A salutary tale......caveat emptor

[marvin]

I agree Will. In my trusting ignorance thought that all advertisers were Cycling UK members - I am sadly disillusioned and disappointed.

[Cyril Haearn]

One has noticed some 'new' members who seem familiar, then they disappear. Again

'The member does not exist'

[thirdcrank]

From the posting guidelines. NB: This has been there so long it refers to CTC members.

Who can use it ?

This facility is open to the public as well as CTC members. We cannot tell who is and who isn't.

( It may be useful to ask the person you are intending to transact with if they are a CTC member and judge whether the answers are acceptable & credible. )

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=4963

[Sweep]

If you are trying to help folks for the future OP, could you perhaps answer my questions above about the seller's track record on here.

Must say in various dealings on here I have had only good to great experiences.

(well apart from one where I sold something cheap to someone I later suspected of being a trader of some sort).

No bad experiences at all as a buyer.

I am 100% persuaded that the seller has behaved badly......in the very least by refusing to even discuss the situation. I am completely open to scrutiny in terms of the item itself, the description which sold it to me, and my extensive track record in buying and selling via the form as a very long term CTC member. However by naming the seller publicly I turn a personal dispute into something different and I get the impression that he just could move to another cycling forum and change his user name anyway. As stated above, the question is more whether we need tighter controls around buying and selling. I will pass the seller’s name to moderators as requested and pursue him via the small claims court for misrepresentation.

Sorry, I have asked two relevant questions twice and you still don't seem to have answered.

Answers may have helped folks.

Which you say is your intention.

You seem intent on the mods instituting some sort of policing regime.

I see no way this could be made to work on a voluntary forum.

I'm out of here.

[pete75]

I avoid PayPal at all costs.
A small point to add is that PayPal as a company are dreadful, they certainly do not help you if you are selling, they take high levels of commission, they keep hold of sellers money far too long, make massive profits and employ some very clever people to ensue they pay virtually no tax.
Perhaps this site could set up something to help everyone?

Yep about 30 seconds. I've sold a fair bit of stuff on Ebay mostly paid for with Paypal. Money has always been immediately transferred to my bank account when requested.

[pete75]

See the post from mod Graham a page or two back. The sellers account has been deactivated so there's no point in publishing any details about them.

[leftpoole]

I avoid PayPal at all costs.
A small point to add is that PayPal as a company are dreadful, they certainly do not help you if you are selling, they take high levels of commission, they keep hold of sellers money far too long, make massive profits and employ some very clever people to ensue they pay virtually no tax.
Perhaps this site could set up something to help everyone?

Yep about 30 seconds. I've sold a fair bit of stuff on Ebay mostly paid for with Paypal. Money has always been immediately transferred to my bank account when requested.

I use Paypal regularly. I have had issues with goods purchased in the past. Paypal refund without fuss.
Sales Fees in my opinion are realistic, as after all sellers cover a massive market.
No problem for Paypal in my opinion.
John

[mercalia]

See the post from mod Graham a page or two back. The sellers account has been deactivated so there's no point in publishing any details about them.

well it would still have been interesting to know who the preson was whether it was some one "I know". Thta might be a shocking revelation " I didnt know he was like that". That sort of revelation is always edifying on places like this.

[simonineaston]

The notion of restricting access has benefits both ways - 2 examples: I'm a member of the Moulton Bicycle Club. The club website has a for sale / wanted section. Although many of the pages on the website are publicly accessible, only members can post / edit entries on the sales or wants pages. These pages are accessable (read-only) to non-members, but only after an interval of some weeks after posting. It is not possible to post an ad. if you are not a member.
Example 2. I used to ride motorcycles and have a stash of spare parts for the Honda CB400 F - the so-called four hundred four (a lovely little bike, but that's another topic...). I would like to sell the spares, in order to benefit somebody who is trying to restore one of their own. I don't want much for them and I'm blowed if I'm gong to take them down the dump... however, most of the Honda owners club websites are set up like the MBC - you have to be a member to post on the ad.s section - but there's no point in me joining and paying (say) £25 to do so, just to post one ad.
Personally, I can see the sense in insisting that only members can post on sales / wants pages - indeed, I'd set a minimum contributions limit, too. However, I readily accept that this is restrictive - indeed, its supposed to be restrictive!
So there you go - which is the best way - protect - or attempt to protect - fellow members by insisting that only paid members can post ads. - or make them free to all & sundry?? Which is better? At the end of the day, it all boils down to one thing, that is trust & diligence (OK - that's two...). And the unfortunate fact is that the internet is the perfect place for people who are less than scrupulous to adopt a deceitful presence. Its very ubiquity / anonimity make us all vulnerable to the cheats and [less polite word omitted]...

[Sweep]

See the post from mod Graham a page or two back. The sellers account has been deactivated so there's no point in publishing any details about them.

my questions weren't about the individual but the nature of their profile on here.

[Graham]

I'm fairly sure that Anthony and/or Iain ( CUK ) will have done a cost/benefit analysis of providing a membership check for this FORUM.

Sadly, such interfaces are never cheap and furthermore the risk of changes at every release of PHPBB could make it unacceptable.

Would anyone here want to chip-in to cover the additional costs ( potentially ongoing ) ?
Or would you prefer to rely on your own risk-assessment and precautions . . . for no additional cost ?

[Sweep]

I'm fairly sure that Anthony and/or Iain ( CUK ) will have done a cost/benefit analysis of providing a membership check for this FORUM.

Sadly, such interfaces are never cheap and furthermore the risk of changes at every release of PHPBB could make it unacceptable.

Would anyone here want to chip-in to cover the additional costs ( potentially ongoing ) ?
Or would you prefer to rely on your own risk-assessment and precautions . . . for no additional cost ?

I'm personally happy to rely on my own risk assessment/precautions.

My only vaguely linked issue is that it would be nice if you could hold more messages in the pm boxes - a useful aide memoire.

as i forget who folk are.

And though I generally avoid the more argumentative bits of the cafe, and the cafe in general, i live in fear of saying something spiky to someone who has been very nice, maybe let me have something at a very reasonable price or even for free.

[De Sisti]

I have said it many times on here before, that moderators should insist on actual photographs of items
being sold, not a link to one on the internet. I was told by a moderator that buyers would know what
they're getting from the description.

[FerociousDog]

I very rarely sell anything bike related on Forums.If it’s worth less than £20(IMO) I offer it for free.I have done this for many years and it’s only backfire twice in that time.No money changes hands but I’m still totally honest about the condition and always post photos.My most recent were two little used Schwalbe Marathons and an unused Toppeak Aerowedge.My only “price” is that the receiver makes a donation to which ever Mountain Rescue/Air Ambulance/RNLI box they come across first.
Everyone wins.

[Bonefishblues]

If a photo is needed, I'm capable of asking the seller. If it's not, then I work on a trust basis.

There's lots of occasions where 'bits' are being sold (I just bought a stem for £9 incl postage) where it's simply not worthwhile.