I am not advocating that we disclose our full contact details to the general forum, only to the moderators/staff/admin of the site. And only as a pre-requisite for participating in the buying/selling/trading threads.
But what would really help is if I see something for sale from another member or I am selling something myself, I click on their username and their profile pops-up (just like it does now), and in addition to the existing details, something along the lines of "Trader Rating: 100% Positive, Negative, etc" is readily displayed in the pop-up. If we wanted more in-depth information on the user, we could navigate to their actual profile page (just like we already do) and get the reviews that previous buyers/sellers have left.
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The trader rating criteria could be fairly simple:
- Did the product arrive as advertised? - Y/N
- Was communication clear and quick during the process? - Y/N
- Would you trade with this user in the future? - Y/N
- How would you rate the overall transaction? Positive/Negative
- A text field could be present as well for general comments that would remain on the user's profile page until the trumpets sound.
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The rest is a math function that could be programmed into the forum background by someone familiar with coding. If it were PLC or HMI programming, I could handle it, but I am no "coder".
Navigating to an obscure thread or forum section dedicated to a different subject to search for positive or negative trading information about a fellow member could be streamlined with my suggested approach.
Don't misunderstand me, I am not bashing the forum. I like this place a lot and am not trying to step on anyone's toes.