I was very surprised to read in AR General that there is only a 30 post requirement to sell in the EE. Given that I have seen numerous new joins flood the forum with useless posts only to sell in the EE, I thought this number would be significantly higher.
In the interest of protecting buyers and vetted members, is there any way the staff can look at increasing this minimum post requirement or even better, make a minimum period of time one must be registered on the site before selling?
Totally agree. At minimum, it should be at or above the GD 200 post requirement.
I don’t see how increasing the requirements to SELL in the EE is of any benefit to longtime/contributing forum members.
If some newb pops over here and lists a quality item for a fantastic price, what do I care if he only has 31 posts and only been around for 1 month???
It is wise to be cautious of pre-paying for goods in the EE that are posted by short term / non-vetted members, but other than that, IMO the more people selling stuff in the EE the better.
ETA: Be careful reading too much into post counts. There are some very wise, well known, highly experienced members on here that have only double digit posts. On the flipside there are plenty of folks with a high number of posts/day that are clueless…
As has always been the case, we rely on the “report post” functionality to show us the little things we might be missing. If you are seeing a user trying to pad their post counts with “Nice rifle.” “Thanks, that’s cool.”, etc. The post should be reported so we can look at it more closely.
The people trying to run their post count up are often shocked when I delete all 31 of their posts, their new ad, and give them a temp vacation for about a week or five. That usually slows their posting of an ad quite well – right?
I completely agree. It seem that this “post count” metric got institutued somewhere, some time ago, and its utility seems to be take for granted by most. Personally I don’t think post count means a whole hell of a lot.
I agree as well. To my point, I have been here since 2008 and I have a positive feedback score that is 2.5x my post count. Hell, it would probably be 3.5x if everyone I gave feedback to did the same for me.
My low post count is not intentional, but more a reality due to some or all of the following: i) employment related restrictions / desires on social media posts, ii) lack of additional time beyond employment, family, range and down time and iii) taking the “learn before posting” way too far.
I will say however, I would comply with any rule changes that come about (and would be in a position to finally give back through experience after all these years) because I think M4Cs EE is one of the best run and self regulated exchanges out there. And I think it is one of the most under-rated features of the site.
A well run and liquid market for used items allows people like myself to try new things, especially if not available locally, and sell them later if it does not work out. Plus the price is usually at a level that works for both the buyer and seller. I’ve had very few issues on either side of the transactions for either small or big ticket items. I can only hope that a flood of newbies does not change that any time soon.
Did any of you notice “or even better, make a minimum period of time one must be registered on the site before selling?”
A post count metric is not a good indicator of an honest person, no doubt about it. But a thief is much less likely to register to sell on a site that takes 30+ days to sell when he can scam people right now elsewhere.
Perfect example:
Half the damn forum, including site staff, got scammed by CTI selling Surefire lights. His time on the forum? <1 month
I’m only suggesting something. I’m not in a position to make changes and it won’t affect me because I only deal with vetted members on the EE whether buying or selling anyway. Once you get burned on a $3000 SCAR 17 you learn real quick. It may, however, help other people more trusting than I in the future.
Actually, I’ve reported a guy for doing exactly that. Joined and sold on the EE in the same day. You guys did take care of it ricky tick.
I hear ya man… It’s buyer beware… The EE works just fine as-is… a little common sense and weighing risk/reward goes a long way on any forum EE. Protect yourself.
Absolutely.
Has there been a sharp rise in the number of dead beat sellers? Dramatic increases in phony products or misrepresented items?
Just not a fan of post counts. But then, I’ve been a member for nearly a year and a half and have less than 100 posts.
I think you’ll just generate more noise in the forum with people posting useless things so that they can throw something up on EE.
Agreed. IMO, most of the people with thousands of posts just generate noise and rarely offer any real insight/expertise.
I probably care more about how long the member has been on the forum. This forum encourages more reading than posting and I doubt that the number of posts is a great indicator of character. But, I also don’t have 200 posts yet.
Appreciate the feedback, but no changes will be made in this regard. As noted earlier, if you see people running their posts up in the course of your site use, use the report post(s) button and let us know. Thanks.