Rating for buyer and sellers..

[nakedtoes]

I think there is a serious need for this rating to protect the community here especially the newbies. Other major forums which have classified section also have these features... Have encountered a few un-honest and rude sellers. I believe there are more which many are unable to voice out.

What i have seen so far..

1) One forumer selling grey set as warranted set
2) One selling a scratched filter and claim no scratch at all and worse still raise his voice in the phone:thumbsd:

 

[Fotophilic]

I agree. I used to have a bit of gd ratings. But sometime later, this system was removed. :cry:

Having the ratings does provide some convi for newbies and alike to make a better buying decision from well rated sellers in CS.

I have encountered ppl trying to sell me lenses with fungus (claimed condition 10/10), scratched lenses (claimed condition 10/10), etc. One time more pwer, I sold one lens, and this person claimed that my lens got fungus. I said ok, i refund u. When i go and collect, i realised (on the spot) the lens was not the one i sold him! He just swap the lens of the same model, trying to smoke me. And some of these ppl, sadly, are ppl who have been here in the forum for sometime. Imagine how these sellers can kill the joy of photography.

Just my tot.

 

[Simon_84]

my recent deal with a seller more power...play with his words some more!
tell me old filter but didnt tell me is slightly scratched.
still tell me is on his gd part to include this free damaged filter to me.
i was like come on man! , i paid the highest possible market price to get this lens only to face with a cunning seller.
wth sia...he's a single digit poster some more, resigistered in 06 :thumbsd:

 

[pphyll]

i do agree that the buy and sell rating should come back. As there are a lot of buy and sell ppl will bid and back out. It is really frustrating to post reserved and then have to say buyer back out without viewing as this would cause ppl to have doubt with the item. There are also good buy and sell ppl keep their promise and good seller around that need to let the rest know too.

 

[sORe-EyEz]

its a nice idea, but in really...

- how can the ratings be truthfully verified? (regular khakis dealing frequently)
- what happens if a newbie seller buyer backs out due to unforeseen circumstances & be blacklisted by well connected & regular users? (online bullies)
- would items sold have a personal warranty of said number of days if a faulty item is sold? how would it be enforced?

would such ratings conveniently shift the blame if a buyer did not exercise caution before a transaction is carried through.

if a rating system is going to be put in place i will hope for a robust 1, & refinements along the way as no system is foolproof.

 

[nightwolf75]

fyi - CS used to have the iTrader rating system. however, it was found to have (a) caused a massive slowdown on our servers especially during the peak hours, and (b) caused a few major bugs in the software. hence, it was removed.

in case those who are unaware, our backend hardware is currently undergoing repairs and replacement by our CS Admins Darren, Simon and Edmund. they are doing it on whatever free time they have, on top of their daily full-time jobs.... which is in the middle of the night.

end of the day, as much as some of us like the iTrader system, it does not prevent buyer/seller problems. bottom line - caveat emptor.

 

[Leong23]

Think that if anyone want to buy/sell in the forum, he/she had to take the risk, search through his/her previous posting and see whether are you comfortable with him/her.

Imaging, if CS had rating for buyer/seller, and happen i'm play out by this highly rated buyer, so it will be another round of discussion whether this system is useful or accurate.

So it is really caveat emptor.

 

[Shin Howard]

Buying used Lens & Camera Body from unknown sellers definitely include risk of getting poor condition items or even damaged items.
Unless you really have good experience on checking & verifying the condition of the Lens/DSLR Body.
Hence, It is always more advisable for newbies to get brand new sets rather than taking the risks & wasting $$.

IMO, I don't think having a rating on the sellers in CS will be effective.
As we are a forum not Yahoo auctions or ebay.

just my 2 cents worth..:think:

 

[sORe-EyEz]

should this topic be made sticky? i believe & remember there was a huge interest on this in the past in Kopitiam.

it would do good to explain the reason behind the decision. as time & again such a request pops up.

 

[catchlights]

Yes, even with the rating system restore, also not foolproof, anyone can just register a new account to start trading again.

so only just one word: caveat emptor.

btw: kudos to CS Admins Darren, Simon and Edmund for sacrifice their free time to let CS running smoothly.

 

[Simon_84]

the itrader system over at vrzone is rather messed-up...buyers give negative feedbacks to sellers and vice versa.
quite troublesome for the mods to clear up the mess.

 

[roygoh]

So far the only buyer/seller rating system that I trust the most is the system implemented at astromart, but that system comes at a price - some inconvenience and a very elaborate software tracking system.

Here's what I understand:

1. Firstly, members cannot register with free email accounts, so no hotmail, gmail accounts etc are allowed. Only ISP or legitimate company accounts are accepted. That limits the possibility of people registering multiple accounts.

2. When you respond to an ad through astromart, both you and the seller are each given a "token" to provide feedback for each other. Most people use if the sale actually took place, but it is also possible to use that even if you did not end up buying from the seller (system does not track sale completion), but would like to provide feedback on the interaction.

3. After you have made the initial respond to an ad via astromart, subequent correspondence between buyer and seller is through email. No thread crashing, open bargaining and what not.

4. It is not possible to contact a seller outside of astromart unless you have dealt with the seller before and has his/her email address.

5. If you are not logged in, you cannot see the price of the item on sale.

I think it is a comprehensive and effective system, though it is not perfect. So far I have had very good experience buying stuff from astromart, and have never come across any seller with a negative feedback.

Interesting note also that recently ebay has removed the ability of sellers to provide negative feedback to buyers to prevent retaliative behavior from bad sellers.

 

[roygoh]

Bear in mind also that right from the start the B&S on CS is provided mainly as a convenience to our members. The admins and mods were never prepared to spend too much time managing/policing the section, as the main focus of CS is still the promotion of photography, not equipment trading. Thus we continue to stress on "Caveat Emptor" - let the buyer beware.

Over time we have made a number of adjustments to help improve overall experience of members trading in B&S, but we have also constantly reminded our members to always do your own homework and take responsibility of their own decisions.

Here are a few things I would like to remind buyers:

1. MOST IMPORTANT: Set your expectations accordingly
- The better the deal you are getting, the higher the chance it will slip through your fingers.
- Always factor in the risk of seller backing out, or buying a lemon, especially if you do not know the seller.
- If you cannot take such risks, then only deal with people you know and trust.
- Understand the current system and limitations of CS B&S. Yes, we are constantly looking for ways to improve it, but until we do, don't expect things that the current system cannot guarantee...such as the integrity of the seller.

2. Research, research, research. This includes market price of the item you are buying as well as seller's reputation.

3. Ask questions, and if you don't get satisfactory answers, don't commit. Discuss and negotiate the terms carefully, and be as clear and specific as possible. Communicate over email or some recorded media, instead of just verbal communication.

4. Check the item thoroughly before you accept and pay for the item. If you want to take the seller's word for some unchecked areas, you are responsible, not the seller, if it turns out to be untrue. So if something like that happens, take it like a man, learn the lesson and be more careful next time, instead of openning a complaint thread in Kopitiam. I know, such threads serve as a warning to other buyers about this big bad seller that cheated you, but how useful is that when you are whining about a new seller who can easily register a new account the next day?

Final thoughts. If you know of a buy/sell network in US called the craigslist, then treat buying and selling on CS the same as you would on craigslist. All the above apply to dealing on craigslist.

Thanks.

-Roy