For sale/wanted/offers

[stealthwolf]

There's been a spout of new members who seem to post what they have for sale and do not participate in the forum itself.

IMO this is an abuse of the system and this section of the forum should be off limits until at least 10, if not 20 or 30 posts. It's not that hard to be involved here.

Whaddya reckon?

[WhiteGTI]

I agree in principle Stealth, but see this example from my point of view...

I have been a member of uk-mkiv's since January 2008 but have not posted at all. I merely signed up ages ago and kinda forgot about it. I simply don't have the time to trawl through several forums. But now I want to sell my OEM suspension. Theres little point selling it on here as most have it anyway, the same goes with golfgti.co.uk. UK-MKIV's is the best place to sell it because it contains people with Golfs that perhaps dont have sports suspension.

I am a reputable seller, but I dont contribute to that forum - firstly because I dont have time, and secondly because I don't feel as if I have much in common with the members, i.e. probably about 5% of the members will drive a GTI. OK, so the basic platform is the same, but it really bears down to time. My main reason for wanting to sell on that forum is because I feel that they are my primary target audience, and I would be helping them out also by providing a part that some may want.

Although - i appreciate that it doesn't always work as smoothly as that, and your always gunna get kn0b heads joining a forum and causing trouble in the for sale sections.

[stealthwolf]

I agree but it's still not too difficult to make five or ten reasonable posts (as opposed to just spam-type posts) regardless of whatever forum.

I personally consider use of the forum purely for selling without contributing an abuse of the forum.

[SteveS]

 

[WhiteGTI]

I agree but it's still not too difficult to make five or ten reasonable posts (as opposed to just spam-type posts) regardless of whatever forum.

I personally consider use of the forum purely for selling without contributing an abuse of the forum.

I think the 100 minimum post on uk-mkiv's is a little overkill, but perhaps as you say 20-30 could be implemented on this forum? 

[NEWEY]

I agree I have been on another site where they have had a few problems with "bogus" members selling things and just taking the money. You now have to be a paid member on the site to gain access to the for sale section. Could be a way to gain revenue for the site too ;)

[Top Cat]

There are a few ways we could go but they all require compromise in some way, in general it works ok at the moment, we really dont have any one  who just joins to sell stuff, and as long as its stuff that our members can find useful for there car then the occasional sale like that is ok.
The only 2 issues we have that worry us are members jumping on a for sale post saying stuff like i got this amount for mine that's way to much.
Its up to the seller to decide what they want and if it doesn't sell then they will realise its to expensive. If our members feel its to expensive or indeed to cheap,then they should inform the buyer or seller via PM and not in the actual for sale post. 
But the main thing that worries me is selling stuff like wheels, brakes and suspension, if we know the seller then most of us will know the safety quality to some extent, but if its some one who hardly posts, then the condition of the wheels could be in a dangerous state. And i would not be able to sleep if we where in some way accountable for contributing a bit to a accident.
There have been no major drama's to date so let's see how it develops as our membership increases.
Dont forget there is the report to the moderator button, which we are obliged to investigate if pressed. 

[VC]

....... members jumping on a for sale post saying stuff like i got this amount for mine that's way to much.
Its up to the seller to decide what they want and if it doesn't sell then they will realise its to expensive. If our members feel its to expensive or indeed to cheap,then they should inform the buyer or seller via PM and not in the actual for sale post. 

what if someone is unsure of a value? ive seen (on other forums) things up for sale that i know where you can get them alot cheaper, would it be wrong to interfere if it's in the interest of a fellow member looking to buy? i totally understand what you're saying though

[stealthwolf]

The only 2 issues we have that worry us are members jumping on a for sale post saying stuff like i got this amount for mine that's way too much.

Maybe this should be a ruling? Allow Only people genuinely asking questions or replies to the sale post. Anyone who posts "I got mine from xx for half the price" should have that post deleted?

But the main thing that worries me is selling stuff like wheels, brakes and suspension, if we know the seller then most of us will know the safety quality to some extent, but if its some one who hardly posts, then the condition of the wheels could be in a dangerous state. And i would not be able to sleep if we where in some way accountable for contributing a bit to a accident.

How does this change from the present 1-poster sale post? Joe bloggs posts he has a set of Monza IIs for sale. It's his only post. Skinny Hew buys the set, doesn't realise they're reps and the day he fits them, he has an accident, all down to the dodgy rims.

Alternatively, Joe Bloggs posts a few messages, has a post count of 5, states he has a set of Monzas for sale....Skinny Hew has an accident because of the rims.

I see no difference - you still can't trust 100% who you're buying from. A few post counts shouldn't mean anything compared to the thousands others have. Someone like you should be reputable because of your 3000 spam posts. I'd be more wary of buying from someone who has a post count of 10 than you, and even more wary of someone who has a post count of 1.

[WhiteGTI]

I dont think post count can determine the reliability and trustworthyness of a member at all...

I have 4 posts on uk-mkivs , and im 100% trustworthy when it comes to selling my OEM suspension!

People are just merely looking for a market to sell their products.

OK, so in an ideal world they should be well known on the forum before hand, but lifes not like that unfortunately 

[Top Cat]

I guess its ok to say " look these exact same items are for sale here at less  , what i feel should be stopped is say for example some one sells a wheel for 70 quid on Ebay at the time it was the best they could get. Then 3 weeks later somebody puts the very same wheel up for sale for 120 quid. then the first chap comes back on and says i only got 70 for mine. Basically  capping the price out of bitterness or ignorance, normally the first option. 
It is never going to be perfect and as long as the stuff we buy and sell is safe then the above is not to concerning, we just started getting a lot of this about a fortnight ago and we where getting a couple of complaint's 

[VC]

^^ agreed, healthy competition is one thing but souring a legitimate advert would be unfair. knowing who you can and can trust could still be frought with risk regardless of post count, you pays ya money you takes ya chance etc etc

one forum i surf offer a reputation points system, reputations voted for by other members and their experience trading with each other scaled from 0-10

[Top Cat]

That could be a very good shout VC . I wonder if PG can integrate that into this platform. 

[SteveP]

^^^ We already have a "karma" system available if we want to enable it???

[VC]

enable the karma? yes please it's a thing of beauty 



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