Bench Points and Trades

It's puzzling that people would go to this extreme to gain points. For what?

The thrill of not having to send first?
An avatar?
Do we get to cash points in at retirement?

I don't want to know who these people are, quite honestly. I would hope that being caught by the mods should be embarrassing enough.

bbctrader said:

Anyone that's trying to "rush up the ladder" so to speak more than likely has other motives at stake....what reasons could one have to get to the Hall of Fame other than a small amount of respect, the enjoyment of your hobby and the pleasure of helping others obtain their goals as well ?

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Trading on steroids.

I feel while the mods do a great job here, that this issue is going to cause a lot of distrust.I say why not take a poll and at least consider the groups opinions.No disrespect meant towards any of the mods.

If someone does not know this rule though, I think it's unfair to give a warning or anything for it. Just my personal opinion. I think that a member should be sent a message before WITHOUT a warning and then take further action if it happens again. I have set up trades that way because I didn't know the difference. I am already in The Bench H.O.F. and could care less about trader of the month - don't even know what people win for it, if anything. Again, just my personal opinion.

My worry is not about the free cards part it is about the rest of the dishonesty.

Like I said though, it may not be "dishonest" if someone truely doesn't know there is an alternate way to do it...so innocent people are kinda being screwed with a warning when they don't deserve one.

I say let the MODS do their job - live by the rules, die by the rules. No need for a vote. One of the old problems with boards was that someone could just come back on with another name. That's the beauty here - yes you can, and you'll be subject to the same rules all over again.

I think the mods do an awesome job here and as someone mentioned earlier, you rarely notice someone getting booted....

rangersfan1982 said:

Like I said though, it may not be "dishonest" if someone truely doesn't know there is an alternate way to do it...so innocent people are kinda being screwed with a warning when they don't deserve one.

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Not knowing the rules is not an excuse. A warning does not "screw" you, it is what it is and that is just a warning. Nobody can even see the warning except for the person and Mods.

Like I said, personal opinion.

bbctrader said:

I think the mods do an awesome job here and as someone mentioned earlier, you rarely notice someone getting booted....

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I do agree with this part of your statement.

As a new member, I can give you another reason why one would try to create fake transactions to increase their status, and it isn't to try to screw anyone over... although I am sure one or two would have that in mind.

I believe most would want to increase their score so they could sell here. Despite a new members credentials anywhere else... Ebay, Amazon, other trading sites... they cannot sell here until they have 20 trades.

Well, there are a fair amount of folks out there who prefer to sell their "hot cards" before they cool down... Strasburg anyone?.... and this place just provides more potential customers.

I am in no way advocating deceit.... far from it. I am just offering an explanation or opinion as to why one might try it...

Perhaps bending a trade rule like trying to sell or something relevant.

rangersfan1982 said:

If someone does not know this rule though, I think it's unfair to give a warning or anything for it.

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Trying to get credit for trading a "thank you" for "shout out on You Tube video" is purposeful for no other reason but to pad numbers. Like Matt said, nobody could possibly mistakenly think that it would be an acceptable trade. It is a slap in the face of the site and its staff! That is not a "trade" in any way you possibly look at it.

These are the pack searchers of online trade sites!

And what benefit does one get from "padding numbers" exactly? It's not like a freakin' baseball contract where you'll make more if your numbers are better. Stupid.

Because if your rating is below 5 or even warrants a MSF avatar a quick 20+ fake trades will help that rating. The person we caught didn't have 1 or 2 or even three fake trades, there was a substantial amount of trades posted and he has been here long enough to know better.

Rangerfan1982, It mostly comes down to Trader Rating in my opinion. In your case it has no effect but, for example lets look at it this way:

say Trader "x" has made 30 Trades on The Bench and has a 4.7 overall trader rating. Trader "x" has the MSF avatar because his trader rating is so low. Trader "X" wants a normal avatar, and figures if I can get 30 Straight 5.0 feedbacks then I will have an overall rating of at least 4.9 if not back to 5.0.
He then posts a bunch of "trades" that should be free cards of some sort, and recieves ratings based on something he shouldnt be getting ratings for. Boom his trader rating is higher and he is no longer required to send first. Now, turns out Trader "x" is a shady dude, and just wanted to get the MSF avatar gone so he could rip people off. No he posts a bunch of high dollar trades over the course of a day or two, waits for the cards to come in and disappears.

Basically the abuse is of the Ratings system, which most traders use as the only tool available to them to judge another traders trustworthiness (<made that word up ) I know this example is extreme, but the integrity of our rating system is the biggest concern for this.

I for one pride myself on my Ratings, whether it is here on the bench, ebay, or any other site that has a feedback rating.

Our feedback system is unique as far as the 4 different categories (which we had long before ebay did) and is a great tool to use when deciding if I want to make a particular trade with any particular trader.

hope that makes sense.

-Nick

EDIT: Pete's explanation was quicker and much less wordy than mine

Like my earlier post mentioned, higher numbers generally translate to greater trust in the trader. You probably trust a member with 285 trades more so than you would one with 2 trades! By padding the numbers with fake trades, someone who is dishonest could be creating a false sense of trustworthiness. What other reason could there be to record the number of trades? If established traders are padding numbers, then it's just an ego game. For that matter, why are post numbers recorded? There is no reason to know or care how often someone comments, but all the sites do it???

Another good reason for this site, mentioned earlier, and the only other reasonable explanation I can think of might be to get to 20 trades faster in order to be able to sell. Now I don't agree with the ban on new members selling, especially given they should send fist anyway, but I don't make the rules. What difference does it make if a new member has to send me cards BEFORE I pay or send me cards before I send them cards. They still have to send first. However, that is another topic debate for another time.

rangersfan1982 said:

And what benefit does one get from "padding numbers" exactly? It's not like a freakin' baseball contract where you'll make more if your numbers are better. Stupid.

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Champs96ws said:

Because if your rating is below 5 or even warrants a MSF avatar a quick 20+ fake trades will help that rating. The person we caught didn't have 1 or 2 or even three fake trades, there was a substantial amount of trades posted and he has been here long enough to know better.

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Exactly,

Like Pete and Nick explained, to me it makes no difference if a trader has 250 points or 350 points, but if a number of those are "fake" trades, then their rating is bogus. The number of trades after 20 to me are just a number, it's the 5.0 rating that speaks to me.

Todd

hey thanks for the post

"""""Does anyone out there really think that "a thank you" in exchange for a "shout-out on a YouTube video" is a worthy trade for a Bench point?"""

honestly thats a joke to me that is just someone who thought he found away to beat the system
i am very upset at my trader rating (4.6) but i talked to one of the mods on here and it really helped to know that i got off on a rough start. delivery time :/ that if i can make 50 trades or so with perfect ratings that i can end up with a 4.9.... im on this site everyday... and may i add only this site (with once a month checks on peggys) and am always looking for trades the part that got to me really is delivery time but that mod really encouredged me to step it up so from here on out... i will give a 110% and try my best to get a 4.9... trust me its been my goal for quite some time. and im always up to trade. so please traders on the bench please dont hesitate to trade because of my 4.6 because u guys (and girls) are the only ones who can help so i need ya

thanks guys and sorry for the long read, just want some people to know that i want to be apart of the bench family

thanks
-Curtis

Can someone atleast PM me the names of these members. I don't want to trade with people that have the integrity of a sly fox.

No we will not PM you. Just know that the offending traders have been dealt with and the MOD team continues to watch out for everyone.