Gosh - I really am not trying to be argumentative but I think that Greene made some excellent points:
greene said:On a different plant forum there is an iTrade rating system. Some people abused the system by agreeing beforehand that no matter how the trade went they would give each other positive feedback to 'up' their ratings...
(In my opinion) Too much of an opportunity for this to become another popularity contest and to divide the members rather than bring them together as one team/family...
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Also, if the system is based on a "thumbs-up" type of deal only, won't it really just show who trades the most often (active traders) and not necessarily reflect the quality of the trades? For instance, the angel I traded with sent me the most divine, uber-package of plants but (and I could be wrong) I don't believe that she trades all of the time. Would she not, then, be listed lower than someone, for instance, who sends plants that are just okay but who trades more frequently?
Another thought... what about a less-than-honest trader who appears to send good plants but, after the plants bloom 2 or 3 years down the line, have substituted a less-than-desirable cultivar. I am thinking particularly about a couple of threads I read some time back in the Daylily Forum where an unscrupulous seller was sending out ditch-type lilies and/or unnamed cultivars instead of the top-named dl's that they advertised. If that were to happen here, they would appear to be a top-of-the-line trader with glowing endorsements until it was way too late...
