A central feature of the iBuying Forum is its homegrown user experience. Allowing members to identify themselves — from users with multiple email addresses to employees with multiple jobs — its secure browsing option prevents the kind of “hijacking” common in sites like Paypal, Google or Tumblr. Members also have the option to check the status of their purchases within iBuying.
iBuying’s Moderator, a rule-of-thumb for those picking a location, not necessarily the product, says her favorite feature is the “Blacklist.” The most popular bought product on her accounts is several copies of the original Mission Impossible theme song — which has been played over and over, somehow. The rest of the purchases she has on her pages include: “Ridiculous Retro Game Girl Mugs,” “Toys for Girls with Large Ass Rings” and “Pretty Little Cockroach Dolls.”
Several candidates have shared personal stories about being bullied or harassed for being on the forum, or have had conversations about drugs and suicide. “Anonymity doesn’t create the space for discussion and growth like you would have in a real-world community,” she said. “People spend time imagining the negative things they’d do if they could.”
The iBuying moderators ask questions anonymously. They decide which threads to submit to a moderator’s name via text message, Twitter, Facebook and Google Hangouts. (The moderator doesn’t receive responses through Gmail.) The thread that receives the most replies can be scheduled for a public vote on iBuying’s website.