[John_Berklee1]

Hey, after reading so many HOS threads created for people getting scammed by new members, I was thinking of ways to keep records of people who buy and sell on here.


This is all hypothetical, as I do not know if, when put into practice, it'd actually work or not;

What if, when a seller creates a thread, he/she must also provide a tagged photo of proof that it is them (for instance, a driver's license, school I.D., report card, etc.) It doesn't have to reveal any personal numbers or information, aside from their name, preferably a photo, and an address, to which you would ship to.

If they request that money/trades be sent to a different address, they need to provide proof that they live there as well (a government-sent envelope, a lease for their apartment/house, a document from school describing their dorm, etc.)

They include this in their listing, as another required photo, and mods can save it somewhere, maybe on their computers, or post it in a separate photobucket / internet file hosting account (free of course, no sense in making the mods pay for this).

When the listing is approved, the mods can then remove that portion of the listing from the account, and put the listing up. When a buyer wishes to make the purchase, he/she clearly states that they are purchasing the item, and the mod can PM them a copy of the documentation.


The way I look at it, this somewhat eliminates the issue of a bogus address, since if a seller were to send sneakers with a bogus address, he/she would have to go to the address, find someone with a license (or some kind of documentation) they can borrow, make a scan of, and send that to the "victim."


They can still lie, I'd imagine, but then I would think the person at that house would have to be in on the scam, and would be psychologically sketched out that their info/photo is floating around out there with a bad rep attached to it, in the event of getting caught (if I was into scamming, I know I'd hate that haha.)


Just some food for thought. It does indeed seem like a considerable amount more of work, but I know personally, if I buy from a person that registered in 2009, I ask for some kind of proof it is them (i.e. when sending a Money Order, which is my preferred method of payment since Paypal annoys me, I like to get a photo ID of them, with their name and address that I will be sending to on that ID. If they are at school, I'd like to see a paycheck stub with their name and address on it.)


Any ideas if this would work? I know it'd put more work on the mods, but maybe after it gets into the swing of things, it wouldn't be that time-consuming, maybe it'd get to the point where it is just as easy as approving listings themselves.

[Kybosh]

It's a really nice idea, believe me I wish there was a way to make new sellers information more public. Especially for members with less then 5 feedback.
However, it's just something that would be to time consuming and very hard to implement. Half the people who post in the bst can't get their tags straight, asking for them to post valid ID & address would be even more chaotic. A lot of people won't be comfortable having to post up their address/picture/name as well. I wouldn't.

Requesting information like this is something members have to take the extra step and do themselves. Honestly even if we had every piece of information about a scammer it still doesn't mean that it would stop that person from ripping off members. Just take a look through old hos threads. People who have been scammed in the past have every piece of information about the scammer and do nothing with it. Basically what I am saying is there is only so "safe" the marketplace can be. Members need to be vigilante and keep themselves safe from scams. It's not something that is that hard to do either. First off if your paying with paypal always fund the payment with your Credit or debit Card. If you do that you can always get your money back. Also member should never ship first or at the same time with someone with very little feedback. Wayyy to many people are shipping very expensive sneakers out first, to new sellers with 0 feedback.

bleh, sorry a bit of a rant there. It's a nice idea and I wish it was someway possible, but I just don't think it will happen.

[John_Berklee1]

It's a really nice idea, believe me I wish there was a way to make new sellers information more public. Especially for members with less then 5 feedback.
However, it's just something that would be to time consuming and very hard to implement. Half the people who post in the bst can't get their tags straight, asking for them to post valid ID & address would be even more chaotic. A lot of people won't be comfortable having to post up their address/picture/name as well. I wouldn't.

Requesting information like this is something members have to take the extra step and do themselves. Honestly even if we had every piece of information about a scammer it still doesn't mean that it would stop that person from ripping off members. Just take a look through old hos threads. People who have been scammed in the past have every piece of information about the scammer and do nothing with it. Basically what I am saying is there is only so "safe" the marketplace can be. Members need to be vigilante and keep themselves safe from scams. It's not something that is that hard to do either. First off if your paying with paypal always fund the payment with your Credit or debit Card. If you do that you can always get your money back. Also member should never ship first or at the same time with someone with very little feedback. Wayyy to many people are shipping very expensive sneakers out first, to new sellers with 0 feedback.

bleh, sorry a bit of a rant there. It's a nice idea and I wish it was someway possible, but I just don't think it will happen.

No problem about the rant, I frequently do it myself

I appreciate the feedback though, I'm glad someone read my ideas.. I see what you are saying about how it's hard enough to get people to post correct tags, let alone further info. Plus, it's not as if their info would be made public, for that matter... the picture of their private info would be copied and stored somewhere, and then removed from the listing so it wouldn't be public necessarily, but kept within confidentiality between the mod who approved the topic, the seller and the buyer, when the time comes.


It's a shame people don't take any initiative when it comes to getting their stolen goods/money back, even when they are that close. If someone were to have scammed me, and I am in a position where I can travel to find them (within several hundred miles, i.e. NJ to MA/CT/PA/NY/DE/etc), I'd simply make a day trip of it, and if they weren't home, I'd at least leave some mark that I was there, not in any illegal way of course but I definitely would. No one likes to be scared or feel as if they're "watched."


Oh well, back to the drawing board!!! haha. Thanks for the input though!

This post has been edited by John_Berklee1: 17 November 2009 - 10:19 PM