I'm sure this has been beaten to death, but since some(a lot) of the topics are closed I'll start a new one....

I joined this website because I wanted to buy some stock springs for an '02 Lancer I just bought. Now I see that I need to post at least 50 times and be a member for 30 days. I can understand wanting to protect members, but may be a simple "caveat emptor" will suffice. If we get scammed, then so be it, but to restrict us from making good use of what this website has to offer is too bad. I simply don't have the time to wait 30 days nor the knowledge/questions to post 50 times to qualify to buy something from the marketplace section. Also, there is always PMing to circumvent the restriction, and to be honest, I did without knowing that. I question if the restriction is a benefit or a hindrance and I would vote for the latter.

Anyways, I'm not here to start anything, just voicing an opinion.

Rey

 

I dont know if I agree with the "If we get scammed so be it" statement but I do agree there should be some way to verify members but unfortunately its not easy to do with free forums.

 

There are no exceptions to the marketplace posting rules. The marketplace forums are here as a courtesy to our members, and one of the only ways we can practically assure quality is to put roadblocks in place that require members to put into the community before they take something out by way of transactions. It's a minor inconvenience for something that helps us, the staff, immensely. And, ultimately, the hindrance is there to protect members from fly-by-night sellers, scammers and spammers.

 

Even if it wasn't a free forum, it is *impossible* to prevent scamming. Take eBay for example, they require a credit card and people still get scammed. Unless we have a transaction face-to-face, there's just no way to protect someone. And, even if face-to-face you can still get scammed. I think the restrictions here are well intended but what will the site owner(s) do if someone is found "supposedly" guilty? Is the site going to help and recoup the money loss or will they just ban that member from the site?

Hmmm, may be the question should be:

Are the restrictions a deterrent to scammers or are they a deterrent to members who want to use the benefits of this website?

 

They're a deterrant to scammers. It's not hard for members to wait 30 days and contribute a very small number of posts to the forum in order to earn the privilage of using the classifieds.

 

When you see someone posting what you need for sale...PM them...It's then their decision to do business with you or not.

 

Wow....you'd really be unhappy if my proposal for 100 on-topic posts and a year as a member went through!!

But really, is 30 days REALLY that long? I don't think so. Just because you need a part ASAP, I don't think that warrants a complete revision of our process, and as Hobie said, we do not make exceptions.

 

I don't expect you folks to make an exception and I believe I read a thread where you(?) initially wanted 100/1yr as a requirement. Obviously, I'm not the first to bring this up and I'm sure I won't be the last. However, since it is coming up over and over, then may be it warrants a review of the policy....or not. Anyways, I won't belabor the issue. Thanks everyone for responding.

 

This.

 

 

as stated you are allowed to search through the sections...you can easily find what you want and pm the seller

you just cannot create a thread

I don't think that is unfair at all

 

Agreed.

If we do nothing, we almost encourage scammers to come here and take advantage of our members. If we go too far, it becomes overly restrictive to conduct transactions. This "middle ground" has been working fairly well, but in my opinion could be a bit tighter. I'm quite sure I'm in the minority here with this opinion, but we do what we can with what we've got.

 

well i have a problem.. i've been a member for about 5 years. recently got my ix mr about 9 months ago. i have 55 post. but on the side it only says 32 and it never changes. now i don't really post that much because i always seach and read but i can't even reply in the threads on marketplace in north east regional nevermind making one. someone take a look into that plz thanks.

 

it says 33 now lol, hey rules are the rules, I have broken them and been punished. Either follow or leave lol

 

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