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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

For Sale...MN please force sellers to list a profile, so regulars can make a judgement call as to whether or not they are reliable....

55 replies

TheTwelveDAISYOfChristmas · 04/12/2007 23:58

...there have been too many scammers around, and too many regulars duped out cash that they can ill afford.

at the very least an icon on the post header showing how long that poster has been registered.

OP posts:
Pannacotta · 05/12/2007 09:27

I agree, think its best to use MN for a while before trying to sell anything, that shoudl help prevent scammers.
Any yes, buyer beware!!

bubblerock · 05/12/2007 09:30

I suggested they did something like THIS as a separate part of the site, meaning they could still earn money from sellers but it would be more controlled but I never heard back so I guess they didn't think it was a good idea.

CountessDracula · 05/12/2007 09:31

I agree
Think you should have to be registered for say 90 days and have made a minimum number of posts I(100?) before you can start selling

Also how about limiting the number of ads people can put on per day/week? I think people should be putting all their stuff on one thread not starting a seperate thread for each sock or whatever it is they are selling as seems to happen now.

Santasmissyontheside · 05/12/2007 09:34

i can see a thread i started while back ended up being re created.

Hulababy · 05/12/2007 09:37

Classifieds were originally a completely seperate part of the website, moderated too. Maybe we need a return to that as it is being abused so much.

Thing is MN classifieids has been great at times for me, but these days it is a nightmare and have to admit that I do blaock in from my Active Conv.

Original poster
TheTwelveDAISYOfChristmas · 05/12/2007 13:20

oooh some interesting points here, which I realise have come up before santasmissy, but I think these issues will continue to crop up.

My idea re the profile was to see how long a poster had been registered....I appreciate that people might not want a full profile, so a little icon next to the report etc icon which would say, in my case "member since Nov 05", when howered over might be a possible solution. searching my current (christmas) name will only show posts since Saturday, so that might give someone the idea that i was new.

If you can see someone is a regular/longstanding member then you are more likely to trust them, from my pov anyway (and I'm sorry that may offend trustworthy newbies, but it's all about making a personal judgement call).

This icon would also get round name changes for whatever reason, be they festive, for fun or something more sinister.

fury...thanks for your comments, interesting to hear it from a professional standpoint.

...and still no comment from MNHQ?

OP posts:
SquonkaClaus · 05/12/2007 13:24

I wonder if it is possible to have a kind of feedback score like on ebay?

Twould then be a lot easier to see if a seller is genuine.

Totally agree that something should be done.

The "Post here if you've had a good experience" thread was a good idea, but too difficult to scroll and find the poster that you're looking for.

Original poster
TheTwelveDAISYOfChristmas · 05/12/2007 13:46

that thread also disappears after 30 days if done under the for sale topic.....

OP posts:
geordiemacminxpie · 05/12/2007 14:17

On a football forum that my dp uses after the name of the poster there is a number - which is how many posts that person has submitted. From that its easy to see if a person hsa just joined or whether they are a regular?

zippitippitoes · 05/12/2007 14:19

i reckon the for sale boards are more trouble than they are worth

caveat emptor if you use them

TheQueenOfQuotes · 05/12/2007 14:21

ahh well obviously I'm not well known enough or trusted enough - as no-one ever even expresses an interest when I list stuff for sale let alone buy it!

SantaBeClausImWorthIt · 05/12/2007 14:22

I made my first foray into the For Sale boards yesterday, and someone has made me an offer. I have checked their posts and they do post on other boards, not just For Sale.

But now what do I do? Do I wait for them to pay me first and send the goods or send the goods and then wait for payment?

I hate not being able to trust people, but equally I don't want to lose out!

MNHQ
OliviaMumsnet · 05/12/2007 14:41

Hi there
I've only just seen this though I did look in on Site Stuff earlier this morning and didn't see it anyway, apologies for not posting earlier.

We certainly don't want to make any snap decisions so I'm afraid I for one don't have any immediate solutions right now. This is something we'd have to discuss at length I think but realistically this is unlikely to be until after Christmas. (I don't like to make promises we can't keep you see )

I will however alert the rest of the team to this and see if there's anything they can think of that I've missed.

Best
MNHQ

IsawBUMPERkissingsantaclaus · 05/12/2007 14:43

having that sort of info where a profile would be is a much better idea that having it on each post, less of a newbie/oldie thing, so you only check the details if you need to rather than having them "out there" iyswim?

JeremyMcVile · 05/12/2007 14:46

Personally I dont think a profile would make any difference.

As was said further down 'if it looks too good to be true, it probably is'.

Also, if the seller hints at some dodgy reason as to why they happen to be in posession of a bootfull of perfume or whatever and people still go ahead and trust that person with their money then I have little sympathy.

Hulababy · 05/12/2007 14:50

SantaBeClausImWorthIt - I do it same as with ebay, etc - they pay you, then you send out making sure you get prrof of postage. Keep buyer to date with any delays, etc and when to expect the parcel.

Q0fQ - it is like that now. I think it is because noone has buy/sell on Actve anymore. I have some FFP school clothes on the Freebie but at the moment and no interest there either.

OkiDoki · 05/12/2007 14:57

bump

SantaBeClausImWorthIt · 05/12/2007 16:17

Thanks Hulababy - I don't do E-bay either so this is all a bit new!

Original poster
TheTwelveDAISYOfChristmas · 05/12/2007 21:10

Thanks Olivia for your response

OP posts:
5GoldenFIMBOs · 05/12/2007 21:19

There NEEDS to be some sort of system put in place to stop people just gaily coming on here to just sell. Whether it be a 3 months minimum membership or a one-off annual fee.

To many people are being ripped off. It's not fair to the regulars.

Mind you if they text speak or use "hun" the annual fee should be doubled

unicorn · 05/12/2007 21:21

I'd be interested in finding out how many people had been victims of scammers from the For sale board..
I am one, and very p*ssed off about it too.

MNHQ
OliviaMumsnet · 05/12/2007 22:18

And also want to repost Justine's response from another thread:
By JustineMumsnet on Wed 05-Dec-07 10:26:20 (from MNHQ)
Hi - sorry we've not been on - we really don't clock all the threads so best to either report it or put it in site stuff to guarantee that it crosses our radar.

We do know that the For Sale boards are a source of tension and do have a plan to revamp them - we'd hoped that being able to hide the for sale topic would ease the stress levels until we get to a proper re-vamp?

Though we don't tend to get involved in individual disputes, we would of course ban anyone who was persistently abusing the boards or anyone who's clearly ripping people off. Please do report any such abuse.

Many thanks,

M Towers

TwinklyfLightAttendant · 06/12/2007 06:21

Thanks Olivia, we appreciate the fact that you're on the case

I know it's horrid for people who have been done over, but I really think we as buyers need to take a pro active stance at protecting ourselves. MN isn't ebay, it isn't financially or physically able to police what goes on with transactions - the whole idea behind even having classifieds on MN was so we could trade within our own community, which gives us the safety of knowing (virtually at least) those we are buying from. It follows that if we don't know the person selling, or can't get a reassuring result when we search their posts, we should give them a big fat hike and not buy their stuff.

I know this may affect newbies in the short term but there are loads of us who joined less than a year ago, who are pretty well known (myself included) (cue 'who the heck are you' from several people ) and therefore if I was selling, people would be able to check my validity by searching messages really easily.

I think there is a case for banning certain individuals, certainly, as MNHQ probably has more info on email addresses etc and namechanges than we do, but beyond that I really think it's a question of self-policing. I don't see how else it can work - I mean ebay is unable to prevent scammers with all the measures they have in place, so we have little chance apart from being canny.

HellHathNoFury · 06/12/2007 08:13

I did report a regulart scammer and was told 'nothing could be done but thanks for letting us know'?

TwinklyfLightAttendant · 06/12/2007 08:26

Really? Crikey. I would think someone might be banned?

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