Done! Please reinstate the member I.D. photo requirement in Marketplace listings

[Patty]

I think we should reinstate the old Marketplace rule that a seller must provide proof that the listing is real. Among photos of the uke for sale should be at least one showing the UU member's name or "handle," the notation "UU" or "Ukulele Underground," plus the date. This should be shown propped against the instrument, or placed under the strings. This would guarantee that photos downloaded from the Internet aren't used by someone posing as a new (or long inactive) "member" to sell an instrument they don't actually own.

After all, there have been cases of UU members being scammed by fake Marketplace listings.

So if there's a vote, I vote yes.

 

[emba]

One thing that came up earlier is there notion of a "verified" badge for both buyers and sellers (and traders!), like the ones for UU VIP, staff, etc. ...but I don't know the right language to use, or how to establish the criteria.

Assuming that we can come up with something, does that sound worthwhile?

I do think it sounds useful but have no idea how it could be done, especially without making lots of work for mods. If a person has completed a transaction as either a buyer or seller, and could fill out a form, which then the other person in that transaction logs into to say essentially “yes, they held up their end of the deal”, and then both could get the badge. . . It would be reassuring, but of course I can easily think of several ways that people could game the system (mainly by creating sock puppet accounts) and make it meaningless.

 

[rainbow21]

I was just thinking that. POO™ does have a certain ring to it.

That would be a winnie for everyone

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

I voted yes using the arrows, which I would never have noticed if not for Mod Tim’s guidance.

 

[Mike $]

I have seen marketplaces on other sites where they rate the seller. Presumably you buy something from them, and after the transaction is complete you rate them so others can judge their reliability. I am sure there are ways to fool the system, but eventually you can judge by how many posts, how long they have been members, and how many positive reactions to their transactions they have earned. But that would be a topic for another vote.

 

[EDW]

I like the idea of some type of rating as mentioned above. If a person is a regular member of the forum with a lot of activity I think there is far less risk. I am mostly concerned when there are brand new members whose only activity is in the marketplace.

But, overall whatever works and makes people feel comfortable is fine with me

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

I think we should reinstate the old Marketplace rule that a seller must provide proof that the listing is real. Among photos of the uke for sale should be at least one showing the UU member's name or "handle," the notation "UU" or "Ukulele Underground," plus the date. This should be shown propped against the instrument, or placed under the strings. This would guarantee that photos downloaded from the Internet aren't used by someone posing as a new (or long inactive) "member" to sell an instrument they don't actually own.

After all, there have been cases of UU members being scammed by fake Marketplace listings.

So if there's a vote, I vote yes.

Just because I wondered what might happen, I tried to vote “up” a 2nd time. The count went down rather than up, so I may have unintentionally cancelled my vote…ugh.
So much for the trite election strategy, “vote early, vote often!”.

In the spirit of adding wonky but (IMHO) appropriate perspective to the subject at hand:
Is there an as-yet- unreported but widespread, ongoing shortage or lack of retail availability of sheets of paper, index cards, felt-tip markers or even crayons amongst the same population of uke owners who have the ability and resources to create, edit and post digital photos?

 

[TimWilson]

That would be a winnie for everyone

No need to belabor this -- I've never seen more upvotes for a suggestion arrive faster since we started taking votes. It's done!

Since @Arcy wrote the original post, and I didn't want to push the joke too far without consulting with him (he's currently offline for a bit), I'm playing it pretty straight.

Here's what I wrote: "To confirm that you own the ukulele(s) that you are listing, we require that at least one photograph in each listing include a handwritten verification of ownership with your forum member name, the date, and either 'UU' or 'Ukulele Underground.'" There's also a couple of example photos, so take a look, lemme know what you think!

 

[Patty]

No need to belabor this -- I've never seen more upvotes for a suggestion arrive faster since we started taking votes. It's done!

Since @Arcy wrote the original post, and I didn't want to push the joke too far without consulting with him (he's currently offline for a bit), I'm playing it pretty straight.

Here's what I wrote: "To confirm that you own the ukulele(s) that you are listing, we require that at least one photograph in each listing include a handwritten verification of ownership with your forum member name, the date, and either 'UU' or 'Ukulele Underground.'" There's also a couple of example photos, so take a look, lemme know what you think!

Maybe "verification of ownership" would confuse people. You're not asking for the sales receipt. How about "verification of good faith"? In effect it says that yes, you do really own this uke.

 

[Wiggy]

Well, OK then. How about "Proof Of Possession?"
POP - is[n't] that what a buyer would want to know?

 

[TimWilson]

Well, OK then. How about "Proof Of Possession?"
POP - is[n't] that what a buyer would want to know?

I like it! Changed to that.

 

[Ziret]

I don’t think we really need this. UU members are pretty clearly identified as to the date they joined, so with that plus the photo I.D., a prospective buyer can make the judgment call (maybe even PM for a phone number to have a conversation).

I don’t think the date a member joined shows up in the mobile app. Nor the number of times they’ve posted. At least I can never find it. I wish they did.

As far as the photo requirement goes, I don’t feel strongly either way. I admit, I’ve been secretly proud of the fact that I’m not asked to do that anymore, but didn’t really realize it had fallen off our requirements lately. My memory could be wrong, but it used to be you had to do it on the first few times you put something up for sale, and there were people who made sure you did so. After establishing a reputation, no one cared anymore. But cultures change, and it’s a matter of a few seconds to do this, so I’m fine with it.

 

[TimWilson]

I don’t think the date a member joined shows up in the mobile app. Nor the number of times they’ve posted. At least I can never find it. I wish they did.

Just tap a user name, and a handy little widget appears! Here's a screenshot using your post as an example...where it is also revealed that I'm following you (not in a creepy way ):



It's pretty cool! Doesn't take you off the page, and to dismiss it, just click anywhere outside the pop-up!

 

[UkeOkay]

Just curious on how this will be enforced. Will the moderators now have to screen all for sale postings?

 

[TimWilson]

Just curious on how this will be enforced. Will the moderators now have to screen all for sale postings?

We already do! I do my best to read every post that goes up anywhere in the forums, but I'm here in the next to last timezone on earth, and I'm sometimes late. And sure, I have my goals, but ...

In the meantime, I know that the many, many folks who are subscribed to the Marketplace and get notified of every new post as it goes up are very quick to point folks in the right direction. I'm really not thinking that this is going to be any kind of challenge that the MPs (MarketPlacers) don't already have well in hand.

 

[Ziret]

Just tap a user name, and a handy little widget appears! Here's a screenshot using your post as an example...where it is also revealed that I'm following you (not in a creepy way ):

View attachment 151243

It's pretty cool! Doesn't take you off the page, and to dismiss it, just click anywhere outside the pop-up!

That is cool! And now I’ll follow you—if I wasn’t already.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Thank you @Patty for spearheading this process by taking the initiative to post the subject to enable a yes/ no tally!

 

[Eggs_n_Ham]

I don’t think we really need this. UU members are pretty clearly identified as to the date they joined, so with that plus the photo I.D., a prospective buyer can make the judgment call (maybe even PM for a phone number to have a conversation).

Ah, that's true. I was thinking about those rare outlier folks that signed up two years ago, never used the site then want to make a purchase or the "is there anything suspicious about this post?" post.

 

[kkimura]

Is this the same as;

Done! - Requirement to post photo with name, date, and UU.

There have been more for sale posts than reasonable missing the 'proof of possession' photo since it was reinstated. It may help if folks were reminded of this requirement [and any others?] on the same page where the initial post is made [price, location, shipping, etc].

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

 

[ploverwing]

Is this the same as;

Done! - Requirement to post photo with name, date, and UU.

There have been more for sale posts than reasonable missing the 'proof of possession' photo since it was reinstated. It may help if folks were reminded of this requirement [and any others?] on the same page where the initial post is made [price, location, shipping, etc].

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

I suspect that one is more about enforcing this requirement; this original post was about turning it into a requirement. But yes! they are intimately related to one another!