Rant about for sale

[platoongod]

Ok so a little rant here, i know it's 8:23am but maybe this is why im ranting....
Anyway looking at the for sale section to the forum lately, im finding it rather frustrating reading some of the sales on there. More often than not at the minute people are creating a account, making a purchase and disappearing never to grace this wonderful forum again, almost treating it as a online shop. I might be quite wrong indeed but i always thought of the for sale section of the forum as a privilege and the work our mods put into protecting us and going above and beyond, a nice trade market if you will.

But im seeing so much of
"member since 26/5/2011" - "posts - 0" and then getting the sale.
I know this makes no difference to those selling, they just want to make some quick cash and thats absolutely fine, but perhaps there should be something in place such as a minimum post count before being able to use that section of the forum? such as 5 posts before you can use it etc?
Im probably bang out of order and will apologize accordingly if you guys think i am, but it just annoyed me slightly this morning looking at it.
haha anyway sorry *deep breath* im off to work, have a good day!

 

[Gassy]

Your right it does happen alot,and more to p8ntballer than anyother forum as we have a much,much higher footfall than the other UK forums.

If we made a minimum post count to post in the classifieds then all that would happen is the mods would have to deal with 5/10/50 spam posts (whatever the limit was) that the new member made just to get past the point were he can off load his kit.

These are also some of the more risky threads to buy from as people rarely know who the sellers is and most NEVER bother to get any sort of contact details from the seller and come crying to the mods with just an email address from the paypal payment.

 

[platoongod]

Your right it does happen alot,and more to p8ntballer than anyother forum as we have a much,much higher footfall than the other UK forums.

If we made a minimum post count to post in the classifieds then all that would happen is the mods would have to deal with 5/10/50 spam posts (whatever the limit was) that the new member made just to get past the point were he can off load his kit.

These are also some of the more risky threads to buy from as people rarely know who the sellers is and most NEVER bother to get any sort of contact details from the seller and come crying to the mods with just an email address from the paypal payment.

Fair point i didnt think of it like that, especially with the spam posts to get past a certain stage, ill just stay a grumpy old sod and put up with it then , i expect its something you have thought your self at some point in time anyway, i dont particularly think that those who post on here are more deserving so much, but when there is a sale up and "joe bloggs" with 0 posts creates an account and buys said product of a user, i kinda feel like....well did he deserve it...........again im out of order im sure, but hey, this section is reserved for ballers with attitude

 

[Tash]

to ad to your rant, when talking ot people about forums. the said that this was the best to come on to buy or sell. on a car fourm i used to go on they had a min post and like u say they would just spam to get the numbers up. i would be very weary without somebody being able to 'vouch' for them

sorry for the poor spelling.

 

[platoongod]

yeah agreed completely with everything thats been said and i can see the point completely, but i guess as i saw robbo explain this forum once, this forum is like his home, with his friends in his house, if he doesn't like someone or they break his house rules, he throws them out - so sticking with the house scenario, you wouldn't let someone come in have a drink and leave with out saying hello.....i hope.... hah ignore me im a miserable bugger

 

[Tom Allen]

All fair points, and we do discuss the ideas you put forward quite regularly.

Over the years this forum has been operating, we the mods feel we have a nice balance of rules that give the members the ability to sell items they own with a level of proof that gives you the buyer a chance of having a safe transaction.

You can obviously ask the seller to prove who they are, buy asking for contact details and phone numbers, and actually having a chat with them on a landline number rather than a mobile.

We also ask that you conduct the sale within the thread and keep all offers visible, rather than use the private message system for one reason, and that's so that everyone can see what's going on, and that way nothing underhand can happen.

 

[platoongod]

All fair points, and we do discuss the ideas you put forward quite regularly.

Over the years this forum has been operating, we the mods feel we have a nice balance of rules that give the members the ability to sell items they own with a level of proof that gives you the buyer a chance of having a safe transaction.

You can obviously ask the seller to prove who they are, buy asking for contact details and phone numbers, and actually having a chat with them on a landline number rather than a mobile.

We also ask that you conduct the sale within the thread and keep all offers visible, rather than use the private message system for one reason, and that's so that everyone can see what's going on, and that way nothing underhand can happen.

Absolutely , i mean ive never been stung by a bad sale of purchase on this forum, and i must of exchanged well over a thousand pounds on here by now, but i guess more of my point was aimed at people creating a account, buying of a member then never gracing the forum again, is this deemed ok so long as the transaction is fair, or should the for sale section be a community sale rather than a e-commerce type sale?
Either way as you said you discuss it often and i have nothing but trust in our mods to over see everything, apologies for my post i was tired and narky when i posted haha

 

[Tom Allen]

Absolutely , i mean ive never been stung by a bad sale of purchase on this forum, and i must of exchanged well over a thousand pounds on here by now, but i guess more of my point was aimed at people creating a account, buying of a member then never gracing the forum again, is this deemed ok so long as the transaction is fair, or should the for sale section be a community sale rather than a e-commerce type sale?
Either way as you said you discuss it often and i have nothing but trust in our mods to over see everything, apologies for my post i was tired and narky when i posted haha

No apologies needed, without the input you guys and girls give to the forum where would we be. Unfortunately the ingress of one off posters will always be there, but hopefully they will pop back on and enjoy what the forum has to offer.

 

[McCoyyy]

See I was one of these '0 post buyers' when I first got into paintball, I did a quick google, found a few forums and went about finding what I wanted. After a little while I eventually got what I wanted but... im still here!

My point is that if you had a post restriction it might turn people away from the forums. I think if I wasnt allowed to see the for sale thread then I would have just gone to another forum, which im happy I didnt... I like this palce.

 

[Henry8362]

maybe something like a 2 week trial period? limit them to all except buying? you know maybe to get them introduced to the "family" i dunno