Suggestion for the for sale forums

[trilinearmipmap]

A lot of people seem to title their for sale postings "For sale", you have to go into the thread to see what is for sale.

How about having a standardized posting ie. the title should list the item for sale and the price.

[Delphinus]

It's a good suggestion, I for one do agree with you, but wonder how best to write up a guideline for that sort of thing. For example, maybe someone has a whole bunch of items to sell, and to list it all in the title is hard, or can't be done due to the limit on number of characters in a title, or the person isn't all that computer-savvy and doesn't type quickly and so on,... etc.

On the other hand, it's not TOO hard to take a look in the thread to see if there's anything.

But in the end I think what I'll do here is modify the "guidlines" to include the suggestion to make the titles somewhat descriptive. I'll see what I can come up with.

[Fish Breath]

May I suggest too that if you are posting an item for sale you must include a price. I know it is in the guidlines but I see alot of item for sale with no price until they are asked by a few people.

[Delphinus]

Ok I've added the following to the guidelines:

Subject Titles
Try to think of a title that is descriptive of the item(s) being sold (or sought). Having this information in the subject line will help buyers (or sellers) direct their attention to your posts.


As for pricing (and locations for that matter), technically yes people should be posting this sort of thing. Generally speaking though it seems to be more of an oversight than anything else. But hopefully people will get the hang of it and then it's a non-issue.

[GMGQ]

Well if they have a bunch of stuff to sell, all we can ask for is for them to put something general like:

FS: Misc. equipment
FS: Lighting stuff
FS: plumbing stuff
etc

The idea is for them to put at least SOMETHING in the title, so that we get an idea of what they're selling -- without having to click it.

People only put "FOR SALE" because they want to generate interest for their post and make people click it out of curiosity. It's such an old school mentality.

And I think having an Asking Price should be manditory. I've seen many other message forums get fed up and make it part of the rules. The only reason why people sometimes dont do it, is because they're asking a high price, and they're afraid they'll get flamed for it. But then the moderators will just have to step in and tell the kiddies to keep their non-buying comments to themselves and let the seller sell.


It's a good suggestion, I for one do agree with you, but wonder how best to write up a guideline for that sort of thing. For example, maybe someone has a whole bunch of items to sell, and to list it all in the title is hard, or can't be done due to the limit on number of characters in a title, or the person isn't all that computer-savvy and doesn't type quickly and so on,... etc.

On the other hand, it's not TOO hard to take a look in the thread to see if there's anything.

But in the end I think what I'll do here is modify the "guidlines" to include the suggestion to make the titles somewhat descriptive. I'll see what I can come up with.

[mark]

When I put the pointer over the link (thread title), I get a preview window of what's inside.

Seems with the preview window function, the thread title could be general but if the first few lines had a summary (what, where, how much) of what was for sale...

[GMGQ]

Yeah, but it still takes like 1 second for the little preview to show up. Not everyone's gonna wanna sit there and move their mouse over each thread to see the preview. I personally like to keep the cursor off the screen whenever possible, and just use the wheel to scroll up and down to see everything.

It's much easier to just glance at the whole listing and see the titles all in one shot.


When I put the pointer over the link (thread title), I get a preview window of what's inside.

Seems with the preview window function, the thread title could be general but if the first few lines had a summary (what, where, how much) of what was for sale...

[StirCrazy]

this is a waist of time plain and simple. a title is simply that a title.. it is a quick statement.. if you want info read the thread, thats why titles are limited to a small number of characters.. other wise what would be the use in having a body to the post.. just put everything in the title.

now something constructive would be banning topics like "testing the waters" or "gaging interest" If you want to sell something say for sale as the other two imply that it isn't for sale and you just want to know if anyone would be interested if it was to come up for sale.

Steve

[howdy20012002]

I personally think that we should look at a feedback type system as well.
that way people can let others know how a person is to deal with
However, I can also see this becoming a hassle for the moderators cuz god forbid someone didn't agree with something someone said about it
So yea, I can't really see it happening, but I just thought that I would throw the suggestion out there
Just another one of my 2 cents
Neal

[GMGQ]

What's so difficult about putting an extra two words in the title to give a general idea of what you're selling? Nobody said you have to list everything in the title.

We're just saying that ANYTHING is better than only "for sale."



this is a waist of time plain and simple. a title is simply that a title.. it is a quick statement.. if you want info read the thread, thats why titles are limited to a small number of characters.. other wise what would be the use in having a body to the post.. just put everything in the title.

Steve

[GMGQ]

BTW, I think this guideline does make it sound too confusing. It makes it sound like you do want people to put a lot of information in the title.


Subject Titles
Try to think of a title that is descriptive of the item(s) being sold (or sought). Having this information in the subject line will help buyers (or sellers) direct their attention to your posts.

All we really desire is a "brief idea" of what they are selling.

So maybe:

"Try to include a brief description of the item(s) being sold (or sought) in the title of your thread. Having this information in the subject line will help buyers (or sellers) direct their attention to your posts."

[AndyL]

I think the rule should be more along the lines of posting your location in the title :) Now that would be truly helpful!

[G1GY]

:lol:

If the second it takes to look at the post to find out what's for sale is so labour intensive and time consuming........... Then maybe people should start checking the forum from home so that they don't have to worry about their boss looking into their cube and busting them! :lol:

No matter how someone on the forum makes their for sale post, it's still faster than reading a newspaper and getting in the car and traveling around from place to place.

[Delphinus]

Ok I reworded the guidelines... Hope it's a little better.


Try to include a brief description of the item(s) being sold (or sought) in the title of your thread. And if you're really enthusiastic, feel free to add your location too. Having this information in the subject line will help buyers (or sellers) direct their attention to your posts.

[trilinearmipmap]

Thanks.

[StirCrazy]

the title should list the item for sale and the price.

in your thread you want the item and the price in the title.. another guy wants a brief description, and so on and so on.. yes I agree .. "fish tank for sale", would be a good title.

Personally I think the boars should start charging for "for sale posts" maybe have a 2 buck fee to post a small ad, $5 for large and then an additional 2 bucks for every picture. we are using the boards bandwidth and service for monetary gain maybe we should help pay the bills.

Steve

[WWWD]

Personally I think the boars should start charging for "for sale posts" maybe have a 2 buck fee to post a small ad, $5 for large and then an additional 2 bucks for every picture. we are using the boards bandwidth and service for monetary gain maybe we should help pay the bills.

Steve


I believe this is why the board went the route of sponsors. I think the amount of revenue that would be collected would be minimal at best when you can run ads for free on the online version of Buy & Sell, Craigslist other local boards.

Probably more the half the traffic generated on this board comes from the buy and sell forums, if you shunned that traffic away with user based fees I doubt the sponsors would continue their support for much longer, they are paying the fee's based on usage of the boards patrons.

I also have a hard time believing that if someone was going to sell frags (which a lot of people on the board do) they are going to pay $2 for an ad and another $2 for one image only to receive $10 minus the fees. Ontop of that it requires the board to add another layer of managment to handle the collection of money and support, once you agree to take someones money they will start complaining.

[StirCrazy]

Probably more the half the traffic generated on this board comes from the buy and sell forums,

exactly my point.. do you believe that more than half the traffic on this board should be for people to generate revenue? I feel the primary purpose of this board has drastically changed over the years. when I first got her there was maybe 1 or 2 for sales a week now thats all you see. where there used to be multi page discussions on things and tons of DIY stuff there is now only the occasional real discussion and even less DIY and they are low post affairs at best. If you look at the membership list you will see a ton of people with under 5 posts, you look at the posts and they logged on to sell stuff, did there selling and left.. what did that contribute to the board... In my opinion (and it is exactly that and opinion) this board and its posts should benefit everyone not just 1 person who gets a deal cuz some one who got into the hobby with out the time and or dedication needs to sell off there stuff.

as for frags and such ya they are valid posts but in the same sense, you have some one selling frags every month for a year making money and thats ok, but some one like me cannot list my Ca reactor or skimmer for sale just because I have a company name and it is deemed to be competing with the sponsors. Well isn't some one who sells frags several times a year doing the same thing? what about people who keep having tanks for sale, like 10 tanks.. are they not basically being a wholesaler?

all theres rules came to be because the sponsors didn't like people selling cheep products on the board with no overhead as it is hard for them to compete and they are paying for the right to advertise there products on the board where other people are not..

So you can see the amount of traffic generated by the buy and sell my not make sponsors happy as it is basically taking business from them.

Maybe a fee isn't the best way, maybe you should only be allowed to make 1 or 2 topics per month in the buy sell, maybe they should have to go to the mods for approval before they are posted and have a locked buy and sell so all you see is the original post and all replies are done by PM. Who knows maybe we should drop the rest of the board and just have buy sell as that is what gets the most traffic on the board anyways.

just as a comparison yes I do use the Buy and sell my self, but only 0.006% of my posts are in the buy and sell, the rest are in the forums involved in discussion and what not, which personally I hope some of which will benefit other users, as reading others posts when I started out was a benefit to myself.

Steve

[G1GY]

all theres rules came to be because the sponsors didn't like people selling cheep products on the board with no overhead as it is hard for them to compete and they are paying for the right to advertise there products on the board where other people are not..



The rules didn't stop those with no overhead from selling product. It just forced those with no overhead to become a sponsor in order to sell their product here. :)

[howdy20012002]

I, for one, think that buying and selling are a huge part of the board
it allows us to share things and pick items up at substantial savings.
I know that for myself, I am always looking at what people are selling off cuz you never know what kind of deals you can get.

[Chin_Lee]

First off, I do support and strongly appreciate the initiaves to promote in depth discussions of this hobby.
However we should not overlook the advantages of the high volume of buying and selling on the board. One of which is the increased opportunity to meet the people (in person) on the board which is why I believe that Canreef has become much more of a community board than the other boards.

In addition, a lot of the beginners who are doing the buying will get the opportunity to acquire livestock and hardware for a relatively good price as well as the opportunity to see other more experienced people's tanks and setups for ideas, methods, and goals to achieve with their new system.

I can appreciate that many people on this board are from areas that have very limited opportunities to personally meet the people on Canreef. However I give this perspective from a local reefkeeper in the Lower Mainland and I believe the same can be said in Edmonton, Calgary and possibly Manitoba. From a statistical perspective, by viewing the posts on this board, it can be suggested that Canreef has evolved more to a buy&sell than an information board; I am in the opinion that the buying and selling has advanced this hobby to another level that would have otherwise been unachievable in its absence for the members in the above mentioned places.

Nowadays with the internet and advances in technology, it is often said that we have replaced our interpersonal social and communication skills with a keyboard where many of the words are so often lost in translation. But for many of us, Canreef has provided us with the opportunity to put away that keyboard and to meet and speak to each other.

[dirtyreefer]

Personally I think the boars should start charging for "for sale posts" maybe have a 2 buck fee to post a small ad, $5 for large and then an additional 2 bucks for every picture.

I think that's a brutal idea, and you'll end up killing the traffic on this board by doing that. These kinds of boards can't compete with the larger boards for knowledge and advice, if I need an answer quick I'll go there and post something or search rather than coming to here and waiting perhaps days for a response. If there are questions I have that relate to something local then I have no problems posting here, nor do I have any problems giving advice (the little that I have to offer) to those who need it.

The buy and sell however is a great way to meet people, as well as be able to share frags and sell used equipment locally. Like Chin said, this board is like a community and it's often nice to put the name to the face (so to speak).

[Tarolisol]

when I first got her there was maybe 1 or 2 for sales a week now thats all you see.


Well maybe there are more buy and sell posts because the hobby has grown ten fold since you started posting on this sight.

Also i dont think you should have to pay for an add, it would kill the traffic on the site. When i come on here i chech the buy sell to see if theres anything interesting then read the posts. Which i believe most people do, if you wanted to do something to stop people from using this site as a revenue generater make people have to be a member for a month. or a certain amount of post before they can sell somthing.

My only suggestion for the buy and sell thing is you should have to put a price down, none of this best offer junk.

[Johnny Reefer]

....I can appreciate that many people on this board are from areas that have very limited opportunities to personally meet the people on Canreef. However I give this perspective from a local reefkeeper in the Lower Mainland and I believe the same can be said in Edmonton, Calgary and possibly Manitoba. ..... Hey man? What about us VI'landers?:mrgreen: Ya, we bombed in totally not getting a reefmeet together this year (goodbye summer), but the Buy/Sell Forums do have there advantages here too, with regard to what you say. I totally agree with you.

Cheers:smile:, (totally)

[titus]

Hello,

The discussions are deviating from the original topic. For those who input their ideas on the Buy & Sell, thanks.

Titus