r/craftexchange Jan 27 '23

Mod Announcement Why We Don't Have a Scammer List

168 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 4h ago

Trade - US Jewelry clean out! Mostly Earrings

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15 Upvotes

Hi all! I’ve been collecting earrings for a while and recently cleaned out my jewelry box. Some of the earrings I made, some are from artists, others were purchased from a store.

Looking to trade Linocut prints or patches, anything bird-themed, stickers, homemade paper, pins, etc…! Feel free to offer something if it isn’t listed :)


r/craftexchange 6h ago

Received Received!

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7 Upvotes

Got these lovely crochet leaflets from u/SupremeJellyOverlord! Thanks so much for trading!


r/craftexchange 23h ago

Trade - US Would anyone like this mouse amigurumi?

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26 Upvotes

Hi would anyone like this mouse amigurumi? I am looking for ceramics, woodworking pieces, and jewelry


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Trade - US Japanese-styled room 1/10 scale diorama/dollhouse

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23 Upvotes

Hey guys!

Hopefully this doesn't break the rules, but I'm trying to offload these Japanese-styled room dioramas to someone who might enjoy it more. It's made by the Japanese company kkcompany in 1/10 scale, though I think it could work for 1/12 dolls/figures as well. Includes furniture. Each room measures roughly 10in x 10.5in x 8.5in. You get two rooms that can be placed next to each other for double the room.

Unfortunately, I didn't store it in the best way so there's quite a bit of damage, such as scratches, uneven wall paint, etc. Here's an album showing the extent of the damage.

Looking for:

  • Doll making supplies (patterns, clothes, sewing patterns, accessories, rerooting fibers, old/beat up dolls for repair/OOAK (esp. male dolls), etc.) for 1/12 (action figures, some blind box BJD, etc.) or 1/6 scale dolls (Barbie, Monster High, etc.)
  • Fabric/materials for doll clothes (quilting cotton, fabrics with small prints, doll-scale zippers/buttons/etc., etc.)
  • Watercolor pencils
  • Water-based brush-tipped markers
  • 100% acrylic or cotton yarn, any color/brand in small skeins.
  • Any other offers

Trading in the US only, sorry!


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Trade - US Bone, Bug & Resin Crafts

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39 Upvotes

Painted bones decor, bone jars with charms, resin charms, some suitable as necklace pendants. All bones ethically sourced from a whitetail deer that died of natural causes. Reptile shed in some of the resin crafts courtesy of my Red Eyed Crocodile Skink pet getting older and shedding.

If you want a bone painting but the ones photoed get claimed, feel free to ask for a custom. I have plenty of bones I just haven't painted yet.

Apologies for any slow replies, I'm not too well at the moment and have very low energy.

Open to any trade offers, especially if they are plant-related like planters or plant pot buddies, paintings, or enrichment toys safe for reptiles. Got a new snake who'd love some cool climbing toys.


r/craftexchange 22h ago

Trade - US Baby hat!

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8 Upvotes

Sized for 3-6mo I believe. Made of cotton yarn.

Make an offer!


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Trade - Other Early Christmas Trades (US to International)

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115 Upvotes

EDIT: If you're outside the US, please let me know where 🙂 I will work on getting through the comments and messages as soon as possible! Thanks so much for all the interest!!! 🫶

Hey guys! I'd love to get a head start on Christmas gifts this year, as I'm doing some markets in November that will eat at my brain capacity haha 

I would consider these trades more long term, meaning that I expect to get them out in time for Christmas, and don't plan to finish them in the next few weeks. But I'll keep you updated along the way! 

💖Here are some custom things I can offer:

- totes

- belt bags (birds or tear drop shapes) 

- patches 

- pillows

- wall hangings

- bag charms 

- fish bags

- plastic bag dispenser (haven't made one yet, but I have the pattern) 

- other things if you have a sewing idea

I know that the bird bags were relatively popular on my last post, but I can't commit to a ton of them as they can be really exhausting to make a bunch of. 

💖Here are the interests of the people I'm gifting to:

1.) (20s new mom) dragon/fantasy for nursery, baby things, Taylor swift, reading, her cat

2.) (40s nonbinary nerd) a braided leather belt, dragonball, dice throne, the Muppets, horror movies, video games, hardcore music, LotR, Jurassic Park, Jaws

3.) (30s goth girl) renaissance fair, dark academia, tamagotchi, music, painting, video games, her cats, tiny things

4.) (my dad) hunting & fishing, practical things 

5.) (my mom) strawberry shortcake, plants/gardening, fish, cute things, the color green, koi fish

6.) (12 y/o boy) drawing, foxes, video games, Squishies, his dogs, farting, being an extremely silly guy

7.) (8 month old) she's a baby 🤷

8.) (30s friend's husband) video games

I included some pics of things that I know some of my folks would like, but open to ideas! 

I may be a little slow to respond, so sorry in advance! Thank you 🫶


r/craftexchange 1d ago

Trade - US Trade for other craft items

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11 Upvotes

Would like to trade for other craft items/materials I’m interested as well.

Have:
Fabrics range from 2-8 yards
Sewing thread
Rivets and other hardware
Knitting needles
Yarn cakes
Tufted rugs
Finished bags
Crochet amigurumis and tapestries

Interested in:
Art supplies
Air dry clay
Ceramic items
Cross stitch kits or materials
Stained glass items
Open to other stuff as well


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Trade - US old polymer clay, clay roller, and books on polymer clay

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14 Upvotes

I'm trying to clean out some old craft supplies (will be back to post more art supplies and fabric, once I get pictures). I've got a box of OLD polymer clay, mostly fimo I believe, a nice clay rolling doohickey, and several books on making things with polymer clay.

I'm not looking for anything in particular but will trade happily for art, cool rocks, and small animal figurines.

Happy to answer any questions/provide more details!


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Trade - US Winter Theme Beads

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19 Upvotes

Won't use these really. Up for a trade!


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Trade - US Yarn for trade

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16 Upvotes

Hi,

Im newish to participating on Reddit but decided to try trading. I have these hand dyed yarn for trade, would love to trade for handmade art I can hang on my walls ( recently moved and don’t have anything on them).

They’re around size 3 cotton yarn, I don’t remember exact yards but they measure around 10 cm by 8 cm each.


r/craftexchange 2d ago

Trade - US Have: Assorted supplies and finished crafts || Want: Stamp embossing supplies/certain other supplies, micro mesh sanding pads, Wax seal stamps/wax/supplies, Studio ghibli stuff, craft kits, finished crafts, other

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9 Upvotes

For my ISOs, I'm open to all of the things in the title, but I'm mostly interested in the first three on the list.

I have a bunch of different things to trade:

  • The paper and cards are mostly a mix of pretty business cards, and other pretty patterns that I thought would be good for scrapbooking or journaling.
  • The clay is non-drying/non-bakeable so you can reuse it
  • The ring boxes are slightly broken, but I think they can be fixed (hinges need to be reglued)
  • The hat is an unfinished knitting project. The head is a little loose, not sure how/if it can be fixed
  • The mario mushroom and the pokeball are both magnets
  • The owl is wood

Feel free to ask questions!


r/craftexchange 3d ago

Trade - US I have a couple tigers eye copper wire pendants up for trade!

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21 Upvotes

I found a couple people to trade pendants with when I recently posted and would love to trade two more! These are both tigers eye in solid copper wire. They’d come on a black cord.

Looking for:
•paintings and other wall art for my living room. Nothing too particular! love originals, but prints are cool too
•pet portraits
•interested in cardstock and colorful vinyl for my cricut
•paint that’s better than my dollar general paints 😆

Feel free to dm me :)


r/craftexchange 3d ago

Trade - US It’s time

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52 Upvotes

I send you the mold/molds you want to keep, you send me back a finished resin piece of each one of what you take 💜


r/craftexchange 3d ago

Trade - US Tomatoes 🍅

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25 Upvotes

Tomato patches for trade 🤠

I am interested in getting ahead of Christmas gift trades. I have a few crochet, color work knit, punch needle, leather ideas, but also open to other things.

There are also some things from my last post that I'm still looking for. 🙂

I'm catching up on trades from July so probably not going to accept a ton of custom work right now.


r/craftexchange 3d ago

Trade - US Bits and bobs!

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14 Upvotes

Here you go! Feel free to grab multiple please dm tho since I'm still getting used to like, how threads work on Reddit XD


r/craftexchange 4d ago

Trade - US Yarn for trade!

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7 Upvotes

Hello! I’m hoping to find this yarn a new home :)

I would prefer to trade for an equal amount of worsted weight acrylic yarn, worsted weight wool yarn, or worsted weight alpaca yarn. But, I’m also open to trading for a finished item (I will have to say no to jewelry and no to anything knit or crochet though), so let me know what you have! I like all animals (both real and mythical), football, reading books, and baking, if that speaks to anyone.

Yarn info:

1 skein (150 g, 115 yds) Buttercream Alpaca Multi in Dragonfly. 80% Acrylic, 20% Alpaca, super bulky weight

2 skeins (100 g, 109 yds each) Loops & Threads Charisma in Espresso (J32). Both same dye lot (5818). 100% Acrylic, bulky weight


r/craftexchange 4d ago

Received Thank you!!

6 Upvotes

Thank you so much u/Slow_Imagination_445 for the fabric and the glue 🥰 I’ll finally be able to fix my grandma’s chair!!


r/craftexchange 5d ago

Received Thank you!

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225 Upvotes

Thank you u/SeethingBallOfRage for my beautiful dragon. I can't wait to hang him in my craft room.


r/craftexchange 5d ago

Trade - US Random craft things! (Stickers, molds, etc)

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11 Upvotes

r/craftexchange 5d ago

Received Thank you!!

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14 Upvotes

Super excited to create all the things with waaaay more heat transfer vinyl than I was expecting! Thank you so much u/craftymonmon !


r/craftexchange 5d ago

Received Thank you u/TiredInSpades

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14 Upvotes

I love the sticker book, I am always on the look out for crafts I can do with my 7 year old granddaughter. She will love this! Thank you again.


r/craftexchange 5d ago

Received Thank you to u/hilaryrex!

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19 Upvotes

Thank you so much for your generous exchange!!! I love all the pieces you’ve sent!


r/craftexchange 5d ago

Received Thank you!! 💕

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14 Upvotes

Thank you so much for all the cute stickers and lovely stationary! I appreciate this so much 💜 u/SnooApples4424