Members of 6speed,

In recent weeks, a large number of 6speed members have fallen victim to fraudulent sales on the forum. While most of you are aware of the fiasco involving several members and a vendor...

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-must-see.html

...more recently, members have been outright robbed. As moderators, we have no way to police this without your help.

With increasing frequency, we have members on this forum selling items, receiving payment, then either sending incorrect items or completely disappearing from the forum. As moderators, we have an email address (which is usually abandoned) and an IP address. We have no way to intervene or assist when members use 6speed with the intention to steal or commit fraud. The number of members being scammed by fraudulent sellers is climbing at an alarming rate. For an up to date list of recent problems, please click here:https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...tin-board.html

If you find members who are posting items for sale outside of the marketplace, please inform the moderators. The marketplace forums are locked to any member who has not spent time here on 6speed and has not posted with any frequency. This prevents casual users or criminals from logging into our forum, taking advantage of members, then disappearing. If you find members jumping into a "want to buy" thread, posting they have something for sale - yet they have insufficient posts or membership time, please report these individuals.

If you make payment, use a credit card. If you pay with PayPal, do not send a "gift." This is extremely important. If you pay as a "gift" Paypal will not help you with a dispute. Pay the fees so you have some recourse.

For those members who are unhappy with moderators deleting, moderating, or removing posts, this policy is necessary to prevent future transgressions. The rules that we are enforcing are:

1. ALL items for sale made by members who have <30 posts and <30 days membership will be removed.
2. Any member selling items with duplicate accounts will be ban. No exceptions.

If you have additional ways to help protect our members, please comment.

bob

 

What about adding a #rep power to the #posts to be able to send PM and post "for sale"?

This might make it more difficult for members with only a number of pointless posts to be selling/buying?

To make it work you might have make the criteria a min #rep power from a minimum #members.

 

I thought about that. I'm worried about the following:

1. Not many people use it. New members may have to wait months before receiving any reputation points.
2. Some people leave negative rep purposefully as "revenge" for a negative rep received.
3. Some members leave negative rep simply because they don't like the other member...you should see some of the comments that are left.
4. Positive rep points have been left at random - which doesn't reflect a person's true reputation.

 

James, you don't have to pm another member...the visitor message service is provided for new members to leave a message for another member...just left click on the members user name banner and a pull down menu will appear..one of the choices is view public profile...there you will see a visitor message box...just type in the box and post message...voila

 

the problem with an open communication philosophy is that it inevitably opens the door to an individual whose sole purpose is to defraud...I believe Bob's purpose with this thread is to reflect that we don't wish to restrict what communication can take place...He is trying to encourage members to raise their awareness as to whom they are doing business with and make that determination before they send their money off...we are talking thousands of dollars lost here so it is not a trivial matter

 

1. True. I think I had to wait ~2 years before reaching the 100 posts req. to post in the sales section.
2. Did'nt know you could even see who left rep. points...
3. Probably
4. Undoubtly

I'm still unsure that the current system based on no of posts is any better. Still, its extermely hard to balance the needs for: low user inconviniece, high protection against fraud and the very low administrative load required by a non payment site.

 

I have a headache thinking about how to make this safe yet fair for everyone.

 

understandable...pass the tylenol...you can't...so you might as well protect the existing members as best you can even though it pisses off newbies that they can't just join and start selling...any kind of rating system, whether it is rep or sales ratings is susceptable to manipulation...the bad actors bulletin board is a good starting point but it is not the answer either

 

I think it is up the buyer to be sure he is looking at legitimate purchase.

I believe the current rules are good.

 

Thank you for your input. We try and weed out those members who join this forum just to buy and sell items. Recently we have had several scam artists join with the only intention of ripping off unsuspecting members.

bob

 

Check out learpytrout on the pepper forum. Trading speakers for a Ferrari. New member.

 

I don't think it's possible to accomplish this feat bob. It's unfortunate but no matter what you institute policy-wise, scam artists will find a way around it. The minimum post count thing, the rep power thing, all good ideas, but if you think about it, there are ways to circumvent it. We have to assume these aren't computer driven bots and real people, so they can just randomly post "Nice!" and "Looks great!" on anyone's "Look what I got" threads.

And to stop being a debbie downer lol, here's an option:
From the other forum I came from for BMWs, they had a user feedback system for transactions that went through the for sale sections of the site. After every purchase, the buyer and seller could add a feedback message, much like the one on eBay. While this doesn't really help with any new scammers that appear, it can help put some people's mind at ease when purchasing from other 6speeders that have sold stuff before with no problems. Just a thought.

 

bbywu-

I bought 997Gt2 sport bucket seats from Paro. One of the Bad Actors Bulletin Board members.
I sent him $3800 paypal and when I noticed he was shady I sent him so many emails that he refunded me. Then I heard from woozie that he didn't even return his emails.....I got so lucky!!He wanted me to send him as a gift but I refused. I paid extra just to cover his fees but did not send as gift.

 

True, but a guy can go back and read a member's previous posts on most any board (including vBulletin). If they post like you, they are probably good. If they just post brief "looks great" stuff, they are probably not good to trade with.

Once they pass the first sniff test, you can ask for a few more pictures and then use email and the phone to better clarify their honesty.

I've made several purchases on message boards without a problem. I've passed on a few items that just didn't seem right (one guy emailed me that he didn't have a phone ; one guy couldn't really explain how he got the part, nor knew much about it).

Buyer be aware.

 

there is a reason that the following comment is posted in bold and we are still getting complaints from members that paid through Paypal as a "gift"...please don't do this...if someone asks you to do this to avoid additional fees it is a huge red flag....be aware that if you elect this option Paypal will not provide you any recourse if the deal goes bad...

If you pay with PayPal, do not send a "gift." This is extremely important. If you pay as a "gift" Paypal will not help you with a dispute. Pay the fees so you have some recourse.