The "Weary" thread has been locked so.....

Just to illustrate my point, take a look at the thread about buying slabbed first spouse/golden buffalos. Specifically this post:
http://www.cointalk.com/t210511/#post1496271

The OP is asking opinions, and what is he getting? Post replies about certain dealers are good, and then when he's done with his transaction, come back to CT and tell what you thought of where it was eventually bought from.

To me, that's called feedback. My point is that it's helpful, and some people will listen to it, so why not facilitate that by making that information easy to find and cull in one manner or another, since it's going on here regardless.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

One possibility, that I have seen used on the CU forums if for people to list who they have had successful transactions with in their signature lines.

 

Some do, some don't, but the idea is references. Listed in the signature line or not, if concerned, simply take the time to ask.

 

Another thing I find frustrating is that we can't reply to for sale posts. I understand that if it were possible, people would carry on and on about the grade of a coin, the value of a coin, there would be lowball offers, hurt feelings, etc. But it also makes it so we can't post a simple reply: "I received the coins today. Thanks!"

 

I understand the pitfalls with a feedback/rating system, but a thread that's only about positive experiences buying and selling on this site may be good. If I saw a longtime, well-known member post "Just bought 2 ASEs from so and so, arrived quickly, with tracking, smooth transaction!", then I may be more apt to buy from the "so and so" they bought from. It'd have to be only positive experiences, however, because it could easily turn into many pages of trashing a few sellers.
Maybe I'll start one.

 

This is exactly the sentiment I was aiming at.

Same type of restrictions could apply as the selling guidelines - need to be a member with X number of posts, only one per week, or one per thread, etc. This would help weed out behavior where someone might create a quick account to "prop up" a certain seller falsely, and encourage the behavior to just re-enforce someone's feeling that the particular seller is decent if the comments are coming from respected members.

 

I can sell 10 coins in a row and have refererances and feedback, then I could rip off the next 10. theres nothing that can be done about that. always but through paypal and get a invoice with specific terms

 

This may be sound advice, but the fact is that it cannot always be a reality. If one wishes to buy common, easily obtainable coins or metals, your rule should (in most cases) be followable. It's when you get into genuinely tough areas that the problems can arise. In today's world, doing business with someone unknown to you is pretty much a fact of life (at least in most cases). Common sense and simple precautions can go a long way.

This is not going to help everyone. Just because someone is well-known, it does not mean they are trustworthy, and someone unfamiliar with this forum may not know this - post count is, for all sense and purposes, meaningless. There really is no foolproof way to avoid the possible pitfalls of dealing with an unknown, but again... simple precautions can go a long way. There are many things that can be done to ensure a smooth transaction for both parties... just as there are sellers who scam, some buyers do too.

 

I figured it'd be a thread that you'd have to take with a grain of salt, and pick and chose which posts mean anything to you.
Somebody could see a post and think "Hey, I've had a lot of interactions with BooksB4Coins, and he recommends this seller, so I appreciate his input."
Somebody else could see the same post and think "BooksB4Coins? Never heard of him. I don't care what he thinks about that seller, since I don't know him. Guess I'll continue reading and see if there's a 'review' by a CT member I am familiar with."

It would just be a resource that some may find useful, and others may not. It wouldn't be a definite list of good sellers.

 

Well, you need to qualify that Doug. I have used the heatware.com feedback system for years, primarily with a computer forum. The system is very, very solid. Each person leaving a review has a number next to them showing their number of reviews and you can click on their name to see their reviews. This lets the user validate the reviews.

Heatware has been a very trusted system (for many years) and it works well.

http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=1029

The system would work well here too....but I've never had luck getting people to participate on a different coin forum.

 

This might be easily and more appropriately done on Angie's List.

 

IDK - Maybe there could be rules to address such things. Perhaps no grades listed in the For Sale section unless it's from a reputable TPG and the feedback section should only be used to post "Item Received" or "Item Not Received" type of comments.

Of course someone could game the system by selling inexpensive coins to various people to build a reputation and then scam a bunch of people for $500 each, but people already seem to be doing that but without the added hurdle of having to build a reputation first.

What I really don't want to see is the "For Sale" section to go the way of the dodo because I think it is by and large a good resource for most people who have used it. I have used it to sell one item and buy three different lots and all transactions went smoothly. Of course I used my own criteria to determine if the seller was trustworthy, but a feedback section could add a little more information to make a more educated risk assessment before sending money.

 

Thanks For Your Contribution Towards Rectifying A Problem.

John:

Thanks for having the courage to come forward with what I believe are objective thoughts, as was your timely informative objective post in the initial thread. I as one, have greatly appreciated your efforts to inform in the initial thread, and present your seemingly objective thoughts in this thread. I reasonably knew your post would illicit considerable criticism from the uncommitted subjective who know how others should have acted, or act, without personal efforts/involvement.

There are great constructive individuals who interact on this site, many of which I've personally interacted with through PM or Buy/Sell transactions. As is normal, there are also the immature disruptive who intentionally agitate on constructive posts, It's hoped that normally if ignored, as you and many do, they'll disappear or end the thread. I personally believe this site has great patient constructive moderators, who have few choices. In organizations where I'm the presiding officer, agitators who aren't "supporters" would be relocated by a majority vote.

I was glad that someone came forth with objective concerns which I've often had when dealing with individuals on this sites uncontrolled "For Sale" section. I've met some great considerate individuals when answering ads which I feel are questionable, and promptly purchased their offerings. I've also met individuals who were either selling something other than that being delivered, or lie when generating the ad, hoping that an insightful buyer will take the offering at face value. I've also met numerous individuals who couldn't sell on monitored legitimate sites that require account/card proof or buyer securement process in appreciably monetary exchanges (e.g. offering "trust" account). If legitimate sellers are concerned about economics, they can post on a monitored site as eBay or eBid ($0 fees), and link to their sale offerings.

My personal opinion is that I can't think of any site with greater potential for buyer harm without any redress protection.

In my opinion, the buyers who've spoken in the previous post required great strength and efforts to bare their personal grief, subject to the criticism of others for having trust in an organization/individuals. Thank you all!!

I speak from personal experience, where some of the respected entities referenced in forums on this site have stolen my funds to the extent of a strong five figure sum without appropriate redress, with the uncommitted blaming the victim.

I thank you John for patiently participating, as a post such as yours in the previous thread, and this thread. Your efforts have produced what I believe is a constructive suggestion which should be considered in minimizing future possible injustices. I would also recommend incorporating the reporting of objective transactional problems. Thank You TopCat for your observation and recommendation!! Quote:
"I have never bought or sold on CT, but it may be a good idea to come up with a thread in which people can report positive buy/sell/trade transactions with CT members to help better inform people. :smile TC"

Just My Humble Observations! :thumb:

 

I just wanted to throw this in there... I'm not sure if Peter is aware, but this forum software does have modules for these things a lot of you are mentioning. There is a buy/sell/trade module, much different then the current forum category for BST. It also has the ability for feedback and ratings for the forum members who utilize it. Rules can be applied, links to paypal, etc..

How effective is it? Probably more effective than not having one.
But what's the motivation for Peter? I suppose the question is, why would Peter put it in? He wouldn't make any money from it. Although I suppose only paid members could use it, etc. But these are things that take time to implement, so I understand why he wouldn't.

That is all.

 

There are on an average about 5-6 B/S/T posting per day. There will always be a percentage of problem posters as we do not have a control of name, age, experience, credit card references,etc., and we do have a world wide audience. The easiest and probably the most reflecting reference of an unknown person is the number of posts. So why not make the posting entrance point 500 posts and the end user could use the types of posts and personality displayed to make a fair estimate of the buyer/seller's character.

Jim

 

I would not take eBay's feedback system as any kind of indicator as to what feedback is like.

That is because eBay has a VERY flawed feedback system.

A true feedback system allows both sellers AND buyers to leave negative ratings.

Ebay ONCE had this, many moons ago. People could leave buyers negative feedback, and it would make other sellers aware.

Today, this is not the case, as buyers can only be left positive feedback.

There 2nd major flaw with eBay feedback, is that eBay often washes negative feedback off. A notable example, as witnessed by many, is when ToysRUs had a ton of negs left to them, because they sold a bunch of items out of stock. Ebay REMOVED those feedback, as ToysRus rating was falling severely.

I personally think a feedback system would do more good than harm.

I know very few people on this forum personally. And even a fraction of them I would trust. Why? Because I have no idea if they are honest are not. I'm not saying there are not honest, but a feedback system would help.

I think a simple feedback system may actively encourage trading on here.

There is another system for feedback on VB and it is called "iTrader".

As expensive as it's gotten to sell on eBay, I think many people would love to sell there coins here. I personally think a primitive feedback system would encourage trading.

​

Um...actually almost ALL online trading places use feedback such as:

- Amazon
- eBay
- Yardsellr
- Listia
- eBid
- Etsy
- Bonanza
- eCRATER

 

I would say this may be the best answer. I know it would suck for a new guy to actually have to participate here for a while before they could use it, but to me B/S/T should really be for respected members of this community, not just someone breezing in for a few days.

Personally, I would say maybe a time requirement instead of/along with a post count requirement. Its really easy to get 10 posts if someone is trying, but we have members that I really respect their opinions that don't post often. We shouldn't encourage crummy posts just for posts sakes.

I am thinking most bad sellers would not want to sign up to CT 6 months before selling, most don't think that far ahead. So I would say 6 months minimum membership, and 100 posts to post in the B/S/T forums.

Just my opinion.

Chris

 

To the OP, we spoke through PM and I really do feel for all of you that are in this boat right now. I would also hope that you and the others post whether or not you receive your items. Good luck with this.