I've noticed that we have some wonderful new members who have
joined recently,and we all love to welcome our new members!
First of all, you need to know that this is a very large and
very active group of members who trade and chat a lot in the
forum. We typically have several hundred posts PER DAY, so
you may want to set your message delivery from "Individual
Email" to "Daily Digest", or to "No Email" (where you can
just come to the group's website or homepage to read the posts).
Otherwise, until you become good at skimming the Subject
headings to read only the topics that you are interested in,
you may easily become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of
messages in your Inbox.
The next thing that many new members will notice is that we
have a Nominations system. New members may also want to
find out about our Great Traders List. The Nominations system
is entirely voluntary. But it is recommended because it benefits
new people in the group, especially, and in the long run, it
benefits everyone in the group, because we have found it highly
effective in preventing scammers who come into our group to
initiate trades with members, and then unsubscribe after taking
in a big haul, with no intentions of holding up their end of
the bargain.
WHAT IS A GREAT TRADER?
The Great Trader list is a list of members in this group who have
completed at least 5 successful trades with other people. That
means that they followed through with what they promised to the
other person. Often, people who join our group do not know who
to trade with. They want to make sure that the person they are
trading with is honest. In the past, some people had been ripped
off. After digging and sending plants to someone, they never heard
from the other person again. The scammer who cheats people out
of a trade continues to repeat the cycle with others because
no one says anything. They left a wake of disappointed people
who felt discouraged after they were left high and dry, and
eventually, those people left the group with a sour taste in their
mouth for trading. Scammers gave trading a bad name.
WHY DO WE HAVE A GREAT TRADER LIST?
Once the cycle of scamming goes through a group like this where trust
is a very big factor, it turns people off to trading and swapping
plants. They become discouraged and leave the group. That would be
death to a group like this where trading is what we are all about.
This is why we have established the Great Trader List and the system
of Nominations. It supports honesty and ethical behavior in the group.
Anyone can get on the Great Trader list by starting out trading seeds,
cuttings or plants. The list provides the names of those who have
established a record of honest trading. When people nominate each
other it is done after both parties have completed and received their
trades satisfactorily. Andrea Miller and Pat Gravel record the
nominations, which are made publicly in the group. They update
the lists at least every month.
Please feel free to ask any other questions that you may have regarding
the Great Trader List. You may view it by navigating to the left side
of the group's homepage. Click on the word "Files,", then look for the
"Great Trader's List" and the file labeled "Great Trader Nominations" .
HOW EASY IS IT TO BECOME A GREAT TRADER?
Even if you just start out sending SASE for seeds, that counts as a trade,
and you are already on your way to getting nominated! We have found that
once someone completes their 5 trades, and makes it to the Great Traders
List, they have a "vested interest" in the group, and have built a
certain loyalty to the group, all which serve to support high standards
and ethical behavior, while trading in this group.
We all want to make each and every one of you feel WELCOME and happy here,
so please jump right in and enjoy your time in the PLANTSWAP GROUP!!
Mimi & Moderators (Rick, Andrea & Pat)
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altered, or used in any form or by any means without the express
written permission of the author, littleme_hi@yahoo.com.
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