VPNs have been main stream for a few years. We used to ban users when VPNs were uncommon, but now over 30% of members use VPNs or proxies. We cannot block or ban members based on VPN usage.
Seller scams has been on the rise, so we expect this update to have a significant impact (improvement) in regards to this.
We cannot allow some sellers to be verified and not others. This is a compliance issue and allowing members to sell without verification would mean we are not in compliance. Therefore every seller must be verified. We cannot add an exception, I'm sorry.
Veriff provides some additional verification tools we previously did not have. We plan to setup new security alerts in the future to add improvement based on what we see over the next few days and weeks. We know scammers will try to pass the verification process and have already seen a few, but this still be improved as we go.
We do not plan to change our site format. We will remain free and TG will remain optional.
Keep in mind those stats are only phone verified members. The total is probably 50-60% for all registered accounts were banned. We know one scam group makes 50+ account per day for the last 3 years. Every. Single. Day. This is not okay with me.
We're not adding this verification requirement without a good reason. This percentage must significantly decrease. We expect this update to help and as we optimize the new security settings over the next few weeks and months, we expect to see a significantly improvement.
The dispute process will not change. We will not investigate non-TG disputes. Off-site disputes are extremely time consuming, claims that messages were edited or deleted or it was an impostor are very common. Many times we can't even accept the evidence submitted and have to request video. I can complete many TG investigations in the same time it takes to investigate 1 off-site dispute. This is not an acceptable trade off.
Investigation on-site disputes can be reconsidered. The main issue is many times evidence is off-site, so we have to collect evidence anyway. This is not something we want to do, but we'll consider it in the future.
Ideas for Monetization, Security, and Enhancing User Experience
1. Form a New Team of Off-Site Moderators: Consider creating a new team of off-site moderators and inviting community members to volunteer.
2. Enhance User Engagement by Gamifying the Site: You might boost user engagement by gamifying the site with features like achievements, rewards, and titles that users can earn through different activities. To further encourage participation, you could add elements like houses or divisions and set up an events calendar to create more interaction and competition.
3. Introduce a Paid Subscription Model for Sellers: To generate additional revenue, you could introduce a paid subscription model for sellers. This would allow them to upgrade their profiles into full-featured storefronts where they can list products, access advanced analytics (such as daily, weekly, and monthly profile and thread views), and manage their sales. Integrating a payment gateway could enable sellers to accept payments in cryptocurrency, while buyers could choose to pay with a debit card or crypto. The site could then earn a small commission on each transaction.
4. Integrate Financial Analytics for Better Tracking: Improving financial tracking could be achieved by integrating analytics with the Trade Guardian (TG) input box. When a seller marks a thread as sold, the system could automatically update financial reports for daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly periods. Showing this data in graphs could help sellers better understand their performance and refine their strategies, it also encourages members to set a price and use Trade Guardian for every thread.
5. Upgrade Pro Seller Subscriptions to Work Like Personal Websites: You might consider enhancing the pro seller subscription to function more like a personal website. This could offer full customization options, including a payment gateway, detailed analytics, and various linking features. Such an upgrade could attract sellers who are considering creating their own websites or using third-party storefront services like Sellix or Sellpass, ultimately bringing more business to the platform.
6. Promote Trade Guardian Usage with Enhanced Visibility: Adding a Trade Guardian button with instant fee calculations on every pro seller’s shop could encourage more users to utilize it. Each product listing could have two options: one for a direct purchase and another for purchasing with TG. Hovering over the TG button could display the fee based on the seller’s price, making the benefits of using TG clearer and more appealing.
7. Allow Pro Sellers to Create Custom Forms: Enabling pro sellers to create custom forms on their storefronts to capture email leads could be a valuable feature for marketing and follow-up purposes, helping sellers build their customer base more effectively, you can even add a Notion integration.
8. Develop an Integrated Communication App: Consider developing an application that connects directly with the site’s inbox and includes features like contact management, group channels, category-specific chats, and a general chat area. This could streamline communication and enhance the overall user experience.
9. Adjust Free and Pro Plan Features: There are some existing features that could be shifted from the free plan to the pro plan, such as canned messages and the ability to see uncensored Trade Guardian transaction details and feedback. In the past, this kind of transparency allowed me to monitor what competitors were selling, understand market demand for high-value accounts, and refine my own offerings based on what was working for others. I would gladly pay to regain the ability to access these details and track competitors and their customers more closely.
Marketing
- Content Creation: Consider hiring someone to produce game news content for platforms like Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, YouTube, Facebook groups, Telegram groups, and Reddit. Additionally, you could enable a blog to aggregate all gaming news.
- Podcast: Think about launching a podcast with the moderators. For example, a podcast similar to "Darknet Diaries" could be engaging.
- Telegram Group: Instead of a Discord server, consider creating an official Telegram group as an alternative to Discord.
- Value-Driven Content: Create high-quality content that provides value in the gaming news niche. Distribute this content widely with eye-catching graphics and videos to drive traffic to EpicNPC. This content should not only offer top-notch news but also highlight services like account purchases and boosting.
- Referral System: Implement a referral program. Encourage others to create content for EpicNPC and pay them based on performance, such as $100 USD per 100,000 views or similar milestones.
- Streamer Recruitment: You could recruit a few volunteers to stream games on platforms like Kick, Twitch, and YouTube for the EpicNPC platform. In exchange for their efforts, offer them visibility on the website by adding a dedicated streamers page.
These are just ideas, feel free to use what works best for you and discard what doesn’t. If you have any suggestions or improvements, please share them with the community! Let’s work together to take Epic to new heights!
Together, we can all rise. Let’s make it happen and grow as one.