Should Classifieds Allow Replying?

[purplezr2]

Everyone is entitled to there opinion, as a Past and Currently Active seller I don't feel the comment ability or lack there of is the reasoning for the downturn of traffic. I believe it lies with the loss of some Members who are no longer active, and probably more so members trying to squeeze as close to full retail out of there items as possible.

Carry On..

Not sure I agree with that, I have been new stuff at 60% of retail and below ebay prices and it barely moves. Stuff that would have been gone prior to the policy change.

I don't like selling on ebay due to all the scammers.

 

[guy48065]

Scams went up and sales went down. It takes weeks/months to find out the seller took the money and ran with NO replies like it is now. The buyer sits around waiting for a package meanwhile no one knows wtf is going on and they send money to buy it as well. next thing you know, someone ran off with 10 members money for an item they never sent to anyone.

With replies ON, buyer can post PAID and a date that way no one else gets burned.

For The Win.

Which setup is best for the members? Which is best for the mods? The mods/admin ultimately gets to choose but I prefer what's best for members (information, discussion, protection).

 

[FJ 432]

So you don't use it, don't want it, but still want a say in the matter...

Did I say I didn't use it?

Is my say any less important than yours? Does your negative posting represent what's wrong with replies in the classifieds?

 

[jeffmoss26]

I used to use it a lot, I miss being able to reply.

 

[rlitman]

i like comments on because it allows people to ask questions directly in the public view. which promotes an honest answer for other potential buyers to view as well.

ebay has a this feature.

eBay does NOT have this feature. What eBay does have, is the ability for a seller to post up a potential buyer's questions. But the seller has the ability to ignore, or even modify the question before posting it. A buyer cannot simply tag a comment onto an eBay item (even if they see that an item is blatantly mis-listed, at best, they can send a note to the seller, or eBay).

Basically, eBay has granted moderator privileges in a seller's listing.
I guess that's a potential compromise. A real moderator can still always step in, in cases of abuse.

 

[Hiball]

Not sure I agree with that, I have been new stuff at 60% of retail and below ebay prices and it barely moves. Stuff that would have been gone prior to the policy change.

I don't like selling on ebay due to all the scammers.

Everyone is entitled to there opinion, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around some of the discussions claiming the lack of ability to reply has any bearing on whether a item sells or not. In any Marketplace, a items worth is based off demand and what somebody be is willing to pay. If the Market is flooded, pricing goes down. It's possible that with multiple items you could increase demand based off lots of "I'll take one" etc.. But when it's all said and done, it's worth what someone is willing to pay.

 

[organ]

Did I say I didn't use it?

Is my say any less important than yours? Does your negative posting represent what's wrong with replies in the classifieds?

Easily offended people like you were more likely the problem...

 

[FJ 432]

Easily offended people like you were more likely the problem...

Yep. I'm the problem.

and replies are no longer allowed....sell that.

 

[bushmechanic]

The comments people seem so worried about are kind of a filter.

Sell something right, and you don't have to worry. Even snarky remarks are just more exposure for your product.

Sell something wrong, and people find out.

Comments in advertisements are a great thing. When replies go, so do sales.

 

[byoungblood]

might as well removed the classifieds section nobody buys here anymore, unless its way underpriced

On the flip side, you've got a bunch of people posting stuff that belongs on the CL wishful thinker's thread. I'm always looking out for some cool old ratchets, but lately some folks think they're plated with precious metals.

 

[PoorOwner]

Can someone tell me why it is such a ghost town now, I tried to sell my stuff at below CL price because CL low ballers. Granted they are big and require pick up which limit the audiences.
But it's like posting something into a dark hole. Unless one is selling new SO ratchets which seems to go quickly.

How would replying enabled make it less of a ghost town? Though I think this is the only forum I have seen not allow for replies. I have no problem selling my stuff on CL or any other car or hobby forums

 

[rlitman]

...I have a hard time wrapping my head around some of the discussions claiming the lack of ability to reply has any bearing on whether a item sells or not. In any Marketplace, a items worth is based off demand and what somebody be is willing to pay...

Not quite. The part your're forgetting about is the size of the marketplace. Imagine trying to sell your widget to a group of people collected in a phone booth, or advertising it to everyone in a stadium. The differently sized pool of potential buyers will greatly affect the ability to sell an item quickly, and will likely also affect the selling price.

In the classifieds section of a forum such as this, where readership is largely based on "new posts", bumping a thread increases a thread's viewership, which increases the pool of potential buyers. If people do not see the widget for sale, how can they possibly buy it?

So, opening up the classifieds to comments will increase the traffic in that section, which will have a direct effect on the rate of sales.

 

[Gidge]

What about something like:

□ Allow Replies to your sale ad
□ Disable replies to your sale ad

That way the seller can choose.

Another vote for hautpot's idea.

Until yesterday I had no clue there was a classified section.

Since I've never been to the GJ classifieds, I'll not comment on the quality or lack of quality of NOW vs THEN.

I'd like to think comments would be respectful, but I'm sure some blowhard will start pontificating and suggest the seller should give his item away because he got a similar item for short money way back in 1972.

I don't think a seller would get Ebay, Craigslist or Etsy prices here as most GJ'ers are well schooled on the reasonable value of an item.

I imagine screening comments would be more work for the moderators.

 

[02camaro86]

eBay does NOT have this feature. What eBay does have, is the ability for a seller to post up a potential buyer's questions. But the seller has the ability to ignore, or even modify the question before posting it. A buyer cannot simply tag a comment onto an eBay item (even if they see that an item is blatantly mis-listed, at best, they can send a note to the seller, or eBay).

Basically, eBay has granted moderator privileges in a seller's listing.
I guess that's a potential compromise. A real moderator can still always step in, in cases of abuse.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Snap-on...:g:OZ4AAOSw~bFWNBVB&item=111818509487&vxp=mtr

notice the "ask a question" that is what i was referring to

 

[purplezr2]

Everyone is entitled to there opinion, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around some of the discussions claiming the lack of ability to reply has any bearing on whether a item sells or not. In any Marketplace, a items worth is based off demand and what somebody be is willing to pay. If the Market is flooded, pricing goes down. It's possible that with multiple items you could increase demand based off lots of "I'll take one" etc.. But when it's all said and done, it's worth what someone is willing to pay.

I agree that the market will only bare a certain price. With that said it seems that both the quality and volume of stuff sold here is not nearly as high. It seemed that the rule change had a large effect. I seem to remember there being tons of snap on for sale here before.

 

[Brownsfan]

I don't care either way. I still look and have only bought twice from here. What they are trying to avoid is the dude your price is way too high and your item ***** replies. Sure the mods can delete posts and ban but that would be the bulk of their time because some just can't help themselves. Hence why tags are now gone. Things meant to be useful and help get ruined by a few. Tags could be helpful if used right and so could the ability to reply in classifieds. But the few immature babies ruin it for the mature adults on here who handle themselves with dignity and respect.

 

[Hiball]

Not quite. The part your're forgetting about is the size of the marketplace. Imagine trying to sell your widget to a group of people collected in a phone booth, or advertising it to everyone in a stadium. The differently sized pool of potential buyers will greatly affect the ability to sell an item quickly, and will likely also affect the selling price.

In the classifieds section of a forum such as this, where readership is largely based on "new posts", bumping a thread increases a thread's viewership, which increases the pool of potential buyers. If people do not see the widget for sale, how can they possibly buy it?

So, opening up the classifieds to comments will increase the traffic in that section, which will have a direct effect on the rate of sales.

Thanks for making my earlier point, obviously the more people you have viewing your thread, the more interest it will garner. Unfortunately.. We had too many people who skirted the rules with absolutely no respect for other members and there ads, so Ryan made changes. I don't blame him one bit, it was chaos and after talking with Bull and Wrenchr it was impossible for them to keep up. Yes.. If you want the most exposure, **** it up and pay your dues at EBay, the days of self bumping to keep your ad on the 1st page is gone.

Note: The Garage Journal is not a classifieds site. We have a classifieds section just so that users can help each other out with deals and finds. If you are here looking for profit, please don't post.

The above statement is directly from the Rules section, if anyone expects GJ to model EBay or any other independent selling site, your probably not going to ever be satisfied.

 

[rlitman]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Snap-on...:g:OZ4AAOSw~bFWNBVB&item=111818509487&vxp=mtr

notice the "ask a question" that is what i was referring to

Yes, I am quite familiar with it. It does NOT post a question on the listing.
It sends a message to the seller, and in responding, the seller can optionally attach the question and response to the listing.

 

[rlitman]

I don't care either way. I still look and have only bought twice from here. What they are trying to avoid is the dude your price is way too high and your item ***** replies. Sure the mods can delete posts and ban but that would be the bulk of their time because some just can't help themselves.

That's why I think the eBay idea of allowing the seller to moderate their own thread has potential.

 

[JUNK-MAN]

I am a member of another forum witch allows reply's to classifieds ads, never caused any problems, I vote yes.

 

[Jarhead0408]

If by "dead" we mean there aren't a bazillion posts in the classifieds I say ..so what? I seriously doubt sales have suffered.......what data do people claiming that have...how would anyone know such a thing even if it was the case?

I know you want concrete data. I don't have any. But sales dropped off immediately. Used to be that a guy would post up a large quantity of items and it could mostly be gone within a day or two. Now items languish for months at a time. Part of what drove sales up where the discussions/comments people shared within the ad. I don't know if you were a part of the classifieds back then or not, but it was very fast paced. Much like a live auction. The excitement drove sales. FWIW I was never a seller, only a buyer.

- Open the classifieds to all users. (not just sr. members). I've seen plenty of newbies that want to sell a tool collection/estate but are forbidden. IMHO this silly rule was a solution looking for a problem.



- Allow the owner of the thread to make full edits. (including the title!!)

No offense my friend, but I'll disagree with the first part and agree with the second.

I've had numerous new members try and scam me one way or another.
One guy offered to go halves on a BOGO prybar deal. I bought the prybars and he left me hanging. I now have duplicates that cost me money and he is long gone from the forum. At least I didn't send and lose them. I've also had a member contact me OUTSIDE of pm's offring to sell me an item I had mentioned I was looking for in another members thread. When I asked for a photo of the item he disappeared on me. He created the account just that day in order to try and sell it to me. He never even posted once.

Everyone is entitled to there opinion, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around some of the discussions claiming the lack of ability to reply has any bearing on whether a item sells or not. In any Marketplace, a items worth is based off demand and what somebody be is willing to pay. If the Market is flooded, pricing goes down. It's possible that with multiple items you could increase demand based off lots of "I'll take one" etc.. But when it's all said and done, it's worth what someone is willing to pay.

Ah! But these aren't normal economics we're talking about here. What you say would be true for stuff that is still actively sold (i.e. still produced).

A lot of the stuff here was more in the niche category. Demand might not initially be high for XYZ tool, but because of discussions about the tool between members, interest can be driven up.

You ever see a car and have no interest in it? Only to learn more about it and come to appreciate it? It's sort of like that. You wouldn't have given a buck for it yesterday, but today you would.

Not only that, but again I'll bring up the excitement factor. When you know that if you don't jump fast you'll miss out on a screaming deal, you tend to buy quicker and sometimes more (unfortunately sometimes!).

 

[Hiball]

Ah! But these aren't normal economics we're talking about here. What you say would be true for stuff that is still actively sold (i.e. still produced).

A lot of the stuff here was more in the niche category. Demand might not initially be high for XYZ tool, but because of discussions about the tool between members, interest can be driven up.

You ever see a car and have no interest in it? Only to learn more about it and come to appreciate it? It's sort of like that. You wouldn't have given a buck for it yesterday, but today you would.

Not only that, but again I'll bring up the excitement factor. When you know that if you don't jump fast you'll miss out on a screaming deal, you tend to buy quicker and sometimes more (unfortunately sometimes!).

I agree, but for the most part it's current production stuff that moves on a regular basis. I touched on the excitement factor that definitely came with "I'll take it" from past sales with comments, so I wholeheartedly agree. Unfortunately the classifieds forum was never intended to be a discussion forum, because people couldn't follow the rules, here we are.

 

[four.cycle]

Note: The Garage Journal is not a classifieds site. We have a classifieds section just so that users can help each other out with deals and finds. If you are here looking for profit, please don't post.

The above statement is directly from the Rules section, if anyone expects GJ to model EBay or any other independent selling site, your probably not going to ever be satisfied.

^ Excellent point, sir.

A couple more thoughts from a new member here and a new user on Ebay as well:

I don't see how there's any way to quantify the number of transactions taking place, unless someone has actually gone to the trouble of picking through every thread and tallying up "sold" items.

You can send comments and questions to Ebay sellers, but that doesn't mean they have to do anything. I've sent dozens of comments to Ebay sellers informing them the description of the item was inaccurate, and I only recall one of them making a correction in the listing.

Craigslist is an entirely different can of worms: Craig doesn't give a damn what comes and goes in those ads: it's 101% caveat emptor.

I don't have any issues with requiring members to be "senior members" in order to post anything in the classifieds. Moreover, it's probably better to have that policy, otherwise (as in the case of another forum I'm a member of) you will have people join expressly for the purpose of peddling stuff (hoping to make a killing) and then disappear.

What I would like to see, after having done several searches in the Classifieds and making a couple purchases is "sold" items dropped from the listings. I picked through a dozen ads last night before I hit one where the seller actually still had the items.

Whatever changes are made, if any, should not require any increase in the workload for the moderators on this site. I am certain they have better things to do with their time than to police a peripheral "want ads" section on a website.

As always, just my lousy two cents.

 

[paranoid56]

i think they should, but i am also under the belief that if they think its a **** price you can post that too with links to cheaper prices lol. this isnt ebay, you should be selling at normal or below normal prices. not trying to hose a fellow member.

 

[logical]

Just so nobody's too confused and heartbroken after this thread fizzles..... The Garage Journal is not a democracy.

 

[firworks]

Just so nobody's too confused and heartbroken after this thread fizzles..... The Garage Journal is not a democracy.

I've got it covered in the original post:

There was just a discussion about how the classifieds section was negatively impacted by removing the ability to reply to threads. There are a lot of issues that replying could bring, and I think it's a good idea to at least talk through and discuss these things from time to time. I've included a poll to see on a whole what people think. Obviously Ryan and the mods get the final say though regardless of what the poll says. Also I would expect that if we're talking about reopening replies for Classifieds, that would also carry over to the Wanted sub forum.

 

[byoungblood]

I think I noticed the classifieds really drop off after the 100 post requirement hit. Maybe dropping the requirement down to 30-50 posts (fairly common at some other forums I've participated in) will get things rolling again. I wouldn't buy from someone with a single digit post count, but I have had several successful dealings with people in the sub 100 category who had been registered for a while.

 

[jim whitney]

I,m just a newbie here so I don,t know what it was like before , but as Logical stated this is not a democracy. I think the senior members should have say in how they want things to work . Also not allowing classified posts until you,ve posted for a minimum time sounds like a good idea. Just my opinion.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I voted for comments because I like to be able to ask and answer questions. Of all the forums I visit, this is the only one that restricts posting in classifieds.

My opinions of why the classifieds here are slow.....

-People post garbage for 3x what it's worth before the cost of shipping.
-Truck brand tools are posted for 90%+ of the cost of new regardless of condition.
-People who are obvious resellers post never ending lists of overpriced tools.
-People constantly bump threads (sometimes for years.....literally) without ever lowering prices down to market.

 

[Jarhead0408]

I hear you Jim. Let me say this though:

I agree that ultimately the decision lies with Ryan. I don't think however that us senior members should have special sway. As much as I am for allowing comments, this site is not my baby. It doesn't take much to become a senior member here. We've got knuckleheads here with 10 posts and we've got 'em with 10,000 posts. Stupid knows no bounds (don't I know!).

Ultimately, even us senior members are here enjoying something for free, while asking Ryan to continue to provide this service and for the mods to do their job for free as well.

Not cracking on you btw. Just puttin' more pennies down

 

[sk farmer]

the classifieds here are now a joke. as others have said, mostly truck tools at high prices. there was an immediate drop in volume when replies were prohibited,

we have been told they are just as busy and we can't prove it is slower. of course nobody will prove that sales are steady or up either.

 

[firworks]

the classifieds here are now a joke. as others have said, mostly truck tools at high prices. there was an immediate drop in volume when replies were prohibited,

we have been told they are just as busy and we can't prove it is slower. of course nobody will prove that sales are steady or up either.

It's not all doom and gloom. In it's current state I recently bought a bunch of ratchets for what I felt was a great deal from SMKS.

 

[1950mercury]

i think they should, but i am also under the belief that if they think its a **** price you can post that too with links to cheaper prices lol. this isnt ebay, you should be selling at normal or below normal prices. not trying to hose a fellow member.

This is a perfect example of why there are no replys allowed

 

[1950mercury]

I voted for comments because I like to be able to ask and answer questions. Of all the forums I visit, this is the only one that restricts posting in classifieds.

My opinions of why the classifieds here are slow.....

-People post garbage for 3x what it's worth before the cost of shipping.
-Truck brand tools are posted for 90%+ of the cost of new regardless of condition.
-People who are obvious resellers post never ending lists of overpriced tools.
-People constantly bump threads (sometimes for years.....literally) without ever lowering prices down to market.

I totally agree with everything you said except I'm against replys.

I check the classifieds often and most of the time stuff can be bought cheaper on eBay.

 

[Off-Street Parking]

I check the classifieds often and most of the time stuff can be bought cheaper on eBay.

Cheaper is not always better. eBay can be a bit of a gamble sometimes... Pictures only go so far in describing an item's condition, and everyone has a different opinion on what "works" means.

Buying from a member here with a good reputation would be worth paying more for.

 

[Davefr]

Cheaper is not always better. eBay can be a bit of a gamble sometimes... Pictures only go so far in describing an item's condition, and everyone has a different opinion on what "works" means.

Buying from a member here with a good reputation would be worth paying more for.

Ebay is much safer with all their buyer protection systems. In addition it's easy to access a seller's reputation on Ebay. There is no reputation system here.

My opinions of why the classifieds here are slow.....

-People post garbage for 3x what it's worth before the cost of shipping.

I think the issue is that GJ buyers expect prices lower then Ebay, yet sellers look at Ebay and then try to well their widgets here at equivalent prices to avoid the Ebay fees.

Just like when you go to a G-sale and the seller says, "on Ebay they're going for $____" and you walk away.

 

[Compressor]

Allow responses to all classifieds.
Only allow users with 15 or more posts (in other sections of course) to participate (create new or reply) in the classifieds section

I think this is something that vBulletin allows easily.

 

[Tippletrash]

What about something like:

□ Allow Replies to your sale ad
□ Disable replies to your sale ad

That way the seller can choose.

I think this is a good idea. Just a newbie here but i wondered why there was no replies in classifieds. I think this is the only forum I've joined that doesn't allow it. I do think the 100 post count is a little excessive and to be included for the wanted section is really excessive. Something like 50 would be more reasonable, just my opinion and not because i want to sell something.

 

[mtwaterguy]

Ebay is much safer with all their buyer protection systems. In addition it's easy to access a seller's reputation on Ebay. There is no reputation system here.

You've been here 5 years and haven't found the " Product and Vendor Reviews " section yet?

 

[guy48065]

You've been here 5 years and haven't found the " Product and Vendor Reviews " section yet?

You mean it's intended to be a "Members, Vendors and Product Reviews" section? I'm not the only one who thinks it's not...there's a post titled "Any ratings of GJ classified sellers here?" with 0 replies in the month since the post.