Changes to the classifeds

[3dAngus]

I'm all ears for anything that will deal with the ethics/morals/and other pains of the classifieds. But my explanation of the security aspects were based on goldneagle's comment. I was giving the reasoning behind why I'm not about to add another piece of code.

I can see that. I did not make any comment to that effect. He is on ignore from my standpoint.

I was only referring to all the comments made on the original post, and staying on topic. Every comment has been immediately shot down by a Moderator as soon as it got published. Just let everybody have their say, and at least pretend to listen, or shut it down, and get it done. I'm sure by now everyone knows the outcome of this one anyway, so there is no need to play these games. I'm telling you straight from the heart and the head, it is a good idea, and if you need to do it, just do it. It's the best way.

 

[Tin Medic]

Newer guy here. I'm not a vendor nor do I really sell anything. I buy what I like when I can as I always try to support the forums I continually use as do the vendors and sellers that list here. As to proposed changes to the classifieds section, I think allowing only the OP to comment on their thread is a good thing as far as keeping down the daily post count (when I look to buy an item I always post "PM sent" and then PM the seller. That is actually a totally useless post as the seller will probably see my PM before he reads that post). That PM will also include any questions I have so if the seller has multiple items it's usually in his best interest to just add the info to the listing. I also think that ads for regular sellers (non-vendors) should have a 30 day expiration date from the time of the original posting. Say 3 days out email tells you that your ad will expire in 3 days and you will need to relist it if it’s till for sale. I'm not sure auto re-listing is practical as the seller may have changed his mind about selling and just didn’t remove the ad. Vendors will normally have all of their items in stock and if production happens to get behind they can mention in the ad that there might be a delay. Ethics and morals will always be the choice of the individual; I don’t think you can change that. I will also throw this out there for what it’s worth, if someone has an item for sale at said price why would you list the same thing for less right after the first guy (sorry, that just annoys me)?

 

[patracy]

Newer guy here. I'm not a vendor nor do I really sell anything. I buy what I like when I can as I always try to support the forums I continually use as do the vendors and sellers that list here. As to proposed changes to the classifieds section, I think allowing only the OP to comment on their thread is a good thing as far as keeping down the daily post count (when I look to buy an item I always post "PM sent" and then PM the seller. That is actually a totally useless post as the seller will probably see my PM before he reads that post). That PM will also include any questions I have so if the seller has multiple items it's usually in his best interest to just add the info to the listing. I also think that ads for regular sellers (non-vendors) should have a 30 day expiration date from the time of the original posting. Say 3 days out email tells you that your ad will expire in 3 days and you will need to relist it if it’s till for sale. I'm not sure auto re-listing is practical as the seller may have changed his mind about selling and just didn’t remove the ad. Vendors will normally have all of their items in stock and if production happens to get behind they can mention in the ad that there might be a delay. Ethics and morals will always be the choice of the individual; I don’t think you can change that. I will also throw this out there for what it’s worth, if someone has an item for sale at said price why would you list the same thing for less right after the first guy (sorry, that just annoys me)?

Unfortunately there is no means to send out a email/pm/notification that a users post will be deleted without a add-on/modification/hack. Auto relisting was a huge problem with the prior incarnation of the classifieds. Years old ads were automatically renewing and sellers never came back to deal with them.

As to your last statement. That's not exactly what has happened. Here's a summary:

Henry lists a tire for sale for $50. George sees this and posts in his thread "I'm interested". Frank reads this thread and sees George's reply. Frank happens to have a tire as well. Frank takes it upon himself to PM George direct and offer his tire up for sale for $40.

That's the kind of undermining that has happened. It's not fair for Henry. And in all likelyhood, Henry might not ever know if George simply ignores him and deals with Frank after the fact.

*All names are fictitious in my example.

 

[Merc1973]

I prefer to have anyone reply to Classifieds. I like to hear what other have to ask about a certain product, part or vehicle. You never know what you may learn, because i certainly appreciate it. However, those replies to the thread should NOT bump it up to the top page. The Seller should ONLY be allowed to bump the page themselves ONCE a week or every 2 weeks. The original post should include ALL information and updates to the sale so we dont have to read any of the comments if you dont have to... If they disregard those limits on bumping then the thread gets locked/deleted for while.... Also allow the Seller to have control over deleting posts in their thread.

 

[Tin Medic]

I understand the email issue and I agrre auto relisting can be useless. As for the undermining I was actually refering to Henry listing his tire at 50 dollars and then Frank listing his at 40.

As far as to what will finally be done, just post the changes and do it, as mentioned earlier you cant make everyone happy.

 

[patracy]

I prefer to have anyone reply to Classifieds. I like to hear what other have to ask about a certain product, part or vehicle. You never know what you may learn, because i certainly appreciate it. However, those replies to the thread should NOT bump it up to the top page. The Seller should ONLY be allowed to bump the page themselves ONCE a week or every 2 weeks. The original post should include ALL information and updates to the sale so we dont have to read any of the comments if you dont have to... If they disregard those limits on bumping then the thread gets locked/deleted for while.... Also allow the Seller to have control over deleting posts in their thread.

That's a problem on itself. The classifieds are pruned. So any knowledge that transpires in an ad will ultimately be lost over the course of time.

Seller has the ability to delete their own thread. Unfortunately due to software, the ability to delete other individuals posts only comes from being a moderator.

 

[wheelspinner]

Can questions comments be posted anonymously ? At least that would prevent the undermining. Obviously the mods would know who it was should it be questionable in its content.

 

[glassk]

I am not a vendor , However I think all of the sales I have made from ads I posted or a response to someones Item Wanted has gone to a PM exchange within a couple of post and details worked out from there. I also had a swoop in on a listing while I was looking for the actual number of Items I had, needles to say I sold the items in order of people responding with I'm sorry to the next in line. In days of Old I have very much commented on ads with information that looking back on was chatter. The suggestion I would have is maybe an Interested Button that would auto send a PM and get the PM's going and if the seller didn't respond in a timely manner ---insert technical solution here ---
just my ,

 

[73m819]

If you need more pics-send a PM.
Even if only the OP bumps it will go to todays posts.
We have time limits, I think it's 90 days from last posting.
If we made the self prune, say 30 days, it would clean the forum and force the seller to relist if he still has the item.[/QUOTE]

This WAS suggested before

 

[Coffey1]

Never a dull moment . Pming someone is not difficult close the ad to everyone but seller.
Inform mod if no response to pms.
Leave 90 to prune .

 

[tobyS]

If you have your mind made up, then why ask? I second or third that opinion.

Simply make it so ads cannot be commented on and if I try to do it, then I'll get another aw**** moment and NOT do it. Did it bother someone so bad that we finished the discussion, clearing up an issue, rather than immediately cutting it off? He got his part and no harm was done.

I certainly believe a lot of improvement to the ads could be made that would be positive, but not with closed minds, already made up before your question was asked.

 

[patracy]

Can questions comments be posted anonymously ? At least that would prevent the undermining. Obviously the mods would know who it was should it be questionable in its content.

Not without, you guessed it. A hack.

I am not a vendor , However I think all of the sales I have made from ads I posted or a response to someones Item Wanted has gone to a PM exchange within a couple of post and details worked out from there. I also had a swoop in on a listing while I was looking for the actual number of Items I had, needles to say I sold the items in order of people responding with I'm sorry to the next in line. In days of Old I have very much commented on ads with information that looking back on was chatter. The suggestion I would have is maybe an Interested Button that would auto send a PM and get the PM's going and if the seller didn't respond in a timely manner ---insert technical solution here ---
just my ,

Another hack, sorry.

 

[patracy]

If you have your mind made up, then why ask? I second or third that opinion.

Simply make it so ads cannot be commented on and if I try to do it, then I'll get another aw**** moment and NOT do it. Did it bother someone so bad that we finished the discussion, clearing up an issue, rather than immediately cutting it off? He got his part and no harm was done.

I certainly believe a lot of improvement to the ads could be made that would be positive, but not with closed minds, already made up before your question was asked.

I haven't made up my mind. I just wanted to present my idea and get feedback. See if anyone has any ideas.

I understand your feelings might be upset over the discussion in the ad which you had removed. But the reasoning isn't personal. It's the fact that the insightful post would be deleted eventually anyhow. We've been removing a LOT of needless commentary in the classifieds. Your post hasn't been the only one.

I'm not understanding your assumption of my mind being closed? If you're inferring my responses of "no" to certain suggestions, I've outlined why it wouldn't work without another add-on/modification/hack.

 

[glassk]

insert technical solution here figured it = more scripts


---I have had an e-mail alert that I had a PM and so the sales I have made would still be valid in future cases as well so the original idea should workout,...in my opinion,..

 

[ATPTac]

I see both sides of the issue. On one hand you have people undercutting others, which should be addressed definitely. On the other hand you could have someone who bought item X and is extremely pleased with it, and they want to let everyone know how happy they are. I know this is something that would require human enforcement vs. just letting the programming take care of it, but: How about make a rule stating if there is a question about an item for sale in the classifieds it should be PMed to the OP. If you have already purchased one of said items, you can then post in the thread a "review", if you will, about the item. Basically to summarize, if you have purchased an item from this particular seller from this particular thread, you can post a review. Otherwise nobody can post other than the OP.

Clearly, there are going to be a number of people who won't read the rules and continue to post, but it would eventually catch on. I guess its more of a question if the extra work load for the mods/admins is worth it to allow people to still post reviews.

 

[tobyS]

This site surely contains a lot of information but it is extremely difficult to use. That it (ads) doesn't work without being commingled with "todays posts" is a rather odd conclusion. Maybe a "today's ads" next to "today's discussion" is appropriate.

Since I'm not familiar with the term "hack", other than in a sense of taking over, I don't know why you would expect to make a change that requires no code modification or an add-on. Seems any significant change will require modification of some sort.

People will soon enough learn that they can't comment on ads when it rejects them.

Personally I think a lot could be done to improve the ads (and the administration of them). But all would require some type of change, modification or add on, perhaps even a manager put in place.

I wasn't upset about the issue of my questions or their answer being lost, it was entirely in the manner it was handled.

 

[patracy]

This site surely contains a lot of information but it is extremely difficult to use. That it (ads) doesn't work without being commingled with "todays posts" is a rather odd conclusion. Maybe a "today's ads" next to "today's discussion" is appropriate.

Since I'm not familiar with the term "hack", other than in a sense of taking over, I don't know why you would expect to make a change that requires no code modification or an add-on. Seems any significant change will require modification of some sort.

People will soon enough learn that they can't comment on ads when it rejects them.

Personally I think a lot could be done to improve the ads (and the administration of them). But all would require some type of change, modification or add on, perhaps even a manager put in place.

Was put to a vote by the masses. We're not moving the ads out of the new posts button. That matter has been resolved.

I'm asking more for how we can utilize people we have here and educate people into bettering the system.

People do catch on when things are restricted. But they tend to get resourceful and try to circumvent things...

We've brought on three more mods just for the classifieds. But with the amount of ads, even that is an undertaking.

 

[mbehne]

I think you guys are doing a great job!!! I appreciate you letting us play in the sandbox, so you do what you think is best. I personally see no reason why what you proposed will cause any trouble.

 

[73m819]

My thoughts are JUST DO WHATS NEEDS TO BE DONE

 

[73m819]

My thoughts are JUST DO WHATS NEEDS TO BE DONE

If someone does not like it, there is always ebay or cl to make friends with.