The Safety of MLP Arena?

[BrinnyTheBrave]

Hello everyone! I'll get straight to the point. Recently I found someone with a trade that I want. I want to give them my address, but I always thought that was risky. I am not sure how safe MLP Arena is in general when it comes to strangers. I am wondering what you recommend I do in this situation. I really want their ponies, and they really want the pony I am willing to trade them. What to do? 

[moving to Trader Support ~ many thanks ~ hathorcat]

[disturbed-rainbow]

It's bout like eBay, or any other place that ask for your address... But being a small group I'd believe that you'd be safer here than anywhere.

[Violet CLM]

If they have a non-zero Trade Count under their name on their posts, you can click that link to see testimonials from all the people they've traded with, plus the names of the people who gave the testimonials in case you feel the need to contact them for more information.

[BrinnyTheBrave]

Oh... ok. It says their trade count is +10. I'm assuming that's very good? But how do I go by just that?

[mercynova]

I have been trading, buying and selling on the Arena for many many years now so I've given my address out to a lot of different members. Never had a problem once!

[Violet CLM]

You can go by just the number 10 if you like. You can look around at other profiles if you want to get a sense of how high it is. As I said, you can click on the number 10 to see a list of the details of those ten transactions, specifically what kind of feedback was left and who the other party was. You can contact those other parties if you feel so inclined, or you can choose not to. You can basically get as much or as little information as you want.

[BrinnyTheBrave]

You can go by just the number 10 if you like. You can look around at other profiles if you want to get a sense of how high it is. As I said, you can click on the number 10 to see a list of the details of those ten transactions, specifically what kind of feedback was left and who the other party was. You can contact those other parties if you feel so inclined, or you can choose not to. You can basically get as much or as little information as you want.

Ok, thank you. You have all been so helpful  who knew trading ponies was so much work!

[hathorcat]

Other than the killer pandas which only come out the third Tuesday of every March on a leap year and snare unthinking newbies, I am pretty sure the Arena is safe enough. We haven't lost anyone yet...well not in a couple of years anyway and even then its not really our fault if people cant read the warning signs posted on the secret Customs forum.

[ponylady]

Cat do I have to get out the spanky wand? 

First, you are among friends here. Sure there have been a few bad apples along the road but the good far out weighs the bad.

Just learn to be a conscious buyer/trader. It's always important to check feedback or you can do a quick search of your trade partner using the Search feature to see if there has been any TS threads brought up about them. Also you can check LBS's Bad Trader list. There is a link in the Trader Watch List sticky above.

Honestly you have nothing to worry about  I do not hesitate to give my addy. Do you buy off Ebay, Etsy, Amazon? Because if you do it's no different. I will say though since you have never done a trade before be prepared that you will most likely have to send your part of the trade first. And once your partner receives it they will send out yours. The reason being is you are new and have not yet established a reputation here. It's nothing against you it's just the way it usually works.

Good Luck in your future trades!

[partypony566]

Honestly it's the same as buying off eBay. You are giving your address out to strangers all the time.

Obviously I was wary too when I first joined, but if you just pick people who have a ton of feedback then you know it's safe to do so.

Alternatively you could set up a PO box addy if you don't want to give out your real addy.

Other than the killer pandas which only come out the third Tuesday of every March on a leap year and snare unthinking newbies, I am pretty sure the Arena is safe enough. We haven't lost anyone yet...well not in a couple of years anyway and even then its not really our fault if people cant read the warning signs posted on the secret Customs forum.

best reply ever.

[Sarahlacewing]

I know trades can be a little nerve wracking, but it's good to discuss the details beforehand.  You can figure in cost of tracking for each package into the trade values so that you know you are going to be able to keep an eye on it.  It's incredibly unlikely that a member here would be a predator or use your information to harm you in any way. 

How old are you? You could ask your work if the package could be sent to your job or you can explore other other options if it truly makes you uncomfortable.   As far as knowing who to trust +10 isn't bad and you should be able to look up what kinds of transactions they were (buy/sell/trade) and also how people felt about them.  Another indicator is post and when the last time they were online is.  If they only have a handful or posts or they were last seen a long time ago, then they might not be as active and this could make reaching them later a problem if you have concerns.

*thinks* The biggest thing is be polite.  You an just say you are interested but you've never done a trade before.

Some people won't trade with incredibly new users who have no feedback.  And some will ask that a newer user with zero feedback send their package first.  I don't really do that, but it happens sometimes.  It's not personal it's because a zero trade count hasn't yet had the opportunity to show how reliable you are.  If it's an issue with your seller you can ask if they would take ebay feedback if you have that. ^^

[Chaosette]

Hey folks! It's meee!
I super appreciate Brinny being polite and not posting my name when asking for help but I feel totally comfortable saying its me who wants to trade with her.
I think there's at least a couple people who've replied to you, Brinny, who will be able to vouch for me
It's totally smart to check though! I remember when I first joined, I was super nervous about my first trade, but I've honestly found I like the arena better than eBay or anything else because everyone knows everyone and will tell you if they've ever had an issue with someone, or if they're good.
So anywho, just wanted to put that out there and see if it helps the Arena folk to help you, knowing that it's me and now they can reply more specifically

[Unicorn_pops]

Other than the killer pandas which only come out the third Tuesday of every March on a leap year and snare unthinking newbies, I am pretty sure the Arena is safe enough. We haven't lost anyone yet...well not in a couple of years anyway and even then its not really our fault if people cant read the warning signs posted on the secret Customs forum.

OMG...LOL 

Cat do I have to get out the spanky wand? 

LOL!

[ButtercreamDream]

When I'm trading with someone who has 0 feedback, I ask them to send first.  That's how I got my feedback started here, and now I'm fairly established.  Honestly, though, I've never worried about giving out my address by PM.  I've been at it for 15years or so, and my only bad experience was through ebay, over a decade ago.  I've never had a bad experience within the community.

Getting tracking or insurance to cover yourself is a good idea, though, in case someone's half goes missing.  Trading is really fun!!

[cyberunicorn]

I know that I was really nervous about my first purchase off the arena. mainly because it was unknown territory. Then the whole giving your address to someone and also sending money over paypal myself.

though I bought DBBE sundance from pinkkittywinks and it was smooth as silk. And I have gone back a few times to buy more slowly buying up all the other DBBEs that pop up lol. I prefer it to ebay (unless I know the ebay user is an arena member) now people are really nice and they actually remember if you have bought from them before

She was really nice and helped with any questions I had.

And wait till you get to swaps. the questions start all over again.