I believe that the vouch section is not a good idea for safe trading in its current form. The vouch section should be changed into a generic feedback section, so it includes both positive, neutral and negative feedback. A "vouch" thread that only contains positive feedback is pointless, as it completely ignores the negative feedback that other users may have for the OP. If he was truly an honest member, he would include both positive and negative feedback. Sellers should be mature enough to handle criticism; if they can't, they shouldn't be in the business.
People deserve to know both the full story of the seller they want to use. It makes the marketplace safer as you know more about the seller's history. A seller's vouch thread should be a resource of information of his marketplace history; not just his positive experiences. Similar to Ebay Feedback, users should have the right to post both positive and negative feedback for the safety of users considering the seller's services in future.
Sure, we have the scam reports section, but that is about individual reports into a user's bad behaviour. This suggestion will not reduce the function of the scam reports section. A negative vouch could be a short description and a link to a valid scam report.
I don't know how to fine-tune the system so it is the best for marketplace safety. The issue that I had with Virtual Reality's thread was that he had scammed on another forum, but is trusted here. It's misleading to users and habits die hard. I am not sure whether allowing outside-forum feedback (positive and negative) can work, as it's difficult to administer. It would be easy to put in a vouch thread heaps of fraudulent vouches from another forum, as it's not our duty to check other forums. However, that information can be valuable in case the user has a bad history on other marketplaces.
May make some edits / new replies. Please post your thoughts. Discussion is important, so we can make the marketplace safer - somehow.
People deserve to know both the full story of the seller they want to use. It makes the marketplace safer as you know more about the seller's history. A seller's vouch thread should be a resource of information of his marketplace history; not just his positive experiences. Similar to Ebay Feedback, users should have the right to post both positive and negative feedback for the safety of users considering the seller's services in future.
Sure, we have the scam reports section, but that is about individual reports into a user's bad behaviour. This suggestion will not reduce the function of the scam reports section. A negative vouch could be a short description and a link to a valid scam report.
I don't know how to fine-tune the system so it is the best for marketplace safety. The issue that I had with Virtual Reality's thread was that he had scammed on another forum, but is trusted here. It's misleading to users and habits die hard. I am not sure whether allowing outside-forum feedback (positive and negative) can work, as it's difficult to administer. It would be easy to put in a vouch thread heaps of fraudulent vouches from another forum, as it's not our duty to check other forums. However, that information can be valuable in case the user has a bad history on other marketplaces.
May make some edits / new replies. Please post your thoughts. Discussion is important, so we can make the marketplace safer - somehow.
