Buyer/Seller forum feedback please

[mojoreef]

not looking to stir I know a few people who will never post here again..
"I FEEL" this site is good enough without having a bunch of charges and fee's
not what this site was originally made for

Again, we are not looking to have "A bunch of fee's and charges" were asking if this new concept would be something your interested in and if you would be willing to support it. Simple stuff really. As per what the site was Orginally made for I think I might know a little about that.

Mike

 

[Krish]

Doing the right thing never seems like it's the popular thing to do. Rules and laws are usually "written in blood" so someone did something to screw it up for the rest of us. Just a thought and thinking outloud here, maybe, just maybe there would be less resistance to changes in the rules if the problem that caused the rule to be implemented was brought out into the open. Some things you can get away with the token "I said so" for other things it's nice to see the reasoning behind why things change. Since reef keeping uses quite a bit of brain power, I'm going to say the majority of reefers will be more receptive to change if they understand why the change is happening. It's a lot like telling a Boatswain Mate to do something and telling the same thing to a Nuclear Technician. The nuke will almost always want an explaination as to why so they can figure out what is being asked of them, where the boatswain mate will do it because he was told to. Kind of like when we were kids vs. our kids today. Kids today need a lot more explained to them, whereas we probably got smacked for not immediatly taken action of what was asked of us.

Most people arrested for DUI/DWI usually really don't like the cop that pinched them. The public is unaware that someones life was probably saved, so they are unthankful. (I know two totally different scenairos, but the cop still has a job to do, just as all the mods have jobs to do.)

I for one think you guys are doing a good job. Keep up the good work.

Always remember:

There will always be resistance with change.

You can never fully please 100% of people 100% of the time. Unfortunately we usually only seem to recall the negatives.

One thing I would like to see is that RF remains a "low bandwith" use site so those of us that take unexpected and routine "pleasure cruises" around the world can still read, learn and offer advice from the future (The other side of the date line)

Thanks for the feedback!

DEAL AND DONE give me another year...

wheres Charlie when you need him

I will even let you two combine posts

I need to talk that one over with the woman first!:lol:
Is the next year stright on the computer worth a free trip?
She's already jealous of the time I spend "reefing"

Haha!! You can combine your posts with Charlie and Adam as well


Getting back on track here...As mentioned, Mike is just trying to get a feel for what the members here would like see changed to make the forum more appealing to all and get back that spark RF once had. He is in no way trying to make life miserable for anyone. If he was, then for one he wouldn't have returned and 2 he wouldn't ask for anyones opinions here on proposed changes and just do what he wanted to do. As for where making money is concerned, I think a person who has enough heart to reach down in his own pocket to pay for many things for the site without complaining says alot in itself. Nobody knows to what extent Mike and Chuck has paid for stuff here with their own personal money for the benefit of us all. I think making money to put in his/their own pocket is far off base and shouldn't even be mentioned. Mike only made the suggestion of a small fee to see if he had the option (sort of a back up plan) in the event that the money RF took in from sponsors alone couldn't fund the new addition and that's all. Mike is a good man and has done a lot for RF and I think it is great to have him back here once again all fired up to make the place more enjoyable for all.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Scooterman]

Wow what a response ! I think the feedback is good. Everyone should have thoughts on this as the question was asked for your input. Any discussion we have without turmoil is a good one for me! Lots of changes effects everyone and how we respond to them effects the way we're viewed as forum monitors/host etc. I'm in no way perfect in the things I do but Mike and I finally put our heads to gether and picked a direction to the forum, we could of easily just closed it and said good night to all! I didn't want that and I know Mike or Chuck for that matter didn't want that. What this forum was ten years ago and what it was a month ago was totally two worlds apart. With me in the mix now, I think we can gain lots of what we had many years ago but I'm not exactly the same two originators so I hope we can go farther than before and not have the conflict as we do now. I say the first five or so years we were a Reefing forum, lots of guest and great discussions. The sales threads never gave us problems.
Today things we did was let users have the reigns per say, and the rules were met when we could enforce them and things changed. People learned how to grow corals like never before, equipment exploded with bigger and better and the cost went with it. So now the popular things are frag packs, group buys and selling so low that sponsors couldn't compete. Yet people still wanted those beautiful corals and stuff they normally couldn’t get all of a sudden could. Things are tight these days, saving a buck is the norm, though it conflicts our forum, we do see the need to try and make it better.
So that said, yes I highly expected resistance when I started driving at the wheel and making changes night and day. Mike and I were on the back end of things trying to figure out what to do and learning everything it takes to run this forum. The past two months I put in so many hours of learning and screwing up it was unbelievable. We don't get paid for this site, we do it free.
Mike wants the feedback and that will help us decide on what changes we make, loose members I'm sure but regardless we will move forward, however we decide to do it. So keep the feedback coming, do it peacefully, Clearly and with respect please! I hope and try to make this place better but ultimately it will come down to what we gather for the people of this site and out best choice from those responses, like it or not.
Sales has become a business on its own and free to the users, we don't mind that if we can still have what we dreamed of in this site for the first place. How we do that is the difficult thing.

 

[CarlaW]

Almost everyone involved including yourself so far has no clue what RF used to be like thanks to Mike and Chuck. It has declined over the years. The new mods are only trying to breath new life into what some may call a dying forum.

Give them a break. Maybe you'll get a chance to see what a great forum it can be. If we are lucky as good as it was when it first started.

Don

Thank you Don

 

[Frankie]

So, it's sounding like there might be some issues, with a specific fee per post, when it comes to trading and free items. I've heard a few mention the option of making this a Premium Member benefit, which would be one of the many benefits to be instituted, if and when Premium Memberships are offered again.

What are thoughts on that? This would replace our current Classified Forums, not be In Addition to.

Maybe even something like a "Try before you buy" option, where this new software could be introduced, for a specific amount of time, available to all members who've met minimum criteria. After that specific amount of time, this new option would be available to Premium Members only.

Just an option, based on what some members have commented.

Please keep the ideas and suggestions coming!

Good stuff Sid.

 

[mfinn]

So, it's sounding like there might be some issues, with a specific fee per post, when it comes to trading and free items. I've heard a few mention the option of making this a Premium Member benefit, which would be one of the many benefits to be instituted, if and when Premium Memberships are offered again.

got my vote for that option

 

[krisfal]

My 2 cents . . .

Bring back the premium membership, use it to pay for this new software and let the newbies see the for sale stuff again. It is hard enough to get started in this hobby and being able to buy discounted equipment/livestock makes it just a little easier and also "recycles" equipment, keeping it out of landfills or just taking up room in the closet. Also buying 'acclimated to aquarium life' livestock increases success as opposed to wild caught livestock.

Buying corals from fellow reefers as a newbie is how I got to know many of the people I now know, if it had not been for the for sale forums I do not know if I would have stuck around. With my first few questions I posted I was treated pretty rudely as I did not use the "proper terms" and really never got good answers except from those folks I already knew, I probably would have just went away and forgot about the forum except it was a way for me to buy corals in an affordable manner. I was a premium member for several years until it was discontinued.

I would not be willing to pay to sell, as I sell more stuff on craigslist than I do here anyway and it is free.

 

[mojoreef]

Alrighty then folks I think I have a general idea of what folks think on the idea and I will let you know which way we decide to go.

thanks for posting your opinions.


Mike