Verifying UK address - best way

[namealot]

Why do you need too verify address ?

 

[markb]

Why do you need too verify address ?

As mentioned I want to make sure when someone registers to use the website I want to confirm the address they use is the one they live at so they don't provide false information.

I also want to prevent people from registering multiple accounts using false details which is what they can do now. I thought if I verify their name and address on their account, I.e. I verify they are who they say they are, then it will stop people creating lots of fake accounts.

Maybe someone has a better idea and solution to prevent this?

 

[Skinner]

Could you not just provide an incentive to verify ? Give those who verify a badge which says "Verified Seller/Buyer", work it as a trust thing.

On the flip side, restrict non-verified peoples usage, sure you'll piss some people off but by creating trust you'll boost the sites profile.

 

[markb]

Could you not just provide an incentive to verify ? Give those who verify a badge which says "Verified Seller/Buyer", work it as a trust thing.

On the flip side, restrict non-verified peoples usage, sure you'll piss some people off but by creating trust you'll boost the sites profile.

Hi Steven, thanks for taking the time to reply, yes that is what we had planned to do by displaying a verified icon, similar to what Airbnb use. I was just trying to come up with the best/easiest/cheapest ways to verify. I noticed their are website services that get people to scan their driving license or passport. I could use one of these that probably cost a few pounds per user. Or I was thinking I could ask users to verify their account by uploading their own passport or license directly to the website, and then check them manually myself. Just trying to get as many ideas as possible to choose the best way forward.

 

[Skinner]

If I was in your boat, I would look at doing the "regular" or "prolific" sellers AND buyers for free, how you determine which ones fit this is your call, but if a several hundred verified badges appear, people will notice them.

Then slowly roll it out, so everyone else gets it. It will create a system not unlike ebay feedback or any other score system were unverified members sell for less, and verified members being trusted earn more. Which in turn will push the legit users verify, offer a free verification where they upload proof to their account, or a paid version via a trusted 3rd party.

You'd have to think about passport/drivers license, when we enforced this policy on certain club nights (like named tickets only) lots of people didn't have either, so need to consider other items.

 

[markb]

We have business users and private sellers. I know we could just verify the business sellers. But the problem we are facing is that banned business sellers or business sellers that want to hide their identity are registering as private sellers. We need an option to stop them registering multiple private accounts. Also any solution would have to help stop the hundreds of scammers/spammers registering each day.

 

[pberry4032]

I've just signed up to Stripe tonight and they use Netverify. Quite nifty.

 

[markb]

I've just signed up to Stripe tonight and they use Netverify. Quite nifty.

Hi, thanks for the info, I was looking at the Airbnb website which also uses net verify to check users Id. This is one I am going to add to my shortlist to try out. I was thinking I could ask my users to take a photo of their own Id, and upload it to a verification page on their account on my website, where I can manually check the details match their registration details. It would be a cheaper alternative to using netverify.

 

[bensd]

Depending on how much I wanted to use the site, I may just give up / look for alternatives if I had to manually scan ID and then upload it

 

[markb]

Depending on how much I wanted to use the site, I may just give up / look for alternatives if I had to manually scan ID and then upload it

Yes it's not ideal, but the user will be taking photos of the items they are advertising for sale on the site, so will be uploading these also, it wouldn't be too much more difficult to take a photo of their id also.

The other alternative would be to accept a payment via credit card to check the details.

So which would be best ? Taking a photo of your id and uploading to site and using it for free, or paying a small fee and entering your credit card details or using PayPal.