Quoted from robin:Wow, some great ideas, thanks all!
Building on these ideas, one of the easiest things to implement would be address verification. It would be another level of verification (e.g. a blue checkmark) where we ensure someones address. What we have now, the black V icon, would remain the basic verification (stops most Nigerian scammers because they don't want to shell out $5 bucks to get verified).
So how would mail address verification work? It would involve Pinside sending a postcard (automated via one of the online sending APIs) containing a code. You log in to Pinside and enter that code. Boom! Address verified.
Then I thought, postcards are fairly easy to steal, even if that's a federal offense (I mean, so is scamming people out of thousands of dollars, right?). I could also send out a Pinside mug. It's too big for your letterbox and you need to open the door to accept it. I would enter the code on the packing slip. Or print it on the mug, lol.
I estimate this could be done for around $10 (I would need to check, but it looks to be doable, at least for US adresses).
Still not 100%, but it's pretty darn close. Right? Or am I missing something obvious?
I'm in. But the mug needs to say "I'm not a thief" and display it on any pin that I sell...