Beginner's Guide to the Sythe Market

The Sythe Market​

Hello guys. If you're reading this guide, you have come across the Sythe.org marketplace, one of the largest on the internet trading bases out there. With greatness, though, comes responsibility. This guide will help outline the proper etiquette, methods, and most importantly the safety measures (a.k.a. anti-scam methods) that are necessary to use the marketplace to its fullest.

To begin, if you have not yet done this, please read through the official sythe.org rules. These are guidelines as to how Sythe members should act toward each other, including punishments for certain offences.
Offical Sythe.org Rules

Before we begin, I am going to leave you with three extremely important words of advice which I will constantly refer to. I can not emphasize these enough!

1. If you EVER feel unsafe, do not hesitate to stop a trade, even if it is an amazing deal. I seriously mean any doubt.
   
   
2. Always take video and screenshots of any trade and any detail that you can possibly get your hands on.
   
   
3. NEVER accept Paypal from untrusted users.

Table of contents:
1a: Conducting a Trade

1b: Purchasing Goods or Services
1c: Selling Goods or Services​

2a: Dissecting the Sythe User.

3a: Some Common Scams to Watch out For.

4a:What is a Middleman and how do I use it?

5a: I got Scammed. What do I do now?




Conducting a Trade
Unlike many websites which sell gold and offer services that you can find on Sythe, we are powered by the trades of other players rather than a stockpile being sold by a single website. This provides benefits such as cheaper pricing and better customer service, but it can also pose problems as many members have been known to take advantage of our site and scam other players of their resources.


Purchasing Goods or Services

Head to the Market section. Once there, follow the sub-forums to find the specific type of trade you are looking for. ​

From here, search for an offer that fits your needs. There are literally hundreds of these being posted each day! ​

Once you click on an offer, you will be directed to their selling page which should include all information regarding the trade!​

Contacting your Seller:

Once you have chosen a safe looking seller, you're going to want to get in touch with him.

This can be done by posting on the seller's thread or Sending him or her a Private Message. It is important to include your preferred method of trading and what you wish to trade in this message.

Soon, the seller should contact you with more information.
​

Negotiating and Conducting the Trade

This is a very simple process which must be treated with utmost care. During your conversation with the seller, make sure that you go through everything on the checklist provided below. ​

• The Player's Identity has been Confirmed
  
• You have conducted a survey regarding the safety of the seller
  
• All aspects of the trade have been agreed upon
  
• A middleman had been contacted to help perform the trade

Conducting the Trade

If you are using a middleman, he or she will be able to walk you through the trade easily. If not, please refer below to ensure a safe trade. ​

If you are going first in the trade:

• Exercise EXTREME Caution in any Case
  
• Double check that both parties agree to each other's terms
  
• Make sure that you are delivering the goods to the correct character
  
• Collect evidence of your delivery
  
• Request Payment

• 
  

If you are going second in the trade:

• Make sure that both parties have agreed to all terms
  
• Receive your goods from the other player
  
• Make sure that you are delivering to the right character
  
• Deliver the goods to the other player

Leave a Vouch of Integrity

After a successful trade, many Sythe users will request that you vouch them.

Vouches should only be posted on a Sythe.org vouch thread.

They should include details of the trade, and then whatever you would like to throw in.

To create a vouch thread, please Click Here!​

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Selling Goods or Offering your Services

To post up your offer, simply direct yourself to the sub-forum in the marketplace that applies to what you are selling.

Once here, press the large "New Topic" icon and you will be lead to the thread interface.

From here describe your offer in a post, provide contact information, and add whatever you like to spice up your thread! ​

The following is a great example of a very satisfactory gold selling thread.
This came from a new user who got his gold sold fast and safely!




Bumping and Advertising

Bumping: You are permitted to comment on your thread once every 8 hours with a simple message like "bump.". This will send it to the top of the sub-forum!

By going to (UserCP>> Edit Signature) you can edit a link into your signature. Especially if you're community involved, this is a great way to get your thread noticed!
​

Conducting the Trade

All of the precautions used in buying a product should be followed here. Please refer to "Negotiating and Conducting the Trade" and "Conducting the Trade" above!​

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Dissecting A Sythe User

The most important thing you can do to stay safe is to know who you are trading with. To get a good idea of how "Safe" the player you are trading with is, you should consider many things, including:​

• Number and Quality of Vouches
• User Icons
• Join Date
• Post Count

Vouches

Vouches are the most important factor in determining how well you can trust a Sythe user.

To observe these vouches, you need to view the other users vouch thread. There will normally be a link in the users signature to his vouch thread, or you can request it.

If the user has no vouches, then you should be VERY careful in trading him or her.​

Quantity

The sheer number of vouches a player is an important factor to consider.

Some players have dozens of vouches for upgrading player accounts (under $10 each). But do not have many high value vouches.

This means that this user might be trusted with low value trades but not high value trades! ​

Quality:

The Quality of a vouch can be determined by it's value, trading method, and integrity of the voucher. ​

Trading Method:

The trading method can make or break the value of a vouch.

An important thing to consider in a vouch is "who went first" in the trade.

If the vouched player delivered his end first, It does not show any sign of trust.

If the vouched player delivered the goods second it may be a good sign that that use is trustworthy up to or less than the value of those vouches​

Value

The value of the vouch is also important. If a player has a genuine vouch for $500, it is much more notable than one for $5! ​

Integrity

Many people create multiple files to leave themselves vouches which were not earned.

The best way to determine whether a vouch has any integrity is to click the symbol and view the original vouch.

If the user seems trustworthy, it is probably a valid vouch. If there is no symbol or the vouch seems fake, please report it to a moderator immediately! ​

User Icons

User icons are extremely important in determining how trustworthy a Sythe User may be. They can be found under the user image. A good example are the icons outlined below from the user "Snow Patrol".​

What do these icons mean?




Anyone with one of these ranks I would deem immediately trust worthy to go first to in many trades on Sythe. They are either Administrator, Ex-Administrators, or have been granted the very rare rank of "Highly Trusted" by the owner of the website, Sythe.





(Or any moderator rank)


If a player has any of these ranks, you will also be expected to go first or use a legitimate OMM in a trade. They are extremely trustworthy. Even so, it is not advised to put all of your trust into any user when handling trades of very high value.




If a player has a trade with caution, you should take extreme care in trading him. This rank is generally given because the staff believe he or she is a threat to the website.





Under no circumstances should you ever trade a user with these rank. These are given because the user has broken the Sythe rules/Scammed or the user believes that the security of his or her file has been compromised.



Understanding Donator Ranks

Donator ranks are given to acknowledged contributions to Sythe.org.
They can be used to show some integrity in trading.

For example, if a player has a $5 donation rank, you will want to consider all other aspects of that payer before deciding on how you will conduct your trade. If he or she has a $1000 donation rank, though, you can be fairly sure that you can trust that person with many trades under their donated value.​

Post Count and Join Date

A high post count (especially in the thousands) and an early join date (generally 2005-2008) shows some signs of integrity. You should never let this be the basis of your decision on whether to trust a user.​

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Some Common Scams to Watch For

Paypal Scams:

Paypal is NOT safe. Although there are many different methods of payment on Sythe Paypal is undoubtedly the largest. However, be extremely cautious when accepting paypal from a player. Paypal does NOT support the trade of virtual goods so the buyer can many times request his money back! Only accept paypal from members who you deem trusted. ​

Teamviewer Scams:

It is suggested that you never let another player control your computer through teamviewer for any reason. He has the potential to drop all of your valuable items before you trade!
​

The "Rushed" Trader:

Many times a potential trader will you offer a very good deal but explain that they are very rushed and you must trade them soon or lose their offer. If this is a scammer, he or she will be trying to make you frantic, getting you to trade first. Be very cautious around these types of trades. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.​

The Imposter:

This is probably the most common method of trapping a player into a scam, and is the easiest to prevent. Many times a player will create a msn address that is extremely similar to that of a trusted member. Their goal is to trick you into thinking that they are actually the trusted member. This can be prevented by carefully comparing the msn of who you are talking to and ALWAYS asking for a private message on Sythe before you conduct any trade.​

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What is a "Middleman" and how do I use it?
Middlemen are users who agree to hold the goods involved in both the buyer and seller's agreement, and redistribute it after the agreement has been confirmed.

User A is selling User B 100m gold for $60.

Both users have agreed to use a middleman.

After everything has been agreed, User A will trade the gold to the middleman.

The middleman will then confirm that he has received the gold and give confirmation for User B to send the payment.

After the payment has been confirmed, the middleman will deliver the gold to User B.​

How do I choose my middleman?

Middlemen are divided into two simple groups: Official Middlemen and Unofficial. An "Official Middleman" has already gone through a vigorous process and has been deemed trustworthy by the upper staff.

OMMs will have the following rank:

​

Regular Middlemen vs. "OMMs"

It is completely up to you and your trade partner who you choose as a middleman.

Many OMMs charge fees which may not be worth it if you are only trading for a couple dollars.

There are also many well known, trusted regular middlemen.​

Some helpful links:
Sythe.org Middleman Section
FireZ OMM Services [Free for Tips/ $250+]
Any Official Middlemen are Listed Here
​

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I got Scammed. What do I do?
This is where all that evidence that you collected during your trade comes into play. If something goes wrong in a trade and you get scammed you're going to need to compile a scam report against the other user, providing enough evidence to get that player banned from the site.
This is a very simple process. There are three easy steps in filing a report:

1. Visit the "Report a Scammer" Section [link]
2. Find the template that concerns you in Blupig's sticky "Templates for Reporting a Scammer -- MUST USE!" [Link]
3. Create your topic, fill out the template, and upload all significant evidence.

Good Evidence:

• Videos of any sort regarding the trade
• Screenshots of MSN Conversations (not logs)
• Confirmation of the Delivery of Goods [Example]
• Confirmation of Payment
• Screenshots which show that the MSN of the scammer matches the MSN that the Sythe user gave you.

Bad Evidence

• MSN Chat Logs
• Edited Screenshots or Videos
• Evidence Which Does Not Connect the Scammer [via. Username, MSN, etc.] to his/her Sythe Profile

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Thankyou for reading my guide. For further information please refer to these links and stay safe on Sythe!
Thankyou Stui for helping compile the "Helpful Link" section.
Thankyou SuF for his extensive feedback.

Other Helpful Guides

• Sythe.org FAQ
• How To Avoid Getting Hacked by HappyFace01010
• Uploading and posting pictures by SuF
• How to Catch a Ban Evader by Stui
• How To Always Catch Your Scammer by Shoopadoop
• How To Avoid Frauded Paypals By RS2PLEASENT
• How To Catch a Mils/GP Scammer By Dingo212
• A WalkThrough Of Sythe.org by Lordhooters
• How To Post A Thread Selling Your Runescape Account by blade bro4
  

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Any staff member has permission to edit this for grammatical and factual errors.