[Don_S]

I expect many of you have already received this email from Audiogon or will receive it shortly.  I am having trouble figuring out just how it works. It seems like PayPal will be the only accepted method of payment.  Am I interpreting this correctly?  I like the part about the ability to communicate directly using "real" email.  I do NOT like the PayPal part. Audiogon will continue to be my last resort for selling equipment.

"On August 21st, 2013 we will be releasing an update to Audiogon.com and the way Sellers and Buyers communicate.  This will enhance the purchasing process for all Listings to improve the overall experience for everyone.

1. Buyers and Sellers will now be able to reply via email.  Communication between Members will be easier.  You will no longer be required to login to your Audiogon account to respond to messages.  You may simply hit reply via your personal email to all Audiogon messages and they will reach the intended recipient.

2. Upon accepting an offer, Buyers' contact information will now be provided to the Seller. This new process means that as soon as a Seller accepts an offer we will reveal the Buyer's contact information, which we hope will facilitate easy and instant communication.
 
The new purchasing process will look like this:
Seller accepts an Offer
System NOW reveals Buyer's contact information and provides it to the Seller
System records the transaction and completes the sale
Buyer submits PAYMENT via paypal
System deposits balance (total - transaction fee) directly into the Seller's PayPal account
By streamlining this process, transaction fees will be deducted when a Buyer submits payment (when applicable) and thus ensure that the entire transaction can be completed, closed, and archived at the time of checkout. There will no longer be the need to go back and manually close orders."
 

[Phil A]

Yes, I got it.  I have been a Pay Pal member off and on (and went back a few years back since many sites use it as a payment option).  It turned me off about 10 years back when they were bought by SleEz-Bay but I've gotten over it.  I've only bought a few things on E-Bay over that time period (RCA caps, a vintage Sansui tuner and a pair of B&W Leisure Monitors for height channels in a secondary system).  I still don't have much love for E-Bay (long story) but also have gotten over it and the same with Audiogon.  I don't really care for many of the Audiogon changes over the past several years and just use it less.  If there is something I really want, then I'll just get it and live with their rules.  Unless one starts their own site, it's pretty much the same everywhere as everyone has their rules and one can choose to participate, participate less or not participate at all.

[genjamon]

Looks to me like Audiogon is tired of people not paying their bills and they've figured out a way of working with Paypal to auto-deduct the fees from the payment, so they're going to make everyone go through Paypal.  And they're trying to blunt the negative impacts by giving everyone a less onerous communications system.

But, I bet it'll backfire big time on them.  Large numbers of people will probably just use the free communications to complete their transactions outside the Audiogon system (even if by Paypal) and avoid those Audiogon fees.  Unless there some way they are still mediating communications that requires people to complete the transaction through Audiogon...not sure how they could technically do this, but they might have figured out a way.

[nickd]

It's all about the fees and fraud I suppose. I imagine they still get a few fraudulent ad's and want a more stable user verification and fee collection method. I suspect revenue has dropped significantly over the past few years. This will not help IMOP.