Need more transparency in The MarketPlace section of this forum.

[fjworld]

I think sellers need to be more upfront as to what they are selling and who is the real provider.

I know I resell and I try to make that clear. Sometimes I may forget but if there was a rule regarding this then forum staff would be helping in making the marketplace more transparent.

The biggest concern I see is related to providing hosting. Today there are many people reselling hosting for $.99 per month and it is not clear who is behind the service. Yes, buyer beware and you get what you pay for but nevertheless, would it not be more beneficial to know more about the provider?

The value in being more transparent is not just for the buyer but for some members joining a site/program. It does not hurt to know more about the back office of a site or program you join.

[PapaiMark]

I understand what you say but I think you are going beyond the balance, beyond the equilibrium.

As much information you request, as much good points a seller will show.
Or will just leave and post somewhere else.

You saw, I requested a photo, he posted a screenshot.
I don't think someone will just go there and buy the hosting for that first information.
Do you?
I made questions, you made questions, and with the answers, the information and the general evaluation of the product becomes
much more clear than a full ready-to-read post.

Idiots will always act as idiots and will fall for full fake info or partial info.

One thing is to post a buxhost in newptc, other thing is to sell a site, hosting or else.

Meaning:
I think that the info in the posts are more useful as they are because someone interested will ask.
Answers are better than a carefully elaborated first post.

It is something to think about.

[Ayman]

- I'll just reply to the hosting part because most of other parts we check well

- Hosting reseller idea is to provide a person ability to resell hosting at prices lower than the original prices and in a competitive way , That's why companies offer white-label dns with some reseller hosting to enable the seller from hiding the original company name and start his / her own company

- So as a forum we aren't really keen into forcing sellers to reveal their providers as long as their hosting is stable and working fine it wont matter who they are selling from

- This should be the buyer responsibility to only purchase the service after he is fully sure from it but in general online lately people tend do go for price than quality so when some purchases a 1 or 2$ script they will got for 50 cents hosting regardless their quality

[fjworld]

First, my suggestion was not meant to be exclusive to hosting. I used hosting as an example because it was a trigger for my suggestion but in no way did I mean for it to be just for hosting and certainly not to pick on a specific member posting.

I don't think someone will just go there and buy the hosting for that first information.
Do you?

I think people do get fooled by hype and the lowest posted price. I am not suggesting that TalkPTC becomes the consumer advocate. I am thinking that if you can have a minimum requirement in New PTC Website section then why not apply a similar rule for the marketplace.

as long as their hosting is stable and working fine it wont matter who they are selling from

History continues to prove that newcomers are posting information that suggests they have a proven track record and they do not provide any proof. Often the service disappears within a few months and the buyer did not receive what was agreed to as part of the sale.

If there is no initiative to improve the marketplace by implementing changes that reduce risk for buyers then your marketplace is no different then high flying advertising billboard.

For example, if a seller says they have 100% uptime; should they not provide a link that proves how they came up with the number. So a new hosting service opens today and they say they have 100% uptime. It is meaningless and only done to create hype. But if they said they were getting their hosting from xyz company then that would be more informative and less likely to mislead. I am not suggesting that a seller has to disclose their own purchase price.



 

[PapaiMark]

If we received commission per sale, your suggestion would be nice, even late.
But as a forum, we can ask, argue, doubt and post proofs of truth or lie.   - Discuss, like now.

Could you post a (or more) specific suggestion for a specific board?

Sales are usually from owners but new PTC are usually from members - and so on.

[Yudistira]

What kind of stuff can we sell in the marketplace section?