To solve the problem of possible bad deals

[rubbersidedown]

A few members have had less than favourable deals with some of our fellow board members.(usually its someone new to the site,but not always).

Folks come in here sometimes not really realizing how tight the core group is.

I want to, if possible, make sure that nobody gets a less than enviable transaction here on OUR website.


I have come up with the idea of using ESCROW. Escrow is the use of a neutral third party.
It could work something like this:
Seller comes on the site to sell something.
One of the members is interested but not 100% sure because the seller has no proven track record with us.
The seller and buyer could use a volunteer escrow agent to make the transaction smooth and on the up&up for both parties. Seller ships item. Buyer sends funds to escrow.Once buyer recieves goods and is satisfied,escrow releases funds to the seller. If buyer is not satisfied,he returns the item to the seller,escrow returns funds to buyer. Everyone is happy.

The volunteer would have to be compensated by the buyer or seller or both,for Paypal fees.(that cost would be mimimal and not for profit).


What do you think?

It would not be nessecary 99% of the time as most folks on the Org are very decent people. It's the 1% I'm attempting to guard ourselves against.

so.... ? Rubb.

 

[BiG-T]

I'll go for that. Good idea. Regardless of what everyone else posts about you Rubb, you're an A+ type of guy....well maybe not A+...more like B+ on a grading curve in special ed class...well maybe not special ed but the school has more short buses than long ones.....maybe the short bus to long bus ratio is even.

Ok ok....how bout this. You're

!

 

[BigBSBusa]

Good idea, RSD! Agree that most of the transactions here won't require it, but having the option should make a lot of people more comfortable.

 

[rubbersidedown]

I'll go for that.  Good idea.  Regardless of what everyone else posts about you Rubb, you're an A+ type of guy....well maybe not A+...more like B+ on a grading curve in special ed class...well maybe not special ed but the school has more short buses than long ones.....maybe the short bus to long bus ratio is even.  

Ok ok....how bout this.   You're

!

Oh great...another wise guy.


"Regardless of what everyone else's posts"


Who,What,When.....

the Rubbah haters.


hahahaha.... RSD.

 

[MN72Busa]

Err...this sounds a little complex to me - Im just a simple minded guy....what if the seller needs the cash he gets from the sale, to ship the item???

Anyhow, I think anything you all come up with will be cool. The paypal thing could be sorta a pain in the arse with the extra fee's if you know what I mean...I say since Rub came up with the Idea...make him the Monopoly Banker and he can deal with all the little transaction issues...Im sure he would love to assist...lmao

 

[ranman]

i agree with it. a bit of a pain but it could stop someone from being screwed. just my 2.5cents

 

[GSXRFANN]

The only problem I see isthat when the buyer gets the goods, how long do they have to return the item? What happens if the buyer doesn't ship the goods back? You know, just a couple more things to think about. It is a good idea though.

 

[rubbersidedown]

...I say since Rub came up with the Idea...make him the Monopoly Banker and he can deal with all the little transaction issues...Im sure he would love to assist...lmao

ya bastid....

Ya got me...

 

[rubbersidedown]

The only problem I see isthat when the buyer gets the goods, how long do they have to return the item? What happens if the buyer doesn't ship the goods back? You know, just a couple more things to think about. It is a good idea though.

Good thoughts...easy fixes thou.

Buyer gets say...3 business days to get it back in the mail,or he owns it.

If the buyer doesn't ship it back...then he's the proud new owner.

 

[rubbersidedown]

i agree with it. a bit of a pain but it could stop someone from being screwed.  just my 2.5cents

A bit of a pain forsure.

My thought is thou...once you mention to the seller you'll be using escrow...the shady characters will probably move on right there.

shady characters

 

[buss05]

I know people who have used escrow in some online purchases in the past and they said the fees were kinda high. Not only that but the paypal fees are a percentage so when the purchase is say... a $10,000 bike, the fees will be the standard percentage.

I'm fairly new here so my opinion goes about as far as you can throw a feather into the wind. I say come up with a system that will allow people to sell items but only with prior approval from admin's. Once they have received approval, there will be some guidelines that must be adhered to by the seller and the buyer. And most of all, NO CASH TRANSACTIONS!!! unless the buyer and the seller want to exchange face-to-face.

I don't want to see the classifieds disappear. But buyer beware has so much meaning in this case. Like Rub said, we are a close knit group and it should remain that way. We've got to watch each other's a**es and help stamp out fraud. Don't let some thievin' punk ruin what is going on at this site.

Sincerely,
My 2 cents

 

[rubbersidedown]

I know people who have used escrow in some online purchases in the past and they said the fees were kinda high. Not only that but the paypal fees are a percentage so when the purchase is say... a $10,000 bike, the fees will be the standard percentage.

I'm fairly new here so my opinion goes about as far as you can throw a feather into the wind. I say come up with a system that will allow people to sell items but only with prior approval from admin's. Once they have received approval, there will be some guidelines that must be adhered to by the seller and the buyer. And most of all, NO CASH TRANSACTIONS!!! unless the buyer and the seller want to exchange face-to-face.

I don't want to see the classifieds disappear. But buyer beware has so much meaning in this case. Like Rub said, we are a close knit group and it should remain that way. We've got to watch each other's a**es and help stamp out fraud. Don't let some thievin' punk ruin what is going on at this site.

Sincerely,
My 2 cents

It wont go thru proffesional escrow.It will go thru one of us.We will probably shy away from 10,000.oo dollar bike deals aswell.Nobody needs that kind of headache,we will leave that to the professionals.

Rubb.

 

[BulletTrain]

Well, as bad as it sucks to be ripped a new'un I think it's just the cost of doing business on the internet with unknown folks. Escrow might work ok but it also includes a third party into the mix and complicates things more. I think we've had a big enough fiasco illustrating what can happen when an unknown is entrusted with funds. I don't think the site needs to be involved in any way with personal transactions.

Also, you'd have to find a "volunteer" escrow agent from the board that you could trust, and one that was willing to get involved in a private transaction between two other individuals with the ingetrity of at least one of them being unknown to the agent. Personally I wouldn't jump in the middle of a deal between two people unless I knew and trusted both of them. On an internet forum, if that were the case then the two parties involved would likely know enough about each other to do the deed without an escrow agent in the middle.

I do my internet business with the assumption that I may get torn a new one. Sometimes I do it fully expecting to get burned. I've been pretty lucky for the most part. I simply consider the losses "the cost of doing business" on the internet. It sucks to lose, yeah, but it's the risk you take.

Just my $.02... if an escrow agent is to be used here, it should be one of the established online escrow providers and not just a disinterested third party from the forum. I think throwing a third person into every deal is just an invite for more problems and heartache in the long run.



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[lot boy]

Well, as bad as it sucks to be ripped a new'un I think it's just the cost of doing business on the internet with unknown folks. Escrow might work ok but it also includes a third party into the mix and complicates things more. I think we've had a big enough fiasco illustrating what can happen when an unknown is entrusted with funds. I don't think the site needs to be involved in any way with personal transactions.

Also, you'd have to find a "volunteer" escrow agent from the board that you could trust, and one that was willing to get involved in a private transaction between two other individuals with the ingetrity of at least one of them being unknown to the agent. Personally I wouldn't jump in the middle of a deal between two people unless I knew and trusted both of them. On an internet forum, if that were the case then the two parties involved would likely know enough about each other to do the deed without an escrow agent in the middle.

I do my internet business with the assumption that I may get torn a new one. Sometimes I do it fully expecting to get burned. I've been pretty lucky for the most part. I simply consider the losses "the cost of doing business" on the internet. It sucks to lose, yeah, but it's the risk you take.

Just my $.02... if an escrow agent is to be used here, it should be one of the established online escrow providers and not just a disinterested third party from the forum. I think throwing a third person into every deal is just an invite for more problems and heartache in the long run.

well written- i wanna add this to it -----give your local ma/pa store a shot, they probly cant compete with the web sales but at least give em a chance . If you can get whatever for a few bucks more at a local ma /pa store it is worth it. you have a face to put the tranaction on and you helped your local shop ( they gotta eat too)

 

[rubbersidedown]

I think throwing a third person into every deal is just an invite for more problems and heartache in the long run.

I wish folks would read everything before posting. Its not "every deal" its the 1%. Thats all.

 

[rubbersidedown]

I do my internet business with the assumption that I may get torn a new one.
  If you can get whatever for a few bucks more at a local ma /pa store it is worth it.  you have a face to put the tranaction on and you helped your local shop ( they gotta eat too)

I want to try and help the members by not having to have anyone "torn a new one".


And yes Lotboy,you can obviously buy it somewhere else.

You've missed the point.

Its about protecting my brothers and sisters here on the Org.

If someone wants to buy from Walmart,there's not much I can do for them.

make sense so far?


As far as a volunteer goes...I would have done it.

Since becoming the Admin of this site I have had thousands of dollars pass thru my paypal acct in the form of donations,raffle funds,my auction funds,help to downed rider funds,etc etc. I have never had a problem. I think the majority of folks trust me. If they dont,that is their rite.

I always post up all transactions that go thru me. Nobody is to be cheated or ripped off,not on this site....

that is my goal.

 

[MN72Busa]

Here take a few of these might help numb the pain

 

[BulletTrain]

I think throwing a third person into every deal is just an invite for more problems and heartache in the long run.

I wish folks would read everything before posting. Its not "every deal" its the 1%. Thats all.

I got that even though my wording didn't show it. My point was that we would be asking a third party to dive into the middle of all the worst case scenario deals as far as risk is concerned. Sorry I wasn't clear on that.

I think escrow can be a good thing, but I also think having it handled "in house" by members or staff from the site is a bad idea. Opens up the site and Doug as well as the disinterested third party to litigation/retaliation/liability in the event that things do go bad.

I feel about this the way I feel about the government trying to save people from themselves by excessive and intrusive legislation. You can't save people from themselves no matter how hard you try. In this case it would be optional as to whether or not someone chose to go through an escrow agent whereas the govt imposes their laws on everyone, but the same principle applies. You can't administrate risk out of life.

If someone can't assess the risks and accept them then they should not do business on the internet. If things are shady, or the risk is totally unknown I think the only two options are to throw the dice or walk away. If you throw the dice with unknown or high risks you've gotta be ready for snake eyes... I don't think involving a third party is the answer. It possibly creates even more risk by passing everything through one more set of hands and morals. Personally I'd just as soon make my own decisions and assess and accept my own risks.

As for trusting you, Rub, I'd lay my life savings and retirement in your hands knowing that as long as it was within your control NOTHING bad would happen to it. Not a doubt in my mind.

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[BulletTrain]

Also, I want to say that it speaks VOLUMES about your character that you want so badly to look out for everyone. I'm not knocking your intent or trying to bum you out... I'm just weighing in with my opinion on the matter. Just another line of thought on the topic at hand.

 

[rubbersidedown]

Here take a few of these might help numb the pain

I don't like Valium. hahahahahahaha


No worries everyone,just a thought.
I guess we'll go back to "Caveat Emptor",getting "Torn a New One" and all that other stuff.


I give up. Have a nice day thou.


On second thought, where'd you leave that bottle Valium.


I'll pop a couple before bedtime. RSD go night-night.