APS members,
Whilst reflecting on the following thread I started thinking about ways that APS Admin could try and minimise situations like this occurring again.
Therefore, in addition to the excellent advice already offered by our members, I have decided to implement some changes. While these changes are relatively small, if used effectively I think they will have a huge impact to the experience members have using the Marketplace.
The changes so far:
Going forward, I would like to encourage sellers to have their buyers leave feedback in the relevant threads. That way other members can view this and make an informed decision. For this purpose, I will be deleting any non essential posts ("any left?", "where ya from?", etc.) on a regular basis.
Whilst reflecting on the following thread I started thinking about ways that APS Admin could try and minimise situations like this occurring again.
Therefore, in addition to the excellent advice already offered by our members, I have decided to implement some changes. While these changes are relatively small, if used effectively I think they will have a huge impact to the experience members have using the Marketplace.
The changes so far:
- All new registrations are manually screened and rejected where applicable. Full name & location are required for registration. While this isn't 100% foolproof against fake names, needless to say that Barney Rubble who lives in Your Mum will be rejected every time. Here is an example of the latest signups & rejections....
- A new anti-spam system was implemented last week. This has been rigorously tested and thus far is working as expected. Whilst this doesn't affect the Marketplace experience so much, NO spam makes for a much happier APS experience in general.
- The state prefix has now been forced. This means that the thread creator must choose which state they are located in before the thread can be created. A new SOLD prefix has also been added so that when the item/animals have been sold the thread can be updated accordingly.
- Perhaps the most visible change is the implementation of a new "Trusted Seller" banner. The general purpose of this is to let an uninformed member know they can buy with confidence. This will appear under your username where applicable. Some of you have already been awarded this banner, as I have quickly gone through recent users and chosen whom I know to be worthy of it. This is a manual system meaning it has to be approved and awarded by myself or Stu. Any sellers who don't have the banner but feel they would like it can contact me and I will review and adjust accordingly.
Going forward, I would like to encourage sellers to have their buyers leave feedback in the relevant threads. That way other members can view this and make an informed decision. For this purpose, I will be deleting any non essential posts ("any left?", "where ya from?", etc.) on a regular basis.
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