serial number of the component can be used to determine the date of manufacture and most likely it's current software/hardware rev.  A pet peeve of mine is when sellers paste product description and specifications from the manufacturers website into their ad forcing me to sift through the content for relevant information. 

Note:  In the future, I hope to publish a top ten list of criteria to reference when shopping for different types of A/V components.        

Pictures.  Pictures are worth a thousand words.  Do not purchase an item unless you can see a few pictures of it first.  I expect detailed pictures of the actual unit's front, top, sides and rear before I commit to purchasing.  My rule:  No pictures?   No sale.

Communication.  Email has become the standard method of communication amongst Internet buyers and sellers.  It is a wonderful tool and I can’t imagine my life without it, however it still has that element of cold emotionless-ness that helps the con artist do their “thing” more effectively.  I have had great success with email when buying and selling equipment; although something still has to be said about speaking to someone ‘live’ via telephone which adds a more personal element to the transaction. 

Payment.  DO NOT SEND A PERSONAL CHECK OR MONEY ORDER.  Most of today’s electronic payment services, i.e Paypal provide instant cash send/receive with buyer protection.  I believe that most people are good, honest people however why take a chance with your hard earned money?  Do yourself a favor and setup a PayPal account so that you can send and receive funds electronically with buyer protection.   If the seller does not have a Paypal account and demands a check or money order either walk away or ask if they'd be willing to ship COD. 

Gut instinct.  Always listen to your gut.  If something doesn’t feel right during the transaction, you are probably on the path to disappointment.  Almost everyone I’ve dealt with over the Internet has been wonderful, however there was a time in the early days of trading when I was scammed out of $1,000 by Jarrod Short of Sacramento, CA and to this day have never recovered the loss.  Despite the loss, I remain a trusting person who uses great caution when dealing with others over the Internet.  I suggest you do the same.  Be safe in 2007! 

I am open to your feedback.  If you have any additional suggestions for safe Internet trading please email:  shane@soundreproduction.com.

Shane Mattson
Founder, SoundReproduction.com