I'm not going to try to say what's been said again, as Paul's done a damn good job of it. However, not being allowed to post in 'FS/WTD' doesn't stop you from contacting a seller and carrying out some kind of exchange. Most users have enough information withing their profile to make it as easy as adding them to MSN, or dropping them a quick email with any questions you might have. The full-member-only section means that the scammers are not able to cheat people so easily, and that you get a better idea of who you are dealing with each time. Validation really isn't that hard, if posts are kept of a consistently reasonable quality, so there's not really much of a problem if you are here as a serious member to discuss trials with other like-minded individuals, as surely that kind of thing goes without saying on the whole? People have been validated by single posts before, and there's nothing to say that it can't happen again. (Yeah, ok, this is at the extreme of the scale, but you get the idea...)