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I just joined up at http://forums.macnn.com/marketplace/ (MacNN marketplace)
Let's all go there for a while & see what happens.
I've got 20 GB iPods, a blue 2nd gen nano 4 GB, and a 30 GB 5G video iPod, among other things. Looking for a Pismo logic board and a good battery or two.
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wow, that's LAME. It's been a useful place to unload some old equipment for me in the past, but I have noticed the new rules put into place recently, and thought they were kind of dumb.
>people had to include their city, state, and zip code. This is mostly redundant and as a zip code can cover both city and state.
Exactly. I've listed my zip with all items for sale all the time. I can see how that could be an important bit of info for people to figure shipping, but that doesn't really tell me anything about the trustworthiness of the buyer or seller. You know what, my zip code is 22801. Good luck finding me even in a small city of 50,000.
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Well, I couldn't resist... Here's my reply to the list/rules/nanny.
My message to LEMSwap wrote:
Opening a message to all members with an insult. Thanks.
Alright, the rule: Members must include City/State/Zip in their postings, is just pointless. There's no way to properly verify that anyone is even posting the correct information. Beyond that, many people have only posted their zip code. A quick google maps search for that will give anyone the City and State for that code. Requiring a City and state are thus redundant. If you wanted your users to actually verify where someone lived prior to making a deal, that would require their street address. This could be verified via a reverse phone lookup, if their number were listed. (Most people are moving to mobile phones only, unlisted). Or, if the directory doesn't match: "Oh, I just moved last week" "I just moved in with my girlfriend, so I have to sell off a few items to make room" and so forth.
If someone breaks the rules, you expect them to PAY you via Paypal for any sales/purchases they've made? How in the world do you expect to enforce that? First off, any person could deny they made any sales/purchases stating that there was either no interest or that the deal(s) fell through. (It's against the rules to post "sold" updates) After you get past dishonesty, what about people who don't have paypal? I've done a few dealings with people who paid via money order.
Life and death? Oh my. I guess this means that every person is limited to a single e-mail address throughout their entire lifespan. Oh, and I suppose it also wouldn't be possible to set up an e-mail address with a fake name or nickname. That alone could get any person back into all the other lists. To get back into the LEMSwaplist, all they'd have to do is post fake City/States/Zip codes. Amazing, isn't it?
Now we're hearing how elite you are compared to us lowlifes... But all of your magical rules and powers have loopholes. Sure, a new user has to be moderated for a while, so you may catch a few people that way, but it's certainly not possible for you to catch everyone that starts over with a new e-mail unless you were to close the lists entirely.
If you want to avoid people selling an item multiple times, start requiring "Item Sold" updates be posted to the list and include who the buyer is for each item that has sold. If someone else is looking to buy that item, they can see it has already sold to someone else. Allow either buyers or sellers to make the sold notices as soon as a payment is agreed upon or a paypal payment is made. If someone gets taken within that short timespan, at least they'll have ample notice to make paypal claims, ect. Obviously this isn't a perfect solution either. There's no foolproof way to prevent scammers, which is why they still exist on ebay even with all the info ebay/paypal have in their system.
Please, think about these rules before they're implemented. Rules that can be easily circumvented are pointless. Enforcing them with an iron fist only insults your members who realize how trivial they are. Actually insulting your members... Personally, I think that's grounds for a nanny banning.
I'm sure that, if you asked, members would be happy to brainstorm more ideas that could help avoid further scamming incidents and discuss why other ideas won't work.
With anticipation on your next move,
-Donald Hall
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Unfortunately your wasting your breath with Paul, he is a first rate moron.
If you want to gripe about something on LemSwap, and have it handled in an adult fashion, you should direct your emails to Kyle: pixie at speakeasy dot net
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I remembered one of the LEM nannies being pretty idiotic at times, but couldn't remember who.
I haven't bothered to learn all the nannies by name/habit. I had suspected it might have been Kyle as he was the one posting all the City/State/Zip reminders.
Either way, the e-mail was sent to all members, so someone will read it. There are a few people suspecting that the e-mail from Paul isn't real. Either way, the City/State/Zip requirement is useless, I just wanted an excuse to break the silence.
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From the Google Groups ToS:
you agree that when using the Service, you will not:
[...]
post messages [...] prohibited by the Group owner.
That's the closest thing to a leg they have to stand on. The list owner's rights do not include the ability to impost monetary fines.
The rest of the groups rules pretty much go out the window, as the user does not have to see them or agree to them in order to join the list. They need something in the signup process that says "by using the group you agree to the rules at..."
The best LEM can do is say that something you post is prohibited by the group and ban you for that.
If you really want to make yourself heard, it might be worth contacting Google and pointing out how LEM is trying to profit in such a sneaky manner.
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woo- good point. That would get the group disposed of in a heart beat. Which would be a pity, but eh.
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The cosmic ballet continues.
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Figured I'd post an update to clear things up sorta...
A while after I posted my response, Dan (owner) posted a reply to the thread. He replied to my paragraph about the city/state being redundant and said agreed, but said it wasn't pointless as it let people know when local pickup would work. I don't see how a zip code doesn't do the same thing.. He proceeded to thank Paul, the nanny.
Later, Paul commented that it was indeed a spoof and was being looked into.
Between these were postings critiquing other responses for not having a sense of humor or agreeing that the City/State/Zip requirement was redundant and useless.
Before posting, I did anticipate the nanny posting to be spoofed, but wanted to use it as an excuse to critique the new rules. Overall, I think everything may be ignored. Sometimes I have to wonder if they give any consideration to their rules and policies.
I may be writing a nanny directly in the future. There are ways to help avoid scammers, but the ideas they've run with so far aren't going to work.
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