GAMER LOUNGE 20XX (NO CASUALS!!)

[Kriven]

I have no problems with it so long as it has clear rules and there's a discussion on what happens if someone doesn't deliver.

Pretty much I was thinking:

No auctions in-thread. That's for eBay (which users are allowed to link out to if they want).
Pictures are to be provided on request.
Be clear in your initial post as to where in the world you are willing to ship and what kinds of payment/trade you accept.
Be real about your descriptions. If something's unopened but it's been kicked around a bit, you can't call it new.

I think the biggest concern is how to handle the punishment of poor traders... Obviously, I don't think the site can really do anything to reimburse people who get ripped off. All we can really do is shame or ban users who don't trade in good faith. Like Helmo said, it would give the rep system an actual use. I also think it wouldn't be a bad idea to create a custom member group for users who don't follow through with their half of trade agreements.

To help combat all of this, I think there should be some stipulation to post when a trade has been agreed upon... a post by both users. Even if most of the discussion happens in PMs, I think a public:

Kriven: I'm trading this to Vipershark in exchange for that.
Vipershark: Yeah, sounds right.

That way the community can be aware of what transactions are happening and who follows through with what (so I guess this thread could be teamed up with the Going Broke thread as a way of monitoring user transactions).