Bring back the Old Sales Forums? Poll

[Scooterman]

I'm considering bringing back the old sales forum, maybe help liven up activity here some. I'm hesitant because i don't want this place to be a big Craig s list but It seems that it would be well desired, If only I could make it so it doesn't get out of control, or at least have it run moderately without the trivia!

Please poll yes in favor or no not and explain why, also input thoughts to how it should be kept from flooding the site with just sales! I want topics to be the main discussions, sales to just have users sell old stuff that they want to help someone else out.

 

[Shane and John]

I visit RF on a Daily Basis, and have been doing so for many years. I Noticed a Big Decline of the use of RF once the Classified section was changed. I think Reverting Back to the old style would liven up the other forums as well. I believe there should be a Post Count and Lenght of membership Requirement in order to post in the Classifieds, So it doesn't become Craigslist. I also believe there would be more activity if it was Easier to post Classifieds. I have many extra Reef Related Items collecting dust, But the Classified section Now is very user Unfriendly.
Just my 2 Cents :clap2:
Shane

 

[reefman069]

the one thing i miss. is when someone wrote something it would bump it back up to the top.

 

[mfinn]

the one thing i miss. is when someone wrote something it would bump it back up to the top.

+1
Would be much easier to do the whole ad.

Also, IMO the present classifieds are broken.

Please don't take this wrong, I do appreciate the effort and amount of work that is being done here.

 

[mfinn]

I believe there should be a Post Count and Lenght of membership Requirement in order to post in the Classifieds,

Shane

I think the "AND" part should be stuck to.
I see activety in the classifieds by people who joined years ago, but have no posts being able to use them.

Min. 90 days and 50 meaningfull posts.

 

[rainydave]

I like the functionality of the old Sales Forum.

The new Classified are functional, but can be cumbersome to use.

And I agree with the comments already made above.

 

[spieszak]

i agree with post count and days to post, but I don't like that requirement to respond. (i know it can be tought to differentiate on the back end) but , new folks need stuff.... thing is, its like that on a lot of forums, and i can see the 'research first' advise being thrown into the post count thing too... but with so many good sources now, it almost feels silly to ask questions/post sometimes.

i don't know how the old forums worked though, so i didn't vote.

 

[trido]

Totally agree with everything written above.

Many of the local reefers that used to visit this site daily are gone and from what a lot of them told me. They would check in the sale forums for good deals and then swing by the reefing discussions to see what was going on. Without the easy to navigate sale forums they left.

 

[mfinn]

i agree with post count and days to post, but I don't like that requirement to respond. (i know it can be tought to differentiate on the back end) but , new folks need stuff....

There is already a craigslist. We don't need to make one here.

 

[spieszak]

I agree to an extent, but especially for someone new, it should be easier to trust folks on a forum. While You can get hosed by anyone, its nice to know that they are at least putting a bit of their 'reputation' on the line. Again, I think you should have to have a 'reputation' to sell.. just not sure about the buy part. Thing is, what you want theoretically is a 'community', so, if folks aren't active in the community, i can see not providing the benefits of community either.
I'm new to the site, but I would personally like to see more traffic. Feels like maybe 10 new posts a day or so, and its hard to learn and broaden your horizons when there isn't much as far as activity. but maybe the classified aren't the best way to drive that, iI don't know...

 

[trido]

You make good points spiezak. The reason this is a topic is because a year or so ago. This used to be a very busy web site and at any time I could log in and see upward of 100 locals from the Puget sound area that I have personally met at a LFS, PSAS meeting or sold frags to. The front page would change with different threads hourly. Now I see two or three locals when I log in and the front page tends to sit stagnant for what seems to be days and days. A few feel that this happened when the sale forums changed to the classifieds.

 

[IPisces]

I believe new people should be able to see the classifieds and respond to a post their interest in an item for sale also. I do think that only those that have a certain amount of time and a certain post count should be able to sell though.

AND IMO, anyone that pays for membership and supports RF will be allowed to post a for sale ad with out having to meet the time or post requiremets.

 

[IPisces]

Come one everyone vote. We want and need everyones feedback.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Wow. I was the only one that voted 'no'? Guess I should explain my vote then!

I used to come to these forums often, but have not participated in quite a while. And now that I think of it, it was probably when the classifieds changed - but that isn't why I stopped coming around. It was due to the basic changes going on with the format. Sorry... I know that sounds petty, but this site just hurts my eyes! But that's a different thread! (Then again, maybe it's not if you're wondering why people aren't coming around anymore.)

Anyways... I voted 'no' because as mfinn mentioned, there's already craigslist, ebay, etc. An occasional sale by a long-time member of extra equipment... that would be fine - but there's no way to control it and limit it to things like that. I really think it would become a time-sucker for the folks administering and running this place.

Just my nickel's worth...

 

[IPisces]

Thank you for your input Kurt.

 

[Skimmy]

there wasn't enough problems with the original classifieds to really even merit changing from that format, IMO.
I miss them as well.

 

[Scooterman]

there wasn't enough problems with the original classifieds to really even merit changing from that format, IMO.
I miss them as well.

I have to disagree, they flooded the site at that particular time and not much discussions was going on. Also we had daily issues with members complaining and flaming the sales area, unfortunately the staff had to handle it so to you it may of not seemed to be a problem. The thing is the moderators were all wanting to quit, it was quite taxing on the staff.

 

[Scooterman]

Ok, I see lots of good post here, I promise to look at every post and use this to help decide what we do, I want this to be a Community, that was always the intent and I want beginners to have that ability to access the sales to help get things they can't afford to buy new or really don't know if this piece of equipment is right for them. This would go hand in hand to eventually help the sponsors because once they find something they like, eventually they will want to upgrade

I just want to decide and act with precision, in a manner that benefits everyone without creating a circus. It can be very taxing to manage so i need to have some sort of control in place that will work for everyone and build off that in improve our community.

Honestly, The classifieds If worked properly would be nice, I tried so hard to make that thing work but it is cumbersome, so my thoughts is I want to do this but I want a group effort to make it work but not have sales dominate the forum that it should be a discussion forum. This will be challenging and I hope our senior users help us with this when we do have issues. If I can get enough support I think we'll make it happen but for the time being I want feedback, I want more to get a larger incite.

ray2:

 

[Herefishyfishy]

When we had the old format, this was a busier, better, and bigger site. More viewers, more passion, more input from old-timers.
There was a LOT of info on equipment in the old classifieds, much more than in the equipment forums

 

[pandora32]

I voted yes. Reason being is because the new classifieds is "clumsy" to use. I agree that if someone makes a comment on an ad, it should be bumped back to the top. When i had stuff for sale on the current classifieds awhile ago, i wouldnt get any email notifications and my ads would move down and if i wasnt keeping an eye on it, id miss somebody wanting it.