Posted By:
MattJoAnn - "I just really strongly believe that it's not worth outing a miscategorized auction if you are not rock-solid, 100% sure. 100%. If you are going to potentially cost someone thousands of dollars, I think it's the least one can ask is that you be very, very sure you are actually giving a valid warning and not just throwing something out as a maybe."
2 points:
1) When you say "costing someone thousands of dollars" are you talking about the seller or the buyer? If it's the seller, I think posting it on the board for open discussion will bring the truth to light and if there is nothing wrong with the listing, it may actually benefit the seller (isn't that the exact argument against outing?). If you are referring to the buyer, I don't think you can appropriately categorize that as costing the buyer thousands of dollars - no one is making the buyer spend any more then he choses to. It may end up at a higher price then it would have otherwise, but spinning it as taking money out of his pocket is innacurate.
2) Sometimes it's exactly that non 100% rock solid certainty that needs to be discussed - i.e. "does the corner clipping on this auction look fishy to anyone else." I have often taken such discussions offline, but in doing so, anyone else who has the same question loses out on the dialog.