Regarding things that look too good to be true, typically they are. But occasionally/rarely they're genuine.
The problem being... an Ultegra Di2 for £300 https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/298079/ not only is far too good to be true, but is in that stolen bike stuff sweet spot of £150 > £350.
The online identity of that user is known to me, and I'd happily work with police if they got in touch and said it was a suspect item... but I don't believe that is the case.
The problem then is one of trust, when a deal looks too good how should we increase trust so that we can believe it?
What do people think of using a third party service to help increase trust by making it extremely difficult to hide identity.
That service requires proof of access to multiple systems as well as verification by people who vouch that you are indeed who you say.
Short of me checking scans of passports and issuing blue ticks I'm not sure what else I can do to increase trust. But verifying the identity (something actual bike thieves will never want to happen) seems like a good thing to consider.
This sounds good to me (been scammed via PayPal (goods - idiots) twice on our classifieds for things that weren't really too good to be true.. . I don't care for user##%^%# and their bargain gold plated colnago, happy with increasing security and decreasing spam. Sounds like a great plan.
Regarding things that look too good to be true, typically they are. But occasionally/rarely they're genuine.
The problem being... an Ultegra Di2 for £300 https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/298079/ not only is far too good to be true, but is in that stolen bike stuff sweet spot of £150 > £350.
The online identity of that user is known to me, and I'd happily work with police if they got in touch and said it was a suspect item... but I don't believe that is the case.
The problem then is one of trust, when a deal looks too good how should we increase trust so that we can believe it?
What do people think of using a third party service to help increase trust by making it extremely difficult to hide identity.
i.e. https://keybase.io/buro9
That service requires proof of access to multiple systems as well as verification by people who vouch that you are indeed who you say.
Short of me checking scans of passports and issuing blue ticks I'm not sure what else I can do to increase trust. But verifying the identity (something actual bike thieves will never want to happen) seems like a good thing to consider.