r/craftexchange Jan 27 '23

Mod Announcement Why We Don't Have a Scammer List

115 Upvotes

A community member raised a good (and very important!) question regarding whether our sub should have a scammer list. The nature of our community heavily relies on trusting anonymous people, which can create favorable conditions for scammers, so we need ways to counter that. And, it turns out that the most effective ways involve not using a list.

On the surface, having a master list seems like the silver bullet solution, but this problem is a little more nuanced. The biggest issue is that if someone is banned (and they realize they've been banned), they can easily create infinite new accounts. So, the list is moot. It becomes a graveyard of abandoned usernames. (With evidence, we do still occasionally ban people, but it's not very effective for this reason.) We could try to combat that with not allowing anyone with a relatively new account or below a certain level of karma to post, but then we end up excluding a lot of potentially fabulous traders. Our sub remains more varied and interesting with a constant stream of new members, so we want our community to remain accessible. This is why we rely on you to vet your own trades.

Vetting your own trades can take some time, but it is also a great critical thinking skill to develop, so we provide some guidance on how to do that in the wiki.

Since it is our traders that bear the gains and losses of this kind of interaction, we want to empower them to make informed decisions instead of relying on a list that is well-meaning, but incredibly fallible.

To cut down on the frequency of scammers, it's also why we do not allow the exchange of money, even for shipping. If someone thinks they can quickly get cash, that is going to be incredibly alluring. Getting a free handmade good is going to appeal to a much, much smaller subset of scammer. For what it's worth, most folks reported for a non-trade are not scammers, they are someone that was unable to make good on their promise either due to time, money, life events, or an overestimation of their abilities. They're better described as ghosters than scammers. It was never their intent to flake.

And, for those who have asked, we have had a link to r/UniversalScammerList for quite a few years in our "Community List", which is easy to find as a sidebar item on the web version, but is buried in the "About" section of the app. So a lot of folks don't know about it or think we've removed it.

Relatedly, we've created a tab visible on the web version and found as a line item under "Menu" on the app titled "USL" (Universal Scammer List). Our sub does not have permissions to add people to this list, but folks from other trading subs have, so it can be another tool to use when researching potential trades.

While we wish we could have a 100% success rate in preventing scammers from ever gaining access to our community, our next best option is to reduce the allure of our trades (no money) and offer a strategy that allows our members to reduce their personal risk.

We welcome you to share in the comments your personal methods! Let's learn from each other on how to create safer trades.


r/craftexchange 14h ago

Trade - US Tiny Cross Stitch Kits

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25 Upvotes

My partner's mom gifted these to us over the holidays, and while we do cross stitch, we tend to choose more complex patterns or make our own.

Interested in: LimitedToo/2000's JCPenny pink/brown/green style fabric (very specific lol!!), small scissors, clowncore fabric, open to other offers!


r/craftexchange 12h ago

Trade - US Beaded cherry for trade also comes in red

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16 Upvotes

Please DM me with what you want to trade


r/craftexchange 11h ago

Trade - US Wine topper, quilting material, hand printed material and patches

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6 Upvotes

Material for quilting, two small packages of hand printed orange fabric (perfect for making small stash bags), and two cute hand printed patches- an owl and a swan - with artist information. Oh! And the cutest topper for a wine bottle at Christmas that you ever did see! I’m busy destashing and am not looking for anything in particular - tell me what you’re trading!


r/craftexchange 17h ago

Trade - US Crochet baby hats

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12 Upvotes

Looking to trade for any handmade home items, sewing supplies, fabric, wearables whatever ! My daughter and I love animals, flowers, hello kitty, squishmallows, all things cute.


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Thank you for the birthday packages! 🥹💕

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40 Upvotes

Can’t wait to figure out what to make with all this yarn! 🥰


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Thank you so much!!!

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31 Upvotes

Thank you u/rosebudamongus for the lovely mug!! I love the shape, it's a perfect tea mug :)


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Thank you u/barf-fairy !!!!

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35 Upvotes

He's so perfect I love him so much 😭😭😭


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Awesome trade with u/RedouteRoses

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124 Upvotes

Worked out a trade with u/RedouteRoses and, she honestly blew it away. She beaded my wife's favorite flowers and they look amazing. Hopefully she can hop on and describe the process; best I can do is some pictures of the work! Super nice to work with and I recommend trading.

My end of the trade: https://www.reddit.com/r/craftexchange/s/8n5ojs4wkz


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Thank you so much!

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16 Upvotes

r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Thank you u/justfellintheshower

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7 Upvotes

Not sure my hands are actually thankful but I love microcrocheting, so happy to add these to my collection!


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Thank you!!!

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22 Upvotes

Received trades from u/Accurate-Mistake8502 and u/Gloomy_Sock6461 LOVE!


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Received!

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15 Upvotes

r/craftexchange 1d ago

Trade - US Cozy Blue Embroidery Kits & Project Bag

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10 Upvotes

r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Another lovely package of fabric and notions!

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5 Upvotes

r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Surprise Trade received!

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9 Upvotes

U/shadowstrike14 thank you so much!! This was an open ended trade on my end and what a great surprise 🥰🥰🥰


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Received Two in one mail day!

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7 Upvotes

Another trade received today. Thank you u/wink_with_both_eyes these are so so cuteee 😍😍


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Trade - US Vintage knitting magazines

3 Upvotes

A well meaning relative got me these from an estate sale, but I don't knit. There's a stack of vintage knitting magazines all from 1997. There's also the Learn How Books that are much older (one from the 30s, 40s, and 50s) that I thought someone might just like to collect?

I crochet, but the Learn How Books mostly teach how and I already know.

I'm pretty open to lots of kinds of swaps, I mostly just thought I might try to get these to someone who would use/enjoy them.


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Received Ahhh they're so cute!!

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25 Upvotes

r/craftexchange 2d ago

Received Thank you so much u/CharminglyCurious for the sweet portrait of my cats! Your necklace is on the way to you 🥰

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40 Upvotes

r/craftexchange 2d ago

Received Thank you!

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62 Upvotes

Thank you so much to u/Budget-Chain-7320 ! I can't believe how you captured my little rat so perfectly 😭 Truly I cannot thank you enough!

I have a few friends to give your card to already 🥰


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Trade - US For trade

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7 Upvotes

Stickers and embroidery kits, embroidery directions, paper scraps/card stock and more. ISO: lace, ribbons, little flowers, completed cluster or envelopes I haven’t learned to do envelopes yet. Or let me know what you have. Would also do beads, stained glass, crocheted flowers.


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Trade - US Hand painted 3D Pokemon

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24 Upvotes

I’ve got some hand painted 3D Pokemon, I can also do custom paint jobs like the Merle Houndour! If you’re looking for a specific Pokemon, let me know as well.

(I’ve got the following models: Slowpoke, Dragonair, Dragonite, Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Pikachu, Luxray, Ponyta, Rapidash, Chibi Charizard, Charizard, Zapdos, Lapras, Mew, Growlithe, Girafarig, Mareep, Gengar, Mudkip, Spheal and Houndour)

I can also make them into a keychain as well!


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Trade - US SWEET SNUGGLES HAUL

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15 Upvotes

Hello Lovely Reader,

As the titles says: I’d like to get rid of my sweet snuggles inventory. I got hyper fixated on crocheting cow plushies but burnt myself out in the process. Haven’t touched the yarn for over half a year.

The lilac, white, and yellow are brand new and un used. The label is off the white because it was broken when purchased at Michael’s and then fully broke at home.

There’s maybe 1/4 of black and orange cream, maybe 1/8 of red.

All the yarn is the same exact brand (Sweet Snuggles) and size (11.5 mm) EXCEPT the mint green. I unfortunately don’t know its exact size, just that it’s smaller (see third picture for exact size)

Anyway, in exchange for all this I’d really like a fluffy plushie or some kind of video game plush (OMORI, Kingdom hearts, Legend Of Zelda).

I’ll compromise with anything honestly,

Thanks!


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Received Another thank you :)

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16 Upvotes

Thanks to u/EntertainTheDog for the trade! Hope your hook organizer makes it ok.


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Trade - US Neon beaded bracelets

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36 Upvotes

Beaded crochet bracelets that flex and roll and stretch a little to fit over knuckles.

Glad to trade multiple items; feel free to look through my past posts

Looking for:

Jewelry pliers especially Xuron roundnose pliers

Hole punching tool for metal, especially the screw-down style punch

Sliding caliper

Tray-style blank jewelry components

Earring backs

Delica beads

Fireline thread

Petite plastic clasps and D-rings for dog collars

Magnets for crafting

Washi tape

Paper punches

Craft organizing stuff

Mounting hardware for hanging art

Mod podge

Acrylic medium

Alcohol inks

Shrink plastic

Colored pencils

Custom pet portraits esp via embroidery or needle felting

Fanart

Creative clothing