call me stupid, but if I was a borrower why should I give you $75 when I can do the same thing myself with someone I know?
Tempting, but I won't call you stupid. I answered this in the post itself. If endorsements get better rates then you'd want to get one. If you can't convince to sign up, put money on the platform, and endorse you, buying an endorsement (from anyone) is easier.
the borrower gets the money from a payday loan store (credit card, or other source) and gives it to a relative/friend/spouse to endorse them with. if borrower knows PII of relative/friend/spouse, then they can just sign them up without the person knowing.
that probably happens already more than you think.
That's the saddest piece of news, I've heard all week. There's no real way to know if that's how it's happening though. Similarly there's really no way of knowing if people are Paypalling each other money to buy endorsements either. As such, I think it might be worth thinking about whether you believe endorsements work as they should. If you think they do their job, then I can see why you think my post was out of line.
If you think that endorsements can and should be improved, I'm surprised you would be very, very happy with my post today. I thought we shared a common goal with this post... expose a weakness of Prosper. I thought the community here would be loving it.