As My Gun Trader continues to grow, we have seen a sharp increase in the constant barrages of spammers not only sending messages, but also posting fraudulent ads in attempt to take advantage of our firearms marketplace community. In an attempt to combat this, we require both reCAPTCHA and email verification for all new registrants. Unfortunately, this does not have any impact on the amount of fraudulent ads we reject on a daily basis. Most online gun classified platforms today do still allow free basic ads for individual users but then support their sites by selling business, vendor or premium accounts to users who flood the classified ads with their products. As we’ve learned, this type of business model leaves those platforms vulnerable to users over-posting as well as scammers who are always searching for their next victim. Another recurring model is to charge monthly membership fees to join the website platform. This allows users to post ads and acquire seller contact information but obviously does not create a free and open marketplace.
My Gun Trader’s model has always been simple. It will always be free to create a user account to use the marketplace. My Gun Trader allows policing of the website through peer-to-peer access. Any ad or user deemed to be a scam, or who does not follow the website’s Terms & Conditions, may be flagged for removal by his or her peers. But, how do we mitigate the amount of fraudulent ads spammers attempt to post on a daily basis? The answer is simple, we move back to our original business model of charging users $1 to post a basic Simple Ad, which runs for 30 days. You will also still have the option to post a Featured Ad, which attracts much more exposure because it remains at the top of all Simple Ad listings for 90 days, at a cost of $5.
As we move into the holidays, we want to once again say thank you for your continued support, and wish you and yours a happy holiday season.
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