Shady sellers here now

I posted a "WTB" ad here a week ago, a member contacted me that he had a set. We went back and forth on PM here, then moved to email as I asked for pix. A few pix were sent (a pic of the grips and the faces), when I asked for more pix (soles, and backs), the seller got a bit testy, but eventually sent the pix I asked for . When I received the pix, they looked very familiar, I had saved eBay auctions for a few sets, and behold, the pix were from one of those auctions.

I had also asked for some feedback from the seller, expecting he would send me the link to the saved auction that the pix were from, but instead, he sent links to an automotive forum that had transactions from years ago. I contacted the seller on eBay, simply asking if he was a member here, which he denied.

Buyer beware! Lets get the feedback system fixed!!

What was the username

The BST is vulnerable right now. Gotta do your due diligence before buying. Unfortunately the things that generate revenue were TOP priority when the site changed and everything else was not important. Buyer Beware until feedback is up and running again. It really sucks for those of us who have spent years building up a good feedback score and reputation on here. It’s a shame that means nothing to the people in charge of wrx. Their motto is “Show me the Money!”

While I agree with all that is happening on the BST and WTB threads, there are still some good buyers and sellers. My advice, PayPal goods & services and continued due diligence like OP did.

- KC

> @coach_harris1 said:

> The BST is vulnerable right now. Gotta do your due diligence before buying. Unfortunately the things that generate revenue were TOP priority when the site changed and everything else was not important. Buyer Beware until feedback is up and running again. It really sucks for those of us who have spent years building up a good feedback score and reputation on here. It’s a shame that means nothing to the people in charge of wrx. Their motto is “Show me the Money!”

I thought BST _was_ a revenue generator. Why else would the owners let scammers have instant access to BST to sell items as long as they paid for the listings?

Seriously. What is a good alternative BST forum?

> @larciel said:

> Seriously. What is a good alternative BST forum?

Thehackersparadise

Cameroncollector for Cameron items

Member has been banned, thanks mods!!

> @larciel said:

> Seriously. What is a good alternative BST forum?

EBay is about the only place worth selling outside of BST. Many more buyers, but you absolutely have to budget for the fees there when selling. Basically, with PayPal fees and eBay fees, you're paying 13% of your final sale price... though, buyers paying for shipping can help offset that and come close to leveling the field with the BST on items that aren't on the higher end of the value spectrum.

Poster above mentioned THP (and TCC, but I have no familiarity on there). THP classifieds suck. Very little bandwidth, very little exposure. Run by their posse of "mods", who make the classifieds a very nice place if you are friendly with the the right folks on the site, but not so much if you're a newcomer or outside the circle. If you're in the clique, you can do what you want there. If not, it's a tough hill to climb if you're an outsider. I tried the site for a short time and gave their classifieds a chance; over approx. 10 listings, I got nothing but ridiculous low balls, low balling mods trying to bully my price down on an item they were interested in more than once, and very little action on anything (regardless of price, condition, or desirability). I even once had a mod message me saying something along the lines of "this isn't GolfWRX, members here don't want to pay extra for upgraded shafts and 'tour issue' stuff, maybe you should lower your expectations until you build up some reputation here" (not coincidentally, this message preceded an insulting low ball by him on an item I had listed). You more or less have to give things away there to really have any success and to break in to the "inner circle". Your reputation there isn't earned, it's purchased.

That site as a whole is pretty crappy - it's more or less one big sponsor driven site. The mods will intervene in conversations that say anything negative about a site favorite/ sponsor, and actively steer the conversations in the direction they want them to go. Those members there that are most active are so motivated by freebies and giveaways that nothing can be taken at face value.

/rant

I’m not in any “circle” or clique and I don’t brown nose anyone. I’m a fairly new member on there and haven’t experienced any of the problems you’ve listed. It definitely doesn’t get the amount of traffic as wrx. I’ve just found you need to be patient on there because of the lack of views. Maybe they just don’t tolerate the stuff that is allowed here. The mods on here put up with a lot of bs and drama from us and rarely intervene unless it gets nasty. Maybe THP doesn’t want every thread to turn into a bashing, name calling, etc thread. But again I haven’t experienced anything negative over there. I wasn’t promoting any sites. Just answering a question about sites I have experience with.

> @coach_harris1 said:

> I’m not in any “circle” or clique and I don’t brown nose anyone. I’m a fairly new member on there and haven’t experienced any of the problems you’ve listed. It definitely doesn’t get the amount of traffic as wrx. I’ve just found you need to be patient on there because of the lack of views. Maybe they just don’t tolerate the stuff that is allowed here. The mods on here put up with a lot of bs and drama from us and rarely intervene unless it gets nasty. Maybe THP doesn’t want every thread to turn into a bashing, name calling, etc thread. But again I haven’t experienced anything negative over there. I wasn’t promoting any sites. Just answering a question about sites I have experience with.

You shared your opinions, I shared mine. There’s no right or wrong and I wasn’t directing anything at you, and really have no desire to get in a back and forth about it. Just sharing my (crappy) experiences there. Maybe that site ends up being somewhere you enjoy visiting, maybe your experiences end up mirroring mine. I enjoyed the site until I spent some time there and started to interact and tried using the classifieds. I just have had terrible experiences selling there, and in fairness to someone asking the question, I felt it relevant to share my experience. If you feel differently, that’s great that you’ve found somewhere you enjoy visiting and selling your stuff. I hope the OP considers both opinions moving forward, and if he decides to check it out I hope he has a better experience than I did.

After reading several of your responses to ongoing threads on here it’s a wonder you didn’t make more friends. Some people just have to argue and complain all the time. Bottom line is that everyone is frustrated with this transition. I’ve also complained openly and expressed my displeasure many many times and I’m as guilty as any about being negative. But at the end of the day we’re all (those of us complaining) feeling entitled to something we have nothing invested into but our opinions. We didn’t pony up the cash to start the site, or to maintain the site. So I think everyone needs to take a step back and realize this great site is FREE and you don’t have to pay a dime. Those paying don’t really get that much for it in return compared to THP. And your opening line to start every argument is “and I don’t want to start a back and forth BUT...”. That’s your intention the whole time so don’t hide behind. And I’m not trying to start a back and forth either. Just expressing my opinion on this FREE site. And yes I pulled a politician like move and flip flopped from my original stance. But after some thinking and realization that I pay nothing to buy, sell, trade and post my opinion , and enter the free giveaways, I’ve let myself become entitled to things around here. Paying a subscription for the BST is not going to atop the scamming. It’s the world we live in now. If a scammer can pay a $50 or $100 bst fee and sell a driver for $40” then thats still a great profit margin for them so why not. As the buyer nowadays you have to do your due diligence and research the seller. Now I’m still a little skeptical that we will get our old feedback scores back but would that really stop the scamming? This sub forum was flooded with threads about people not getting what they paid for and paid with the gift method before the switch to this format. So long story short everyone INCLUDING MYSELF, needs to chill a little. The powers that be aren’t going to try and ruin the site. I’m sure they had every intention of making the site better as a whole and run more efficiently but the transition has had so many hiccups and it is now completely different and we all know people don’t like change. But there are a number of things I like about the change but certainly not all of them. Hopefully the mobile version gets better. Anyways enough from me. Let’s all move on.

@GoIrish17 I patiently await your response as I know you don’t like to go back and forth but we all know you love a good debate. ;)

Sounds like you guys need timeouts from the internet.

> @coach_harris1 said:

> So I think everyone needs to take a step back and realize this great site is FREE and you don’t have to pay a dime.

Agree this site is great and I'm grateful for it. But let's remember the old advertising adage that if something is free, YOU are the product....

> @coach_harris1 said:

> > @larciel said:

> > Seriously. What is a good alternative BST forum?

> Thehackersparadise

> Cameroncollector for Cameron items

>

THP sucks for everything and especially classifieds. Everything goirish said is correct. The owner of that site is the biggest ***hole on the internet. God forbid you disagree with him or his all knowing opinions. It’s amazing that anyone in the golf industry works with him but somehow they do.

> @awtryau89 said:

> > @coach_harris1 said:

> > > @larciel said:

> > > Seriously. What is a good alternative BST forum?

> > Thehackersparadise

> > Cameroncollector for Cameron items

> >

>

> THP sucks for everything and especially classifieds. Everything goirish said is correct. The owner of that site is the biggest ***hole on the internet. God forbid you disagree with him or his all knowing opinions. It’s amazing that anyone in the golf industry works with him but somehow they do.

>

Agree 110%. It was hilarious over there when the 4 piece KSig was at its peak popularity. All you have to know about that site is you can’t dare say anything against those who sponsor the events, especially Callaway. Those who sponsor those events get the biggest equipment threads. I mean just look at threads for companies like Ping over there compared to others. Not sure if they are all mods but J.D. , Jman, and Canadan use to be the biggest homers over there. Don’t dare mention anything about sponsors though as you will essentially blacklisted.

how can they not have a feedback system now, so bad

This place is like the wild west now. Its not a safe place to buy anymore and you have to be very careful.

As an extra step before buying on a WTB ad, I'm asking for pictures of the item with a hand written name/date in the picture to make sure they actually have the item they are offering and not just grabbing pictures off ebay or something. I've had a couple offers go silent after making this request... who knows but I suspect those transactions might not have turned out so great had I pursued them.

> @larciel said:

> Seriously. What is a good alternative BST forum?

Golf Club Traders on Facebook Marketplace

I think the moral of this story as that a feedback system is a necessity ASAP. I have held off from buying anything from the BST since the move. It seems like more and more brand new accounts are listing items.

> @gmangolf said:

> > @larciel said:

> > Seriously. What is a good alternative BST forum?

> Golf Club Traders on Facebook Marketplace

I agree but just be prepared to be lowballed like it was Craigslist or to have 50 people ask if it’s still available but never be interested once you say yes.