If its made to hard to sell things via the forum, I think it will bring the forum down to a degree. There are alot of people on here that only really use it to buy and sell things even though they are genuine people and not out to rip people off, its just they simply cba to make posts ect. But being able to buy and sell stuff via forums easily makes the car community(not just civics) alot better.
Id like to think im a trusted member on here and some people know who i am but even i do it on some forums. I couldn't wait till i had the right post count to sell stuff.
No matter what you do there is always going to be scammers. Those people will always try to be scammers and work the system. I say leave it how it is!
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THIS
Scammers will find a way to scam thats what they do.
I think we run the risk of alienating future members and traders from the forum and stifling the future relevance of the forum to anyone.
People being scammed is a real problem I agreed but i dont think raising post count or having a minimum time served is the answer.
I would think the best answer is a combination of the following:
- 250 post minimum - checked by admin for suitability (E.G not "Nice Car Mate" x 250) and also that it was not established in 1 week.
- They must posses a Reputation Thread with a CLEAN bill of health - that means absolutely 0 negative feedback for whatever reason. I think it is important to be harsh but fair as everyone should be responsible for what they are selling and all situations should be resolved way before negative feedback is required if everyone is willing to be fair.
- Zero tolerance policy - anyone found to be selling shoddy, damaged, incorrectly described / fake or unsafe items, which they know to be so, should be banned from future sale of parts. (Not the whole forum mind)
- Anyone with 10+ positive reputation comments should receive some kind of accreditation as a recognised "Trusted Seller" to notify others that they so. (something like the Ebay grading system only simpler) Maybe something that will encourage good trade such as 10+ positives gives a blue badge, 15+ gives bronze, 20+ silver etc etc
This is far more controlled but far less constricted as the changes are applied across the whole forum and apply to the whole sale community.
The answer is to give people the right knowledge to weed out the scammers easily for themselves. To think that we can abolish scammers by strict controls of the selling of goods is naive and counter productive in the long run.
this is why i don't think just post counts is the way to do it.
