is there a way for you to verify name: first and last, address: no po boxes, and telephone number for the for sale section only? or is that a job in itself? i don't think that anyone that truely uses this board would have any problem with that, or anyone with less than 1 year membership and say 50 or 100 posts must use a 3rd party?

 

We would not want the responsibility of verifying all that info. It would be the responsibility of the buyer. We could make it mandatory to provide name, city/state, and phone number for posts to be created however. Anyone not willing to provide that info should be considered suspicious anyways. If you were going to advertise something in the paper you would have to post your phone number, maybe it shouldn't be any different here.

 

this is post # 6 in this thread alone...at this pace you to will have 100 posts then maybe you can you douche

 

The only person to blame if you get scammed is yourself.If you are not wise enough to ask some questions about the person you want to buy from then you have just rolled the dice people.If it is too good to be true .......No administrator or post count will stop people from scamming.All i am saying is; let's say that you get scammed by a person with 200 posts.Now since the admins have enforced the 100 post rule ,who is to blame? You certainly can't go crying to the admins but I guarantee alot of victims still will though.If you get dooped in a "GET RICH SCHEME" who is to blame?You are if you didn't ask questions.The admins can't babysit every transaction on this site.Besides ,if a scammer has your e-mail address he doesn't need to post parts for sale on the site.He can join just to get e-mail addresses and contact you that way.And again if you get stung this way;who is to blame?

 

Who is doing the name calling now?I really believe the only way you could get any dumber is by gaining weight!

 

Your points are completely valid, BUT you are missing the point of this new requirement. The FACTS that have been proven to exist.

1. LS1TECH has had quite a few scammers register a new account solely to scam people. Sometimes less than 10 posts total, just to answer questions in their scam bait ad.

2. LS1TECH members (especially newer members) have unfortunately been scammed. In total, there is probably close to $20,000 out there that has been scammed from our site members in nearly 3 years. Thats a big chunk of change. We have done what we can in every situation, otherwise that number would be 10 times greater by now.

The low post scammers are predominant. Yes we understand that some longer time members can turn scammers, but that isn't the case 99% of the time here. We only have FACTS to base these occurences on, and they show a very strong trend for low post count, newly registered accounts.

So please quit beating your drum, you aren't seeing both sides of the situation here, and you don't know the facts/data that we have collected in order to make these decisions.

 

I have seen alot of transactions take place via PMs.Are the admins able to see these?If not; again 100 posts makes no difference.How many of the transactions that totaled $20,000 were done right out in the open via threads?How many were done via E-mails?PMs?Now that would be interesting to know.

 

What if you have less than a 100 posts and know a few people that can vouch for your character? I post very seldom on any site I've been a member of the HFB for 5 years and have less than 100 posts.. There should be some exceptions made, If not you can actually get more on Ebay. I do understand the problems I've been reading the feedback section..

 

My opinion is that it's their house they make the rules. I will say that I may never reach 100 posts. I use the search button and almost always find the answer to my question. I couldn't tell you how many posts I have read! I don't feel comfortable giving any advice or answering questions. There are way too many people on here that are extremely knowlegable. Anyway I love this board, I have learned tons and I only want to buy parts not sell.

 

I think probably the easiest and best way to do it would to impose a length of membership qualification(3-6 months) and also a PayPal membership. That way no one could sign up one day, post a shitload, and scam the next. Also, since PayPal verifies a members name, address, etc, the mods nor the buyer would have to try to verify. It would take a little more effort from the members, but should virtually eliminate scamming. I personally would not like to have to worry about getting scammed on every transaction.

Ryan

 

For you guys who lurk a lot but don't post, I don't really believe that the 100 post minimum is unreasonable. If you are READING threads and learning from them, just post something along the lines of "Thanks for sharing that info, I got a lot out of it." If you haven't read 100 posts in a year of membership, then you aren't active enough to be trustworthy enough to sell anything, anyway, in my humble opinion. That's only 2 threads and posts PER WEEK!! (You can still have a life and read 2 threads and post 2 replies in one week!) I don't post on here very much either, but I still got close to 150 posts in 6 months time. (That is still less than six posts per week - and I've read a hell of a lot more than what I've posted on!!!!!!!!!).

I think what these guys are getting at, is that if someone has a significant number of posts, it means they have definitely been fairly ACTIVE. You can go into someone's profile and see all the posts they have ever made, giving you a way to kinda see what they really are all about. Yes, there can still be scammers who have high post counts - but you may be able to get an idea if you do a bit of research and see that they are hot-headed or have a history of not following up on their sales, or even with sending money in on what they have purchased. I scan a large # of posts that have been made from ANYONE I wish to buy or sell to. As to people with very few posts to reference, I'd want a "live" phone conversation before I'd send any significant amount of money to. And PayPal isn't the answer - they don't insure anything over like $100 in value, anyway. C.O.D. isn't the answer, either. Protects the buyer, but potentially wastes a lot of time/effort on the sellers part trying to find SERIOUS buyers instead of deadbeats.

TO THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THIS SITE:
You can't make all of the people happy, all of the time. It's just a fact of life, in everything in life. I think the 100 post count idea is a good one. I'd actually like to see at least a 3 month minimum (6 months maybe?) since registration ADDED ON to that requirement, before they could start a thread to sell items. Personal info would also be a good requirement, as well.

I've bought quite a few things on here this year. So far, I only had one person who didn't ship the item. I pm'd him after a couple weeks, and he promised to send it out, but still didn't. After a month (total) I pm'd him again, requesting he refund my money - which he fortunately DID do that same day. BUT - I gathered by reading some of his previous posts that he seemed like a pretty typical guy, NOT someone out to scam people.

My .02

 

Good post, John. I agree 100%

 

Lemme if i've got this right, it's a free site that has has a free classifieds section yet the bad ol' Nineball and especially evil Pro Stock John shouldn't be allowed to make any guidelines or show any concern for people being scammed?(the very nerve of them actually caring about their members! off with their heads!) I've had some emails with Tony who didn't have be concerned about a lil' ol newbie like me , yet WAS.gee whiz , that makes me think soooo much less of this site .I mean who ever heard of website that had something resembling a heart?an actual passion for something they created? boy ,now that's just wrong isn't it?RamAirNut , perhaps this is the wrong place for you and you might find a better place to ply your trade. I mean ,after all, the ruthless "dictators"aren't even trying to listen to your point of view. oh, one final thought, thanks for showing us your real attitude about us , the site and what it means to you. that'll sure stir up buyer confidence! GOOD JOB, DUDE! and please by all means slam me and everyone else here that doesn't agree with you, it makes us think so much of you........

 

I agree with Badjuju... I have had some dealings where I needed an unbiased opinion and the Admins gave their opinion. They did not have to... this could have been "beneath them". They obviously care enough about us to try and do something.

The point is... stop complaining. Be part of the solution, not the problem. If you have no ideas... please

 

BINGO! Everyone please read that one again. If someone has several posts on the site, it gives you much more feedback on their personality or knowledge. Since you can do a search on their old posts, you can see if they are purposely making dumb replies to get their post count up (suspicious!) or if they are truly just an active member with a part to sell.

 

Tony, You ( and the rest of your crew ) put in alot of work to make it one of best ( if not the best ) automotive web-sites around, if it were me I'd just eliminate the classified section and be done with it. JMO

 

I have deeply enjoyed these discussions with all of you.Is freedom of speech great or what?This is just one of the many things that make the USA the best place in the world!

 

I don't have a high post count because I participate on other boards and don't know enough to post a lot here. I have been a member for quite a while though. I think #posts with an alternative 3 or 6 month minimum would be plenty fair. Anything to prevent random people from hopping on easily and scamming. I'd rather be pissed that I can't sell than pissed that I got ripped!

 

great, just dont email me again douchbag your invading my private space and would get smacked for doing the same in the real world.

 

I think you meant YOUR'E invading my private space and you misspelled douchbag(get spellcheck dude).You couldn't whip sh_t in a blender! If you are going to attempt to insult me at least spell DOUCHEBAG correctly as not
to insult yourself man!I hope you can drive better than you can spell!