Is it time for CGC board marketplace sales to be reported to GPA?

[G.A.tor]

something else to consider, many times folks pay with check or money order..or, even credit card direct...paypal is not nec. the payment method of choice?

 

I've brought that up with George already. We'll see what he thinks.

 

I know that when I make a big sale I prefer check/MO over paypal.

 

R.

 

of course, so do I...I even discount 3% for "cash" as it saves the buyer money, and nets me the same... a "win win" if you will

[DrWatson]

I still don't like the idea. Regardless, irregardless is not a word.

[nearmint]

one other point to make, a few folks seemed concerned about the validity of the sales reported...I hope no one here is "naive" enough to think that those that are currently reporting to GPA, have never manipulated a sale to get certain sales data reported (I am sure it is the exception, and not the rule, but it does happen, and happens probably far more frequently that it would happen here)....

 

I know, first hand, of several sales that appear on GPA, but that never "really" took place (or didn't take place at the $ level reported)...and I also know of sales on GPA (remember, I have WAY too much time on my hands) that appear that also didn't actually take place, though there was no deception involved, just an error...

 

so, let's not kid ourselves that this doesn't happen...while it could also happen via this board (like any other sales venue), I am sure it would not taint the current pool any more than it already is, and would likely lead to more information for folks that subscribe to GPA, which would seem to be a "good thing"...

 

ultimately, folks will pay what they are willing to pay, irregardless...

 

Good points, Rick. I bet George would be interested in the specifics of the listings you know to be in error.

[VintageComics]

I'm still willing to bet that the "watchdog" mentality that this forum has would make our data more accurate and true than any other contributor out there. Which other venue polices itself to the same degre of scrutiny?

 

For the record I've reported several GPA errors to George and he has always investigated and made corrections.

 

(thumbs u

[G.A.tor]

one other point to make, a few folks seemed concerned about the validity of the sales reported...I hope no one here is "naive" enough to think that those that are currently reporting to GPA, have never manipulated a sale to get certain sales data reported (I am sure it is the exception, and not the rule, but it does happen, and happens probably far more frequently that it would happen here)....

 

I know, first hand, of several sales that appear on GPA, but that never "really" took place (or didn't take place at the $ level reported)...and I also know of sales on GPA (remember, I have WAY too much time on my hands) that appear that also didn't actually take place, though there was no deception involved, just an error...

 

so, let's not kid ourselves that this doesn't happen...while it could also happen via this board (like any other sales venue), I am sure it would not taint the current pool any more than it already is, and would likely lead to more information for folks that subscribe to GPA, which would seem to be a "good thing"...

 

ultimately, folks will pay what they are willing to pay, irregardless...

 

Good points, Rick. I bet George would be interested in the specifics of the listings you know to be in error.

I actually reported one of these to George last year, I believe, and he did correct, but only because I was personally involved in the "non" sale on ebay, so burden of proof fell squarely on me...

 

however, I don't subscribe nor submit info to GPA, so unless I am directly involved in an erroneously reported transaction, I cannot make suggestions on one side, and not the other (meaning, it is none of my business to make corrections for them, the same way it is none of my business to report accurate sales to them)...and in some cases, the info is told in confidence, and I cannot betray that confidence...I am not a "watchdog" or a GPA police... I was simply making the statement that I hope folks are not naive enough to think that current contributors don't manipulate the system... and, to think that we would rampantly or itentionally do it here on the boards (as some have suggested?) is just as naive of a position (IMO)...board sales occur whether reported to GPA or not... simply to include the sales (make it from a small, select/trusted group if you must) could only lead to "more" info for subscribers to have at their disposal, I would think?

gator

[nearmint]

one other point to make, a few folks seemed concerned about the validity of the sales reported...I hope no one here is "naive" enough to think that those that are currently reporting to GPA, have never manipulated a sale to get certain sales data reported (I am sure it is the exception, and not the rule, but it does happen, and happens probably far more frequently that it would happen here)....

 

I know, first hand, of several sales that appear on GPA, but that never "really" took place (or didn't take place at the $ level reported)...and I also know of sales on GPA (remember, I have WAY too much time on my hands) that appear that also didn't actually take place, though there was no deception involved, just an error...

 

so, let's not kid ourselves that this doesn't happen...while it could also happen via this board (like any other sales venue), I am sure it would not taint the current pool any more than it already is, and would likely lead to more information for folks that subscribe to GPA, which would seem to be a "good thing"...

 

ultimately, folks will pay what they are willing to pay, irregardless...

 

Good points, Rick. I bet George would be interested in the specifics of the listings you know to be in error.

I actually reported one of these to George last year, I believe, and he did correct, but only because I was personally involved in the "non" sale on ebay, so burden of proof fell squarely on me...

 

however, I don't subscribe nor submit info to GPA, so unless I am directly involved in an erroneously reported transaction, I cannot make suggestions on one side, and not the other (meaning, it is none of my business to make corrections for them, the same way it is none of my business to report accurate sales to them)...and in some cases, the info is told in confidence, and I cannot betray that confidence...I am not a "watchdog" or a GPA police... I was simply making the statement that I hope folks are not naive enough to think that current contributors don't manipulate the system... and, to think that we would rampantly or itentionally do it here on the boards (as some have suggested?) is just as naive of a position (IMO)...board sales occur whether reported to GPA or not... simply to include the sales (make it from a small, select/trusted group if you must) could only lead to "more" info for subscribers to have at their disposal, I would think?

gator

 

I would agree. (thumbs u

[comicwiz]

So what's the next step?

 

I think talking about it and hashing out the pros and cons is a good start. Hopefully this will lead to list of action items we can all agree on. I think the buy-in on our end and GPA's will need the most work, and appointing impartial mediators to weed through relevant/irrelevant points to take us to the next step will be huge. If it gets the point where we need to take some steps to procure a process that follows some accepted convention (accepted in the sense of having enough contributors here to justify it, and that GPA is on side with the plan), I would be happy to act as a technical advisor, and depending on how much work would be involved, I might even be able to manage the project.

[nearmint]

So what's the next step?

 

I think talking about it and hashing out the pros and cons is a good start. Hopefully this will lead to list of action items we can all agree on. I think the buy-in on our end and GPA's will need the most work, and appointing impartial mediators to weed through relevant/irrelevant points to take us to the next step will be huge. If it gets the point where we need to take some steps to procure a process that follows some accepted convention (accepted in the sense of having enough contributors here to justify it, and that GPA is on side with the plan), I would be happy to act as a technical advisor, and depending on how much work would be involved, I might even be able to manage the project.

 

Wow, that would be great. (thumbs u

[sterlingcomics]

I still don't like the idea. Regardless, irregardless is not a word.

I appreciate the technical possibilities, but I'm worried about this turning into "The Turk". There's a lot of non technical issues that will surface as previously noted...of course it's possible.

[nik]

hm

[greggy]

[nearmint]

The Turk?

[DrWatson]

The Turk?

Link

[VintageComics]

I still don't get it.

 

 

[nearmint]

Neither do I. Maybe there's nothing to get.

[ashrael]

To take it a step further, you can have a pre-approved submitter's list based on criteria.

 

The criteria can be something along the lines of

 

a) prerequesite amount of time on the board.

b) prerequisite amount of references within the hobby/forum

c) prerequisite amount of outside forum references (such as Ebay feedback, etc)

 

Those that are approved would be allowed to make a post in the GPA reporting thread. Any non approved posts would be either deleted or ignored.

Any discrepencies could also be followed up on.

 

 

For example. Seller A says he sold a book to B. Then B says it's in his collection forever. A month later member C joins the boards and shows everyone how he has bought the same book from the A/B transaction...but from another source.

 

The book is tracked using the CGC cert number.

 

That A/B transaction is stricken, and A/B are banned from reporting to GPA.

 

Just a few loose thoughts.

 

R.

 

 

I like it. I don't care if I would approved or if small books aren't included, but I would like to see big ticket items included.

 

One thing that would need to place is public listing of prices in cases when books are sold by PM.

[Sal]

So what's the next step?

 

I think talking about it and hashing out the pros and cons is a good start. Hopefully this will lead to list of action items we can all agree on. I think the buy-in on our end and GPA's will need the most work, and appointing impartial mediators to weed through relevant/irrelevant points to take us to the next step will be huge. If it gets the point where we need to take some steps to procure a process that follows some accepted convention (accepted in the sense of having enough contributors here to justify it, and that GPA is on side with the plan), I would be happy to act as a technical advisor, and depending on how much work would be involved, I might even be able to manage the project.

 

Not advocating this, just spitballing, but it would probably be possible to work up a PHP -script that would embed a "pay with PayPal" link in one's sales threads, and which would serve to function as that validator mechanism you mentioned.

 

It would probably be pretty simple to mock up, but providing unique ones for each individual user would be problematic. You'd almost need a "fake" PP link that would serve to simply capture the transaction without necessarily sending the clicker to Paypal. Or a "CGC Forum" layer that would go "above" the buyer and seller and serve to merely validate the sale without going in either account.

 

I think.

[fantastic_four]

It looks like it might possible

 

The function on this page is described as follows: "The TransactionSearch and GetTransactionDetails APIs are used to retrieve information about previous transactions in your account history." The key problem with this function is that it says "in your account history." In other words, you can use this to check a transaction attached to your account once authenticated. GPA can't use this function to retrieve a transaction their account wasn't involved with.

 

It makes general sense they wouldn't let just anyone access other people's transactions. Looking over their complete API reference, I'm not seeing any pertinent calls that would allow what you recommend. I was hopeful, because it was an awesome idea. I'm not sure how they'd do it securely though...hopefully we can come up with another way to achieve your same idea, an automated verification that funds did indeed change hands.

[comicwiz]

It looks like it might possible

 

The function on this page is described as follows: "The TransactionSearch and GetTransactionDetails APIs are used to retrieve information about previous transactions in your account history." The key problem with this function is that it says "in your account history." In other words, you can use this to check a transaction attached to your account once authenticated. GPA can't use this function to retrieve a transaction their account wasn't involved with.

 

It makes general sense they wouldn't let just anyone access other people's transactions. Looking over their complete API reference, I'm not seeing any pertinent calls that would allow what you recommend. I was hopeful, because it was an awesome idea. I'm not sure how they'd do it securely though...hopefully we can come up with another way to achieve your same idea, an automated verification that funds did indeed change hands.

 

Right, and this is certainly going to narrow a lot of people's thinking as it has yours. The API does provide a workable range of values, and this is promising. As long as the call can be made, there is always a method to populate the values. Small hint: how do services like auctionsniper manage to bid on eBay auctions with your account information?

[fantastic_four]

how do services like auctionsniper manage to bid on eBay auctions with your account information?

 

Users give AuctionSniper their E-Bay username and password. Ah, so you're suggesting sellers give GPA their PayPal username and password. That could work. I wasn't closed to that, it just hadn't occurred to me. Would anyone be dissuaded by having to set up a "seller's account" with GPA by giving them your PayPal info?