Thread: Charging NEW members for classifieds

Originally Posted by krazycrow

When I watch the classifieds I take three things into consideration:

1. Location: just because I want to stay within the states. (not all members show this information btw)

2. Post count: taken with a grain of salt because stats can be raised quickly. Plus there are good people out there without high post counts.

3. Post quality: I will search by member name to get a feel for the member by his/her thread contributions.

In the end I do tend to feel more comfortable with a member meeting these considerations. In the end it is to the seller's benefit to have a decent post count or at least a membership date that has some months to it.

Unless you have user ratings or some other trust level meter... it is a matter of good faith between men. A better way would be nice, not all men are worth our good faith.

No matter the suggested solution, you can never make all the people happy all the time.

If everyone followed your strategy, I would have no problem with a complete buyer beware attitude. It sounds like you did it exactly right. It has been stated many times that the moderators and SRP cannot take responsibility for what goes on in the classifieds so of course the ultimate responsibility is on the buyer. Of course, I still think some kind of clearing/screening method would be preferable. I just don't want to be the one to come up with it!

Originally Posted by Utopian

Even though the tide of opinion seems to be going against it, I am in favor of doing this or something else to prevent sales by people just out to make a buck off of this forum. A while ago, I raised not too subtle objections to one new member dumping yard sale crap in the classifieds. Though he claimed the razors were honed and shave ready, it became obvious very quickly that he did not know what he was talking about. Such sales are most likely to victimize new members. Unless new members can do something to demonstrate a level of actual competence, I don't think they should be trusted to make such claims.

I totally agree... except for the competence part. Hey, a newbie can occasionally post in the classifieds imo. As long as they post the item honestly to their ability and really arent looking for a second job, I'm ok with it.


What I really dislike is to see a 'new acquirement' type post ... get some interest ... then ... remarkably the blade gets posted in the classifieds after a week or two of the original 'look what I just picked up' post .. accompanied by a laundry list of shipping terms and sale limits.


Those monkey shines really yank my chain.


Maybe we should vote on who pays ... hahaha




Just for the record, I have yet to post anything in the classifieds ... but I've bought some stuff. I have had nothing but good dealings and I would like to keep it like that; not only for me but for others as well.


One side note ...

I think pricing items strictly on Ebay sales is the absolutely lamest way to perform a price fix. When visiting an antique shop, I usually ask where they get their prices. When I hear 'Ebay' ... I immediately turn and leave. When they ask where I'm going ... I say "I'm going home to surf Ebay. The selection is better."

lol.

I'm a member of a pipe smokers forum, and we just have a button on the left side of the screen that says,"DONATE." I try to give ten dollars every month.

I also think that new members should have restricted privileges for a period of time/posts. But, I agree it can be skirted. The only other thing I can think of is to have all classified postings approved before making them public.

Originally Posted by Whiskers

I totally agree... except for the competence part. Hey, a newbie can occasionally post in the classifieds imo. As long as they post the item honestly to their ability and really arent looking for a second job, I'm ok with it.

Agreed. The problem is, as in the case I dealt with, when the seller pretends to be competent but actually has no idea what shave ready means.

Yup, Mods can pull your adds. I'm for the fee. It's a good idea, I sure David would know better than anyone, how many people come over just for the sake of selling stuff.
Is it Badger and Blade, or The shave den requires you to have a certain number of posts before you can list an item for sale..

Originally Posted by zib

Yup, Mods can pull your adds. I'm for the fee. It's a good idea, I sure David would know better than anyone, how many people come over just for the sake of selling stuff.
Is it Badger and Blade, or The shave den requires you to have a certain number of posts before you can list an item for sale..

B&B.

I'm also for charging. But maybe have it both post count and time registered.

Is this a place where the much-celebrated "thanks" meter can come in handy? Could have a "verified" stamp on the ads that automatically goes on any ad from a seller with X# of thanked posts. Then you can warn newbies that to be sure a razor is genuinely shave ready- look for a listing from a verified seller.
There may be other ways to earn that "verified" stamp, but almost any system can be cheated if someone cares enough. The goal is to make it just hard enough that the cheats think it's too much, but the genuine members will get there in a fair amount of time.

I belong to a couple of pen lists that allow occasional selling by members who post. I am a mod of one list. We occasionally have new members who post pens for sale as their first post. After explaining that they need to participate before they can sell, they disappear.

It may not work here, but I believe a 100 post minimum would deter many who just want to sell crap. Yes, 100 posts can be achieved quickly, but it still takes time and effort. If there is an easier venue, they won't bother here.

Many newbies are concerned about the initial cash expenditure for str8s and have been told that, should they decide to leave str8 shaving, they can sell their gear in the classifieds and get some of their money back. How will this policy affect them?

Originally Posted by Tonsor

I belong to a couple of pen lists that allow occasional selling by members who post. I am a mod of one list. We occasionally have new members who post pens for sale as their first post. After explaining that they need to participate before they can sell, they disappear.

It may not work here, but I believe a 100 post minimum would deter many who just want to sell crap. Yes, 100 posts can be achieved quickly, but it still takes time and effort. If there is an easier venue, they won't bother here.

This is pretty much the point I was trying to make, only I took several more paragraphs to do it