Ebay links

[LoneGunman]

IMHO, Ebay links in the Classified section to your own auctions should not be allowed. Why allow people to spam the section with links to their Ebay auctions when they don't give the members here a shot at it first? The Classified section should be an area for members to help out other members and make a few bucks at the same time or get a tool you want or need for a decent price. It should not be used to just drive up the price of your auctions.

If someone wants to only post links to their auctions or sell tools strictly as a business the admins of this site should charge them a fee to do so. After all, classified sections on forums like this one is usually a service provided by the admins to benefit the members, if that service is only benefiting the member who is posting the links then there should be a fee charged for that service.

 

[krusty the clown]

personally i don't care about a fee. ebay promoting is allowed but i think it should be done in the general tool section, leaving the classifieds for "horse trading among friends".

 

[Stuey]

I agree!!

Many (most) boards disallow links to one's own auctions, and have restrictions as to who may post in the classified section. I think a 75 post and one month minimum is reasonable. Then again, most people won't buy or sell from very new members anyways, so official rules may not be called for.

Anyways, +1 for forbidding personal ebay auctions. Pointing to others (strangers) should be okay though.

 

[LoneGunman]

I don't think theres any problem pointing to strangers if you are trying to give someone a heads up on something they might be interested in or making fun of an auction (cough cough Merkava )

My problem is like I said, not giving the members here a shot. I don't care as I am not a collector maybe I should mind my own business but it just doesn't seem right.

 

[nissan_crawler]

then don't buy it. I've had a tool post up for a week, nobody is buying the rest of the tools. So, if I post them on ebay, and they happen to go for a price somebody is willing to pay, I can't post them?

 

[Stuey]

The thing is, when someone (mostly new members) link to their ebay auctions, they're usually only trying to benefit themselves, not the community.

 

[krusty the clown]

then don't buy it. I've had a tool post up for a week, nobody is buying the rest of the tools. So, if I post them on ebay, and they happen to go for a price somebody is willing to pay, I can't post them?

at least you gave your fellow GJ members a shot first!

 

[LoneGunman]

then don't buy it. I've had a tool post up for a week, nobody is buying the rest of the tools. So, if I post them on ebay, and they happen to go for a price somebody is willing to pay, I can't post them?

Did you read the post? Of course you could post them, "I've had a tool post up for a week" is what makes all the difference.

 

[nissan_crawler]

Did you read the post? Of course you could post them, "I've had a tool post up for a week" is what makes all the difference.

several in this thread have mentioned a complete ban. Plus, I've bought a few things posted that I was happy to get. If they didn't post it at all, I wouldn't have had it. *shrug*

 

[krusty the clown]

several in this thread have mentioned a complete ban.

no one in this thread have have mentioned a complete ban of posting ebay links

 

[LoneGunman]

several in this thread have mentioned a complete ban. Plus, I've bought a few things posted that I was happy to get. If they didn't post it at all, I wouldn't have had it. *shrug*

You can have my links when you pry them from my cold dead, ummmmmmm oh yeah that was something else. Seriously though, nobody called for a ban on them.

 

[PAToyota]

An idea I've seen on several other boards (and a few have implied in this discussion) that seems to work well - set a price and offer it to the board first and then after a reasonable time period if nobody seems to be interested post the eBay auction link if you list it.

 

[geaugafletcher]

An idea I've seen on several other boards (and a few have implied in this discussion) that seems to work well - set a price and offer it to the board first and then after a reasonable time period if nobody seems to be interested post the eBay auction link if you list it.

I like this idea. If you want to sell to the forum, do that - if you want to sell to the unwashed masses, put it on eBay and don't tell us about it.

 

[Stuey]

An idea I've seen on several other boards (and a few have implied in this discussion) that seems to work well - set a price and offer it to the board first and then after a reasonable time period if nobody seems to be interested post the eBay auction link if you list it.

I like this idea as well.

 

[fourfeathers]

I think it is bad form to start out on this forum by listing stuff for sale anyway. I wouldn't dream of going to another forum and putting an ad on it as my first post (or 20).
That said, I like to post my ebay stuff for sale on here, as it is almost ALWAYS good stuff we all like. I do offer free US shipping to forum members. I think that makes up for any inconvenience I may cause.
Perhaps a good solution would be a sticky we could add ebay links to, if we want members to be able to see our auctions.

 

[PowderKeg]

An idea I've seen on several other boards (and a few have implied in this discussion) that seems to work well - set a price and offer it to the board first and then after a reasonable time period if nobody seems to be interested post the eBay auction link if you list it.

Another "Ditto!!!" on that! Post in the classifieds with a set price, if it/they don't sell within a few days, then post the link to the fleabay listing AS A REPLY IN THE SAME THREAD. We don't need a bunch of extra threads in the classified only pointing to fleabay auctions to sift thru. Also, by posting the fleabay link as a reply to the original sale listing, you give an "ending" to the sale listing, thus (hopefully) preventing people from dredging up old posts with "did you sell this yet?".

Personally, I don't have a problem with folks posting fleabay links that they have no affiliation with, provided the item on auction has been somewhat recently discussed and/or is of likely specific interest to one or more members, and people don't go overboard with umpteen posts a day filling the front page with auction notices. If that were to happen, then I'd happily support a complete fleabay link ban. These kinds of "information" posts belong right where they're usually found, in the Tool Discussion Forum - Classifieds are for tools for sale by the members that own them.

Same should apply to craigslist stuff as well.

That's my nickle's worth...

 

[VintageBronco]

I agree with fourfeathers. I don't think anyone here has really said what specifically is wrong or bad about ebay links. How does this inconvienence anyone? Sounds like it upsets the ones that didn't get first crack at something for super cheap. It does not appear the classified section has been over-run by links to other site auctions. I like the fact that it's NOT against the rules because many times it calls my attention to things I might have otherwise missed. I do however feel that this editor section has been overrun with whiny *** babies. I would start a thread to complain about those people but then I would actually be one of them.:wtf:

 

[Brad54]

I don't see a problem with posting your ebay links. then again, I don't see a problem with people making the most money they can, either!

I think it's fine to say "Hey, I'm selling this on ebay, thought a couple of you guys might be interested in it."

Everyone who's against it is saying they don't like it because they'd rather have a set price and let people here get first shot at it because it benefits the community, we're all friends, or whatever. My take is this: I'm happy for my friends when they make a killing selling something.

-Brad

 

[MachineTech]

I don't see the harm either. When I posted my link last night for the vintage set, I stated that I felt many here would be interested. I stated that because of the nature of what I was selling.

 

[trackwelder]

I don't see no harm if its a few items here and there. There are no rules stating not to link but I can see the classifieds getting overrun if everybody posts there auctions. Hopefully this does not turn into a ******* match and we lose the classifieds because we can't play nice.

 

[old salvage]

An idea I've seen on several other boards (and a few have implied in this discussion) that seems to work well - set a price and offer it to the board first and then after a reasonable time period if nobody seems to be interested post the eBay auction link if you list it.

Good Idea.

 

[krusty the clown]

IMHO ebay links are fine........however i feel that joining this board JUST to promote your ebay auctions is spamming and should not be allowed.

 

[LoneGunman]

"I do however feel that this editor section has been overrun with whiny *** babies. I would start a thread to complain about those people but then I would actually be one of them"

I was just thinking how it seems that in the last few months the site has been overrun with juveniles who can't have a discussion without resorting to grade school insults.

 

[krusty the clown]

I was just thinking how it seems that in the last few months the site has been overrun with juveniles who can't have a discussion without resorting to grade school insults.

agreed........people have been arguing politics so much that it's become second nature to just argue. hopefully it will settle down after a while.

 

[Skyline]

As a new member and very experienced eBay tool seller, from what I have seen of the prices of non-vintage tools listed here in the classified section, people who post eBay listings, in doing so, are generally offering the item for a lower price to the members here than those not linking to eBay. If you listed an ebay item for a tool with prices as high as what I've seen here...it would be unlikely to get any bids and would be a complete waste of your time and listing fees. Granted some eBay items may climb to a higher ultimate level, but not too many.

Where it makes sense to list an item here, (and perhaps link to eBay), is when it is rare, unusual, vintage, antique or in some other way special. Everyone who can figure out how to use this board is perfectly capable of searching eBay for their own tool needs when they need something normal. But I'm sure few of us read the 1,000 or so Snap-on listings that end on eBay every day (not to mention Matco, MAC, Cornwell etc.), and yet may want a "heads up" to not miss a really special item.

I also think that it is kind of boring to see a post of just a link and description, so attaching the eBay photos here would makes it less offensive.

 

[LoneGunman]

"As a new member and very experienced eBay tool seller, from what I have seen of the prices of non-vintage tools listed here in the classified section, people who post eBay listings, in doing so, are generally offering the item for a lower price to the members here than those not linking to eBay. If you listed an ebay item for a tool with prices as high as what I've seen here...it would be unlikely to get any bids and would be a complete waste of your time and listing fees. Granted some eBay items may climb to a higher ultimate level, but not too many"

Prices listed here on non collectable tools are frequently way below Ebay final prices.Of course you won't get bids if you list the tool on Ebay for the same price here, you are comparing apples to oranges. The price listed here is the price, comparing that to an Ebay listing starting price is ridiculous.

Even if the prices here were somewhat higher I'd still buy the item from a member here before I purchased the item from an Ebay member, I have a lot less to worry about buying here from established members than some large Ebay seller. Have enough Ebay feedbacks and negatives have very little effect on your percentage, one person on a forum gets screwed and odd are that seller will never be able to sell anything on that site again.

You are also helping your son run a tool business (or whatever you said in your "classified section" post) so you have a vested interest in seeing that Ebay spam remains within the rules of this site.