Trading meeting its end...

I have traded many times successfully, being scammed once. The things that stood out about this transaction:

she he could not do it through GC but wanted to go through FB, then claimed that didn't work and wanted me to join her NH.
she took a long time to reply to PMs the whole process took more than an hour.
She requested I put my stuff up first despite being lower level.
she had multiple wheats up for sale. When I bought one set, it disappeared and was replaced by another.
She never put up what she offered, but claimed she did.

Maybe be people will recognize a pattern like this and walk away before being scammed.

This is no good for honest players.
At least 90% of us are honest.
We are at vain due to the scammers.

Yes I indeed know that the violation of the name and shame policy was increased and you had to close the trading.
I am not happy with this decision but yes, I support you..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ExcellentPosts

This is no good for honest players.
At least 90% of us are honest.
We are at vain due to the scammers.

Yes I indeed know that the violation of the name and shame policy was increased and you had to close the trading.
I am not happy with this decision but yes, I support you..

---

???? Has the trading thread been closed? I just checked it and seemed like business as usual ...

Perky I want to thank you for for sharing your story!
It may be a bit of a long post however it is spot on and definately worth the read.
Here's the link to the post just in case: http://forum.supercell.net/showthrea...=1#post2098231

Honestly I can't remember whether it was me or possibly Kendra who handled it at the time however I do know there have been several stories like these in the past. In fact there have been more stories like these then actual scammers.

So thank you again for sharing your story :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kodama

I've seen many posts in the past where SC moderators were like "you should have used PM's instead then we could have done something" when a trade goes bad. So why is everyone saying KIK only instead of PM's on the trade threads? It seems to be rampant. Did something change.

---

Nothing changed but some users prefer to use Kik to arrange the trade details rather then forum PM because it's easier / faster. It's all up to you whether you use Kik or forum PM to arrange a trade.

However whether it is Kik or PM that is used isn't relevant as our stance is the same on how we handle these matters. Disputes need to be settled in private and not on the public forum.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PerkyCox

???? Has the trading thread been closed? I just checked it and seemed like business as usual ...

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ExcellentPosts

This is no good for honest players.
At least 90% of us are honest.
We are at vain due to the scammers.

Yes I indeed know that the violation of the name and shame policy was increased and you had to close the trading.
I am not happy with this decision but yes, I support you..

---

The trading thread is not closed however we moved over to a new part today because it was getting rather big again. Part 7 went live and part 6 is closed which is also still on the front page.

So yes business as usual.

I have been trading for a year or so and have never been scammed. Maybe just lucky but here's how I do it:

1. No trading using Neighbourhood (other than my trusted neighbours). Our NH is free to join and should a new person join that no one knows, s/he will just have to trade first regardless of our respective levels.

2. I have always used the "lower level goes first" rule quite happily, even when for the first six months or so I was the lower level person! It was already established precedent and made sense to me. I had to build a reputable trading history and being the "lower level" trader allowed me to do that. And it only seems fair that I "paid my dues" as a lower level trader, and now I generally don't have to any more - the new lower levels do, just as I did!

3. On very rare occasions, if the other player was higher than me but was new to the forum I would ask them to go first. This was prior to the popularity of KIK and made sense to me - in the forum sense I was the "long timer". Never had someone say no.

4. I always agree on the exact # of items being traded, the agreed upon price which is usually default, both for speed and for protection against possible losses, and who will trade first BEFORE the trade. Have also been both the beneficiary of and the donor of "you sell for max price and I sell for 1 coin" which has always been a lovely bonus for me, from both ends.

5. On a couple of occasions someone has "swooped in" and taken one of our trades. In both cases I've split the losses with the other person (even though on both occasions they had ads running during the trade - not something I'd ever do) but I didn't trade with them again. Don't want to trade with anyone who's got ads up - minimizes risk.

6. I never trade when I've got an ad up. Lessens the odds of a "swooper".

7. I've built good relationships with some traders and use them as much as possible.

8. I don't do huge trades with unknown traders, just to minimize any potential losses.

9. If I ever do get scammed, I'll chalk it up as a learning experience and move on a little bit wiser.

So, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. And I do appreciate Supercell allowing us to trade through the forum. They could, after all, ban it outright. And I certainly don't expect them to "enforce" trading rules that we players created. And although I'm sure being scammed is no fun, I know I am exposing myself to possible risks by trading and if it happens, it happens. It's not the end of the world. Finally, I do see the merits behind the no naming and shaming policy and respect it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MarySC

For heaven's sake. Again??? This has to come up again????????

Just what part of "trading is at your own risk" and "trading is not supported by SC" is so hard to comprehend???

If you can't accept the risk then don't trade. Period. If "we" aren't careful SC (who owns this forum and has every right to decide what the rules are) will finally lose patience once and for all and close the trading thread. That would be a shame, as the vast majority of trades go off without a hitch.

PS: Mods, you have my sympathy for once again having to deal with this topic. Your level of patience is remarkable!!

---

My thoughts too. I have been playing for over a year and have never had a bad trade. If your worried about getting ripped off don't trade, its that easy. Close your neighborhood to request to join or invite only and just trade with your hood neighbors. I do alot of trading with my hood neighbors, everyyonce in a while I will get i KIK from an original neighbor and we will trade. Its pretty easy. Just remember its a game and its not the end of the world if somebody steals a bolt from you, you can get it back by wheating. Happy farming.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kolonistje1

However the name & shame rule we have on the forums is not up for debate and there is nothing that can be brought to the table to change this. The trade thread has been around a long time and so have scammers so this is nothing new and this debate is not new either. Trades can go wrong whether intentional or not period. Players who are willing to trade also have to take that risk.

It is far too easy to wildly accuse anyone from scamming or swooping in an stealing a trade. We have had that happen in the past. Yes we do realise that this is also protecting the scammer but in 99 out of 100 cases we are protecting the innocent here. How would you feel if someone accused you of scamming ?

---

The name and shame rule is pretty much standard on all the games I have played, these are PC MMOS, WoW, RS, SWTOR, STO, LoTRO, DDO. I hope I haven't broken any rules here I just used them as examples of pretty big companies that do this too. All of them investigate reports of scamming in game because they have those systems in place, which I don't think can be done with this game as there is no way to arrange trades in the game as there is no chat system like in those. However like this game if it takes place outside of the game the person is on their own if they get scammed, and as I said there is no safe way to do this safely in game therefore it will always fall under buyer beware.

I would support the name and shame rule on the opposite end of the scale, even if it protected 99 scammers out of 100 threads the fact that one could be completely innocent is enough for me.

As with anything is has to be buyer beware. I operate this was even when dealing with big businesses. For example I check my change before leaving a till or the post office counter. I check my receipt, if I am over charged I go straight to customer service. Even with these big companies on a face to face basis I have found mistakes and they have been rectified. If I hadn't done that and gone noticed it later then it is on my back as there is no proof that it happened to me and I am not using someone elses receipt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JayC

As with anything is has to be buyer beware. I operate this was even when dealing with big businesses. For example I check my change before leaving a till or the post office counter. I check my receipt, if I am over charged I go straight to customer service. Even with these big companies on a face to face basis I have found mistakes and they have been rectified. If I hadn't done that and gone noticed it later then it is on my back as there is no proof that it happened to me and I am not using someone elses receipt.

---

Although a closer comparison would be that you and another customer decide you've bought the wrong goods on the way out of the shop and decide to swap. Nothing to do with the shop, and if the other customer runs off with your bananas as well as their apples it's just rotten luck really... :D

I've only ever done one trade off the forum, and I found it so stressful that I never did it again. On the other hand our neighbourhood are always selling each other bits and bobs cheaply. It's not really trading, and you wouldn't offer someone who only just joined the neighbourhood 10 bolts for pretty much nothing, so it's all about earning trust and helping each other.

I'll share some tips that you should do to protect yourself from scammer.

1. Use "higher level trade first" rule. It won't guarantee that higher level won't scam you but it's less likely.
2. You may use, "higher post on forum" rule instead. Someone with many hundreds of post is less likely to scam you than someone with 1 post.
3. Once you trade with someone successfully, become friend with them. It's risky at first because you don't know who you can trust. Once you got someone that will not scam you then please trade with that players.

if something start to seems fishy, do the following...
1. Trade at lower quantity multiple times. It may takes more time but losing 5 BEMs is a lot better than losing a whooping 50 BEMs.
2. Trade at max price. If you got scam then it's still like selling your item in the store.
3. Search his "post in the past". If he make ton of successful trade then he's less likely to be a scammer.
4. If all else fail, walk away safely and trade with someone else. Time wasting is better than getting scammed.