With the recent influx of CC sales going way overboard, I had a question for the Geekhack community and it's moderators. In addition, I wanted to offer some criticism/suggestions on how we can improve some of the community transactions.
Is GH planning to moderate or at least post rules about hidden bidding / secret auctions?
i've always been a supporter of free market, and continue to believe so. However, this forum isn't simply a market for people to make profit on. Like many of the other keyboard forums, members who attempt to profit are severely looked down upon. And while that same criticism is applied here, it appears to be more acceptable and somewhat harbored/protected. Unfortunately, this was a by product of trying to moderate via protecting sellers from being threadcrapped on. (i.e. if you complain about a price in the thread, you are going to be given a warning for threadcrapping...essentially giving the seller opportunity to profit greatly off uneducated buyers)
What I'd like to suggest is that, if a user decides to run an auction, they should be subject to some rules. The primary rule I'd like to suggest is that no hidden bidding or sales are allowed. I like knowing the current market value of 2nd hand or 2nd market items because it helps to understand how much items are either depreciating or increasing in value. The only way to measure that is to know how much an item was sold for. Without that information in addition to hidden bidding/sales, it leaves the buyer(s) in the dark many times and the seller is presented with an opportunity to profit greater. Not saying all sellers are evil, just saying they are presented with an opportunity and sometimes greed gets the better of us all.
By implementing a rule to eliminate hidden sales/bids/offers, it still allows the seller to openly auction an item. Threadcrapping can still be moderated to protect the seller. What I'm asking for is simply protection for the buyer. Especially for buyers who are unaware of what something is actually worth.
---
I'd like to keep this thread with as much constructive criticism as I can. As this is only my opinion, I know other people feel the same so I'm hoping members can dedicate their time and voice their opinions.
Thank you =)