Discussion of new rules for classifieds section... - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Stretch · #16 10-10-2011, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strelnik

I put 6 cars on sale for $300.00 each, just a litle above scrap prices, and you should see the comments I get in PMs. I did this to move them. If I don't get some serious movement (I only have one such person so far) they'all go to the scrapper in a week or two.

I want to get rid of the costs associated with storage so they are going.

You CAN have too much stuff.

I'm amazed you got grief from your ad - it had me looking up shipping costs from you to me! Then I remembered that I don't want to get divorced...

...anyway I understand that sarcasm is a bit of a dirty word in a country where "no one likes a smart..." is often used (well it was last time I visited!).

What I'm trying to convey is that I'd rather have sarcasm than rudeness. But if I had the choice I'd rather have constructive criticism than sarcasm...

I hope that the moderator(s) work out well and that classifieds here remain a reasonable place to come and find my next project.

Happy hunting future car buyers!

WNC123 · #17 10-10-2011, 01:40 PM

i see that replying to threads in this section is now re-allowed (you may want to change the wording on the main forum page to reflect this), so this may be a little after the fact, but here are some of my thoughts:
while i have only been a registered member here for a short time, i have been reading the forums here for about a year. i had been looking for a car, to get ballpark pricing on the years/models i was interested in, to find common problems, etc. the feedback provided in just the classified section alone was incredibly helpful to me in many ways.
i read many, many, many classified threads, and i am still trying to recall more than a couple that i thought were negative or bashing. if someone feels they are being harassed, there is a little warning triangle on each post to report it to a moderator. i think that is the reason for the "report" button, isn't it? to keep discussion open, yet able to be edited as deemed necessary by the mods?
open discussion can help an out of touch seller get information as to what the current market is bearing. as was pointed out before, someone with a more experienced eye can ask exacting questions about things that may be overlooked by the seller.
as a seller, i would want an open discussion on what i have available. this saves me the time of having to reply to the same or similar questions to multiple people. if the answer has already been answered and posted for everyone to see, then everyone wins. as a seller you do need to have some ability to take the good with the bad. if you don't like the way it was/is done here, there are numerous other places to list your stuff for sale.
as a buyer, i would absolutely want to be able to ask questions in the thread about an item. PM's can disappear, emails can be missed, but i think that most sellers would at least check in to their thread to see if something had been asked.
also, in the case of a bad deal or crooked seller, it give both parties a chance to state their side of the story so that everyone can make their own conclusion as to what happened. i have seen many cases (on other sites) where forum discussion led to an agreeable solution to a dispute, whereas that may not have happened had things been discussed "behind the scenes".

i personally liked the way it was (and am glad to see it has been changed back).

Walrus · #18 10-10-2011, 02:55 PM

You have my comments via PM, but here they are for the group...

"Rather than start a post in the for sale forum, complaining about the new rules, I thought I'd send you a message directly.

First, allowing "dealers" to populate the site has the potential to turn the "forum" into a "craigslist"... At least in the past, a dealer had to gain permission, and the forum was greatly composed of individuals with wares to sell.

Secondly, not allowing replies will certainly eliminate BS-type "flame-wars", but also stifles constructive input and exchange of information.

I respectfully request you reverse both actions, and keep the "forum" and actual forum, as opposed to a "for sale Bulletin Board".

Sincerely, ..."

JimmyL · #19 10-10-2011, 03:55 PM

Thanks for listening Wayne. You certainly have dealt with this head-on, and it appears you listened. We aren't always right, but then again, we DO know what we like.

It's no surprise that Tyler hopped in with an offer to help. Few folks do more for the forum-good than Tyler!!

t walgamuth · #20 10-10-2011, 04:04 PM

Thanks Wayne and Tyler!

Wayne 962 · #21 10-10-2011, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyL

Thanks for listening Wayne. You certainly have dealt with this head-on, and it appears you listened. We aren't always right, but then again, we DO know what we like.

It's no surprise that Tyler hopped in with an offer to help. Few folks do more for the forum-good than Tyler!!

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I'm not blind to the fact that this is a community and some things that work elsewhere may not work here. It still seems like there may be some issues with people not posting ads here because they don't want to deal with people voicing their opinions which are not necessarily welcome by the original seller. I wonder if there is a setting in the software that will allow the original posters to decide whether or not they wish to have a single post, or whether or not to open it up to replies. I'll have to check.

As for the commercial side of things, it seems that there's no immediate downside to opening it up and trying it out. If the ads become too annoying or detrimental, then the rules can always be changed. Likewise, I will keep the ads open to comments, and we'll have the moderators take more active stance on removing unnecessary and annoying comments that don't add any value. Like everything else, it can be reversed or modified in the future and nothing is set in stone. I will be certain to leave this thread open for continued discussion of the issues and we'll see how it goes?

-Wayne

Chad300tdt · #22 10-10-2011, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I'm not blind to the fact that this is a community and some things that work elsewhere may not work here. It still seems like there may be some issues with people not posting ads here because they don't want to deal with people voicing their opinions which are not necessarily welcome by the original seller. I wonder if there is a setting in the software that will allow the original posters to decide whether or not they wish to have a single post, or whether or not to open it up to replies. I'll have to check.

As for the commercial side of things, it seems that there's no immediate downside to opening it up and trying it out. If the ads become too annoying or detrimental, then the rules can always be changed. Likewise, I will keep the ads open to comments, and we'll have the moderators take more active stance on removing unnecessary and annoying comments that don't add any value. Like everything else, it can be reversed or modified in the future and nothing is set in stone. I will be certain to leave this thread open for continued discussion of the issues and we'll see how it goes?

-Wayne

The original poster can lock the thread after they post it to keep anyone from replying to it.

johng99 · #23 10-10-2011, 10:59 PM

Thanks for listening. Now, bring on those cars!

Junkman · #24 10-11-2011, 12:22 AM

Comments are comments - negative sometimes point out good information. At the end of the day, the buyer has to make a decision and negotiate a deal. Allowing commercial posters that have integrity increases the number of available cars. On the other hand, we don't need every tote the note operator that happens to have an old Benz on his lot.

Zacharias · #25 10-18-2011, 04:54 PM

Sorry I came to this thread a bit late.

Suggestions:

1. You could eliminate a huge percentage of negative comments by implementing a standardized form for people to use when posting cars for sale -- similar to the tombstone info you have to enter on Kijiji, for example. This site for some reason has a huge proportion of really stupid ads ("300e for sale. looks great. offers") compared to other sites I've been associated with. People should be required to include basic info: PRICE, model, year, mileage, ext/int colours, location, etc. No Make Offer (aka "I'm just fishin, yuk yuk") ads for cars!

2. Make it mandatory to post at least one photo of the car in the ad, or through a link to a photo hosting site. If people can attach photos to an email reply, they can use a photo hosting site like Flickr. And in this day and age, I think there are very, very few people who truly don't have access to a digital camera, or a smartphone with a decent camera (or at minimum cannot enlist the aid of someone else who has one).

Just my $0.02.

t walgamuth · #26 10-18-2011, 11:07 PM

aka "I'm just fishin, yuk yuk")

(one of the dumbest things to do imho!)

Angel · #27 10-19-2011, 01:00 PM

1) Count me among those that favor allowing comments to FS ads. I also trust a moderator to squash things when they get out of hand. I'll take that chance.
If this place is too 'risky' to post your ad for sale, I hope you don't plan on offering it anywhere else on the internet

2) Another forum I am a member of has a strict "Must post price" rule. Often - people just post a sky-high price and say in the text that they are open to offers. Posting prices adds a lot of value becuase it allows people with no MB/genre knowledge to get some pricing background without posting/bothering people about it "ie: Is $2000 too much for my 1982 240D ?"

3) I think, that if you as a forum are going to allow companies/businesses to post ads - they should be marked as such. Dont make a new forum for them, but make them do what Tyler does - "Peachparts approved listing xxxxx" or "The seller currently runs a business in selling cars"
Personally, I'd prefer buying an old car from a private party, and I'd like our listings to primarily be private party sales, but since I like our current selection (mostly PP sales, a few dealers...) I'd like to not exclude dealers entirely.
note: I dont advocate any kind of 'approval' process for dealers, just have them mark their ads as being from a dealer and everyone will know who runs a business off of cars and who is just trying to keep from getting divorced

-John

Will_w202 · #28 10-19-2011, 09:57 PM

I've been here since my 2nd Benz, 7 years now. I spend my time here instead of Benzworld because there are actual techs here, and old-time wrenchers who know what they are talking about. The typical car for sale on the shopforum (whoopsie, pelican parts forum) is an older car, the very kind of car that a group of old-timers have in-depth knowledge of. The type of car posted for sale on Benzworld is an 04 c230 with clear taillights and a bodykit. If some dummy over there wants to buy it, let em. While there is a search function, I can tell you from 7 years of using this site that it can be difficult to find the exact piece of info you need just by keyword search. Therefore, if someone posts a 92 500E for sale with 150k and salvage title, and asks $12k, and some 21yo sees the ad here and gets excited as hell about it, I feel it's my duty to let them know that they shouldnt think with their heart, like I did when I was 21, but rather realize that 500e's are out there with lower miles and more importantly, no salvage title. Or that thi particular theoretical vehicle is realistically obtainable for $7k. Or for that matter, if it's a 93, I'm going to post and let the kid who first replied to this theoretical ad know that he needs to check the wiring harness and ETA - because after all, he was 2 years old when this car came out, and I doubt he grew up in the 90s studying MB electronics - so, it's MY DUTY as an OLD TIMER to point out these things. Or maybe it's not. This is a teaching board. Maybe we just stop being a "shopforum," a "teaching" board, and we just become a ricer's dream and a moneymaker for a parts seller, or just another ad website. The very DNA of this site is discussion and explanation, so I'm not sure why we're trying to change the personality here.

MTUpower · #29 10-22-2011, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will_w202

I've been here since my 2nd Benz, 7 years now. ... The very DNA of this site is discussion and explanation, so I'm not sure why we're trying to change the personality here.

Well said, especially the last part I highlighted. Of course the answer is the search for more traffic to the site- the more traffic, the more people you reach to expose them to your business. That in itself is a nutshell for business, but it is also a two edged sword. I wish Wayne all the best in treading the thin line.

shertex · #30 05-29-2012, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

The original poster can lock the thread after they post it to keep anyone from replying to it.

How does one lock a thread?