Remodeling the Classfieds section

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stickg1

stickg1

Splendid
Mar 7, 2012
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The Classifieds Section on any Tech site has the potential to draw in new members and really thrive. Let's face it, selling items on auction sites is a pain and they really stick it to you with fees. Also on these auction sites there's been a recent influx of parasites that will buy your item, break it, and file a claim to rip off the seller (happened to me a few times this Calender year in fact).

Tom's DOES have a Classifieds section, however it is quite messy and unorganized. Recently I was thrilled to see one of your newly appointed moderators, Brett928S2, take the initiative to clean it up and lock posts from people that refuse to follow the proper format. I have some suggestions to make the Classifieds a safer and more successful place to do business.

1. Minimum Post Count Requirement - As it stands, a person with zero posts and zero rep can come into the Classifieds and start trying to sell things. This typically results in them never returning to the site to answer PMs, and they very rarely read the rules. This could also lead to scam artists and swindlers. I am suggesting a minimum requirement of 150 posts, making said member a "Youngster" or higher in status.

2. Separate Section for Hardware Appraisals - Often people will want to know what a fair asking price for an item or items are. Experienced buyers/sellers will be inclined to help these people find a reasonable price based on condition and current market price. Because appraisals could often lead to a sale, I suggest that this section retain it's 150 minimum post count requirement.

3. Feedback System - Similar to any online trading site/forum. Having positive feedback is a good way to build confidence in your buyer that they are not going to be "SOL" upon sending you, in some cases, hundreds of dollars. I think a profile based feedback system would help accomplish this. Or in the Classifieds Rules you could make mention of it being recommended to have a "Heatware" account, which is a 3rd party feedback system.

4. Increased Moderator Activity - To be honest, until I saw Brett928S2 recently cleaning up threads that were not in proper format, or had been sold/closed, that section of the forum was chaos. Just like the way MM goes through the rest of the forums closing solved threads, I believe the same should be done with SOLD threads. There was an issue recently where someone was going through and asking if stuff was still for sale that had been listed over a year ago. This floods the section with irrelevant For Sale threads that have been dead for months. Thus, making it harder for someone with a relevant thread to get any attention.


Just some thoughts, I love Tom's and I love to trade, I just think we can make our trading depot a more positive and lively place to do business. Thank's for your time!
 

It should be higher, because you can achieve that just by creating your accountand verifying your email. In my opinion, I'd say Regular or Veteran at the minimum.
 


Good point, I forgot that Tom's is a points based system and not a post based system. Perhaps being a regular should be the standard.
 
stickg1

A couple of things I'd like to point out about that section. First of all, it's the Augean stables in there; for any mod it's a lot of work with abuse from the moderated. Second, if we were to enforce the rules strictly, 90% of the posts would be gone. I haven't reached a decision, personally, on whether that would be a good thing or not. Just how closely should we enforce the rules? Delete every thread without a picture?

Third, and just speculation, establishing standards for letting people into the section, and an additional reputation system, might be a significant cost to the site owners, who are not in that business. Don't forget that the model site, Ebay, gets sued. Plus, we have enough posts already from people just trying to get their post-count up. I'd hate to see what we get from Alibaba if we impose a minimum-post rule on the classifieds.

We are working on it. There's a lively discussion among the moderators. Be careful what you wish for; in the worst case (for you) you might get drafted to moderate that section.
 
Another suggestion, the OP should have the option to close the thread themselves upon finishing the sale so it can be closed manually. Similar to marking a question thread solved, it could be marked as sold. Or just have a rule that all threads have to be question threads instead of discussion threads in that section. That way they can be marked solved for easy closure by a moderator. And yes most of those threads should be closed! I'd be more than happy to take on the task!
 

Randomizer

After all this time, I noticed that your avatar is an eye. I thought that it was a nautilus shell. I'm getting old, I guess.
 
First, I want to say stickg1, you made some good suggestions. I would really like to see a rating system to point out scammers or boost confidence in quality sellers/buyers.

As far as closing threads, the downside to closing old threads, is that they clog up the first page, and all the recent threads get buried. Personally, I like seeing the recent and active threads at the top. This was the main reason behind limited bumping being allowed.

As far as it being damaging to the site's reputation, or a legal issue of a scammer, I don't think that's an issue. Ebay holds their site to a buyer protection guarantee. They created that to inspire buyers confidence that they won't be ripped off. This site doesn't have any of that, so as far as I'm aware, cannot be held responsible legally.

But beyond that, we are trying to weed out the scammers.

As far as cracking down on following the rules to the letter, I try to show some leniency. If someone posts a picture of their item, and it's not a stock photo, it's not ideal, and they may be requested to show more proof, but it shouldn't be closed on them just for that. If they posted a link to an image, instead of formatting it to display in the thread, again, not really a big deal.

If you're so strict on the rules, all the threads get closed and/or deleted, and there's no activity at all. The section is a barren wasteland. If we allow it to run, and step in when needed, things seem to run pretty smoothly for the most part.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.
 
I'll admit that what your former moderator was doing was a little too drastic. I just think the seller should be notified, by PM, or even in the thread (PM is probably best as to not bump the thread if not necessary) and say what is wrong with their listing and they need to fix it. Also link the rules sticky in case they forgot to read that in the first place. Give them a day or two to comply and if they don't then close it.

The whole closed thread counting as a post and thus being moved to the top of the list I have never really understood. Like when MM goes through and closes all the solved threads, I've noticed it really stirs up a ruckus. I'm not sure how to fix that, but yes, it is annoying and that's not my idea of improving the Classifieds section.

I have noticed that there is a decent set of rules already in the classified section, just the majority of posts seem to ignore them. However if someone were to disobey the Forum Rules they are asked to edit, PMed a couple times, and in some cases the post(s) are deleted, or the person gets a vacation.

When I wrote this list of suggestions I was under the impression that none of the volunteers had even stepped foot in that section of the forum because of the quantity of infractions I came across. As long as you guys are watching I feel better about it.

I appreciate what you guys do for the forum and in no way did I want to come off as disrespectful or ungrateful for your work.
 

This was more of an unintended consequence than anything else. Points are going away soon, so it won't even be relevant.
 


On the contrary, I thought your suggestions were well thought out, and good suggestions.
 
Good suggestions. Would an appraisal subsection be warranted, though? Normally I don't commit to the addition of a new subforum unless there are enough threads to populate it. Appraisal, while certainly useful, might be a barren wasteland with perhaps three or four threads. Unless you think otherwise?
 

As of right now, no it wouldn't be warranted. I'm hoping that a cleaner classifieds section will generate more interest and traffic. But perhaps if there were a dedicated Appraisals section people would see it and be more inclined to post in it.
 

People have done half of a good job prefixing their posts with [Appraisal] or [WTB]. If they self-identify this way, perhaps just a list of the codes at the forum head would be useful? Need a category for discussing prices and comparing hardware, perhaps [Eval], where the concentration is on the price. Hardware comparison on the features should probably go in the appropriate hardware forums.
 
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