Sorry, but no more Group Buys.......

[Hawk]

Yeah, that's what the mods will have to work out Windogg (hopefully). But there's no guarantee that anyone will be in the blessed bunch.

 

[heat23]

well 90-100% of the problems can be solved by putting restrictions on group buys...
such as a min. number of heatware evals and/or status on the board (senior,platinum, etc...)

or you can limit the max value of the product you are selling. like $20, or $100, or $200
or you can limit the max mnumber of people that can participate in a group by at a time...
(such as if the seller can get 30 radeons at a certain price. he can only sell to 10 people at a time)

i think banning group buys completely was far too extreme...at least put restrictions on it or as someone else said sellers can apply for a 'permit' to do group buys on the board... that way we can see how that works out and see if banning group buys is needed or not

---

As nice as group buys can be when they work, there are too many ways they can go wrong, and recently, too many of them have.

AnandTech did not cause these problems, and as with any other trade, we are not responsible for anyone's losses because of them. Where there is one buyer and one seller, it is usually easy to figure out who IS responsible. To the extent that we have some influence on individual members, we have been able to help straighten out many problems with specific transactions. In the rare cases where there have been obvious fraud, theft or other abuse, we have been able to provide specific information to ISP's, law enforcement agencies, etc. to identify and catch the responsible party.

We have no practical way to enforce any of the limits you suggest such as the number or membership status of people who participate in a group buy or the value of the goods. We also have no authority to require or issue "permits" of any kind.

We are not speculating about problems that MAY occur in the future. They have already happened. Even discounting the case where a seller honestly gets in over his head, group buys are too open to fraud and abuse. We debated this for quite awhile, and while are not happy about it, but we believe it is in the best interest of our members to discontinue such deals.

AnandTech Moderator

 

[Hawk]

Just give them a few days, they were probably overwhelmed and didn't know how to sort them out into different categories yet.

 

[HappyFace]

Copied/Pasted from my post in a similar thread...

Would a compromise ever be considered? Here's what I propose:

Sale Type 1 - A bulk sale in which payment is made before the item is in a buy coordinator's possession is considered a group buy, and therefore not allowed.

Sale Type 2 - A bulk sale in which the buyer shows interest in the item FS by 'claiming' a quantity of said item. No payment is made to the coordinator until the product is actually in the his possession, and has been tested to insure high quality and stability of the product. This type of sale has been labeled as a group buy, but I strongly believe it should be allowed. Here's how I reason -

In a Type 1 sale:

[*]A seller and/or buyer might lose their money if a supplier misrepresents a product, and delivers a product that is inferior to the one originally promised. Slow delivery by the supplier can result in buyer frustration. Once money is paid, the buyer has no option but to sit and wait for the supplier to ship! The item may depreciate in value during this time, turning a seemingly great deal sour.

[*]Payment was already made, and refunds are a huge hassle. Refunding money to buyers is an expensive and tedious task...

In a Type 2 sale:

[*]A Buyer's money will not be lost due to a supplier's misrepresentation of a product. Nor will the buyer be obligated to buy an item of depreciated value, in the case that the supplier delays shipment. The buyer is free to retract his 'claim' if the product isn't in coordinator's hands on the date promised.

[*]The buy coordinator is able to check items for functionality and quality before accepting payment. If item's are not as described, he can immediately RMA the entire shipment. No individual refunds will ever be necessary!

(End of Copy/Paste)

Potential fraud is a difficult issue. Buyers need to carefully pick from whom they buy, making sure that they're dealing with an established, and honest trader. This is especially true when a large amount of money is being pre-paid...

I've listed some steps a person should take when either dealing with a new trader, and/or paying a large amount of money up front...

Another Copy/Paste from a former thread

Here are some steps you should take if you're not sure about a trader -

1. Check their heatware evaluations
2. If they don't have any evals, or have very few, ask them to ship/pay first!
3. Get the full mailing address and phone number of the person you're dealing with
4. Call them up! A dead number is a bad sign.
5. Search the person's history to get an idea of what type of things she/he has posted. You can learn a lot from this!
6. Save all of your communication concerning the deal. If a deal is agreed upon - these messages form a binding contract, able to be enforced by the courts.
7. Contact people that have traded with them before. If a person has one or two HeatWare evals, contact the person(s) who posted an evaluation! This reassures you to the legitimacy of the heatware, as heatware evaluations can be forged by anyone!:Q

Can't think of any more right now, hope the above helps!

(End of Copy/Paste)