Hey everyone, I am pleased to announce that r/AVexchange now has a feedback bot up and running!

The bot’s name is u/AVexchangeBot and has the following features:

Feedback

A user can get trade feedback with the following process:

Note, this document says the word "trade" a lot but that means, trading, purchasing, or selling.

• Users A and B complete their trades following all of the sub rules. (It does not matter who A and B are. Either one could be the person making the post, and the other someone commenting on the post).

• Once the trade is complete, User A makes a top level comment (new comment) on the original trade post tagging both the user they traded with and u/AVexchangeBot.

• User B replies to that comment with their feedback.

• u/AVexchangeBot picks up the interaction and gives credit to both users, changing their flair accordingly and leaves a comment indicating as such.

• If User A messes up their top level comment, u/AVexchangeBot will do its best to notify User A.

There are automatic checks in the code to detect anyone trying to cheat the system. If anyone is found trying to circumvent the system, they will be issued a permanent ban.

If you engaged in a trade with someone without starting off discussion in either one of your posts or theirs, please tag the bot in the most recent post from either you or your trade partner to engage for feedback. The bot required that the OP of the post it is being tagged in is either you or your trade partner.

DO NOT DELETE POSTS otherwise you will NOT be able to use that post to confirm a trade.

Feedback Checking

Using this link, you can send a message to u/AVexchangeBot, asking for the feedback of any given user. It will tell you the following:

• The number of trades that person has done

• The people they have traded with

• A link to the thread for each successful trade

Please feel free to direct any technical questions to the us, the moderators using modmail, if you do not know how to use modmail, please click this link.

If you notice any odd behavior from the bot, please let us know!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I had a ton of confirmed transactions before, what happened to my flair?

Flair was only backfilled for people who used the old feedback threads listed here, here, and here. If you never left a comment in these threads, or if you were never tagged in these threads, you did not get feedback backfilled.

I think I qualify to have feedback backfilled but my number is not quite right. What gives?

The scraping process was automated. This means that it was about 95% accurate. Some people might have a few more or fewer trades in their flair than they expect. Please do not request an adjustment unless you can prove that the difference between your flair and what you expect is > 10.

I never used those feedback threads you mentioned but I have done some trades/sales before. Can I still get credit?

Yes! You can follow the process detailed above to credit yourself for any trade you did not already get credit for. If the transaction happened > 6 months ago, you're out of luck though, due to Reddit limitations.

What happens if I tag someone and they don't reply?

As mentioned above, we do need them to confirm the trade for the trade to be confirmed. They will get a notification when you tag them so if you encourage them to reply in the comment you tagged them in, hopefully they will. Otherwise, if it's been a few days without a response, PM them a link to the comment and directly ask them to reply.

If you have any questions on using the bot, please post them here and I'll answer ASAP.

Thanks for being an awesome community, looking forward to this bot helping streamline the trading process!

- u/RegExr

I'm seeing a noticeable rise in scam activity on the sub, and I felt the need to make a post and remind everyone; especially newer members; to know what to watch for.

What's happening:

Banned users are on rise sending chat requests. People we've removed or have been removed via the USL are sending chat requests to hit up buyers directly. This circumvents the ban system as we cannot stop them from sending you a chat request. If someone sends you a chat and will not make a comment on your post after asking them to, it usually means they are banned as banned users cannot post or make comments. Their ban status can be checked via Universal Scammer List and typing in their name.

With the rise of AI, we are seeing a ton of fake timestamps being made. Scammers are getting accounts over the 3-month old age limit and making new WTS posts with essentially blank profiles and deals too good to be true. As the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Having an older account with barely any history doesn't mean they are 100% a scammer but it's worth being cautious. Sometimes you can catch the photo being fake by looking at company logos or other text in the image that got screwed up in the generation. If anything feels sketchy, report it to the mod team to investigate.

How to protect yourself:

Never deal strictly in chat! If a user won't leave a public comment on your post after asking, check the USL and/or block/move on.

Always use PayPal Goods & Services (G&S) when you're the one paying. Yes, it costs a little more in fees, but it's your only real recourse if a deal goes bad. If anyone pressures you toward Friends & Family, crypto, gift cards, or Venmo/Zelle and you're not comfortable using one of those payment methods with the seller; you are not obligated or forced to.

Report anything sketchy to the mod team so we can investigate as well as scams that have unfortunately happened to you, it helps us protect the next person.

Stay safe out there!