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Why isn't it based more on a trust system? Amazon records a ton of information about people.. Buyers with a history of claims should generally not be trusted w

by gregmac 10y ago

Why isn't it based more on a trust system? Amazon records a ton of information about people.. Buyers with a history of claims should generally not be trusted when opening a new claim, and likewise, sellers with a history of claims should not be trusted. New buyers and new sellers (no history) require some more scrutiny, but the default should probably be to be skeptical as well. When new, how hard is it to link an IP address (or some other fingerprint) as likely to be from other accounts? Eg: new buyer/seller opens dispute, has no history, but IP is linked to a no-longer active account that has a trail of disputes... that's pretty fishy. I'd probably say that accounts from shared addresses (internet cafes, coffee shops, etc) are probably also treated a suspicious by default... an unfortunate side effect if nothing else.

mywittyname 10y ago
You're right, it seems like there are a few cheap and easy fraud solutions. You can probably trust the older account that makes regular purchases on Amazon. I bet you can trust a long-time Amazon Prime member even more. Heck, maybe "seller insurance" can be a feature of Prime. Fraud is exactly the reason just let old electronics sit in my closet. I'd rather let them rot than risk having to pay to give them to somebody else.
- jedberg 10y ago
  > You're right, it seems like there are a few cheap and easy fraud solutions You'll just have to take my word for it that eBay and Amazon, companies that have been dealing with fraud since 1995, have implemented all of the cheap and easy solutions. :)
jedberg 10y ago
It's actually really easy to game the trust system. Back in the day a common scam was for a seller to sell a whole bunch of cheap books, and actually deliver with great customer service. Then they would switch to selling TVs and other high ticket items, which people would buy from the highly rated seller. Needless to say they never sent the TVs. That one was easy to spot after a few times, but it's always a cat and mouse game. As soon as they figure out what the inputs are into the system, they game it to their advantage. At the end of the day you have to have policies that aren't tied to the reputation to make things fair and that is where the debate about pro-seller vs pro-buyer comes in.

by gregmac 10y ago

mywittyname 10y ago

You're right, it seems like there are a few cheap and easy fraud solutions. You can probably trust the older account that makes regular purchases on Amazon. I bet you can trust a long-time Amazon Prime member even more. Heck, maybe "seller insurance" can be a feature of Prime. Fraud is exactly the reason just let old electronics sit in my closet. I'd rather let them rot than risk having to pay to give them to somebody else.

jedberg 10y ago
> You're right, it seems like there are a few cheap and easy fraud solutions You'll just have to take my word for it that eBay and Amazon, companies that have been dealing with fraud since 1995, have implemented all of the cheap and easy solutions. :)

jedberg 10y ago

It's actually really easy to game the trust system. Back in the day a common scam was for a seller to sell a whole bunch of cheap books, and actually deliver with great customer service. Then they would switch to selling TVs and other high ticket items, which people would buy from the highly rated seller. Needless to say they never sent the TVs. That one was easy to spot after a few times, but it's always a cat and mouse game. As soon as they figure out what the inputs are into the system, they game it to their advantage. At the end of the day you have to have policies that aren't tied to the reputation to make things fair and that is where the debate about pro-seller vs pro-buyer comes in.