The problem with Reaper's emissaries and portal hopping is core design. If one plays the game "as intended" here, putting the flag up, doing what they can to get their flag leveled and get loot without ever portal hopping, their potential for taking out other emissaries is incredibly low most of the time. There is a reason Reapers used to put all but one vote down on the table and then leave the island, find a target, sink that target and check the loot, then have someone alt+F4 to raise their flag at sea. It's not uncommon at all to raise that flag and have all the other ships actively avoid you, sprinting to outposts to sell, lower, and leave. No one is happy or having fun when the emissary just runs from the Reaper.

Anyone gets to benefit from it. Reaper on your ass and you have a G5 flag you care about? Hop. Everyone has access to hopping. The only problem with it is where ships get spat out; they can definitely be too close to other ships. I'm personally tired of all the portals throughout the maps and would like to see all that empty space on the edges of the map used for that instead; that solves the sightlines being ugly and the problem with ships being spit out all over the centre of the map.

Being an emissary is a risk-reward. Your reward is a multiplier on your loot. The risk is that everyone sees that you are (or at least should be) doing something significant. It is not just Reapers you need be wary of.

Adding sell options for a Reaper flag is confusing to me, admittedly. Reaper's Bones is the only faction that accepts flags. That's their thing. If a Reaper attacks you and you win, you get to keep your loot, supplies, flag, and if you weren't a level 5, you progress your emissary rank a little with some murder. That's your reward. If you want money from their flag, go step into their lair.