@rene
As you had mentioned earlier in this thread, these new rules came about as a
reactive measure. ie; they were created
because someone tried to act in a dishonest manner/circumvented the rules.
I strongly feel that it would make a lot of sense to publicly name such a person so that forum members here can know who the said person was and be aware of his behavior.
Quiet a few related and maybe not so directly related issues just came up in my mind, rather than create another thread, i'm listing them out here.
1. we have iTrader ratings. but, on a casual observation, its only going to show whether a person has a rating or not. right? it's going to be some number..
Trader Rating: (2 Overall)
like this ^^
At a glance, there is no way for a member to know whether someone has rated a person for a negative deal. imo if this could be implemented it would make the iTrader ratings a lot more wholesome.
2. and i would again like to reiterate my previous point since it seems to have slipped past the attention of most of those who have accessed this thread.
Create a mechanism that holds a dealer RESPONSIBLE for delivery of products withing a specified predefined timeframe. Make this commitment a compulsory part of all deals.
3.
# Posting DEALER contact details (Phone#, Email/IM etc.) in GO threads is strictly prohibited. All communication to and fro dealers must be carried out by PMs or by posting in respective threads. For emergencies, any MEMBER can get in touch with Moderators to obtain DEALER contact details.
This is one of the clauses in the rules for the dealers section. It gets flouted/circumvented by linking to dealers profile page more often than not. In fact i am sure that almost every dealer has broken this rule.
4. Could someone clarify the exact purpose behind the dealer section? Was it to provide a platform for market access to Dealers? or was it for providing members access to hard to obtain hardware? or MOST SIGNIFICANTLY was it to provide members with an
easy+convenient access point to Very Good/Best deals for hardware? Very often one gets to see rates that are horrendous by even market standards. As is obvious such a thread is not found to be favorable in the most part. however, TE is attracting a lot of newcomers and they might end up making purchases in such cases where they are paying well above market rates.
5. Then arises the case of dealers using TE as a front for their respective Online stores. This a recurring issue which hasn't exactly been dealt with in full. If it has, the news of the same has obviously not managed to reach the common members.
Using one's online stores shopping cart processing backend is one thing, But merely using a TE dealer thread as an advertising thread to redirect a member to one's online store, where i have to make my purchase at the rate listed for the public is something totally different. When that happens, all the dealer is obtaining is publicity for his store via the Dealer section thread. TE or the members here are not gaining anything out of such a thread. The member might as well directly make his purchase from said website without even having opened the dealer section thread.
What i am trying to say is that, the dealers should provide some kind of incentive to a buyer to buy from him rather than just walk out and buy the product from any online/offline store. Buying at rates which are valid for all public access to one's store is just not done. It's nothing but cheap publicity.
6. I remember how some time back there had been a hue and cry raised over hidden taxes which weren't being mentioned in Dealer threads by certain dealers. Could the rules page be amended to include a clause that makes it compulsory for all forms of expenses that a member might have to undertake to be clearly mentioned in the Dealers threads. I am referring to things like taxes, shipping amounts etc. It would be very easily possible for dealers to provide exact shipping costs. I have seen most doing it, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue to make the rest do it as well.
7. And finally, back on topic. Guys, too much regulation killed the cow/crow/curious cat. Let people make GO's let dealers make Dealer Deals. If someone(member/dealer) has any issues with any other (Deal/GO) the thread can be locked for moderation. Simple as that. Rather than try and implement blanket regulations in advance it would make WAY more sense to have things handled on a case by case basis.
ps-pardon me for the ginormous post :ashamed:
