Minimum Post Requirement for Selling Gear

[whyachi]

Many of the things for grabs in the Gear for Sale or Trade forum are people who post once or twice, leave a phone number or an email address for buyers and never come back.

Could it be set up so you need maybe 25-50 posts before you can access that forum? Or maybe be on the forum for a month before you can try to sell us something? As much for annoyance factor as for the protection of the members, as it is much easier to get ripped off by someone that you don't know.

 

[BassmanAK]

Agreed.... Maybe they just hate E-bay, although
at least SOME familiarity would be helpful....
How 'bout we just agree to not buy from those guys.....
Eliminate the market.... :sign13:

 

[Nando Vallart]

Think something like 50 posts...

 

[whyachi]

Its not just not buying from them, its that these threads usually turn into three page arguments about if we should buy from a stranger or not.. plus if someone does it, well, that's potentially hundreds of dollars just magically lost forever.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Nah.  What's the harm with joining only to sell a piece of gear?  The possibility exists that they may stick around, and we get dibbs on potentially great gear.  A number of posts requirement could hurt us too.  I like the lack of exclusivity of this forum.  There is a little designator along with our number of posts, let's not think of it as a false sense of entitlement.  So far it seems we've been pretty good at spotting the deals and what not.  What if Butch wanted to sell the Butch-o-caster on here?  Ya'll would stop that?

 

[GoDrex]

I guess if the person has been around a while people feel less worried about them running off with their money. It could still happen, but it feels less likely. I know I'm more likely to buy from a regular. But I think if people want to join to post their stuff here that's fine. I don't have to buy any of it.

 

[JaySwear]

i say no. and if somebody joined in 30 seconds and had _______ (ultimate piece of gear you really need for a great price) i bet you'd be pretty damn glad that they just joined to try to sell it here. it's an interesting idea so the forum doesn't get spammed too badly, but with how civil this forum is compared to a few of the others i'm a member of i don't really think there's much of a problem with that at all.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I would add that the Unofficial W mods haven't had any minimum number of posts rules for any category.  They simply post the rules and mostly let us self govern, banning the occasional member and deleting the occasional post.  It seems to be working fine so far.

What is the one item or poster that prompted this thread?

 

[JaySwear]

What is the one item or poster that prompted this thread?

theres a new post in the gear for sale section where a guy posted up 3 guitars for sale on his first post, so thats my guess. but in his defense one was a warmoth, and another a half-moth. he wanted a lot of money (and typed in all caps) but otherwise i don't see anything wrong with it. he's not spamming or anything

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The brand doesn't really matter.  This is an "Un" forum afterall, and most of us own and buy more than Ws.

 

[tfarny]

Buyer beware is all - you buy off the internet from a total stranger, you have to factor that in the price and your tolerance for risk. Why be anti-commerce? There's a spot on the forum reserved for selling stuff, ok, whatever.

 

[baskruit]

I guess if the person has been around a while people feel less worried about them running off with their money. It could still happen, but it feels less likely. I know I'm more likely to buy from a regular. But I think if people want to join to post their stuff here that's fine. I don't have to buy any of it.

Exactly.

 

[m4rk0]

it is probably a good Idea. It doesn't bother me too much though, but i get annoyed when they get all rude and cocky..
come on, we let you spam here, so behave yourself!
also, when it gets too obvious (multiple for sale posts stretched out over some time) and they are mostly non-warmoth instruments, i would consider it Spam..

 

[whyachi]

I poked at the guy mentioned above today for making his first post in all caps lock while trying to sell us something and received a rather snarky PM back from him, which made me think of how many of these type of threads end up discussing this very topic - selling stuff as a total stranger.

Just thought I'd see how everyone stood.  :binkybaby:

 

[AprioriMark]

Post the pm in his thread.

-Mark

 

[Wyliee]

I am reluctant to set a posting requirement.  We have a few dozen regular posters, hundred more infrequent posters and thousands of lurkers.  We cannot definitively say a first time poster will bolt after posting a for sale ad.  (Yes, there may be a tendency towards this though.)

My preference would be to encourage the poster to stick around and become a productive member of the forums. 

 

[whyachi]

I am reluctant to set a posting requirement.  We have a few dozen regular posters, hundred more infrequent posters and thousands of lurkers.  We cannot definitively say a first time poster will bolt after posting a for sale ad.  (Yes, there may be a tendency towards this though.)

My preference would be to encourage the poster to stick around and become a productive member of the forums. 

This is probably the best way to do it. Sorry, I was just irritated at the guy.

 

[jay4321]

For what it's worth I moderate a Marketplace forum on a pretty massive site - any poker players on 2+2 here & you'd know me.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/members/53581/

Deal with scams daily, and if I've learned one thing, it's that all the rules in the world won't replace a little common sense.

 

[pabloman]

I was relatively new (still am) and posted some things for sale. I did ask some advice first. I have to admit I was a little puzzled at the process though. How would it work? would a buyer just deposit money into my paypal account and then I ship the item out? Does the buyer have any protection from paypal? It seemed rather odd. I don't know how comfortable I would be purchasing items from a stranger. Greed can really consume somebody and even a poster of thousands of messages could rip someone off. Probably just as easy as a noob. BTW I haven't had any hits on my stuff either. I did offer my ebay id, it's broncopablo77. You could check my feedback and ratings and what not. I feel if you don't want to read noobie gear for sale threads theres nothing forcing you to open the thread. That's my 2 cents anyway.

 

[jay4321]

I think, in your case, someone selling a bunch of things 3 days on the site probably gives reason for some caution even if not because of something you did. It probably doesn't make sense for a reg to be shipping you anything first, thanks to the endless stream of d-bags scamming anonymous strangers on the internet. And unfortunately it happens a lot, and while established memebers on my site sometimes go bad, it's nothing compared to posters who aren't established constantly doing it.

Put simply, there is a definite correlation between new posters and scams. Unfortunate but it's the way it is.