Removal of mobile number on classified Ads

[ItAcHi]

hi james,

kudos to the new classified ad section, but i realise that now u have added in an compulsory field for mobile number, which i think shld be very personal and private.

if the seller wish to leave down a contact number, they may do so in the post, but for me, i prefer to have personal arrangement with the buyer thru PM or email first.

and we all know this is the world wide web, u wouldn't know who is stalking this place hunting for phone numbers to harass.

i sincerely do hope that u could remove the mobile number section off from the classified ads.

thank you.

 

[sharp__edge]

is it true? absolutely compulsory?

i did post an ad yesterday without that field, so i assume that change was only made this morning eh.

anyway, i agree with Itachi. Publishing phone numbers openly on ads is just unnecessary. While i do feel that an exchange of phone numbers between a buyer and a seller is absolutely necessary, making it compulsory and then making it accessible to the entire web turns that into an easy target for illegal advertisements, harassment and the lot.

Personally, i always post my phone numbers on my ads. However, in most cases, i remove them after the mentioned item has been sold.

If the intention of this change was an attempt to reduce the number of people getting cheated, a much better way would be to educate. Make sure that our buyers and sellers are fully aware that if a buyer/seller behaves suspiciously, hesitates when providing contact details, or attempts to proceed with as little contact details provided as possible, then that person should be considered carefully before having any dealings with.