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

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Booya, I have Angie on speed dial!

 

I have more trust in the individual opinions from several unrelated people than I do a single person trying to sell me something. Either way, you're trusting a person or people you've likely never met in person. In that circumstance, which would you rather have? No information about their past dealings, or information that might be 80% accurate?

If their feedback says:

+ Good guy, great coins! (Blaubart)
+ Thanks! (Detecto)
+ Awesome deal! (rickmp)
- Waaaaaah - Advertised it as a MS64 but I think it's a MS63. (Some noob)
- I offered him a full refund but he refused it. (Seller)
+ Will buy from again. (BUncirculated)
+ A+ Seller. (GDJMSP)

Would that allow you to make a better decision on buying from him versus this:

[nothing]




I don't know about you, but I'd trust what most of you have to say about a seller that you've dealt with here on CT.

I'd also support a rule that says only people who have been registered on CT for at least one year and have at least 500 posts can post in the for sale section. Most scammers won't be willing to invest the time or effort needed to sell here. I also wouldn't be eligible to sell for quite some time, but I'd get over it.

Users with 10+ posts can post in the FeeBay section, but advise buyers to complete the transaction through FeeBay so they'll be eligible for the protections offered by FeeBay.

 

I am not sure of that person's character yet, but yes I think it would have made a difference. If you look at his forum posts, more than half were oriented on buying /selling. No posts I could find asked about any dealings with him, people just saw a "deal" valued under normal prices and jumped it before someone else did. Impatience or what ever sucked them into the ad. Hopefully it will end up OK, but I would be careful with a deal where most of the users posts were buying/selling. IMO.

 

By allowing any member to post something for sale, yet not allowing an easy system for that sale/seller to be rated/judged, you are facilitating the "burning" by not showing possibly relevant, pertinent information that very well may contribute to the decision whether to deal with the person or not.

You are essentially allowing someone to put a potted Sumac tree out in your yard, with a sign that says "touch me", and then putting your fingers in your ears, closing your eyes and going "NANANANANANA" to tune the world out. Passersby may touch it, or may be afraid since they know "some sumac is dangerous", but don't know which variety, and don't know how to tell the difference between the two. If you were to put a piece of paper and a pencil on a table next to it, people could say "I touched it and I don't itch", and "poison ones have fur and berries", and then the person standing there could say to themselves "ok, they didn't get itchy, and this has no berries, this may be the non-poisonous one, I can touch it". Or, they could say "you know, even though he was fine and it looks proper, I still might not go for it", and walk on by.

But, at least there's something next to it helping them make a _more informed decision_ based upon all the information they had available at the time.

Whether you trust someone to write a proper, correct review is irrelevant. If you are only allowing one side of the story to be presented, you are putting everyone at a disadvantage.

There is no arguing that the decision to buy is ultimately that of the buyer, and they must deal with whatever consequences that come of that decision. But let the buyer have as much information as possible to make that decision for themselves.

 

This is why you would just have to put a little thought into what you're reading. Obviously people won't just trust every single review. They'll see reviews by forum members they know and just trust those ones. People will throw out the reviews by strangers.

This is one of the strangest analogies I've ever read. But it's a goodie.

 

They have 891 negs in the past 12 months. Which ones were removed?

They're also a top rated seller, with 99% rating. Reading some of the negs, many on the first few pages are unwarranted IMO.

 

Well of course it is ultimately up to Peter, but if I felt the above was true, I would just close down the BST forums as was done the chat area. They were intended to allow members to participate on their own volition, but there was nothing in it to take such "responsibility". If individual members wanted to report the outcome of transactions ( after a reasonable time for responses )in a thread, this is allowed as long as it is kept real and factual, but the forum shouldn't be expected to monitor it and give reports.

 

This was over a year ago. It was when they 1st started selling.

They sold (iirc) over 1,000 items, and when they went to ship them, they found out they did not have any of the items. It it against policy to sell stuff you don't have. Many negs were left, and one day, they all were removed. I think at one point, ToysRus rating was down to like 94%.

 

True , but if you been here long enough , you get a feel for the people by their posts . Point , you pick moderators , right Doug , I'm sure you pick the ones you most think you can trust . I've never met Desert Gem but if he had something for sale I'd buy it , same with you . Posts and their contents and the way they react to different situations say a lot about a person .

 

I'd buy from you Rusty, as long as it wasn't "toned"

 

I have bought and sold here on CT without incident.

 

Ditto Buddy . Toned or not . I've bought a bunch of coins from people here without incident .

 

Actually i have received bonus coins from time to time.....:thumb:

 

How do know doug hasnt spent 10 years and 33,000 post, just to build creditability so he can swindle you?

 

The old classified section here on CT had a feedback system. I don't really seem to remember anyone using it. I know I had several good transactions and only one person actually left a rating. I have also done several transactions here on the for sale forum, and I can't think of one that actually PM'd me to say hey got my coin/book. So although I can see why some might think it's a good idea, I doubt it would even matter.

I also remember a member here from when I first joined, had a high post count, seemed to be a regular contributor of the forum, then one day started selling Morgan dollars in bulk. Next thing you know we had a thread very similar to this one.

I see posts in the BST on another forum and here on the for sale where people only accept MO, Check, or PP gift. 99.99% of the time I pass no matter how good of a deal. I hope that this all gets resolved and everyone gets their money/items, but IMO if everyone keeps pushing Peter to update his site so you can feel safer buying/selling he will. He'll just eliminate the for sale section.

 

Yeah , Dougs sneaky like that , 10 years and then he could buy an island and live like a king on the couple hundred dollars he'd make from me .

 

I'm inclined to agree. At the rate things are going, that section is becoming more of a liability to the forum reputation based on what I've been reading of late. How many times have I seen a new member ask the question, "I can't sell on the open forum, what gives"? If you're here to 'sell' you don't belong here. This forum is a place for collectors to exchange information, share collecting experiences, and discuss, share and impart knowledge in regard to numismatics. If you're here to sell, you don't belong here.

Just an humble collectors observation and opinion.

 

To the O.P. I'm sorry the other thread got shut down due to people getting off track. This is a great forum with some great people though. I hope the situation gets resolved. And I am anxiously waiting to hear of any news.
As for the feedback idea, I agree with most of Doug's points. Heck, I could create a second username and start leaving myself feedback, or have a friend do it for me. I think the only thing it would be good for is reporting a scammer. And that seems to be going on already. Personally, I'm going to remember this and learn a lesson from other people's mishaps. I am only going to deal with people I'm comfortable with, especially when it comes to large purchases and/or purchases where I have no protection as a buyer. I am frequently on the lookout for good deals on bullion coins or junk silver. But if the deal seems too good to be true, and I have no idea who the seller is, I'll have to pass. It might bother me a little bit to think I may have passed up a sweet deal But better safe than sorry.

 

I've been selling off duplicates and miscellany for about a month now, and CT is the first viable alternative I've found to eBay.

I'm willing to be a cash-paying "supporter" forever to keep the privilege of selling coins. And as rzage pointed out, you get a feel for members' character by the way they post. CT strikes me as much safer and much more desirable than eBay, who goes out of its way to harass sellers. So far I've sold about 1/3 of what I've posted, and that's good enough for me.

I've also contributed wherever I can, but there's plenty more to learn, I've only been at this for 60 years.

Here's a reference I'll toss in, provided no one objects to the s- word: American Philatelic Society Life Member #12078, zero complaints, zero flags. These are my lifetime hobbies, and I love them both. I am grateful for the opportunity to participate.