Should a buyer be selecting the moderator? In my view, no.
There are two options in this question:
- Vendor selects the moderator
- Buyer selects the moderator
If the vendor is selecting the moderator, then the buyer will be scanning listings and factoring in the choice of moderator in a decision to place an order. This means that any orders have essentially accepted the choice of moderator attached to that listing.
If the buyer is selecting the moderator, then a merchant may receive several orders that they will not process because of the buyer's choice of moderator. This may cause friction in the community as naive buyers cannot place successful orders.
In either case, there is always a risk of collusion selection, which is more of a problem for buyers when the moderator is selected by the vendor. Despite this, I believe the presence of curated moderators will offset this risk significantly. Therefore, I consider vendor-selected moderators to be the ideal approach.
Selecting multiple moderators Alternatively both the buyer and vendor could select multiple curated moderators as a part of on-boarding process. When the buyer goes to place an order for a listing, the application could select the first overlapping moderator. What happens if there isn't an overlapping moderator? It could either default to the buyer or vendor equally.
Overall I think this add unnecessary complexity to the moderator selection process without adding much value. Moreover, putting pressure on buyers to select a moderator up front may be a point of unnecessary friction.
When should a moderator be selected Currently the moderator is selected by all users when on-boarding into OpenBazaar.
In my view, as vendors should be selecting moderators for their listings, the selection process should occur when a vendors creates a store.
Curated moderators in OpenBazaar
- This list will be curated initially by the developers during the early stages of the project
- In the future, there may be some standards required by individuals to be added to this list
- Contactibility
- Node up-time
- No illicit goods
- Importantly, users are not forced to choose moderators at this stage of the application flow