Creation of "Sales section helpers"

[Drhulee]

Drh -- It's not that moderators are "busy"; the thing is moderators can't read every single thread/post made on repgeek. Each moderator has his own "favorite" forums in which he reads just about every thread/post, but there are probably some threads/posts that are never read by moderators. There aren't any "assigned" subforums that moderators are relegated to "police".

The problem of policing all of repgeek is this -- louisruby is in Australia, and narikaa is in the UK, but I believe the rest of the repgeek moderator team is in the USA. This means that between about midnight and 9am USA east coast time, louisruby is probably the only moderator online. From 9am to midnight USA east coast time, various moderators are on repgeek.

Also, all of the moderators are geeks, so we're looking at our favorite forums and reading/posting as regular members, too. Each moderator has his own "way of moderating", so not everyone is on repgeek "policing" while he's on the site. I cruise the sales sections at least once a day and read my PMs, which can number in the 20s each day, and also do my "regeek moderator" duty by reading non-Panerai related threads.

It's just a much more efficient way of policing ourselves if the membership PMs a moderator, lists a link to a "fishy" thread, regardless of what section the thread is in, and states why the moderator should look into the thread.

Mattuss, you've just provided a very good reason to implement my suggestion, and I'm surprised you haven't realized it. Please think about it for a moment - maybe re-read my suggestion.

[FiFi]

Mattuss, you've just provided a very good reason to implement my suggestion, and I'm surprised you haven't realized it. Please think about it for a moment - maybe re-read my suggestion.

But why does there need to be a "helper" assignation? I think if members PM moderators about "fishy" sales threads or "fishy" activity by a member, the "fishy" situation will be addressed.

[Drhulee]

But why does there need to be a "helper" assignation? I think if members PM moderators about "fishy" sales threads or "fishy" activity by a member, the "fishy" situation will be addressed.

Because the poster of the sales thread will then be aware that his thread may be under scrutiny. And a member will more likely respond to someone with some kind of assigned authority. Plus it give the post a little more weight. Plus the designated helper won't be intimidated by any "thread crapper" accusations. Plus it gives the mod and idea of what a post is about just by recognizing the name (sorry I didn't realize you don't get that many PMs, I often get 20 or more, and I hardly ever sell anything ). Plus, plus, plus. Sorry, I'm off for a bit.

[FiFi]

Because the poster of the sales thread will then be aware that his thread may be under scrutiny. And a member will more likely respond to someone with some kind of assigned authority. Plus it give the post a little more weight. Plus the designated helper won't be intimidated by any "thread crapper" accusations. Plus it gives the mod and idea of what a post is about just by recognizing the name (sorry I didn't realize you don't get that many PMs, I often get 20 or more, and I hardly ever sell anything ). Plus, plus, plus. Sorry, I'm off for a bit.

But by *any* member PM'ing a moderator about a "fishy" sales thread, it will be scrutinized.

I don't ignore PMs, and I doubt other moderators do, so *any* PM advising of a possible scam sales thread will be vetted thoroughly.

When I get a PM about a possible scam sales thread, I review the seller's posting history, IP address, previous sales (if any), and it takes less than 2 minutes. I receive PMs immediately, so I read them almost instantaneously.

[Drhulee]

But by *any* member PM'ing a moderator about a "fishy" sales thread, it will be scrutinized.

I don't ignore PMs, and I doubt other moderators do, so *any* PM advising of a possible scam sales thread will be vetted thoroughly.

When I get a PM about a possible scam sales thread, I review the seller's posting history, IP address, previous sales (if any), and it takes less than 2 minutes. I receive PMs immediately, so I read them almost instantaneously.

My mistake then, I really was under the impression that moderators and admins received hundreds of PMs every few hours. And since it often takes me a while to read, review, respond, etc. to the 20 or so I often get, I believed this to be a time saver and quite useful for you guys.

However, I should point out that the helpers are not just there for finding scams, but also there to keep the seller honest and to cut down on poorly listed threads, in which the watch may have a problem that is not obvious to newer members. Which is another reason the status is assigned and not just every member would be one.