Suggestion - Buy / Sell ~ Consider imposing > 100 posts before you can sell

[g__day (Matthew)]

Guys,

Just a suggestion, based upon the numerous for sales we've seen over the past few months, from new members, with outrageously good offers for sale.

Many web sites that have a buy and sell section don't allow members with under a 100 posts (or an peer ranking above XXX) to post for sale items.

I guess if a deal looks to good to be true - it often is, but maybe the moderaters / community here could evaluate this to make it a tad harder for scammers to target this community.

Cheers,

Matthew

[leon]

Agree entirly Matthew, it used to be that you had to have a least a few posts under you belt before you could post a For Sale Item.

Some of these people sell their stuff and you never hear from them again, just go through the members list and see all the zero posts.

Leon

[Octane (Humayun)]

Yeah, I think the initial threshold was 5 posts before being able to sell.

H

[cristian abarca]

I agree. I was thinking about this all day specially after looking at that add last night. 100 posts may be too much as it's taken me about 5 yrs to get to my measly 274 posts. I think that a minimum must be set at least 20. It's hard enough to earn money to have it taken by a scammer.

Cristian

[torana68 (Roger)]

I also agree, its hard to keep scammers out without anything to stop them , 5 would be a bare minimum hopefully anyone with good reason to post a for sale without that could contact the mods and explain their situation (deceased estate of a member for example)

[astroron (Ron)]

I haven't heard of anyone not getting their purchase
Has anyone been scammed

[iceman (Mike)]

For a couple of years, you had to be a member for 1 month and have at least 5 posts before you could post new threads in IceTrade.
Those restrictions were put in place to stop potential scammers.

About 2 years ago (or so), the restrictions were taken away because it was more of a hassle to genuine sellers. Especially for community members who genuinely don't post much if anything.

Originally Posted by astroron

I haven't heard of anyone not getting their purchase
Has anyone been scammed

Agree with Ron. There's been literally a handful of questionable for sale threads - I could count them on 1 hand. And in every case, they were identified before anyone lost their money (to my knowledge).

Less than 5, out of literally thousands of items put up for sale every year. With those stats, there's simply no justification to put the restrictions back in place.

The community here is very smart, very savvy and very wary of stuff that looks "too good to be true". That's the best way to be.

Originally Posted by leon

Some of these people sell their stuff and you never hear from them again, just go through the members list and see all the zero posts.
Leon

I'm not sure what that has to do with the topic?
If they had to wait for a month and have 5 posts just to sell their gear, if they wanted to never come back again, they'd still never come back again regardless.
And if they have zero posts, then they haven't sold anything.
The majority of any community don't post much if anything. It's always a smaller minority that are the most active. It's the same on every community I've even been a part of.

I'm not a fan of re-introducing any restrictions, for the reasons I stated above. However I'm happy to hear feedback from more members (on both sides) to see what everyone thinks.

[astroron (Ron)]

I have never seen a post where someone has said I have not received what I paid for
I am sure if somebody had not received their good they would be screaming from the roof tops
Some people just want to sell their goods, and this is the place to sell them and if the purchaser and seller are happy all well and good

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

i have followed one recent thread where people seemed very suspicious-as it turns out someone i know bought the item in the end and all concerned seem happy...that transaction would never have happened with a post restriction

[Moon (James)]

I'm not a fan of re-introducing any restrictions, for the reasons I stated above. However I'm happy to hear feedback from more members (on both sides) to see what everyone thinks.

Mike
This place works so well because your judgement is usually spot on. I think you have made the right call here again.
But if we start to see an outbreak of scams, then I guess it should be revisited.
James

[Gort (Theo)]

Hello,

I don't have many posts, but I have bought heaps of stuff off the classified forums on this site (scope, mount, numerous eyepieces, filter,barlow, books and videos) and I'd hate to think that there would be a restriction on someone like me from selling similar stuff (as I have accumulated way too much). If there was a restriction linked to posts then it should be a really small number like 5, but no more than that.

Anyway my 2 cents worth.

Cheers.

Theo.

[stephenb (Stephen)]

Originally Posted by leon

Agree entirly Matthew, it used to be that you had to have a least a few posts under you belt before you could post a For Sale Item.

Some of these people sell their stuff and you never hear from them again, just go through the members list and see all the zero posts.

Leon

Agree Leon. 3,560 members with 0 posts to be exact.

Anyway the 7000-odd membership claim for this IIS is purely inflated with over 3,500 member never posting a single post. Most of those who have never posted in, say 2 years of their registration should be deleted.

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by glenluceskies

Most of those who have never posted in, say 2 years of their registration should be deleted.

Hi,

I'd try to refine that a bit. I can't find anything in the TOS which says anyone MUST post if a member, or how often.

I'm only a moderate poster so can imagine someone merely reading everything in sight, but nothing else. You could go on for years that way here, there is so much top-class stuff

I think you would need to detect whether people had not visited for a long time, before zapping them. I don't know of course if that can be done.

Cheers

[casstony]

It would be reasonable to expect new members to post the item being sold before payment (but only on the first item) to demonstrate that they are genuine.

[BC]

I "bought" an item a week ago. Once the money was cleared I got a message explaining why the item got too damaged to send. I was asked for my account details, which I was a bit reluctant to send, but did anyway. Haven't heard from him since and no money has been returned. Hopefully all is well and he's out of town, but it doesn't sit comfortably. I'm beginning to wonder how wise it was to give over my details. Here's hoping......

Bruce

[gbeal]

Originally Posted by BC

I "bought" an item a week ago. Once the money was cleared I got a message explaining why the item got too damaged to send. I was asked for my account details, which I was a bit reluctant to send, but did anyway. Haven't heard from him since and no money has been returned. Hopefully all is well and he's out of town, but it doesn't sit comfortably. I'm beginning to wonder how wise it was to give over my details. Here's hoping......

Bruce

Heck, trusting Bruce. I would be delving deep, and now rather than later. Yes you are likely right, but to me it stinks.
At least make some discrete enquiries with someone in the same area as the "seller", do it through a PM with one of the moderators or something, but DON'T sit on it.
Gary

[qld]

Originally Posted by astroron

I have never seen a post where someone has said I have not received what I paid for
I am sure if somebody had not received their good they would be screaming from the roof tops
Some people just want to sell their goods, and this is the place to sell them and if the purchaser and seller are happy all well and good

hi i must inform you that i paid $500 for a specific item as advertised and got an entirely different article ,the seller claimed it was a mistake,but all efforts by me to get my money back including returning the mistaken goods were a waste of time and the seller vanished off iss.all attempts by me to engage the moderators assistance was a waste of time,with one moderator(he knows who he is) telling me that the item i was bidding on was worth much more money so i should have expected a mistake as well as acusing me of being a bargain hunter?......indeed i was referred to the terms and conditions of iss trade by all the moderators....clearly this problem needs tro be addressed by the forum,my suggestion is that the seller and buyer must exchange addressess and tel numbers by pm before money is sent,at least this way you can contact the other party....the alternative is cyberspace anonimity.

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Hi Bruce and Qld,

Sorry to hear this, I'm especially unhappy for you about the reported moderator's response (not that there is actually much they can do) .

I shall take greater care myself, as I have been lulled into a state of somnolence due to my experiences here up till now.

Cheers

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by astroron

I have never seen a post where someone has said I have not received what I paid for

Well in that case I'll put my hand up and be your first.

I am sure if somebody had not received their good they would be screaming from the roof tops

I paid and item never arrived. He swears he posted it but never offered a remedy when informed I never received it.

Should I scream from the rooftops that he is a liar? Who should rightfully bear the loss?

[PCH (Paul)]

I've never sold anything on this forum, but have sold heaps on another forum.

When I ship something, rather than risk getting into the dilemna of who is responsible for a 'missing' or damaged parcel, I always insist on sending stuff by registered and insured post.

That way, hopefully, monetary loss is eliminated and both sides are (I hope!) left feeling the whole transaction is a lot more secure and less up-in-the-air in case of any damage or loss.

Having said all that, I've never had a problem with any parcels and I use Aus Post all the time. They may take forever, but they have always gotten it there for me

Just my humble 2c