Thanks to all of you who made suggestions on ways we could improve The Parts Hunter. We listened carefully and have made these changes based on your recommendations:

1.) From now on, ONLY the Buyer will see the price each Seller offers. This will greatly cut down on the bidding wars. IMPORTANT: Sellers, this means you should therefore make your best offer the first time.

2.) Originally, when people drilled down from the Parts tab, they automatically ran in the Buyer Request form, so many people thought they had to use it. This led to some frivolous Buyer requests, and the Request form has been moved. Now when users drill down, they see the regular "parts for sale" and "parts wanted" listings, as well as existing Parts Hunter listings.

3.) To make a Parts Hunter request now, a user has to start on the homepage at "Post a Listing" or "Buy a Part." So only serious Buyers with an immediate need will make requests. (From time to time, however, inconsiderate users still may use Parts Hunter. We will find them and ban them.)

4.) To further reduce the number of frivolous requests, we will watch for "price-fishers." If someone posts a request but does not communicate with the Sellers, then we know they are price-fishing. They will be banned from using the Parts Hunter again for 6 months, unless they can prove otherwise.

5.) Very important! If someone buys a part from you, ASK THEM TO RATE YOU. Then you will be invited to rate them. This process will help us and you identify the real prospects versus the tire-kickers. To help identify serious Buyers, there is now a "Buyer info" link with every request; you should look at it.

6.) To those Sellers with WebStores: many of you have said you would sell more parts if buyers knew more about your company. So shortly we will advise you on improving your DOTmed WebStore so it's more informative. You can get started right now by using the "Edit text" tool on your WebStore page.

Here are a few well-designed WebStores to inspire you:
MedFix Solutions, Inc
Absolute Medical Equipment
ADVANCED ENDOSCOPY INC.
ANDA Medical Inc.

Thanks again to everyone for their input. Please try the new and improved Parts Hunter -- it's the best way to get the right part at the right price, right now!