larry c.

Well, let me start by saying this. I had an account with listia that had almost 4000 positive reviews, close to 15 neutrals (cant please everyone), 0 negatives. I was a good seller, helping make listia a trusted website. They blocked my account with nearly 400,000 credits and no telling how many pending. I probably had 700,000 credits in all. This was back when 800 to 1200 credits were equal to a dollar. Now its like 6000-8000 per dollar. Everything was going great. I sold uv movie codes with an occasional electronic here and there. I was redeeming credits for gift cards, games, etc from fellow users. Then one day I noticed they had a rewards store. Then you could use gin to buy items, now it is all normal auctions. I used some of my credits to get a 40 inch tv. Or so I thought, 2 days after redeeming credits on this listia rewards store item they blocked my account. I was pissed. When I purchased items from other sellers everything was ok. Now since I bought from their rewards store my account got blocked. Numerous emails and phone calls but they would not unblock nor give an adequate reason why. I was pissed. Basically I lost around $700 worth of credits with no explanation. This includes the codes I sent as well as the items I sent. At that time I would have left them a -10 feedback. This review would be full of choice words, ranting, grumbles, negativety, etc.! HOWEVER!, 2 months later I decided to give it one more shot. I had opened a tictail store that was not doing well. Actually, only one sale was made and they immediately after purchase disputed the purchase and got a refund. So, I went back to listia remembering the good sales their and the great users they had. Now, 2 years later, everything is going great again. Great users, a better listia team, nearly everything. The inflation went wild a few months back but has calmed down. This is around the time listia changed the rewards store to no gin (get it now), gave more credits per $1 in the buy credits store, start new users with more credits, etc. So again, now it is more like 6000 credits equals $1. The store lists at best 324,000 for $100. But that's not the perceived value. And, later I decided to give the rewards store another shot. This was when gin was still available. All I can say is WOW! I redeemed for a few tvs, game systems, a touchscreen radio for both my car and truck, games, touchscreen acer computer for the house, a very nice surround system for the man cave. I could go on and on. Yes, you will run into an occasional butthole, or a child who just signed up, etc. But here is the key. Listia moderators will always look into every dispute and decide a winner/loser. Sometimes both are winners. At that time both keep the credits. If the buyer does not send you a verified address, do not send your item. Listia is very on point with this. Either the buyer verifies their address or you keep the credits without sending the item. Basically free credits for you. With 99% of what I list, no shipping is required. I send the code through listia messaging. So it does not matter to me about address verification. Do your research. Find some top sellers, I recommend those with 3000 or more positive reviews and ask questions. Most will help. The fasted way to earn credits is to first get verified. That's easy to do. Then list a few small items that are cheap to ship. Build your feedback to I would say at least a positive 10. List a few small gift cards. They earn the most credits and code nothing to send the info out. Then search around, there are a lot of great deals to be had! Now, am I upset about my first listia experience? YES! Due to the fact they blocked my account for I feel no reason. But I also remember all the good as well. BUT!, you know for me to leave listia a 5star review after that, this site has to be really great. IT IS! But it is very important to DO YOUR RESEARCH. Find out as much as you can. Listia considers itself to be a free version of ebay in so many ways. I assume this is for tax purposes. For us, once you learn the ropes, it is more like a trade site. Only you are using your items to trade for credits which can then be traded for other items. Im a sports fan so I relate it to this... the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees want to make a trade. Most of the trade pieces are right. But the Braves need a quality pitcher and the Yankees want to keep all theirs. All other pieces are good. The Braves have a good backup shortstop they are willing to include. The Yankees are set at shortstop. So, here comes the Detroit Tigers who have a stockpile of pitching but needs a shortstop. So now its a 3 team trade with all 3 teams getting what they want/need. Baseball fans understand this. Listia is like the Detroit Tigers in this situation. The trade would not have gotten done without Detroit. Listia is the same way. Would you give me gift cards for movie codes if you are not into movie codes? NO. But if I had credits received from others for my movie codes, would you now give me the gift cards for these credits? YES. Because you can now use those credits for purchases you are into. DO YOUR RESEARCH! Nothing on this site is free, but you can trade whatnots around the house for credits which can be used to purchase different and bigger items or many smaller items. Hope this review helps.