Not a long time ago one person contacted me about a purchase she made from another user on the board.

She wanted to find out if there is a way to post some sort of feedback about the seller to let others know that the transaction went smoothly and that the seller delivered everything as promised.

This got me thinking about implementing a rating/feedback system for users.

It wouldn't be limited only to selling and buying. The system would also include swaps, trading and pretty much any kind of transaction that occurs between two people.

For example, a buyer would post if the quality/quantity of delivered merchandise was satisfactory. And the seller would post if the payment was prompt.

With swaps, the counterparties would post feedback for each other acknowledging that the trading partner has fulfilled her end of the agreement.

And so on.

All feedback would be displayed in user's profile. So anyone thinking about buying/selling/trading with another user would be able to see the experience other people had when dealing with that person.

What do you think? Is there a need for such system?

I like the idea!!!! :thumbup: :-D

I have purchased a bum deal before but what to do :thumbdown:

Yes, it would be good, but I cringed when I saw this post.

Admin - I'd put in BIG letters that YOU have no control over the ratings, etc.

Other than that, I'd ask how it would be handled if some petty/malicious person tried to deep six someone? Although I really enjoy and think highly of the people on this Board, and quilter in general, we are human and bad eggs show up now and then.

However, I applaud the idea!

I have to say that my first reaction to this idea was negative for the reasons given above; I see that the motives are good and in an ideal world, all feedback would be honest but there is the possibility that some members would abuse this facility to get at other members.

Also, sometimes with swaps things go wrong through no fault of the person involved - life gets in the way and I'd hate to see someone bad mouthed for not delivering when they had an as yet undisclosed valid reason for the tardiness. An apology could be issued of course but mud sticks as they say. :hunf:

If I were you, I wouldn't. :-)

Would this put Admin in the position of listening to and settling rating arguments? Anything that can be perceived as "points" seems to cause disputes around here.

Part of the great thing about quilters is that they generally tend to be an honest group of people and with that comes an honor code of sorts.
If someone is unhappy with a block or a classified item we as adults should be able to work it out amongst ourselves without publicizing to other quilters.
My opinion on a rating system for whatever it is worth is this:
Everyone's opinion here of "quality" fabric or "quality" work may be different and sometimes is even based on economical factors. Everybody started somewhere and has learned along the way what good workmanship and good quality fabric was with help and guidance from others. I feel if we institute a feedback system someone who is new to the quilting world may become discouraged if they send a block that isn't up to someone else's standards and that would be hurtful.
The best way to help people grow is to explain to them why something could be better not rate them on it.
This is just my two cents...
Hugs
April

I'm worried about such possibility too.

I guess that since both parties would be able to leave feedback for each other, it should work as a deterrent for leaving comments in bad faith.

Of course, that raises the issue of someone asking to delete the other person's comments without deleting theirs.

I guess the main idea is not about negative comments, but about the presence of positive comments. So that people could "build up" their history.

Kind of like "good credit "vs. "no credit" instead of "good credit" vs. "bad credit".

I agree and I also think it may discourage people who can't afford to shop at an LQS from participating in a swap because their fabric isn't of the same quality as some. I know we all try to make sure we use the best we can afford but we are all in differetn places. I think the idea is a good one, maybe we could just keep it to the sales portion.

The problem is, would these ratings be anonymous? You may not know who gave you a stinky review, especially some of the people thinning out their stash who have sold fabric to a ton of people all around the same time.

I don't like the idea. I think too many issues would come of it, as said above. Instead, maybe make a spot for 'personal comments', not necessarily selling/trading based, where people who have had good experiences can simply leave a thanks?

I had more on the thought, but it went out the window a minute ago...