Proposed change to Classified Rules

[USN-SCW-Ret]

I concur with this, and 3 months seems fair. This would make it more of
OSA community member dealing with another active OSA member. But I'm
not sure what we are concerned with on new members buying and selling?

I'd like to see an increase in how long you've been a member

Like 3 months

 

[jmiller45]

What are we trying to avoid really by raising the minimums? Price gouging? I've seen people that have been members for years and hundreds of posts do their fair share of what some people call "gouging" and other people call "selling at market value".

I happened by this forum almost 4 years ago when I googled "Remington shotgun". I read the rules, waited my time, and engaged in some nice and helpful conversations. I've made my fair share of transactions and I've met some very good honest people that I am proud to call my friends.

If we were to make some changes I would only vote for waiting a little longer. I get the reasoning behind making the classifieds non-visible, but I'm glad they're not because I wouldn't have spent hundreds of hours on here and wouldn't have some of the friends I have today.

 

[OKCIS]

I know i dont post here alot but i will toss in my 2 cents in case it helps. I admin a very large auto forum. We have over 50 forums on our board and just 1 forum alone has over 3 million posts. As you can imagine the amount of users is unreal. Ive been on the site since it was a small 50 user forum.
I can tell you from alot of experience post count in the marketplace does no good. It promotes post whoring to get to the required number of posts.
We currently have it set at 50 legitimate posts, 120 days membership on the site, Require a price and a picture of every item posted for sale with a piece of paper showing the users name in the post.
Out of everything we have done to prevent scammers and people just acting like idiots or just using the classifieds for selling stuff only the picture with the users name has been by far the most effective tool implemented. I also think 50 posts with the 120 days shows them ok if you want to sell something here you are going to be active. 120 days is plenty of time to make 50 quality posts and establish yourself as an active person in the community.
I know my post count compared to when i joined here shows im not super active and thats mainly because i use this site for gathering information and learning and its been awesome for that and i really enjoy it. My main focus is the automotive community so im on those forums alot more but ive lately started to become more active here since ive started doing more work on my stuff myself and learning to reload.
At any rate i just thought i would toss that out there. Ive got experience with a huge community so if anyone has any questions feel free to shoot me a pm and i can tell you what we have learned over the years maybe some of it will help out. Definitely not looking to tell anyone how to run this site or anything like that so please dont take it that way I can just toss some information someones way that may or may not be of use around here. Anything i can do to contribute im all about.

 

[ahamay6]

I think if you raise the post cont you should be able to qualify with a min time on the board as well. As others have said, I have been a member for a long time but do more reading than posting.

 

[tonymcvay]

I usually just look at a join date and feedback on here. I read a lot on here just don't post unless I have something that I feel is worthwhile to help.

 

[Swapwap]

I concur with jmiller45. I'm new but not sure what all the fuss is about on the classified. I can post at armslist free all day long. I didn't join her just to sell. Some will some won't, so what? If the classified is costing the site admins too much time or resources, then charge for it. If people are getting back results or people are abusing the site, mandate their identity with a credit card for authenticity when posting to sell like Gun America does. I'm just glad to find a local site where people with common interest can gather, perhaps meet and do some shooting in the future.

Just my $.10

 

[Remington]

I've been a member since 2006 and only have 155 post. I just don't post a lot, but I read a ton. I like a lot of the suggestions and I think the right thing will be done to make it better. I do think it could be better. I noticed the yellow stars on some of the classifieds, that might be a good way for experienced folks to show if a classified is a good deal or not. I also noticed a little blue tag on the classified, not sure what that is, but if you scroll over it it sometimes it shows a little note has info, it's not always the title of the post. Using that might be a good option.

 

[itzkwik]

For the love of God raise it or extend the time period to keep the blood suckers out, this use to be a site where you could give and get good deals no matter what the market was doing. It was Home, now not so much

 

[jmiller45]

I noticed the yellow stars on some of the classifieds, that might be a good way for experienced folks to show if a classified is a good deal or not.

NO !! Don't bring back the 1 Star Fairy!!!!

 

[SoonerP226]

I agree. And the classifieds should not even be visible to those that are not logged in. Also invisible to those that don't meet the minimum requirements.

I'd agree with making the classifieds invisible to those not logged in, but not to those who don't meet the minimum requirements--just because you can't post an ad, that doesn't mean that you can't buy or trade.

I don't particularly have anything I want to sell right now, so I haven't looked at the rules for the classifieds, but one forum I frequent requires a minimum post count and a minimal donation (I want to say it's $5) to post a sell/trade ad. The only people who complain about it are generally the kind of people from whom you wouldn't buy ice water in August and the sort you really don't want hanging around, anyway. Plus, it helps offset the cost of running the site...