crone maatkaere wrote:thanks for reiterating that a seller review thread is for comments regarding experiences with items the seller offers and there is "i think" other threads for "sellers you love" where all gushy comments should be listed. :grouphug:

First of all, the majority of this site has absolutely nothing to do with seller reviews. The seller reviews make up less than 5% of the board threads & contributions. So, if someone or multiple people, want to judge an entire forum based on less than 5% of the total contribution, then they must only spend their time in the Seller Review section. I think I know some of the people you are referring to, and ironically enough, they are the first among those to hop into the fray & fuel the fire. So, when it comes to opinions such as that I only weigh with great contemplation those who come forward with an issue that I know aren't playing at gossip themselves. Stones & glass houses comes to mind involving that issue entirely. And with gossip, any large group of people is going to spawn the gossip mill, it's unavoidable, but we do try to keep it to a minimum. And, this is part of what the moderators are tasked with doing, keeping threads on task. However, concerning this one they felt it would be better to come directly from me, and rightly so.

Second, the reason we've kept the Seller Review section open is because I believe in transparency. If you think for one minute that if we took this section down that buyers wouldn't talk about sellers, you haven't seen Facebook. I've seen on Facebook, the public & private groups, more seller mongering than I've ever seen in here. At least in here we make the Seller Reviews public & sellers actually get to see what is being said about them, as opposed to either never getting to see it, or someone taunting a seller by cutting & pasting from a Facebook group and the seller have absolutely no way of telling the others in the group that a) the person is outright lying, or b) explain their side of the situation. There are always 2 sides to every story, and that is the purpose of the Seller Review section, both sides being able to communicate.

Third, I agree that first & foremost that buyers should address complaints with the seller FIRST since it is the seller who will be rectifying any issue, issuing any refund, giving them any advice, etc. Which is why we do NOT offer spirit readings, we don't offer to counsel someone on seller-specific bindings, etc. And therefore that is the ideology we support throughout the entire site. However, in a situation when someone does communicate with the seller & has a bad experience, they should have the right to say so. We do not always have glowing reviews, I don't know any seller who does. There isn't one seller on here who consistently & 100% has positive reviews. And, in the cases where there is a red-flag seller who pops up and is copying listings & trying to defraud people, buyers have the right to know, and I know that other forums all discuss those issues.

Fourth, when actually utilized properly a Seller Review section can be just as valuable for buyers as sellers. Sometimes there might be an issue that is more of a technical issue than a practice of the arts issue that the seller isn't even aware is bothering people. Such as lack of response to email, non-readable material enclosed in the package, bad shipping practices, etc. As a seller I prefer to know what is an issue & have the opportunity to resolve it, then to have a group of people chattering via Facebook, AIM, chatroom, etc and never know there was an issue readily resolved. We do strive to keep the Review section on task, and maybe more moderators need to be tasked with it, but there is no reason there can't be an open discussion and keep it on point. No seller wants to hear bad news, but sometimes it's better to KNOW what's being said about you than to wonder why all the sudden no one is buying from you. I think the real issue is not the places like here who are 100% transparent, but the private forums, chats, Facebook groups, etc that have agenda-based smear campaigns.