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page_up · 10-04-2006, 04:27 PM,

Mandy - many thanks for providing the figures, they are interesting.

So if paypal is out as a means of verifying a seller, what other options do I have? I don't want to go down the road of taking card payments directly. Don't forget this is only a hobby site but I still need to a means to filter out to scammers.

I'm starting to think that maybe I will lock the site down and make it by invite only for new sellers? I would rather my site remained small but of a good quality, I hate those sites that are full of people selling the same cheap stuff from dropshippers and dodgy e-books Smile

And thanks to everyone so far for the responses, it's given me a few things to think about. Keep em coming!

landofsmiles · 10-04-2006, 04:31 PM,

I think that the Invite Only idea is a good one. Then you can create a site of which you can be proud, and you can determine the size.

thentavius · 10-04-2006, 06:56 PM,

Hello! I'm hoping to constructively help. Not trying to be negative, but I will be honest.

Quote:1 - Send an email with details of what they plan to sell so I can check they are suitable (i.e no adult items, mp3s, knives etc)

As a seller, I would find this to be a potential put-off. Since most online auctions and sales venues don't make you pre-verify your items, it might seem like a waste of time to more experienced sellers. It might make your site seem like it has more hoops to go through, before a seller can list. If you require the email before they can list, people may not be willing to wait for the confirmation first, before listing.

If you require that they send it before, during, or after they've listed, you may get people who won't send the email at all, and you'll be stuck doing footwork.

If you only required an email pre-verify for adult items, that might work out. Most adult items sellers are already aware of the extra hoops, and most are willing to go through them if your site is happy to aaccept their items.

email, like PP, however, can also be pretty much sent and received by anyway--through who knows how many filters and switcheroo programs, so there's not a 100% guarantee of identity.

Quote:2 - make a donation via paypal (the smallest amount you send via paypal - can you send 1p?) as verification.

The problem I see here is not that some people think PayPal sucks, it's that PP isn't the best at verifying things. For a site to use PP as a verification system, it's like trying to add a tile roof to a house of cards. The verification foundation would be weak and possibly false.

This is why most sites use credit card verification. They might ping your card for $.01, $1.00 (or whatever your currency)--and then either keep the ping, or reverse it back to the customer. Credit card processing is better at spotting frauds or scams.

You might also consider WorldPay or PPPay (both international web-based payment systems). They might be able to do for you what you wanted to do with PayPal. I believe PPPay is supposed to be better at spotting scams than clumsy PP.

Quote:3 - If the seller does not use paypal then I will send via the post (UK only) a confirmation code to verify their address. If outside of the UK then I may try to find another way of verifying identitity.

The postal mail confirmation code seems to work fine for international auction sites like QXL. As a US seller, it took me 3 weeks to get mine--but it wasn't as off-putting as an email would be because I felt that at least QXL knew where every seller was supposed to be physically living, thereby making it more safe.

This may be one method you can use inconjuction with others, as a backup verification.

Quote:4 - The verification will done manually and will be slow. If this prevents sellers from using the site then it's done it's job as I'm after the sellers who are committed and prepared to put the effort in.

You'll hate doing that after the first 10 auctions. LOL.

I would copy the big boys on this--because they tend to do things as quickly and easily as possible.

I would recommend doing a mixed bag. Perhaps email or mail-in confirmation for sellers of adult items, autos, real estate (if you allow them), plus a $1.00 ping on a credit card, or using PPPay or Worldpay. Special circumstances could require an email and/or mail check-in (adult items or people without PPPay, WorldPay), etc. And/or manually check some items randomly across the site.

bargainbloodhound · 10-04-2006, 07:11 PM,

Quote:The way I want the site to work is that it is a store where I sell my own items and I invite trusted sellers to sell their items from my store as well.

Feel free to pick holes in my plan!

This will qualify as picking holes Smile

Based on what you want to do it would probably be a better idea (and much much more buyer friendly/more conducive to purchases) to dump the auction script and setup an actual multi-vendor store/mall using a script like X-Cart Pro because A.Â many buyers avoid auction sites and B. PHP Pro Bid (in my opinion) is one of the least buyer friendly scripts ever created.

page_up · 10-05-2006, 04:57 PM,

I've changed the site so sellers need approval before they can sell. As for the approval process I will deal with each request individually until I work out the best solution. The site is only small so this shouldn't be big overhead.

It's difficult to get the balance right between freedom, trust and security.

Thanks again to everyone who posted replies, it's given me some things think about.

iron_chick · 10-05-2006, 04:59 PM,

A day late and a dollar short . . . AbeBooks calls new potential sellers to verify their info. I like the system. It's fast. It's not foolproof, but I like the personal touch. Smile

thentavius · 10-14-2006, 08:10 PM,

Quote:I've changed the site so sellers need approval before they can sell. As for the approval process I will deal with each request individually until I work out the best solution. The site is only small so this shouldn't be big overhead.

I'm a day late and TWO dollars short.

Not sure if you're still rading this, but I think this is a good and interesting idea. Especially if it's a hobby site. You can invite good quality sellers and choose a nice spread of products; rather like the organization at an arts and crafts fair. Balance is key. They don't overload it with too many people of one category.

Let us know how it goes.

page_up · 11-02-2006, 06:46 PM,

Hi everyone,

Yes, I'm still lurking on the forum but I havn't posted for a while. The new strategy appears to be ok in that it has certainly stopped all of the obvious spammers and frauds. However, although I've had buyers sign up I've not had single seller Sad

Still, I'm in no hurry and at least it keeps the site free from rubbish and easy to manage!

I think what I need to do is approach good sellers with good products and see if they want to 'partner', i.e. they list their products and I do what I can to promote them. Any suggestions on how to find suitable sellers? bear in mind that I don't really want to 'cold call' or post spam in forums!