Don't mean to boast aboout my inattention, but has this been a poll since the thread started?
And if so, why is the thread not taking up the issue raised by the poll?
I think that introducing a feedback system into MR -- even in the Marketplace -- is a dreadful idea for the same reason that
rating posts themselves is a dreadful idea.
We are not a marketplace -- we are a community bound by a common thread that happens to contain a marketplace. I worry that introducing a feedback system to one small corner of the site will create the impression that that sub-forum is more important -- or more trustworthy -- than it really is.
It seems to me that in large part we're asking the question "What is the Marketplace, and who is it for?"
To which the Marketplace Rules say:
Marketplace Rules said:
There are other websites more specifically devoted to buying, selling, and trading computer equipment, and to tracking buyer/seller reputations. The reason we have our own Marketplace is that it provides more focus on Mac products and is convenient for members who already know each other from the other forums.
Such that:
You're not going to keep con-artists out of the marketplace. But, as others have suggested, a marriage of time registered and total posts might make for a Marketplace that more closely lives up to its mission of being a home for "members who already know each other from the forums."