Odd situation on Audiogon. Advice please. (1 Viewer)

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum to post this so please move if necessary.
I found the exact speakers I am looking for on Audiogon for what seems like a reasonable price. A pair of Paradigm ADP-590's that the seller, Kirbygaboury has listed for $795. Having never purchased on Audiogon, I checked the old threads here and everyone I could find that talked about Audiogon said they had a great experience but that you should always try to open dialogue with the seller first to make sure they are legit.
I've now sent him 4 messages over the last 3 days telling him I wanted to buy the speakers if I could talk to him first and confirm approximately how much shipping would be. (shipping to be paid by buyer) I haven't heard a peep from the guy. I checked and he has six feedback's, all 100% stretching back over the last year. One guy even said he is really quick to reply to messages.
Admittedly my first message to him was a little long winded explaining I was new to Audiogon and wanted to talk to him first so I could feel a little less apprehensive about buying on a site I've never used before. Maybe he just doesn't want to do business with someone so new? Maybe because I'm new he thinks selling to me would be more of a pain in the a** than it's worth?
My question is, based on his good feedback and the good reputation of Audiogon, should I just click the "buy it now" tab to initiate the sale or should I pass based on the fact that he isn't communicating? His listed form of payment is paypal so it would seem I have some protection there. The pricing seems appropriate. Not one of those "too good to be true" deals, but good enough that it would save me several hundred buying a new pair.
Any advice greatly appreciated!!
Thank you,
Cliff

Maybe he is on vacation this week?
Maybe your email hit his spambox?

I thought about the vacation thing also. Seems odd though that someone would post something for sale right before going on vacation. Think I should I just go ahead and buy them and see what happens? He does have good feedback and Audiogon seems to be pretty legit. Although a red flag for me now that I think about it was that he just pulled stock photos of the speakers of the web. I suppose I should wait and see actual pics first maybe or should I not be worried about that? Ugh, such a pain. I really want the speakers and these exact ones are not exactly falling off of trees in my back yard.

I have limited experience but Ive sold on audiogon and bought on videogon, I cruise their listings all the time. What Ive noticed, and find most annoying, is that often folks do not cancel their ad when their item sells! Hell I think the ad for the RS1X projector I purchased several months ago can still be found on videogon. Still, I would continue to contact him as you should get SOME kind of response either way...
BTW I personally wouldnt purchase without contact. I always insist on phone contact myself, prior to purchase (but thats just me I suppose).

Sometimes I've seen people on Audiogon not want to deal with someone with no history there. There are scams everywhere from both buyers and sellers, not just on Audiogon.

He has a "Make Offer" option so offer him $750 + shipping. He has 48 hours to accept, decline or counter-offer. As for shipping, click on the link to his city and state (Centerville OH, 45459) add the estimated weight in the appropriate box (he should have done this) and you will see a shipping estimate ($51.65 to S.F. @ 30 lbs). FedEx has pretty accurate shipping estimates on it's site. They even allow you to input the box dimensions if you have them. I buy/sell on Audiogon quite a bit and wouldn't hesitate to attempt buying from him. As others have said, maybe "life" just derailed him for a bit.
You could also hit the Buy it Now and wait for him to submit the shipping costs. You're under no obligation to buy until you receive a shipping estimate.

Thank you Gene,
I was hoping to hear from someone that had a lot of experience with audiogon. That was exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I'll go ahead and give it a try. Thank you Sam and Ty also for the advice and help.
Update: I offered him $745 plus shipping via UPS ground up to $50. (UPS is shipping method he has listed). The only other thing I'm not 100% sure about is that when I buy something on Ebay and pay with paypal, the site makes the payment for me. How do I make a payment to someone on Audiogon via Paypal, should he accept my offer?

He'll send you his VERIFIED email address with a "please send me money".
When you see the email, don't click the link.
Log into Paypal and you should have the payment request there.
I've done the same thing buying cars in other states. I ask if they take Paypal. If they do I'll send them money under "Send Payment".
You can also "Request Money/Payment" on Paypal as well. You can send a request to ANY email you wish. They can pay you without becoming "registered" with Paypal...if you initiated it.

Awesome. Thank you for the heads up Sam. You guys have a pretty good handle on things around here. Anyone got any stock tips?
I orginally came here for advice on upgrading a center channel for about $250. Now I've purchased a Paradigm cc-590 center that was traded into my local dealer, a pair of Paradigm studio 20's new, have a bid in on Audiogon for another some $800 in surrounds. I haven't even decided on which sub I'm going to get yet and I have no idea what I am going to do with my JM Labs/Focal Sibs 5.1 system. Talk about going down the rabbit hole. Tis fun though.
All the best
Cliff

Update:
Good news, he finally got back to me, said he was out of town. He turned down my initial offer saying he had other offers and would only take what he was asking ($795) and said whoever gets there first gets them so for $50 bucks more and finally some communication from him, I purchased and he will be shipping this week. I don't really care that I paid full price, it is still literally almost half of what my local place quoted me with a 15% discount figured in.
I have another completely unrelated speaker question so I'll just start a new thread for that.
Thanks again for the advice and help everyone!
All the best,
Cliff