i say leave it how it is.  this is the same way all the websites like archery talk ect is and they do 10x the amount of trading and selling that this site does.  if there were all kinds of problems, im sure a big site like that wouldnt offer classifieds.  its just fine IMO.  ive bought/sold/traded over 500 bows since 04 on here and many other sites and never had one problem....not one...guys who are in this sport are pretty trustworthy guys.

I think the mods are on the right track with "trusted user" policies, especially taking a multi-channel approach. They're pretty common on other topical forums and I've seen them devote quite a bit of resources into them.

My thinking was toward a middle man too, but yeah, pretty complicated. It's easy to turn something that is cheap and 95% effective into something that is really expensive and 99% effective.

That's how we ended up with cables and cams, I think.    

Why not use an electronic feedback system?  You make a deal, leave a feedback.  Bad feedbacks add up and people will be less likely to deal with them.

I am with newell38,
way too much work to reach a "questionable" level of personal transaction security. If you want to have additional security, then use the big auction site with paypal etc.
The main goal of TG is not as a selling platform, although this is a very "welcomed" part of it. Just let freedom prevail. It will give the moderators less hartache. If you get scammed, ignore it and delete it. How full is your spam folder every day anyways? So to erase a few more, who cares? If you want to swim in the ocean, you'll get wet. If you don't want to get wet, stay at the beach.

you nailed it tecum-tha!

In the dealings I have had on here and other sites, I have always took the steps to be as sure as possible to have a safe deal, talk on the phone is a pretty good way to get a read on someone. It shouldn't be on TG to do the research for you. Let your instinct guide you, if you don't feel right then back off. Never got burned other than a bow with Doug Witcher with Turkey Creek... ain't even going there...lol. I have really gotten to know a lot of fine people through the classifieds, more than a few have become close friends, I am thankful for that alone. The classifieds have been a way for me to try a lot of bows that otherwise I couldn't. Take care of yourselves, and if a deal goe's bad of course let the mods know so it can be tended to as they see fit with the other party. Ain't nothing guaranteed in this world other than Mama's love, taxes and dying !!. I do like the idea of a feedback system of some sort.

Froggy