Trading your knives on the forums...

Spark

Spark

HPIC - Hatas gonna Hate
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Hey all!

It's unfortunate that it happened, but a few people got screwed while trading knives on the forums.

One of the solutions that we discussed instituting was a "Good Person/Bad Person" section, where we'd put people's names who are known to be good in trades. Unfortunately, that opens the door of legal liability to us, and we don't want to experience a suit over that...
wink.gif


The best thing we can come up with to solve this situation is that if you have a question about doing a trade with someone, post that question in the forums. Get your packages insured, and do everything that you can to protect yourself.

When in doubt, ask someone. While this will not completely eliminate the "bad trades", hopefully we'll be able to keep each other informed about the good and bad people.

Spark

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Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
Maybe we could all develop references, and as our references grow, so will the safety of trades.

So, someone might post "I am planning a transaction with Person XX, anybody have any problems, please email me privately..."

Or, in private emails "I have traded with Dave@dave.com and Fred@steve.com and Alice@janine.com, feel free to contact them if that will make you feel better."

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Marion David Poff fka Eye mdpoff@hotmail.com

Patiently waiting for the Spyderco SpydeRench, Lum Chinese Chopper Folder, Rolling Lock, Benchmade M2 Axis, M2 Axis AFCK, M2 Pinnacle and the REKAT NEW KNIVES.

"The victorious Warrior wins first and then goes to war, while the defeated Warrior goes to war and then seeks to win" Sun-Tzu











 
Or instead of bad traders and good traders, make a list of just good traders...

Just 2¢

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Joel Pirela
Graphic & Knife Designer
 
Actually I would prefer the "Total Rudeness Policy"

If you got screwed then spark permiting you should post there names and E-mail addresses. This way it will make it a little harder for people to get a easy knife as compared to keeping them anonymous.
 
I think we can assist here by listing people as traders in the new links section. You can then rate them based on your experiences. The trader can ask to be listed and rated. Then it would encourage them to do so if they wish to do business with our members.

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Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Lead - Follow or get out of the way!
www.wowinc.com



 
Mike, that's a damn good idea, wish I could take credit for it, because it's the best I've heard in a while.

The new links section will have the email addresses and names of the various traders (per their request) and then the people who have traded with them can rate them on a scale of 1-10.

Damn good idea. Wish I had thought of it.

Spark

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Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
Spark, Mike,

It seems to me that the rating system is an unneccesary complication.

A simple pass fail system would be better.

I mean, if you got the knife in a reasonable amount of time, it's a Pass trade.

If you had to hound the person, or you got screwed, it's a Fail trade.

Anything else would lead to misunderstandings, "What do you mean, you got your knife inside a week, how does that rate me a 5???"

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Marion David Poff fka Eye mdpoff@hotmail.com

Patiently waiting for the Spyderco SpydeRench, Lum Chinese Chopper Folder, Rolling Lock, Benchmade M2 Axis, M2 Axis AFCK, M2 Pinnacle and the REKAT NEW KNIVES.

"The victorious Warrior wins first and then goes to war, while the defeated Warrior goes to war and then seeks to win" Sun-Tzu











 
One of the things I have done to help with trading is to obtain a digital signature for my email. It is cheap ($20.00 per year) and at least offers the assurance to those I deal with that I am who I say I am. I know it doesn't guarantee a good deal or an honest person, but at least those whom I deal with know my real name and address, which is sometimes a lot more than you get with "handles" on the net.
 
One problem with black listing dealers who gave you a "bad" deal is that the dealer may think, in all honesty, that he gave you a "good" deal. Sometimes misunderstandings occur between good-intentioned people. I wouldn't want my personal reputation to suffer on account of someone's misguided assumption that I "ripped him off" because he expected too much out of the trade. It's not that easy for the rest of us to know who's the good guy and who's the bad guy when the fights break out. I think that, as a general principle, more is gained from stating positive reasons for dealing with a particular person rather than negative reasons for not dealing.

DRock
 
Pass, fail? Shades of CTT and SQT eh, Spark? I think that's a good idea since the rating system may be a bit subjective. How about a certification system based on a vouching program? I, for instance, know some people here and have traded with them. I can vouch for them and they can vouch for me. Let's say I'm applying for certification at Bladeforums.com. I would need, say, at least 5 good references in order to qualify. We would need a starter group of individuals who can be references. The network would spread out from there. Someone considering doing business with a member of Bladeforums can check a section of the site to view that person's certification. What do you think?
 
It looks like you guys may want reviews of the dealers along with a rating system. We can do that but you guys would have to help out.

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Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Lead - Follow or get out of the way!
www.wowinc.com



 
Spark

Please repost you 10-1-0 theory. I think it may be applicable to this thread.

No rating system can be subjective.

 
Just resurrecting this trhread in light of Derek's experience with William.

I like Mike's suggestion:

I think we can assist here by listing people as traders in the new links section. You can then rate them based on your experiences. The trader can ask to be listed and rated.

Then it would encourage them to do so if they wish to do business with our members.
Click to expand...

Any more ideas?

(Spark, you can move this to the GBU Forum if you want.)
 

I agree with D ROCK .I would hate to get my name posted because someone was being unreasonable.My wife does selling and trading on other sites and they always ask for referances.It can be scary sending off a knife and not being 100% confident that you are getting one back.So far all my deals have passed.
scott w
 
I am sure that some of the other people here who trade/sell, also do so in other places like Ebay, Blade Auction, and so forth. I tried to sell a LH BM CQC7 here, had some inquiry but no takers. If some one needed references I would have just routed them over to see my Ebay rating.

Most folks are pretty honest people and the jerks are the minority. I have send items to people never asking for money up front and haven't been burned yet.
 
Mike,

I think this is the best solution. As you say, if people want business, they will want to be listed. A 1-10 rating system allows for some leeway. People just have to be realistic in their expectations, and not base their ratings of people so much on the time it takes to ship - we all know UPS and USPS can take their time if they want to. If this avoids the problems with possible law suits, then this sounds great.


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JP Bullivant
 
I have thought about this myself. Since I have tried to buy almost every knife on the forum, I always worry about getting screwed. However, I have Fed Ex screw some stuff up that was out of my control, and while it worked out OK, someone might have given me a bad rating on that. I usually scan a picture and send it to whoever I am trading with so that there will be no doubt as to condition.

I thought about coming up with some kind of bond that you could put up and be held by the BF administrators. I know they probably don't need anything more to do since this is not a profit venture. I thought maybe they could act as arbitors in the case of a disagreement. If you are a regular trader and have posted a $50 bond, they could award it to someone if they rule in their favor. Again, this may be more work and hassle than anybody wants. I would be willing to do it because I trade every week.

I want to add that I have NEVER been screwed after countless knife trades. Every disagreement I have ever had has been settled like true gentlemen. I want to thank Mike and Spark for the BF trade forum, as it is the first thing I check everyday.

Rude Water Herring
 
Spark & Mike:

I think this rating idea is great either way you decide to do it. I know that I have had several people email me about someone just because they remember seeing me do business with them in the past. I've been lucky with having nothing but excellent transactions with other members, but I think something should be done to help protect people that have been screwed in the past.

It would be a shame to see everyone on the forum stop taking asvantage of all the possiblities here just because they can't trust the other members.

Whatever it turns out to be, count me in
smile.gif
!!

Dark Nemesis

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All of God's Critters may have knives, but most of them are stamped with the name BENCHMADE
 
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