Minimum Number Of Posts Before Letting Someone Post In For Sale Section

[Argentra]

I like the idea of some sort of rule for posting 'for sale' ads... but post count won't cut it. As has been said already, many folks will just post 'ditto' or 'yeah, you're right!' over and over to boost count.
I am personally familiar with that practice, as one of my dearest friends with whom I play two online D&D games will put up a post to ANYTHING just to get more roleplaying experience points. Luckily, the DM (my BF) has noticed and will no longer be rewarding him points just for posting.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...
I believe that research is the greatest tool anyone can have for any situation. It is up to all of us as individuals to notice if the person putting up the ad is
A) Someone who has been seen around the site before or not. i.e is that their first post.
B) One who has put up ONLY for sale posts and nothing else.
C) One who doesn't answer PMs or answers with questionable things.
D) One who isn't willing to talk with you offline (at least by phone) and give you details of their animals.

Other than that, if they give a name check it out on the BOI and ask around. That's what the Inquiries section is for after all.

Scammers get to people who are not alert, who don't ask questions, and who don't know their way around that particular business area. They are clever and crafty folk who stop at nothing to achieve the scam.

I agree with the idea to have an Adoption section, as many people just want to find good homes for their animals for whatever reason.
As far as the for sale section...maybe a membership time minimum would work, but the best weapon is alertness and research.

Sorry for the long rant, there.

[Beardedragon]

I think it should be like the QT room, where you have to ask for permission. That was scammers and people who only come to the forum and do a quick look through to see if there is a for sale section, will not see it and possibly leave. When they ask for acceptance the mods will have the chance to deny them for now because either they are too new or something smells fishy about them.

Just my .02

[John Marker]

While I haven't been around this forum for a very long time, nor have I made a bunch of posts, I do believe that this discussion is really just to allow people to vent about the frustration they have with scammers.

Unfortunately, the people that are going to attempt to scam others will meet any and all criteria that are placed on them. They will post 500+ or 1000+ times, be a member for 3+ months, have posts in 3+ categories (including an introduction), and they will pay the fee (if it were required), all to post in the sales section.

The people that are willing to scam/con other people will do whatever it takes to make their dishonest living. That is really the bottom line. Yes, it can be made to be more inconvenient for them, but they will still attempt to practice their deceitful ways, no matter what requirements they have to meet.

Personally I do not buy from someone until I gather as much information about them as I possibly can. I check the inquiries/feedback on this site along with the BOI and then I still look to see what else I can find on them. To me, it does not matter if they have 5000+ posts, I still want to know what kind of experiences that other buyers have had with that seller.

This is just my opinion on the subject.

John

[blackcrystal22]

Hmm.

I really understand your point Robin, but there's a problem with it. I'm a SUCKER for anything interesting. And honestly... theres a lot more 'spam non-contributing member' posts in the for sale section, and it's hard to see anyone that I recognize because the others just crowd it up.

After reading through this entire thread I think we could do a number of things to work together to avoid future issues.

First of all, minimum 25 posts. It's not painful, but needed.
Time limit of 2 months, so spamming would be useless, and obvious if they go right to the sale ads after their 25th post.

You are required to ask an Admin to POST in the sales. This doesn't mean you are not allowed to view them, but rather an Admin has to give you permission before posting.

Create a non-limited, non-sale adoption section to the forums.

Just what I hae come up with.

[Chandler reptiles]

I've been here for 8 months officially and have less than 60 posts, granted I try to look everyday and see what is happening but to participate fully and make hundreds of posts you need to be here at least daily to follow in the conversations and honestly some of us are unable to do so all the time depending on what else is going on. Now I will say this when I have stuff for sale I know I spend more time trying to make sure I am available to answer questions online. All in all I have yet to use the for sale section but if I do I sometime in the future I will have to post alot of nice pic comments to reach 500.

[wolfy-hound]

Personally I don't see why a buyer can't check into a seller before arranging to trade or buy from them.
Just because some people don't want to do the legwork? Look into who you want to buy from. Why should the site rules change, just to make it harder for non-chatty people to sell? There's a ton of posts that have no content posted every day, they enhance the fun of the site, but they certainly don't mean the poster is a better person to buy from.
If you have 5000 posts here, I'll STILL look up your info. If you have 0 posts here, I'll do exactly the same thing. No amount of rules for posting ads will stop someone from scamming you if you fail to do your homework.

[littleindiangirl]

Personally I don't see why a buyer can't check into a seller before arranging to trade or buy from them.
Just because some people don't want to do the legwork? Look into who you want to buy from. Why should the site rules change, just to make it harder for non-chatty people to sell? There's a ton of posts that have no content posted every day, they enhance the fun of the site, but they certainly don't mean the poster is a better person to buy from.
If you have 5000 posts here, I'll STILL look up your info. If you have 0 posts here, I'll do exactly the same thing. No amount of rules for posting ads will stop someone from scamming you if you fail to do your homework.

Righto!

Look at me 5,555+ posts in 1 1/2 years. Not many people can do that LOL.

[wolfy-hound]

And here I thought I picked a number high enough to be ridiculously high. Silly me!

[littleindiangirl]

And here I thought I picked a number high enough to be ridiculously high. Silly me!

I'm trying to cut back! But 10 posts a day just seems like such a small number.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Why should the site rules change, just to make it harder for non-chatty people to sell?

I am not suggesting that the rules change. I suggesting that the existing rules be enforced... Again, let me point you to the CURRENT rule:

Ball-Pythons.net is here to serve the community of both current and new enthusiasts of herps. Our primary mission is to educate and support those wanting to learn. These free advertising areas are for our contributing members to use and not intended as a free way to run a business.