Thanks everyone for all your suggestions and concerns.
Let's try to cover them and see what you all think.
Starting from the top...
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lattesurf,
"Some non-certified sellers could just use the certification logo" - I agree with this. I will look into a script of some sort that 'hides' the URL so non-certified members can not link to it directly.
"Some sellers could send a non-hacked player and get certified, then sell hacked players subsequently and make a quick buck." - That is a valid point too. What we want to do is charge a fee every month for the seller to be certified. This will put off some as they have to pay for it. If a certified seller is caught selling hacked players, then they will be put on the blacklist.
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Que,
We won't be putting an eBay store in a hurry. I think we have our hands full with supporting these players

. We'll try our best to minimise the theft and misuse.
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avionik99,
Refer to my reply to you earlier in the thread.
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arviverona,
Can you explain that alittle more? We will put together a WHITELIST which will list good sellers who are certified with this scheme.
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lddrizzt1,
"...copying it and changing the name to theirs.." - I will look into a way to stop people from linking to the banner directly. Maybe some script or java code that doesn't show the location directly. Also, we will create a banner with a 'watermark' which has a date on it so it will expire. Combine this with a WHITELIST, hopefully it will minimise this problem.
I totally agree with opinion on a WHITELIST.
The problem with
"self contained auction area that anyone, including any vendors can sell their products" is that any vendor, good or bad and advetise on it. It can also be a place for spamming. We choose our sponsors carefully. UXcell has been great in that it gives us prizes for it's members, but also selling a large range of good value products. Ok, there are some with problems but that's with every product and seller I guess. Nothing is perfect in this world. I'm sure Sony, Panasonic etc products can be faulty too.
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geekwrestler,
I totally agree with you on a dynamic certification. I will have to search how I'm going to do it though. But that is the way to go. The dates will change per month and certified members will have to pay a monthly fee. It will be similar to SquareTrade's scheme. This will filter out the bad quickly as suddenly they have to pay for it. Paying for a certification puts VALUE to a certification than getting it 'free' I feel.
"distance factor" - Very good valid point. I will definately consider that to be one of the options to take on board. I will source volunteers from around the world to do the evaluation.
"Put your trumpets out!" - That's a great idea! The more we let people know the better. I've found that a large % of the people with hacked players find this site AFTER they've put a hacked player and find errors. If we can spread the world as much as possible and warn people/educate people before they buy, it will definately make things easier that's for sure.
"Opinions should be taken from buyers" - That is also another good suggestion. I will have to take that onboard too.
Please, if you have any concerns, suggestions, opinions about this scheme, let us know. It's really good to discuss this and hear everyone's thoughts.