Merits getting abused like this? What can be done?

[Taki]

I know about all of those merit abusing things. The first thing to do is to report to moderator. This thread is also good way for true searching, but you must to represent proves. For now it's only saying.

[nydiacaskey01]

I know about all of those merit abusing things. The first thing to do is to report to moderator. This thread is also good way for true searching, but you must to represent proves. For now it's only saying.

How can you report to moderator of the Merit is being sold outside the forum? I have seen this kind of offers as well in Facebook groups that is related in cryptocurrencies. Its hard to catch them because if its being sold outside the forum, you can't tell what username is being used by the seller unless someone is willing to go undercover and play as a buyer. But I think if there would be a penalty to merit seller, merit buyer should be treated the same way too.

[mikeywith]

Does anyone pay 15$ a merit ? Asking for a friend  ..kidding

So 3 BTC for legendary ? Anyway i doubt that anyone who sells merit will have more than say 10-30 merit to send, most probably come from airdropped merit because earned merit are a bit hard to get and most of those who get them in large amounts are members with a good reputation which they can not risk.

[Quickseller]

There may be an argument for theymos to create a "newbie plus" account type, in which someone can purchase the ability to post pictures and have lower "waiting" time (they have to wait less time between posts, and have the ability to send more PMs/day), but not have the signature ability of a Copper Member, for a lower price.

The only reason I can see someone paying $15/merit is to rank up to Junior Member, but doing the above would effectively allow someone to do that in a "legitimate" way, and would hurt the demand for merit on the black market. 

[YOSHIE]

I have issued Merit at this time 22.5 (Merit), did not receive and sell even one cent of my merit, now I still have 7.5 (sMerit), which is ready to fly to a post that has the potential, $ 15 is nothing with information what I got about crypto and bitcoin , just keep it, your $ 15 in the bag, give quality posts to members and forums, I will fly my Merit.

Experience, information is more valuable than money.

[tranthidung]

It is unnecessary to know exactly they exchanged merits and money for those merits.
Simply looking at post history, if the post history shows one user always post trash posts and another plus point is those merited posts are shitty ones too.
If the phenomeno occur from time to time, or one or two posts received 20 or 50 merits with one-line posts, trash contents, it is enough to say about merit abusements.

How can you report to moderator of the Merit is being sold outside the forum? I have seen this kind of offers as well in Facebook groups that is related in cryptocurrencies. Its hard to catch them because if its being sold outside the forum, you can't tell what username is being used by the seller unless someone is willing to go undercover and play as a buyer.

However, admin (theymos) even don't think people should tag merit abusers with red (negative trust) because admin think that they will run out of sMerits soon. It is obviously that the opinion of admin applied for small abusements only.

But I think if there would be a penalty to merit seller, merit buyer should be treated the same way too.

Yes, reputable users or user who have ability to earn significant amount of merits won't sell their sMerits for such $15 earnings because they can earn much more without such risk of merit abusements.

most of those who get them in large amounts are members with a good reputation which they can not risk.