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Simplejack

Classified section needs help..

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Not trying to sound rude, but the classified section here is setup in the worst way I have ever seen on any forum I have ever been to.

After trying to make a new post of a item for sale, I have to wait 1 to 2 days just for it to show up on the forum? I have sold items within minutes at other places, so the time it takes for it to finally show up and days wasted not being able to show the listing, what is the point? I wont even post here with items for sale anymore jsut because of this and is also probably why there is no action at all in the classified section. Other fly tying forums that are dedicated to a simple US state has 20 post per day and very active with all members. Great place to hang out and buy and sell and build relationships by trading.

There is also no delete button for when someone sells a item or to be able to lock it so then a mod can see it and delete it. A month after you sell a item, the listing still just sits there at the top.

I been to brand new forums that have a way more active classified section. Am I missing something or?

I'm not trying to sound rude, but I'm just getting to the point. It's not active because it's not a good environment to want to post in and since it's this way now, no one will even bother to even look in there anyway..

This forum is very big, there is no other reason why this section should not be more active. I'm new to fly tying and just myself have made 8 classified listings on other forums and have sold everything I tried to sell.

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the reason you have to wait is so admin can approve your post it cuts down on spam if you don't like something the simple thing to do is not use it if your selling your goods on another forum then you obviously found something that works for you so my question to you is this. Are you bragging about selling off your stuff on another site or complaining about not being able to sell it here? There is an old saying that goes like this " You can satisfy All the people sometime, Some of the people all the time, But you can never satisfy All the people All the time." Guess what I am trying to say is if it is such a bad thing then don't use it or if this is such a bad forum then why bother coming here.

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I knew this would be the response I would get from someone about this.. Instead of addressing the real issues as to why the classified section of this forum is a total failure, you try to turn it around on me like I'm the only one who has the problem.. I'm just the only one that brought it to attention..

No matter what I could have said, I would have gotten the same response. obviously if I don't like it I don't have to use it. Isn't that the answer for everything?

Just like a cook in a restaurant. If there is a dish on the menu that is not good, you bring it to the cooks attention right? But if the chef thinks it's fine, it stays on the menu.. It can be fixed, but if the cook doesn't want to change it, then everyone has to keep eating it or just not order it. Good solution yeah?

And to even ask me if I'm just bragging about selling my stuff.. really? and no one said anything about it being a bad forum either.. Obviously a sore subject, so I won't bring it up again.

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I agree that it is a little odd the size of this forum, it has so little activity on the classified side. Saying that I see some forums that are pretty weak on anything but sales. So I guess for me, this forum works REALLY well in lots of areas compared to other forums I've seen. If I want to buy stuff I'd not look here for it but I have received great gifts from guys on here and thats better in my book than a well run classified section.

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I agree that it is a little odd the size of this forum, it has so little activity on the classified side. Saying that I see some forums that are pretty weak on anything but sales. So I guess for me, this forum works REALLY well in lots of areas compared to other forums I've seen. If I want to buy stuff I'd not look here for it but I have received great gifts from guys on here and that's better in my book than a well run classified section.

 

Yup.

I keep searching around wondering if there something I wasn't seeing, but then I read the rules and made a post and then I seen the problem. Shouldn't have to rely on other forums for buying and selling when this should be the place to go with so many people here.

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I doubt many of the members come to this forum for classified ads. It is a fly tying forum, and a darn good one. If you are interested in selling something, there are better options, but if you are interested in fly tying, I can't think of better forum.

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Simplejack,

Your observations and concerns about the slow pace of posting advertisements are valid. Unfortunately, many years ago, before this policy was set up by the moderators, the classified ad section was filled with Viagra and links to malware-install web sites, gibberish political rants, and all sorts of garbage unrelated to fly tying and fly fishing. Apparently, since there is no real qualification to be a forum member other than interest in the subject, all sorts of bozos would open an account and post their malicious or obnoxious ads. Got to the point where any legitimate ad was obscured by all the nonsense. Rather than limiting the membership of the forum, it was decided by the admins to instead manage the classified ads.

 

You may not think so now, but you would NOT be happy if we went back to the "old days" with instant classified ad posting. Have some patience, remember the members here are "qualified leads", that is, they already have an interest in what you are selling -more valuable than trying to sell in a general marketplace. Good luck with your selling.

-Peter

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I've been active for years on many large scale forums from automotive, guns, aquarium, other little sites that are gaming clan base websites and fishing websites and I haven't seen 1 single spam bot posting in the classified sections. Some forums I signed up for just to post in the classified with 1 post count. I can edit, delete or lock my topic instantly at any time. I have seen what you are talking about many years ago, but not in the last couple to few years. Maybe there is a feature that is not turned on or someone needs to look into why all those other forums never get spam bots, but this one does. The forums I go on or mainly USA visitors only, so maybe with alot of people being from around the world where alot of the spam bots come from is why you see more of it here. Just a thought.

The only reason why I brought it up is because I seen how active and important it can be when the classifieds are healthy. Not really going to notice it unless you seen 20 to 60 new listing per day and see many items sell fast with happy buyers and sellers. Things are running just fine here the way they are, but if your not into buying and selling, your not really going to care or care to fix it. Having to wait until you make 40 post or wait 2 days before it gets posted doesn't make much sense. Sounds like a good idea when you just think about it, but in reality it's no good. You wouldn't really know unless you use the classified section.

 

Since I brought this up with my first post, it seems that the classifieds have picked up a little bit.

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Let me address a few things here. The classified section here is simply a way to help Reliable long standing members trade things amongst themselves. To say it is a faliure is not only completely wrong, but you are missing the point that the goal of this site is information, not just a place to sell. If quick sales are the goal then ebay or craigslist is the best place to go for that The reason the posts have to be approved is two fold.

 

1- As was already mentioned, it stops spammers cold.

 

2- It stops people from joining this site simply to sell something then never to participate in any other way, as well as stops unreliable sellers from screwing members.

 

What you yourself fail to see Jack is what actually goes on behind the scenes. And that's not your fault, you can't see it because the only one that can see it is myself and Will because we are the admins. And the fact that you don't see what I am talking about actually proves that the way it is set up DOES work properly because you are not seeing all the crap that I deal with in the trading floor on a daily bases. Because if you did then you would not be saying what you just said trust me.

 

I would say on an average week I end up deleting anywhere between 15-30 posts that are waiting in the "approval stage" which you guys never see. Some of them are spam bots, some are actual human spammers pushing russian crap, and some are people with zero posts that join simply to try to sell something. We do not allow that (less than 40 posts) because we do our best to protect our members from scammers and unreliable sellers. All it takes is one person to join the site to sell something, have someone buy it and then either never recieve it, or have the item be junk and not as described. Then that leaves one of our members screwed out of money, gives us here at FTF a bad name, and makes it where people are afraid to buy anything at all from anyone here.

 

So if protecting our members and making this place a 100% safe place for them to trade in a controled and reliable atmosphere means a slight inconvience to you in the time frame you sell an item, or having you feel the trading floor is a failure... Then that is a trade off I can live with if it means we continue to provide a safe and secure trading area to our members where they don't have to worry about being scammed. Because after 10 years online we have not had a single person get scammed or have a less than satisfactory trade here on FTF. And I believe that says something about the way we run things here IMO.

 

Steve

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I doubt many of the members come to this forum for classified ads. It is a fly tying forum, and a darn good one. If you are interested in selling something, there are better options, but if you are interested in fly tying, I can't think of better forum.

Yep!

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I apprecite the reply Rolf, and honesty, I appreciate simplejacks post as well. I'd like to hear some other members thoughts though too. We do things for the menvers here so I'd like to see how others feel for sure.

 

Steve

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I agree with your post Steve, especially the threat of random people selling things to rip off members. A similar thing happened on a forum in UK with a guy taking PayPal gifts for over £800 and walking away.

I personally think the biggest plus of this forum is the tying side and I am happy to look somewhere else if I want to buy and sell in a hurray.

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I totally agree with what admin has decided to do with the Trading Floor, we don't get too many bots, but when they do make it thru, they're a pain. And no one wants to see a forum friend get ripped off.

 

Blane

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I have posted a few things, and gotten good responses. The first time I posted on the RBF forum, I was hit with the 40 post minimum. It wasn't that big of a problem, and I did trade off the extra rod building stuff within a week or so.

 

I support the way the Trading floor is setup. It has worked for me, and as Steve said, it prevents a lot of problems. This trading floor is a sidebar to an information site, not the main issue. I have never in 6 years seen a problem from the trading floor.

 

I for one would rather keep it restricted.

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I just think the trading forum needs to be moved further up the list. Being so low on the page i think people forget it is even there.

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