Seller Verification Changes - Postponed

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EpicNPC

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EpicNPC

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Country
United States
UPDATE: We will be postponing this update based on some of the concerns our members have. We have decided not to make this change in-house and instead will be using a 3rd party for the storage and handling of members sensitive data, a specialist in KYC data management. We hope this will alleviate some concerns and provide more confident in how and where their data is being stored. There will be no update on April 3rd. We anticipate the update will be made later this year.

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Original Post:

Next week we're making an update to our verification process and requiring all sellers to fully verify their account before they can list anything for sale.

In order to create a new thread, the member will have to be verified.

Current Verification Process:
  • Verify Phone number
  • Upload ID

New Verification Process:
  • Verify Phone number
  • Upload ID
  • Billing Address
  • Government/National ID # (SSN, Tax #, etc)

This change is being made so we can become 'Know your Customer' (KYC) compliant.

1. Everyone with the Verified badge will have it removed on April 3rd until they complete the remaining steps.

2. Initially we will not be removing any threads for those not-verified. We'll give everyone some time to become verified. After 45 days, we'll start to remove all threads from sellers who are still not verified. Sticky threads will not be removed. Those are paid ads and exempt.

3. This data will not be available to moderators, only EpicNPC employees. Data will be encrypted once the review process has been completed to protect members.


If you have any questions or concerns, please post below.
 
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Question. Why would EpicNpc want to be KYC compliant? I thought KYC is needed only for banks and online payment processors, maybe i am wrong? Is EpicNpc going to become payment processor?
 
Question. Why would EpicNpc want to be KYC compliant? I thought KYC is needed only for banks and online payment processors, maybe i am wrong? Is EpicNpc going to become payment processor?
KYC is required for many types of businesses. It is the reason we were declined from payment providers like Skrill, Wise, Payoneer and others. This change diminishes any risk of being non-KYC complaint and allows us to reapply to those payment providers, hopefully adding many new payment options for members.

However we're aware this change could have a big impact on sellers. It creates a verification wall that many sellers will not want to complete or can't complete. We plan to evaluate the effect of this change over the next 1-2 months to determine the best course of action.

If there is no significant negative change, then we do not plan to make any other major changes to the way EpicNPC operates. However if the outcome is heavily negative, we will then most likely move forward with changing to a payment processor system where all buyer payments are made through EpicNPC's payment system.

Regardless of the impact of this update KYC compliance will not be rolled back. This step will be a permanent change.
 
If there is no significant negative change, then we do not plan to make any other major changes to the way EpicNPC operates. However if the outcome is heavily negative, we will then most likely move forward with changing to a payment processor system where all buyer payments are made through EpicNPC's payment system.
Are you planning to make epicnpc look like g 2 g / similar marketplace. force sellers to remove their contact details / website links from posts and to do all trading over epicnpc? Will epicnpc be used as payment processor, holding funds from sales on their wallet and paying out funds to sellers on wise / payoneer , which are not crypto / boosting / gaming friendly companies? Cause i have applied for 10s of payment procesoris / marketplaces, and they are only ones who are asking for KYC. No forum or random gaming website ever asked KYC.
 
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what about boosting services, still Epic Membership Upgrade will be required?
No, a paid upgrade will no longer be required for anything.

Still unclear on this, does this mean my government issued drivers licenses and additional address information will not be enough? Would providing a passport be sufficient? I don’t live the US.
It's the number you use when filing your taxes in your country. A passport or drivers license number are not used on that document, so you would not be able to submit that as your government ID #.
 
Are you planning to make epicnpc look like g 2 g / similar marketplace. force sellers to remove their contact details / website links from posts and to do all trading over epicnpc? Will epicnpc be used as payment processor, holding funds from sales on their wallet and paying out funds to sellers on wise / payoneer , which are not crypto / boosting / gaming friendly companies? Cause i have applied for 10s of payment procesoris / marketplaces, and they are only ones who are asking for KYC. No forum or random gaming website ever asked KYC.
If the new verification rule has a significant impact, they will likely be compelled to change EpicNPC into a paid marketplace. The verification process isn't overly complicated and significantly enhances website safety, so I don't believe it should be a huge problem for any serious seller here.
 
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I'm concerned sharing this kind of information and data about myself when EpicNPC has suffered a major data breach and I don't recall any follow up communication from EpicNPC or any staff members about the breach. There was no word on the steps taken to reduce the risk from happening again, or any updates that they've taken to the affected users. I sell digital goods and services as a side gig not something I want attached to my SSN. I'm disappointed in this direction and feel reluctant to continue to continue to use this site as a reliable brand for the nearly 15 years I've been on here "I'm verified on EpicNPC and have over 60 recorded transactions that went without a hitch" is becoming less and less of a selling point in its relevancy.

EDIT: Just to add because I rarely post in discussions like this.

I find things like TradeGuardian to be a pretty volatile system. Lack of user support against scammers for not using a paid feature when terminating users and their associations in the RMT communities isn't something that takes a ton of time and actively has the opposite effect from deterring scammers. People in this community already don't want to pay extra fees and "negative reputation" is not as impactful as their IPs being banned, their known emails, usernames, aliases, and other information being listed so the rest of the community is aware to not deal with them. I feel that most changes that EpicNPC has made in the last few years hasn't been in the majority's best interest and encourages sales to take place off site (which you seem to be actively be working against) anyway so the users who meet because of your site don't stay on your site because the way things are now are not in either person's interest unless you're paid to do it. It's a forum.

Lastly, unless there's to be a pivot shortly to remove the forum functionality of EpicNPC and to become some kind of gaming marketplace like G2A or ***, becoming KYC compliant in efforts to add more ways to pay for TradeGuardian or for EpicNPC exclusive services feels predatory.

(Note: If there was an announcement about the data breach, I'd love a link to it :) )
 
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I'm concerned sharing this kind of information and data about myself when EpicNPC has suffered a major data breach and I don't recall any follow up communication from EpicNPC or any staff members about the breach, the steps taken to reduce the risk from happening again, or any updates that they've taken. I sell digital goods and services as a side gig not something I want attached to my SSN. I'm disappointed in this direction.

(Note: If there was an announcement about the data breach, I'd love a link to it :) )
The data breach was back in 2016 and had to do with MD5 being used. This form of encryption ended up being able to be *******. I do not know what encryption is currently being used but it is not MD5 and is likely to be one of the SHA’s.
 
I'm concerned sharing this kind of information and data about myself when EpicNPC has suffered a major data breach and I don't recall any follow up communication from EpicNPC or any staff members about the breach, the steps taken to reduce the risk from happening again, or any updates that they've taken. I sell digital goods and services as a side gig not something I want attached to my SSN. I'm disappointed in this direction.

(Note: If there was an announcement about the data breach, I'd love a link to it :) )
Agree, KYC is for financial institutions and security companies, not for website like epicnpc where we post offers and then we do whole sale over paypal/ skrill or such services, they have our kyc cause they deal with fiat currencies, epic doesnt. i am concerned that epicnpc is heading towards marketplace bussniess model , and they need kyc for payment processing.

Other part of this issue is that whole kyc needs to have its own terms , which explain who have access to info , how is that used , where is stored locally and under which jurisdiction and what happens when user is banned or leaves epicnpc account dormant. What happens when person commits scam, can victim require for his personal details over court order.

What about blacklisted countries , russia, belarus and such, can those users sell on platform if epicnpc knows they are russian citizens.As far i know russians are blocked on all western marketplaces.

I am not lawyer but i did buch of kyc over years , and none of them are taken slightly. My country is not on any blacklist and i am rejected at most of usa companies which i wanted to use for payment processing cause i am from bosnia. And epicnpc needs kyc only if they are going to process payments in some way.

1711746381187.png
 
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I'm concerned sharing this kind of information and data about myself when EpicNPC has suffered a major data breach and I don't recall any follow up communication from EpicNPC or any staff members about the breach, the steps taken to reduce the risk from happening again, or any updates that they've taken. I sell digital goods and services as a side gig not something I want attached to my SSN. I'm disappointed in this direction.

(Note: If there was an announcement about the data breach, I'd love a link to it :) )
The leak was due to our host provider becoming compromised in 2016. We did not initially know the database was compromised, I think we learned about it a year after the fact when someone showed us it was leaked online.

However we were aware something happened and immediately took action.

1. We initiated forced password resets for all accounts the day after the incident occurred.
https://www.epicnpc.com/threads/outages-march-10th-forced-password-reset.927845/

2. A week later we migrated from our compromised webhost provider to a new host.
https://www.epicnpc.com/threads/server-move-incoming-downtime-updated-march-24.931993/

In addition to this we added new features and security measures to protect member's accounts.
  • Two Factor email authentication on all accounts by default.
  • Two Factor app authentication added (optional)
  • Account monitoring for suspicious login activity.
3. To protect members data from a potential future database leak, we encrypt highly sensitive data or store in separately from the main EpicNPC database.

In addition to these steps we also take additional steps to try to harden our servers from attacks.
 
The data breach was back in 2016 and had to do with MD5 being used. This form of encryption ended up being able to be *******. I do not know what encryption is currently being used but it is not MD5 and is likely to be one of the SHA’s.
I think they are speaking of the rollback that needed to be done because the provider messed up and had to go with another service for the data backup stuff this was a little bit ago. However no data has been breached that was just the servers is all
 
I think they are speaking of the rollback that needed to be done because the provider messed up and had to go with another service for the data backup stuff this was a little bit ago. However no data has been breached that was just the servers is all
Phantomous asked about the data breach, not the rollback that occurred in 2022.

I'm concerned sharing this kind of information and data about myself when EpicNPC has suffered a major data breach and I don't recall any follow up communication from EpicNPC or any staff members about the breach

Regardless, in both cases we made an accountment about the issue and outlined steps we have taken to prevent the issue from happening again.

https://www.epicnpc.com/threads/outages-march-10th-forced-password-reset.927845/
https://www.epicnpc.com/threads/server-move-incoming-downtime-updated-march-24.931993/
https://www.epicnpc.com/threads/june-24th-downtime-incedent.2261526/

can you add where we should be sending this new info to in the post?
More information about the update will be posted once the update goes live next week.
 
Will not giving my social security # to this site. With all the security concerns. If 15 years of 100% positive feedback and over 125 unique user feedback, doesnt make me a VERIFIED legitimate seller, then submitting a 9 digit number to EpicNPC staff sure wont.

Not interested of the consequences when the data is breached, I would like to know ALOT more than just "encrypted" as far as the security steps provided. Knowing this type of data is housed only attracts potential villians to go after the site even more knowing the paydirt is that much more.
 
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The leak was due to our host provider becoming compromised in 2016. We did not initially know the database was compromised, I think we learned about it a year after the fact when someone showed us it was leaked online.

However we were aware something happened and immediately took action.

1. We initiated forced password resets for all accounts the day after the incident occurred.
https://www.epicnpc.com/threads/outages-march-10th-forced-password-reset.927845/

2. A week later we migrated from our compromised webhost provider to a new host.
https://www.epicnpc.com/threads/server-move-incoming-downtime-updated-march-24.931993/

In addition to this we added new features and security measures to protect member's accounts.
  • Two Factor email authentication on all accounts by default.
  • Two Factor app authentication added (optional)
  • Account monitoring for suspicious login activity.
3. To protect members data from a potential future database leak, we encrypt highly sensitive data or store in separately from the main EpicNPC database.

In addition to these steps we also take additional steps to try to harden our servers from attacks.
Thank you for the resources. I had trouble finding these posts. For what it's worth I was skimming through thread titles and no way I would've found them.

I still stand by my original message in that giving additional information to be a verified member (when my ID and phone number has already been verified) is not really in my interests when there are other forum boards and communities that serve the same purpose for me as EpicNPC has for the last decade and don't require this to post sales listings.

Is there any plans of having an "unverified" forum section so normal users who want to post listings still can?
 
Will not giving my social security # to this site. With all the security concerns. If 15 years of 100% positive feedback and over 125 unique user feedback, doesnt make me a VERIFIED legitimate seller, then submitting a 9 digit number to EpicNPC staff sure wont.

Not interested of the consequences when the data is breached, I would like to know ALOT more than just "encrypted" as far as the security steps provided. Knowing this type of data is housed only attracts potential villians to go after the site even more knowing the paydirt is that much more.

I truly stand by this post.

I have been a member of this forum since the merger of Markeedragon and then becoming EpicNPC.

My profession is in Law enforcement and it is completely crazy to ask members of this community to submit a Social Security number for an online platform, which is then used for sales and services of virtual goods. The amount of risk that is involved with that is completely inevitable with a data breach and the crowd that is going to attract.

It is absolutely mind boggling to me that this forum would be requiring users with statues such as myself, to be a "verified" member and require more then what has already been requested.

Thanks,
Chris
 
I am uncertain why only the Social Security Number (SSN) is accepted for members from the US, while alternatives like an ID number are not considered. For instance, in my country, the closest equivalent to an SSN is the JMBG. However, this number is already integrated into our IDs, driver's licenses, etc. Furthermore, unlike the SSN, the JMBG does not provide as much information about the owner. From what i know it's mostly the same in the rest of Europe, except maybe in Spain, and UK where they use SSN/ National Insurance number [correct me there if i am wrong].

Therefore, members from Europe face significantly lower risks than members from the US. Based on what I've seen here, this new change will mostly affect US members, whereas for others, it should not present a huge issue.
 
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Compliance with KYC and AML regulations falls under the purview of firms acting as licensed money transmitters. The KYC format requested by EpicNPC is not suitable, as it fails to meet the necessary standards for KYC or KYB. Furthermore, KYC procedures are typically conducted by the gateway, while your role primarily involves KYB. The collection of personal information like ID or SSN does not inherently enhance legitimacy or improve acceptance by a payment gateway.

However, several fundamental reasons may hinder EpicNPC's acceptance by a payment gateway:

1- Compliance with AML standards presents challenges due to the platform's diverse range of sellers and the prevalence of scammers, making transaction verification and compliance maintenance difficult. Implementing AML standards could lead to a significant loss of the customer base.

2- EpicNPC primarily facilitates the exchange of copyrighted properties, such as gaming accounts and in-game items, in-game currencies, non-tradeable assets and non-approved services raising legal and regulatory concerns for payment gateways.

3- The dispute resolution mechanism on EpicNPC does not meet the requirements of payment gateways, which typically hold platforms responsible for covering damages and refund fees in cases of fraudulent transactions. Saying 'Good luck in Paypal dispute' to users will not be enough.

4- Running a high-risk business with a C2C structure is unfeasible, as the costs incurred from refund requirements due to fraudulent activities would likely outweigh any profits. Moreover, if scammers become aware that the platform covers damages, it could attract even more fraudulent activity, essentially turning the website into a free money printer for scammers.

5- Even if EpicNPC manages to secure approval from a payment gateway, any complaints received from copyright owner firms would likely result in the immediate termination of their partnership, similar to what occurred with Paypal previously.


If you want to make this happen, only way for you is turning to B2C but transitioning from a C2C to a B2C business model is impractical, as many EpicNPC users are individuals rather than businesses. Platforms like G-2-G have achieved compliance and obtained their own money transmitter licenses, enabling them to facilitate gaming transactions legally and efficiently. They paid large amounts of money to be an exception in this industry, do not think like 'If they did it, we can do it too.'

This platform is not a true marketplace, it's a forum. Transforming EpicNPC into a genuine marketplace would require a significant investment of time and resources, spanning at least two years for proper design and structuring. Additionally, the cost would be substantial. Furthermore, upon completion, your competitors would no longer be limited to decade-old forums; rather, they would include established marketplaces generating high eight-figure profits annually.
 
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Compliance with KYC and AML regulations falls under the purview of firms acting as licensed money transmitters. The KYC format requested by EpicNPC is not suitable, as it fails to meet the necessary standards for KYC or KYB. Furthermore, KYC procedures are typically conducted by the gateway, while your role primarily involves KYB. The collection of personal information like ID or SSN does not inherently enhance legitimacy or improve acceptance by a payment gateway.

However, several fundamental reasons may hinder EpicNPC's acceptance by a payment gateway:

1- Compliance with AML standards presents challenges due to the platform's diverse range of sellers and the prevalence of scammers, making transaction verification and compliance maintenance difficult. Implementing AML standards could lead to a significant loss of the customer base.

2- EpicNPC primarily facilitates the exchange of copyrighted properties, such as gaming accounts and in-game items, in-game currencies, non-tradeable assets and non-approved services raising legal and regulatory concerns for payment gateways.

3- The dispute resolution mechanism on EpicNPC does not meet the requirements of payment gateways, which typically hold platforms responsible for covering damages and refund fees in cases of fraudulent transactions. Saying 'Good luck in Paypal dispute' to users will not be enough.

4- Running a high-risk business with a C2C structure is unfeasible, as the costs incurred from refund requirements due to fraudulent activities would likely outweigh any profits. Moreover, if scammers become aware that the platform covers damages, it could attract even more fraudulent activity, essentially turning the website into a free money printer for scammers.

5- Even if EpicNPC manages to secure approval from a payment gateway, any complaints received from copyright owner firms would likely result in the immediate termination of their partnership, similar to what occurred with Paypal previously.


If you want to make this happen, only way for you is turning to B2C but transitioning from a C2C to a B2C business model is impractical, as many EpicNPC users are individuals rather than businesses. Platforms like G-2-G have achieved compliance and obtained their own money transmitter licenses, enabling them to facilitate gaming transactions legally and efficiently. They paid large amounts of money to be an exception in this industry, do not think like 'If they did it, we can do it too.'

This platform is not a true marketplace, it's a forum. Transforming EpicNPC into a genuine marketplace would require a significant investment of time and resources, spanning at least two years for proper design and structuring. Additionally, the cost would be substantial. Furthermore, upon completion, your competitors would no longer be limited to decade-old forums; rather, they would include established marketplaces generating high eight-figure profits annually.
Dude is so unoriginal even discussion posts like this he has to take from others lolololo
 

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So I won't be able to use this site if I don't get verified?! Is this for specific forums/services? Or is it site-wide? I know you need to be verified to offer specific services currently. I'm confused.

And what about buyers? Buyers will have to get verified too!?

Edit: Even Player Up doesn't force it's seller to get verified. Everyone can create new threads to sell their accounts. Buyers have to to do the verification there. Because it's the buyers who are sending payments.
 
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I'm concerned sharing this kind of information and data about myself when EpicNPC has suffered a major data breach and I don't recall any follow up communication from EpicNPC or any staff members about the breach. There

I find things like TradeGuardian to be a pretty volatile system. Lack of user support against scammers for not using a paid feature when terminating users and their associations in the RMT communities isn't something that takes a ton of time and actively has the opposite effect from deterring scammers. People in this community already don't want to pay extra fees and "negative reputation" is not as impactful as their IPs being banned, their known emails, usernames, aliases, and other information being listed so the rest of the community is aware to not deal with them. I feel that most changes that EpicNPC has made in the last few years hasn't been in the majority's best interest and encourages sales to take place off site (which you seem to be actively be working against) anyway so the users who meet because of your site don't stay on your site because the way things are now are not in either person's interest unless you're paid to do it. It's a forum.

I agree with this, I really think the whole if you do not pay us we do not care about scammers and do not investigate is ridiculous. I understand investigations are time consuming, trust me. There was a time when I was the one spending the most time on them here. I would have returned as Smod just to investigate the disputes they suddenly had "no time for" to attempt at least protect community.
 
I haven't been very active here for a quite a while, used to be Smod as well along with doomedtofail but stepped down because I suddenly had no time.

I have always supported all big changes but this got to be one that I really do not find positive. I don't like the direction EpicNPC is going and find it rather sad if me (and many others) have to stop using it completely because of this change.
 
I also agree from a person who has been here even before the major shift to this platform, I know things need to adapt to stay fresh. This will not keep things alive and will end EpicNPC.

EpicNPC has always been a trading platform for people to sell things which are not allowed to actually be sold as it breaks ToS for everything. This move would be a complete mistake unless your doing this as a escape from having to deal with this crap.
 
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Dude is so unoriginal even discussion posts like this he has to take from others lolololo

I just made some polishing to my messages to make them more understandable and efficient. If you would like to see the original drafts that I made, feel free to send me a message so I can send you my ChatGPT logs with time stamps. The information given in my previous message is not taken from any other sources, I just heavily studied about AML, KYC, KYB, PSD2 and EMI/PI subjects for months.

Here is one example for you:

1711911098151.png

1711910878405.png
 
And what about buyers? Buyers will have to get verified too!?
No, buyers will not be required to verify, only sellers.

Edit: Even Player Up doesn't force it's seller to get verified. Everyone can create new threads to sell their accounts. Buyers have to to do the verification there. Because it's the buyers who are sending payments.
I am not going to comment Player UP, is enough to check their Trust Pilot profile, and you will get a clear picture.
 
No, buyers will not be required to verify, only sellers.


I am not going to comment Player UP, is enough to check their Trust Pilot profile, and you will get a clear picture.
I myself use P Up. They are extremely slow at everything and that's the biggest downside of that site.

I was just comparing cz one can't even create a thread without getting verified as per this announcement.
 
WARNING! Off-site contact information posted. We do not investigate disputes if you communicate off-site.
I am not going to comment Player UP, is enough to check their Trust Pilot profile, and you will get a clear picture.
Places like player up / oc / sythe and so on will get more traffic, cause epicnpc is sending sellers there. Of last 10 changes, only 1 was seller friendly. Epicnpc is not most popular trading place, its most convient and easy to manage.

Sale threads are free to make in other forums , posting discord / website is free and without constant fear that some rule is broken and that some word is banned cause admins doesnt like getting tickets. Since we get more and more rules / random stuff added here which are not seller friendly, other places are starting to look more and more attractive.
 
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Places like player up / oc / sythe and so on will get more traffic, cause epicnpc is sending sellers there. Of last 10 changes, only 1 was seller friendly. Epicnpc is not most popular trading place, its most convient and easy to manage.

Sale threads are free to make in other forums , posting discord / website is free and without constant fear that some rule is broken and that some word is banned cause admins doesnt like getting tickets. Since we get more and more rules / random stuff added here which are not seller friendly, other places are starting to look more and more attractive.
Maybe he secretly received either threats or shitloads of money from them to make this change :ROFLMAO:

But seriously, this is indeed going to boost alternative forums quite a bit.

So went from the 6th of April to now the 3rd of April

So seems like it is going to happen no matter what people state. GG to EpicNPC

It's postponed for now. Hopefully the admins are gonna put more thought into this.
 
I think it's advantage of epicnpc, that you don't need much verifications to sell something.

And I still don't clearly understand nature of this change. Add KYC to be eligible for some useless payment methods like Skrill or Payoneer? Nobody need them I'm sure.

Current payment methods work great. I would like to see more crypto options tho, cause sending bitcoin with current fees is shot in the knee.
Add USDT or other coins with lower fees, you can always exchange them to what you need.
Also would be nice to have site balance, so I could deposit once instead of transferring money for each thing.

If there is something why KYC should be added besides payment methods, I would love to know more.
 
For 10th time, sellers are ones who bring traffic and money to site, not mods, random users, or even admins. Consider before making any change , to make private section , add sellers who are for long time here, and see what they think about planned changes. Or any change in future.
Couldnt agree more, you got at least 15-20 sellers here that have been here 10+ years and have hundreds if not thousands of feedback. These are the people generating the business here.. Why not have an open communication and come to a product that works for both. Instead of forcing KYC down our throat, it really seems like jamming a square peg into a round hole.

Ive been in banking industry for 20+ years now and I was FLOORED when a video game trading site was talking about KYC.
 
WARNING! Off-site contact information posted. We do not investigate disputes if you communicate off-site.
If they want KYC, it's so they can add additional features and force buyers to pay through epicnpc. They're almost certainly planning to change from the forum style to a more profitable model where buyers see a buy button directly on the site and pay through the site, giving them a cut of every transaction. Coming after the very intrusive warnings about contact through discord, it's only a matter of time until they try to restrict direct sales entirely.

People prefer epicnpc to playerauctions and similar because they're comfortable dealing with customers directly and don't want to give a cut of sales. If epicnpc were to move in that direction, it seems pretty unlikely they'd be able to compete with playerauctions.. who has been working on that model for years. The need to share SSN will alienate a good portion of north american sellers, but the reasoning behind it is equally troublesome.
 
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