Too much coincidence to be true...

[krmathis]

Head-Fi is a great community/forum.
Don't let the ass**** destroy the whole experience. Even if they stick out from the crowd.

[jjhatfield]

Originally Posted by elrod-tom

If things are getting worse (and I don't buy that they are), it's because we as members who are invested in the site are permitting it to happen. So if you're concerned about it, be a part of the solution instead.

Well said.

Originally Posted by Voltron

Also, there are an awful lot of new members complaining about the demise of the FS forum. It has been working well for years and if you are careful about how you deal and whom you deal with, you can be safe.

Yup. Didn't y'all's mamas tell you to be careful buying stuff on the internet?

My rule of thumb is don't buy from sketchballs. If you don't buy from sketchballs you are good to go. If you don't know what a sketchball is, its kind of like a sketchface or a total sketch.

[subtle]

I find it amusing to watch this guy list letterless HP-1000's at prices higher than what pristine pairs would fetch. Hilarious stuff.

I, for one, hope that he doesn't get banned so we can see this kind of humor on a regular basis.

[filipelli]

So should it be normal practice to come into a fishy FS post and make it known to potential buyers that the post and seller is in fact, fishy?

Or is PM the way?

Such a controversial question.

[jgonino]

That, IMO really just depends on the circumstances.

I had an issue with this a while back, and I simply posted in the thread, and PM'd the seller.

[wrecked_porsche]

Originally Posted by filipelli

So should it be normal practice to come into a fishy FS post and make it known to potential buyers that the post and seller is in fact, fishy?

Or is PM the way?

Such a controversial question.

x2

I was thinking the same thing too. So what do we do when faced by such a situation ?

[tk3]

Originally Posted by Voltron

This kid waddragon/lucky_star is engaged in a bizarre purchase/sale binge that I believe really does involve using credit cards that he thought would have no interest of fees until July. If I understand him, he was trying out lots of high-end stuff and selling off what he did not want to keep, with the intention of paying off the credit cards at the end of the run and keeping only what he liked best. That is fine for him -- even though it is incredibly risky and not particularly sound financially -- but the dual accounts, flipping and multiple offers and all of that crap should get him banned, IMO. He could sell his gear stash on eBay to avoid the credit card crunch that seems inevitable.

Most likely there is no truth in his "credit card" excuse, it sound just like the kind of sob story a con man would put up after he's unmasked.
Seeing how he's using 2 different accounts I think he premeditated the whole thing for the sole intent of making a profit.

If you have problems, why not mention that as the reason of sale and sell it on the same account, instead of using another account that you've secretly made weeks before and jacking up the price?

[NiceCans]

Originally Posted by jjhatfield

Well said.



Yup. Didn't y'all's mamas tell you to be careful buying stuff on the internet?

My rule of thumb is don't buy from sketchballs. If you don't buy from sketchballs you are good to go. If you don't know what a sketchball is, its kind of like a sketchface or a total sketch.

How do you tell a "sketchball" (whatever that is) from others, especially after the trose debacle last week showed that sometimes post-count, feedback, and time on Head-Fi can be misleading?

[zotjen]

If I ever suspected a scam, the first thing I would do is report it to the mods. I probably wouldn't even post it in the forums unless I was 100% certain it was a scam.

As far as raising the requirements, I also think it's a good idea but it's certainly not foolproof. Case in point, those of you who have been here long enough will probably remember the William Goody fiasco.

[Cool_Torpedo]

Originally Posted by NiceCans

How do you tell a "sketchball" (whatever that is) from others, especially after the trose debacle last week showed that sometimes post-count, feedback, and time on Head-Fi can be misleading?

Yep, this is my point. Nothing assures you that a long time member with decent feedback and lots of posts isn't a scammer waiting for his prime time.

Better being careful and asking for as much info and pics as you need to be sure.

Rgrds

[larryminator]

For those who asked why I didn't contact the mod first, it was because:

- I wasn't sure (didn't wanted to do false accusation).

- I didn't know who to contact exactly for this kind of situation (I've contacted moderators directly in the past, but I didn't know who to contact directly for this kind of situation)

- I felt Head-Fi community needed to know ASAP before dealing with this guy

- I felt pissed about the way it turned, how Head-Fi is falling

Head-Fi is still a great community, but it's becoming more and more, how should I say, open in the variety of people admitted. I think that's the beauty and default of Head-Fi. Anybody can join, but that anybody isn't always good people. However, anybody can discover the beauty of Head-Fi and its generous people.

As for selling restrictions and all, I don't think we should change anything. Newbies are here to learn, try and sell stuff, and getting the posting requirements higher will just slow their course. Personnally, I'm not that guy that does a everyday commentary in everypost, but I READ a lot and I sometime do some constructive commentaries when needed. I don't have multiple thousands posts. I'm also into organising meet. You see, Head-Fi isn't all about posting, it's about being INTERESTED, LEARNING and HAVING FUN more than doing multiple post.

That's my point of view, maybe you think an "active" member should be posting 3 post everyday, but I don't.

There will always be bad people everywhere on the internet. You just have to be cautious, that's all.

[jjhatfield]

Originally Posted by NiceCans

How do you tell a "sketchball" (whatever that is) from others, especially after the trose debacle last week showed that sometimes post-count, feedback, and time on Head-Fi can be misleading?

NiceCans, your a nice enough person, so I'm not trying to offend you, but if you couldn't tell trose is a sketchball, then I don't know what to tell you.

His signature alone is damning enough evidence in the High Court Of Sketch.

[wrecked_porsche]

Originally Posted by larryminator

Head-Fi is still a great community, but it's becoming more and more, how should I say, open in the variety of people admitted. I think that's the beauty and default of Head-Fi. Anybody can join, but that anybody isn't always good people. However, anybody can discover the beauty of Head-Fi and its generous people.

Yeah, this is the point I was trying to put across a page back. The more people that joins head-fi, the more 'wild" its gonna get as the diversity increases. Like I said, "victim of its own success". I seen this sad story played out before... I hope head-fi does not go down this direction.

@jjhatfield, waht was the giveaway in his signature?

[Kirosia]

I don't see anything wrong with outing a scammer, if you have sufficient evidence or cause. But I do think you should try to contact a moderator as soon as you can. (I'm not referring to you specifically larry, you did good)

As for scammers, we've always had them. Bigger membership = bigger volume, so that's to be expected. I don't think changing the requirements will weed all the bad guys, that's just not possible. We try to educate new members, tell them what to be wary of when dealing with transactions, i.e. Tall Swedish blonde looking for naughty headphones to wear to bed But so many new guys don't even read the stickies or member feedback threads, decreasing their chances of catching on.

[jjhatfield]

Originally Posted by wrecked_porsche

@jjhatfield, waht was the giveaway in his signature?

Ah, I see its calmed down significantly from where it was several months ago. Nevermind, bad example on my part.

But a typical giveaway to me of a sketchball is spastic behavior, over sensitivity to the opinions of others, use of lots of capital letters, and attention getting behavior (see oicdn or trose). Whether or not we want to admit it, our online personas are reflections of the type of person we are in reality.

A discerning mind should be able to sort out the bad-crazies from the fun-crazies (we're all crazies here to an extent).