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SELLERS PLEASE READ

Paul

Staff member
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
11,543
Location
South Wales
Alias
Toibs
This is a pinball forum. With a for sale category.

As is stated in the terms of this category... (visable EVERY TIME you go to post a new sale item)....

Please specify a price with your item. This isn't eBay, and as such isn't really a place for auctions.

So - I will ask all users nicely - Please Amend your sales thread with a specific price. No "offers above". No "offers".

I WILL start to remove threads
tomorrow night that DO NOT adhere to this.

As it says above. This is NOT an auction site.

Thank you
Admin
 
Go to the first post of your thread, top right is Thread Tools, click on the arrow and drop down menu appears then click edit title.
 
Is there any way to lock out threads in this folder to only allow posts from the original forum member who posted the topic. It's getting tedious looking for updates from the seller etc with the amount of spam that gets posted in each thread. @Paul
 
Is there any way to lock out threads in this folder to only allow posts from the original forum member who posted the topic. It's getting tedious looking for updates from the seller etc with the amount of spam that gets posted in each thread. @Paul
Agree with this - people who just add pointless comments onto threads are just clogging up informative threads


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Problem is that if the seller posts and only they can add comments, it becomes a classifieds.... If people want a purely "classified" forum, similar to an e-bay "buy it now" style, i can do that......

No-one can add questions etc, and it pushes everything underground - which isn't really my preferred route if i'm honest...
 
Isn't there a 'how much is this machine worth?' Section ? Any seller who is trying to establish an offer system will use this section instead, which would effectively be a highest offer wins scenario.
I personally don't see the problem with this. Everything is worth what people will pay for it. Seems fair to me.
Every seller wants the best price and every buyer wants the best price. I know this isn't an auction site but what's the problem with people offering what they want to pay ?
I'm relatively new to the forum so maybe there are reasons why it is inappropriate to ask for offers that I don't understand



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I think balance is required here, and more discipline from forum members.

Not all sellers post pics. Some descriptions are thin. "Where are you based?". "I have played that game, it is a good one ..."

So buyers do post legitimate questions and comments, though I can see that some sales attract too much noise. Especially the poorly presented ones and those with optimistic prices
 
The trouble is that the majority of posts aren't buyers asking questions. Most threads are full of useless crap.
 
Maybe just making a point of it with a notice, then more active moderation for a while until people get back on track? The moderating approach has worked well in the past and I think is better than hard rules like 'no comments'.

In addition to the BS posts that onze alluded to that seem to be common at the moment, comments about prices being too high quickly get moderated away, but I think equal focus should go to moderating out these 'great price this won't be around long' type posts too. Probably there's nothing meant by them, and sometimes they are fair comments, but there have been a few items priced right at the top of the price range, for what often look like average at best condition machines. I think we do not do any favours to newbies as a forum with some of these comments that suggest a good price, when actually it's not at all.
 
Maybe i can template the posting (first post) to make sure sellers include all the bits they should. Would mean less questions.

To be fair, there have been a number of posts over the years where I have had to restrain mydelf and not put "you're having a laff at that price!!" :)
 
In addition to the BS posts that onze alluded to that seem to be common at the moment, comments about prices being too high quickly get moderated away,

Valid points, no problems, however i know of no instance where anyone has ever moderated a post where someone has said "how fekking much"???!!!
 
why it is inappropriate to ask for offers that I don't understand

Because this isn't Ebay :D The selling rules are pretty clear and everyone else just needs to show a bit of respect/restraint. Seller can post as much or as little of a description as they want, include pics or not (their choice) but must state a price. The market will then decide whether the pin sells or not and obviously the less info/pics there are or crazy pricing then the less likely to sell it is. Seller will then learn that maybe they need to provide more info or adjust their price....or keep their pin :)

People who have an issue with the price, description, pics etc can PM the seller if they're a serious buyer or move along and stay out of it if they're not :thumbs:
 
Valid points, no problems, however i know of no instance where anyone has ever moderated a post where someone has said "how fekking much"???!!!
Grizz stepped in one not so long ago, I think maybe the guy selling the bop 2 that started to get derailed with comments about the price ( good moderating imo)
 
Because this isn't Ebay :D The selling rules are pretty clear and everyone else just needs to show a bit of respect/restraint. Seller can post as much or as little of a description as they want, include pics or not (their choice) but must state a price. The market will then decide whether the pin sells or not and obviously the less info/pics there are or crazy pricing then the less likely to sell it is.

I sort of get it. It's eBay in reverse then. Come in high with price and then drop until you smoke out a buyer. A bit like those falling price auctions you get on late night TV.



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jt is spot on, I hate all the best one I have ever seen, won't be here long crap, especially when mods or someone doesn't step in to protect new members, when it's easy to see its not that good.
 
If someone said "pm sent" on a piece of over priced junk I'd probably send them a pm of my own to warn them. That's been gratefully received by myself in the same situation and if I'd have thought someone else was making a boo boo I'd do the same....Carmarthenshire apparently happens when I try and type karma with a C!
 
Thought I had to comment as being a noob here who had bought two pins recently, one being direct off the forum. This community offers a group of people who are not here to make a fast killing on a pin off a fellow member. Why.....because they will no doubt be looking to trade or swap in the future. It makes good sense for the majority to play fair and be honest on their pricing. Until you start to get a feel for the numbers it's hard to say what a fair deal is. most noobs will go to eBay to judge prices where there isn't a selection and who knows what they are buying. Having a relatively safe place where you can buy a pin at a fair price that is almost self policing is of huge value. Anyone selling a pin here should have to make a donation or they get banned. What's wrong with this. It means you might scare off the one off traders up to no good. Adding to this, most forum members know eBay is where to go and get a good price, if they want to advertise here as well at a lower of fairer price then they can do both.

How about having an anonymous traffic light system that can be added to the original post by a moderator...from a good price at green to red which is classified as higher than normal price, or a 1-10 rating? I know some of the sellers might not like it, but keeping pin prices on the forum under control means there is a better chance of being able to buy other pins in the future...

We aren't the gestapo, but looking out for each other makes this community a better place.
As for derailing a thread, guilty On the odd one, but that's a forum for you. I have seen forums become desolate places over the years as they became too serious....balance is the key...
 
So if you were about to buy a machine that someone else had already seen and didn't let you know is was a junk box then that's ok with you

....if it's a fair price on a fair machine then you have nothing to worry about. I wouldn't deny there's anything wrong with making a few quid, especially if the machine has had money and time spent on it then fine....that's part of supplying information on the sale to show why it's worth it.

It's not policing a price, it's purely someone suggesting that it might be higher than average....if someone is knowingly taking the p!ss on price then they have to accept someone is going to flag them.

It's a double edged sword so never going to be a right or wrong answer....
 
Problem is that if the seller posts and only they can add comments, it becomes a classifieds.... If people want a purely "classified" forum, similar to an e-bay "buy it now" style, i can do that

Firstly guilty of posting on threads, my apologies will try and refrain in future, it's a fine balance in my opinion.
There is a welcomed depth of knowledge available on this forum from professional guys in the trade, to time severed hobbyists, to relatively newbie's to newbie's. In my opinion all there comments should be welcomed. Only then can you make a informed decision.
But that being said the for sale posts do get hijacked I.e. DM ending up more about moving pins around than selling a pin!

Would a possible solution be to have two types of for sale possibilities? One that allows open comment, and one that only allows the original poster to comment but recieve private messages?
Maybe if people wanted to comment they could do a separate post?
Anyway it's great on here.
Tony
 
How about having an anonymous traffic light system that can be added to the original post by a moderator...from a good price at green to red which is classified as higher than normal price, or a 1-10 rating? I know some of the sellers might not like it, but keeping pin prices on the forum under control means there is a better chance of being able to buy other pins in the future...
This wouldn't work as values are subjective, you can't just rely on one person's opinion. If you're unsure about a price ask around, send a few pm's and take the average price from a few different people.

Would a possible solution be to have two types of for sale possibilities? One that allows open comment, and one that only allows the original poster to comment but recieve private messages?
I agree with this, some people welcome comments, others obviously don't. I personally don't mind the comments, if someone doesn't like my price it doesn't bother me at all, I am quite happy to explain how I came to my price. You can't beat a good argument :thumbs:

As for the derailing, think of it as a free bump, otherwise the for sale thread will be quickly forgotten about with no comments.
 
As for the derailing, think of it as a free bump, otherwise the for sale thread will be quickly forgotten about with no comments.

"Free bump" I like that after all it's people talking about your for sale thread!
 
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...some people welcome comments, others obviously don't. I personally don't mind the comments, if someone doesn't like my price it doesn't bother me at all, I am quite happy to explain how I came to my price. You can't beat a good argument :thumbs:.

I agree with this. It's primarily a forum which happens to include a for sale section, after all, not the other way around.

forum
ˈfɔːrəm/
noun
  1. 1.
    a meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.
    "we hope these pages act as a forum for debate"
    synonyms: meeting, assembly, gathering, conference, seminar, convention,colloquy, convocation, congress, rally, council, symposium, conclave,congregation, synod, diet; More
 
I personally like seeing a bit of chat going on - as long as it's on topic. It's when it runs into pages and pages and the seller hasn't made a response since the initial posting and by this time everyone is talking about how many pins they can fit in a Citroen Saxo or something irrelevent to the original posting it gets a bit tedious - but I hardly see this happen.

Like @mark9 says, when nobody responds all that happens is the thread gets booted off the first page really fast and is forgotten about. I tend to go back maybe 2-3 pages in the for sale section before I don't bother going further, and the people who really want to make a sale keep bumping their own threads anyway.
 
maybe an option is for a seller to advertise and ask for PM only then admin can lock the thread. would stop FS threads going off at a tangent
 
...
How about having an anonymous traffic light system that can be added to the original post by a moderator...from a good price at green to red which is classified as higher than normal price, or a 1-10 rating? I know some of the sellers might not like it, but keeping pin prices on the forum under control means there is a better chance of being able to buy other pins in the future...

I actually think this is a great idea, with one simple modification - make it an anonymous poll that all members can vote on with three options - Cheap / Fair / Expensive

The only catch with this would be if the seller revised the price (and if they were gaming the system, revised it UP!) so you'd also have to prevent editing of posts in selling threads, and maybe also zero the votes if price changed, and, yeah.. starting to get a bit messy now...
 
This wouldn't work as values are subjective, you can't just rely on one person's opinion. If you're unsure about a price ask around, send a few pm's and take the average price from a few different people.


i agree, that's the downside as one mans junk is another mans treasure! You would hope the moderators know what they are doing and able to be subjective! Unfortunately who should a newbie ask? I went to sgtgriz as he posted about an Earthshaker he once owned so he was as good as anyone to query a price. In honesty I have had great support by the forum through pm's when looking for a new machine, a newb just needs a bit of guidance and shown where to go. Maybe a thread that has some contacts where a newb can send pm's to experienced members that is locked so people don't accidentally post into it.

There is a buyers guide in technical, maybe stick it at the top of for sale as a reference?
 
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