Thread: Classified Section

I like the idea of classifieds the best. Let auctions stay on ebay. A caution, however... classifieds can take a fair amount of moderator resource to mediate conflicts and manage/delete the bogus stuff (porn, viagra, etc. -- those people always seem to find ways to infiltrate and post their listings).

Why would that be aby more than a forum?

Since we started this site, I haven't had to intervene even once on the sal forum. Our members deal like gentlemen.

Originally Posted by azjoe

I like the idea of classifieds the best. Let auctions stay on ebay. A caution, however... classifieds can take a fair amount of moderator resource to mediate conflicts and manage/delete the bogus stuff (porn, viagra, etc. -- those people always seem to find ways to infiltrate and post their listings).

Why would that be aby more than a forum? ... Our members deal like gentlemen.

I am confident we'll continue to act like gentlemen, respecting each other's viewpoints and rights. Over the years I've participated in a number of hobbyist-oriented forums that eventually had to shut down their Buy/Sell functions due to constant rule violations and member squabbling. It got pretty ugly, many new (competing) forums were spawned by disgruntled members, etc. I'd hate to see that happen here.

I think there's terrific merit to having a facility for buying/selling/trading str8 razors without the pressures and uncertainty that is prevalent in ebay. But when there's money involved, it seems individuals always appear with the intent to take advantage of a good thing. For example, currently we recommend to newbies that purchasing from a forum member is a "safe" way to get a quality razor at a fair price. If the classifieds, buy/sell, or whatever, become more popular then the purveyors of POS razors will become members and list their wares. Squabbling will commence when a well-meaning member posts a recommendation to a newbie to buy "quality" from member X instead of the "POS" being sold by member Y... :shock: Assuming the group continues to grow, we'll eventually need to manage our way through these rough spots. I'm just suggesting we plan ahead.

I agree about no auctions. It's much more complicated than our current system and there need to be rules and controls, etc. It could overburden the running of this site. I don't want to raise any sore points, but we still have error messages generated every time a post is left. What would happen when we go into the auction business?

It could also attract people who are not as upright as our members are now. All of a sudden our focus would change from being a barber shop to being supermarket of shaving. Making a sale would take on more importance than helping another member.

I'm still trying to understand how classifieds would be different from what we have now. Can someone direct me to a site that has classifieds of a type we might adopt.

Can someone direct me to a site that has classifieds of a type we might adopt.

http://cycletrades.com/classifieds/index.php

Thanks for the site.

I like it! I think it's a much more effective way to handle sales. Hopefully, you can even put an e-mail link in it to make the purchase and an icon the selelr can click when the sale is completed.

Are those kinds of posts done entirely by the seller, like our current posts?

Originally Posted by azjoe

Can someone direct me to a site that has classifieds of a type we might adopt.

http://cycletrades.com/classifieds/index.php

Those classifieds do look pretty nice, don't they? Too bad it isn't possible to have a demo available in order to help folks make an informed decision, but it would probably be too expensive and take too much time.

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

Are those kinds of posts done entirely by the seller, like our current posts?

The example site I gave uses "Noah's Classifieds", one of the popular classifieds software packages. I'm in no way proposing that s/w, but it's useful to illustrate what can be done. Joe, if you review their Features page you'll see the admin can set up a variety of formats for the look/feel of the ads, whether they're auto-deleted after a given time, whether they appear immediately or require admin approval before becomming visible, etc. The user loads his own ads and pictures, can delete his own ad, etc. Hope that helps! ...azjoe

Yeah, That looks like it might be cool and easy to use. A great way for members to trade, in an easily accessible format. Make it easy to post and remove and it's fun for all.

On the issue of unwanted posts, an agreement to read and sign off on and moderator control to keep the Pakistani razors from duping new guys might be well considered.

X

Well, I just read all the posts on this and there are some really good ideas. I like the idea of a 30 day time limit on posts for the Buy/Sell/Trade forum, the classifieds and the Gear for Sale Gallery. The 30 days could be a default setting with an option to make it permanent.

The Gear for Sale Gallery has the advantage of allowing a person to group all of their items in one folder. If I should have 10-20 razors for sale at one time ( and I will) it makes it easier for the buyer. Unfortunately the description field in that Gallery is much to limited in size.

The idea of an email link in all the above is really right on!

The Buy/Sell/Trade forum is very useful to make announcements about postings to the classifieds and the Gear for Sale Gallery. We need to keep it.

The auction capability is not something I would want. There simply are not enough people visiting our site.

The advantage of the Classifieds is that the format is known to one and all. The Gear for Sale Gallery is not as well known. If I have to choose then I will vote for the classifieds.