Location mandatory?

[Forsaken Poptart]

Hey B-Town guys, just a quick rant/question.

I've been here for some time, and just needed to get a little off my chest- am I the only one who thinks making the "Location" criteria off to the side (under the avatar and whatnot) be a mandatory item to fill in? I know not all of you adhere to the "US (or country of choice) ONLY!" policy, but as stated in my signature, I generally do unless there's a good incentive, just because of the headaches it can cause. I know a fair few other traders do as well.

Perhaps it's just me, but I just like to know where the person I'm solidifying a deal with is BEFORE we reach an agreement and I get stuck with "Oh yeah, I'm in Siberia, btw.", then I'm stuck looking like a back out (or at the very least, kind of a jerk) for pointing them to my signature and trying to renegotiate based on new info I couldn't have had before. I'd like to be a bit more proactive about situations like this, just to save everyone's time.

I also expect that the argument will come up about "right to privacy" issues, etc., but to be fair, we're here to trade, so the shipping info can go out into the intertubes at some point anyway. What I'm asking is not an exact address, just the city, state, and country, if at all possible. It is also certainly possible that some people will lie, we can at least hope that the majority are honest, and the way I figure, if you're seriously paranoid about people finding out where you are, get a PO box or a friend in another city! *edit* This is how I do it, in a manner- nobody knows the little town I live in, but since it's right outside of Saratoga, I use that instead.
Last point- it'll also make calculating shipping much easier! Bonus!

What do you guys think? Feel free to shoot me full of holes, tell me I'm awesome, or anything in between!

[reegsk]

I’ve seen a few different threads on this very subject, and I’ve come to the conclusion that this is not a feature we’ll see. I want to say I remember one of the admins saying that they couldn’t add that criteria? Or maybe it was some other criteria. Anyway, I suppose it’s not greatly important. As long as you post “US Only” in the thread, you should be covered. Just ask right off the bat, “Are you in the US?” Or, if you forget, you should have yourself covered if you hammer out a deal and find out the person is outside the US. You may lose some time, but they can’t hit you with a backout if they failed to read the requirements for trading in your thread.

[Forsaken Poptart]

That's very true, but I hate having to escalate the issue to the point where it's a backout and people are annoyed- like I say, I'd much rather be proactive and be able to see where my trade partner is from, rather than assuming they've read my sig and are, in fact, from the US, etc. I'd much rather be able to rattle off a PM right off the bat, is all.

[porkuslime]

It is "On the list" to be mandatory for New Accounts. That is going to be on TrademasterAdams personal timeline.. so, maybe soon, probably Not So Soon. We are not sure if it can be "retcon-able"

It IS something I support, and hope that everyone does fill in that spot. Right now, though, best is to mention it up front, stick it in your sig, etc..

Of course, if you can certainly help out by asking folks who don't have it listed as something they can do to make the site smoother, that would be rather helpful!

-Porkuslime

[reegsk]

And you don’t have to be specific – I think Porkuslime and I are clear enough, giving a state and a vague location. I think naming a part of the state is better than just the state itself, so if the person is nearby you could always arrange a face-to-face to save on shipping. But people should at least give a country, and maybe which part of the country.

[JohnHwangBT]

I think most people are for mandatory location - this is a trade site, after all.

And it has been said from on-high that location will be mandatory to the country, if not state/city.

[Norseman]

Don't get me wrong... I am TOTALLY for making it mandatory. However I am sick to death with people just messaging me back..."No thanks" to many of my offers. Later to find out it was because I live in Canada. They didn't think to elaborate. "I don't want to trade with you because you are not in the US."

Yeah I know it costs about $5 extra on shipping and takes a week longer for shipping, but if the Canadian trade partner makes it worth your while, why would it be a problem.

Secondly, 75% or more of Canadians live 30min away from the US. I know I have a US address that I can use if someone doesn't want to ship to Canada and it is important enough. I am pretty sure most of could if the trade was worth it make a 30 min drive and go pick it up at a US post office. Yeah its a pain in the butt, but if you are going down to the US anyways.

All I am saying I know some are hesitant because they are being avoided by trade partners or being treated like second class citizens by people saying "Oh if I don't get any other interest I will give you a PM and we can work something out."

I know because it has happened about 4 times this week to me alone. Think about how it would make you feel.

[govannon]

Don't get me wrong... I am TOTALLY for making it mandatory. However I am sick to death with people just messaging me back..."No thanks" to many of my offers. Later to find out it was because I live in Canada. They didn't think to elaborate. "I don't want to trade with you because you are not in the US."

Yeah I know it costs about $5 extra on shipping and takes a week longer for shipping, but if the Canadian trade partner makes it worth your while, why would it be a problem.

Secondly, 75% or more of Canadians live 30min away from the US. I know I have a US address that I can use if someone doesn't want to ship to Canada and it is important enough. I am pretty sure most of could if the trade was worth it make a 30 min drive and go pick it up at a US post office. Yeah its a pain in the butt, but if you are going down to the US anyways.

All I am saying I know some are hesitant because they are being avoided by trade partners or being treated like second class citizens by people saying "Oh if I don't get any other interest I will give you a PM and we can work something out."

I know because it has happened about 4 times this week to me alone. Think about how it would make you feel.

I would not mind shipping to Canada if there was a cheaper way to get delivery confirmation.

[Forsaken Poptart]

Norseman, that's a perfectly valid argument- I've had a good number of trades to and from Canadian traders that have gone off without a hitch. However, when it goes bad, the extra factor of it being an international trade makes it that much worse; I would imagine, though I don't know, that it's no picnic on your side either. Ergo, I put in the "significant incentive" clause in my signature.
As to second class citizens, again, I understand that, but I think, sadly, that that's a function of our postal system. To mirror, and add to what govannon said- it costs more, its more of a pain to track, and it takes a lot longer. Trading is just way smoother in country, which is why so many people are more inclined to stick to that.

[reegsk]

The funny thing is, for me in Western Mass, I've found it cheaper to ship smaller packages to Ontario than to California. The only major hiccup, as you said Norseman, is the cost of tracking confirmation to Canada. Personally, I prefer not to ship outside the U.S., but I've never had any issues shipping to Canada. My big thing is avoiding trades to Europe, unless the person has high refs or doesn't mind shipping first. Even then, I worry that it won't make it.

[Imaginos]

I've mentioned it before - my concern over shipping outside the US comes from packages from mom-in-law in Canada that arrived missing items. Whether US or Canada, I know it was opened at Customs - I assume Canada because of the tape with the maple leaf used to reseal it.

It doesn't stop me from shipping to Canada. But it is a definite area of concern for me - so I prefer to use expedited shipping.

[Ironhide]

How's UPS on international shipping? Don't they have tracking from one country to another? Haven't shipped using them in years.

For me, shipping internationally is no problem. One of my first trades was between me (stationed in Germany) to a bloke in Australia. This was back in 1998, and if memory serves, it took a few months to get the models and it really wasn't that expensive.

Thing to remember in international trades is to include the shipping rates when hashing out the deal (i.e buyer pays shipping, responsible for own shipping, etc.). and that everything is negotiable.

[govannon]

How's UPS on international shipping? Don't they have tracking from one country to another? Haven't shipped using them in years.

For me, shipping internationally is no problem. One of my first trades was between me (stationed in Germany) to a bloke in Australia. This was back in 1998, and if memory serves, it took a few months to get the models and it really wasn't that expensive.

Thing to remember in international trades is to include the shipping rates when hashing out the deal (i.e buyer pays shipping, responsible for own shipping, etc.). and that everything is negotiable.

I just checked shipping to Canada about a week ago. It was going to be about $9 with USPS, almost $19 UPS with delivery confirmation.

[fitterpete]

I've done a few trades to Canada all but one(Nova Scotia is a loongg way) went off without a hitch and that one still got done just took longer.I don't mind it as long as the other guy is willing to pay the extra shipping and confirmation via insurance.BUT I would like to know up front so the negotiations can be straight right off the bat.No body seems to read my sig line anyway so I would like to see it right there at the top of the post.
Apparently sig lines don't mean a thing anyway as I saw someone with the sig that anything in a sig line doesn't count for their trade negotiations.So WTF is the point of them anyway?

[Norseman]

The delivery confirmation thing is a bit of an issue in Canada.

There is no way to make someone sign for something. Unless it is picked up at the post office. However if you use a tracking number it will tell you that the parcel has been delivered, and they are available for a reasonable price. Most parcels over a certain size have to be picked up at the post office in Canada anyways. They are not delivered to your door.

I understand the fear of "What if something goes wrong?" but really how often does it happen. Heck i sent a Baneblade to Iraq last year, everything went alright. I also sent a pack to Alberta (two provinces west of me) and had a problem.

No body seems to read my sig line anyway

Nobody reads or respects any rules stated in a sig line.

The simple problem is that it can be changed with no record. I can write in my sig that you owe me $100 just for me doing a trade with you. Does that make it an enforceable agreement of our trade. No. It has been argued for awhile now but the outcome was that sig lines do not have anything to do with a trade, unless the sig line was completely copied into the body of a PM or email and agreed to by the trade partner.