PvtRyan Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 I had a thread posted in the US Sales and Trades section, and I'm also in the process of purchasing a gun advertised there. For some reason, it isn't there anymore. My posts are gone, the thread is gone, and I can't even see the forum anymore. Something up? Link to post Share on other sites
RedRaptor Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 You now need to have at least 100 posts to see the US Sales/Trades subforum. I don't like it either, since I'm a mod at ASB and do most of my posting there and not here as a result, but hey, 'dem's the rules. *shrug* Link to post Share on other sites
PvtRyan Posted March 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 "Now" as in "of yesterday"? Link to post Share on other sites
crackisbad Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 "now" as in "today" there have been lots of pinned topics and announcements for the past two weeks that this was happening. glad to see people pay attention to that sort of stuff What? All members will be required to have 100 posts minimum before access to the US and Worldwide sales sections can be added. When? The change will come into effect on the first (1st) of March, 2008. Why? As you are all probably aware by now (there's been enough global announcements made!) we implemented a minimum of 100 post rule to access the UK sales section. This was done to prevent the abuse of this forum by scammers and fraudulent individuals, as there was a strong correlation between such members and low post counts. The change resulted in a significant drop in the number of such reported fraudulent activities on the UK section. Within the US and Worldwide sections there has been a marked increase of late of reports by members who feel they have been defrauded or scammed. In almost all cases, the accused had a low postcount. Given the success in the past of such a move within the UK section, we have decided to expand this strategy on a trial basis to the US and Worldwide sections. But...! We recognise that this will not prevent all incidents of fraud occurring, and that this is far from an ideal solution. However, we feel this is a small price to pay in order to better safeguard our members against fraud and deception. Furthermore, we apologise if this inconveniences any members with postcounts below 100 posts who are currently selling. If you feel you have sufficient justification for requiring immediate access to the sales section, please contact a member of the moderating team. We will consider all requests. anywho, for those members that are over 100 posts but still cant see the sale forums; all you need to do is post ONCE to change your status and you should be able to see them. if you still cant, PM a mod about it. I guess it would also be a good time to mention that the US sale forums will be restructured like the UK forums, with designated subgroups. Link to post Share on other sites
{{RommelsElite}}Pz4 Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 Ahh man.. I had an ad going in there... Oh well Link to post Share on other sites
PvtRyan Posted March 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 D'oh! That's what I get for not paying attention... This is the part where I feel like an idiot. Annnnnnnd..... there we go. Thanks for your help, and sorry to waste forum space with this! Link to post Share on other sites
shidarin Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 Aww man :/ Glad I bought the MOSFETs Friday. Link to post Share on other sites
Marlowe Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 If you have a sale going on in the interim period, ask and I will be happy to consider giving you access. In the case of members with VERY low post counts, I'd ask that you can have another member with whom you have dealt with commercially pm me to vouch for you. The last thing we want to do is stop people viewing the section, but if this means that we DO stop scammers ripping off our members, then I hope you'll agree it's all worth it. Link to post Share on other sites
wazzy1013 Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 (edited) hmm...that a dummer....but what can ya do wow; y do i only have 9 posts...i havev over 100 two days ago Edited March 2, 2008 by wazzy1013 Link to post Share on other sites
TriLL. Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 Ya this REALLY hurts me... I too was in the process of negotiating to purchase items. But o'well there will be other sales and people selling there things. Only like... 50 posts to go... Link to post Share on other sites
rbhoover Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I think this may seem like a good short term fix but I am afraid that this may turn people away from this site and they may revert to other sites (I won't name them!) Its kind of frustrating to know that since I don't waste everyone else's time with stupid pointless posts that I can't buy and sell with others on the site... I guess its time to start posting more nonsense to get my count up!!! Link to post Share on other sites
dannyboy Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Which would be spam, which would be against the rules. Next idea? Link to post Share on other sites
JoshB Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 ok so here is my problem with this situation. First i have been on here for a while and have made many deals on here and even done some trades as well. all have been flawless and now i can no longer do so becuase i work alot and have 2 jobs therefore do not do alot of posting in duscussions. So because i only have 42 post i get screwed. I mean i have made plenty of trades and deals here in the us sales section. No i get penalized for no posting on here alot. i mean really!!!!! this is not cool for those who are legit and fair dealing airsofters who just dont have the time to participate in the everyday discussions. I think that maybe this is not the best way to go about this. I would think there has to be other ways than penalizing those of us who cannot spend all our free time posting on the forums. I ask the mods to plase allow me back in or i will have to go elsewhere to buy and sell airsoft stuff. The worst part is i work for a retail airsoft store in my city as a repair tech and do more than my fair share to contribute to the sport and the community but because i dont do it enough here i am getiing shut out. I REALLY find this uncool and unfair...... Josh Link to post Share on other sites
Stealthbomber Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Which would be spam, which would be against the rules. Next idea? Ahh... Glad you raised that point. Besides spammers sticking out like a sore thumb, incurring warnings and also pinging on the mod' teams radar, spamming to reach 100 posts is a WONDERFUL way for a seller to create distrust. I keep saying this and I can only hope people listen... If you are buying something from someboy who has 100-odd posts, GO AND LOOK AT THEIR POSTS!!! If the person has 101 post that all say stuff like "Lol", "Cool" and "Yeah, me too" then you, as a buyer, REALLY should as yourself if you can trust a person who has signed up here for the apparent purpose of selling an item. If the seller has previous items for sale, go and look at the threads and see if those sales went well. CHECK THE SELLERS HISTORY OF POSTING. It WILL give you information to help you decide if the person is trustworthy. There ARE other forums and other places where you can sell an airsoft gun. We, at Arnies, have imposed this 100 post barrier as a way to stop people showing up, selling tat and then vanishing. It's there to protect buyers and to encourage sellers to participate in the community here rather than simply using the site as an on-line yard sale. But anyway, main point being that, as a buyer you should ALWAYS LOOK AT THE SELLERS POSTS. They will often tell you a lot about the seller. Link to post Share on other sites
Sawney Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 ok so here is my problem with this situation. First i have been on here for a while and have made many deals on here and even done some trades as well. all have been flawless and now i can no longer do so becuase i work alot and have 2 jobs therefore do not do alot of posting in duscussions. So because i only have 42 post i get screwed. I mean i have made plenty of trades and deals here in the us sales section. No i get penalized for no posting on here alot. i mean really!!!!! this is not cool for those who are legit and fair dealing airsofters who just dont have the time to participate in the everyday discussions. I think that maybe this is not the best way to go about this. I would think there has to be other ways than penalizing those of us who cannot spend all our free time posting on the forums. I ask the mods to plase allow me back in or i will have to go elsewhere to buy and sell airsoft stuff. The worst part is i work for a retail airsoft store in my city as a repair tech and do more than my fair share to contribute to the sport and the community but because i dont do it enough here i am getiing shut out. I REALLY find this uncool and unfair...... Josh Just PM a mod, politely explain your situation and ask for access. Link to post Share on other sites
hello Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 ok so here is my problem with this situation. First i have been on here for a while and have made many deals on here and even done some trades as well. all have been flawless and now i can no longer do so becuase i work alot and have 2 jobs therefore do not do alot of posting in duscussions. So because i only have 42 post i get screwed. I mean i have made plenty of trades and deals here in the us sales section. No i get penalized for no posting on here alot. i mean really!!!!! this is not cool for those who are legit and fair dealing airsofters who just dont have the time to participate in the everyday discussions. I think that maybe this is not the best way to go about this. I would think there has to be other ways than penalizing those of us who cannot spend all our free time posting on the forums. I ask the mods to plase allow me back in or i will have to go elsewhere to buy and sell airsoft stuff. The worst part is i work for a retail airsoft store in my city as a repair tech and do more than my fair share to contribute to the sport and the community but because i dont do it enough here i am getiing shut out. I REALLY find this uncool and unfair...... Josh Im kinda in the same situation. Ive been here for almost 3 years now and i dont really post alot, usually just to get help and occasionaly to buy stuff. Oh well. What can you do... Link to post Share on other sites
Dock trinE Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I'm not against this restriction or anything but... Shouldn't it be the responsibility of the buyer or seller to make sure whomever they buy from/sell to. I mean if I buy from an online retailer and they scam me, I dont blame the internet or my ISP for connecting me to that site. This forum is just a place that allows buyers and sellers to connect. It shouldnt be the responsibility of the forum to make sure that all the transactions go smoothly. Link to post Share on other sites
Pablo Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 It isn't our responsibility, you're right. However, we can't sit by and do nothing when we hear that people are being scammed. We didn't have to take this action, but did so in the interests of our members. I was online when we did this for the UK, so I know all the arguments for and against doing it. So far, no argument against it has convinced me it's a bad idea. As has been said a few times now, if you don't have sufficient posts then you can PM a mod to ask for access or you can post some more until you can. We have a hella lot of subforums here for all kinds of people. If you really really can't find anything here to which you can usefully contribute other than the Sales sections I'll be very surprised (and slightly disapointed to be honest) but again just PM a mod and request access. Link to post Share on other sites
Romulus Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I know that I am not effected by this change (other than having less traffic come to my sales) but I still feel that post count in general is a very poor way to judge whether a seller is good or not. Honestly, I have had some of my best transactions with people who have low post counts. In my experience a new seller work very very hard to satisfy the customer because they are new and because some people automatically assume that they shouldn't buy from them. Conversely, a high post count only means that a person has basic computer skills and speaks a bit of English. Often times the highest posters on a board are the ones who make the most frivolous comments (how else did they get more posts than everyone). The dangerous part of this new policy is that it reinforces the idea that post count has something to do with a sellers reliability. The only time that I have ever been scammed on Arnie's was by a member, TunerGuy, who had nearly 200 posts and had been an active member of the board for several months. He had handled at least one transaction involving about US$1000 and a number of others in the US$500 range. I bought an item from him for US$200+ and the next day he disappeared from the forum. He hasn't been back since and I never got my item. The above anecdote shows why I never trust people based on post count. I was a fairly new member at the time (I had just been a part of the board for 2-3 months) and I thought that people with a high post count knew what they were talking about. Now, 1000+ posts later I have learned never to judge people by post count. Instead I look at their items, prevention, pricing, post content, and reputation from other buyers and sellers to develop my opinion about whether or not they are trustworthy enough to do business with. But I digress. Just to clarify I'm not really trying to get the policy changed. I will defer to what the mods think is best and if the system doesn't work for me I will find a place/system that will. Still, I felt compelled to share my 2 cents on this issue since I do feel strongly about it. Link to post Share on other sites
Pablo Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 We all agree that post count alone is no sign of trustworthiness, but we have seen a recent trend of scams from people with low post counts (who seem to have only joined the forum to scam and are not interested in contributing to the community in any way), hence the introduction of this policy. While you might not have been a victim of this, others have. If we can discourage this kind of activity by introducing this policy, then it would be remiss of us not to. Link to post Share on other sites
Skintband Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Well before we all get our panties in a bunch and start tossing tea into boston harbor over this deal. I can fully understand why the adminstration was forced to do something like this to try and help protect members, was it in our best interest possibly, it will make me contribute more, and without conversation this wood a pointless endeavor if noone posted anything to read? Link to post Share on other sites
Stealthbomber Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 ...I still feel that post count in general is a very poor way to judge whether a seller is good or not. Well, given that we get reports of FAR fewer scammers now and we don't get people signing up to sell fake rolexes and stolen mobile phones, that'd mean you're mistaken. Link to post Share on other sites
JoshB Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Well here is my final take on this whole deal. I understand what the Admins are trying to do ( even if i dont think it will work and it will create spam posts by people trying to get thier count up). I think that those of us who are legit as well as very busy and come here for the sales section mainly are getting ripped off. I dont think its fair to punish or well exclude (for a better word) those people like myself who have been doing buisness here for a while very successfully and fairly just because we donthave high post counts. As i stated before i work 2 jobs and use my net time wisely to find deals on things i need or sell stuff i dont. i dont have a ton of post time to just sit and write repsonses to general threads (im sorry i just dont have time). So i think that there should be another way to do this maybe only limiting new members from a certain date forward or something. this way those of us who have been here a while and already have a decent rep can still get stuff done. I went so far as to PM a mod for access again and as of yet have gotten no repsonse. So that doesnt seem to work either. So again i thnk they some of u are getting the short end of the stick. on another note. MODS/ADMINS May i please have access to the us sales section again please. I have tried PM's and gotten no answer so i am asking publicly here. Thanks for hearing my rants and opinions. Josh (Gears from www.wisconsinairsoftwars.com ) Link to post Share on other sites
Pablo Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Your request has been passed on to the Admin team. As I'm sure you can appreciate there have been a number of requests and they are also busy people, so it won't happen straight away (if at all). They decide who gets bumped and who doesn't (us Mods don't have that access ourselves). Link to post Share on other sites
Marlowe Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Okay guys, I know I'm repeating myself here, but for the sake of you folks unsure about things still: As I have already stated, if you are currently selling kit please contact me and I will give you access. If you are wishing to buy kit but do not have 100 posts, I would advise you to work to 100 posts, without posting spam or meaningless content. I will consider any sincere requests from buyers below 100 posts for access, so long as clear evidence of your reliability in commercial transactions on this forum are given. This should take the form of giving references for members with whom you have had successful trades on this forum (whether buying or selling). Those found spamming will sadly face disciplinary action, as they are breaching the forum rules by doing so. Depending on how severe the case is, your postcount may also be reset. As a forum we welcome criticism so long as it is constructive and given without any intent to antagonise or abuse the staff here. That's what I'd like to think sets us apart from many other forums. I'll leave this section open for your continuing discussion, but please remember the site rules when posting and ensure you do not allow any frustration to lead you into misguided comments which may result in your expulsion from the forum. I also appreciate the basis for your criticism, and recognise the validity of your views. However, based upon the experience of the staff, who have responsibility for dealing with and policing the sales sections on Arnies, and having seen how rare fraud claims have become on the UK sales, we feel we are doing our US and Worldwide members a disservice by not enabling the same safety net. Foolproof it is not, but I fully expect the same drop in problematic sales to occur over upcoming months. If this does remain an issue for you, then we will be sorry to see you leave but we will continue to do what we can to protect our membership. Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
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