New section

[RogerS]

I've been over this in all those other threads. But we don't actually get a lot of classifieds here. If we had a For Sale section it'd be a ghost town (look at the other place).

That's because (a) the demographics of the membership is different and 9b) there are fewer members than this site.

Posting your For Sale items in the General Woodworking forum gets you the most exposure.

No it doesn't. After a few days it disappears into the other pages, never to be seen again. A separate For Sale section would provide a focus.

If it's a hand tool then it belongs in the Hand Tools forum. If we have another section then it will just be clutter.

So that's two places to go looking for stuff. Let's add in Turning and Finishing, shall we?

Karl - you sold because you happend to be at the right place and at the right time. A few days later and maybe you'd not get the result and a fellow member would miss out on your bargain.

 

[Anonymous]

Look, when I started this thread it was only a suggestion. I didn't think it would turn into a "Civil War".
But I do have something to add. I am a member of a number of forums and they all have a For Sale section .
Afterdawn.com is a very good site for any info electronic.dvd player to pc.
Practical Boating
Shetlands Owners Club.
A FEW EXAMPLES.

Koolwabbit

 

[miles_hot]

I have to say that generally when something comes up for sale in the general or turning section it is gone pretty quickly - sometimes if you come into the "room" 10 mins after it has posted there's already a PM sent marker against it!

 

[Doug B]

I advertised a saw bench on a different forum site that has a classified section.
Six months after posting it, i sold it to a guy who was a new member to the forum, who had been trawling through the classifieds.
If it had been this site he would never have found it.
I have never sold anyhting i`ve put on this site, but have sold most of these things on other forum based sites with classified sections.
I`m not posting this information to push for a classified section, just to share my experiences.
I would add that i do from time to time go on other forums just to browse the classified section.

 

[NeilO]

Could not a "sticky" be posted in General section "for sale/wanted", and then be the users duty to remove the thread when the item/s or wanted article is gained/bought..
if at all a sticky could be used this way, just a thought.

 

[Escudo]

On balance I am not particularly keen on this idea.

However, if a "for sale" section is set up it should be restricted to members who have made a certain number of posts, say fifty.

This way it would avoid any old herbert just coming on here to sell stuff, without fees or regulation.

Just my 2p worth.

Tony.

 

[Anonymous]

I think that is already happenning.
Koolwabbit

 

[arminiusrex]

I have been lucky in that most of the items that I have had for sale have sold very quickly, mainly because what I have been selling are the sort of things that people on this forum want to buy.

And if at first you do not succeed, then try again.

How long does it take to post a message?

(hammer)

 

[RogerS]

I have been lucky in that most of the items that I have had for sale have sold very quickly, mainly because what I have been selling are the sort of things that people on this forum want to buy.

And if at first you do not succeed, then try again.

How long does it take to post a message?

(hammer)

I don't think that under the current rules we can do that.

It was also mentioned in anothe rpost that we 'are guests of Charlei'. That idea is nonsense. Any forum is a symbiotic relationship. Without Charley starting it up, it wouldn;t exists but without the members it would fail.

Someone did suggest a poll. Perhaps that is a good idea and then we can put this to rest for another year. I'm still volunteering to mod it.

 

[Gill]

No matter what the outcome of any such poll might be, I doubt Charley and the Mods would be in favour.

If there are not a lot of trades taking place, a dedicated forum board cannot be justified. If lots of trades do take place, advertisers might baulk at being involved with a forum which is providing an alternative to their retail services. The ability we have at present to let trade threads gradually sink down the boards is quite handy in this respect.

One of the great things about this place is how we all help each other. If a bit of surplus kit gets traded now and then, that's fine because it is all in the spirit of mutual support. Should the emphasis on trading ever become more significant, there is a risk the nature of the forum would change subtly and become less mutually supportive. Advocates of a dedicated board might argue that this risk is minimal, but nevertheless it is real. The current system seems to be working well enough and it seems unwise to take an unnecessary gamble.

 

[lurker]

It was also mentioned in anothe rpost that we 'are guests of Charlei'. That idea is nonsense.

Charlie is a nice bloke.
Me, I'd flip the switch on the servers for a few days to show you if its nonsense or not! :evil:

 

[Escudo]

I think Gill is right.

Tony.

 

[cutting42]

I am not in favour of a for sale section.

It is more perception but I feel like this place is a sort of club that I pop into most days to see what is being said or if I have something to say. It is like chatting with a bunch of mates and like a bunch of mates one might say one day, hey, I am selling my old saw/bike/sofa etc etc. anybody fancy it? That is fine and this is how it works now.

If there was a separate section it would be like setting up a trestle table down the pub or clubroom flogging of stuff - IMO it seems a bit commercial and loses some of the friendliness. Also on several other forums I am on (not woodworking) the biggest bustups have happened over the exchange of money and goods not meeting expectations. Now I appreciate this could happen here as well but I feel an official for sale section tends to concentrate that negative aspect and it will attract people with a selling agenda rather than being a contributing member.

Just my 2c

 

[Rich]

On balance I am not particularly keen on this idea.

However, if a "for sale" section is set up it should be restricted to members who have made a certain number of posts, say fifty.

This way it would avoid any old herbert just coming on here to sell stuff, without fees or regulation.

Just my 2p worth.

Tony.

So, how does that stand with the present government, as anyone can arrive in this country, receive benefits and be entitled to vote? off topic, yes, but the principle is the same, I DO empathise with your advocation and do not disagree, but a line has to be drawn SOMEWHERE, I would however agree that a for sale section should be created, after all, without the members of this forum, there would be NO forum, the Government has of late, taken notice of popular demand and expectations.
I am in NO way comparing Admin with the morals or practises of the present administration, he is far too pleasant and a decent chap to be considered on that level, but I do thnk that the important thing is to LISTEN.
Rich.

 

[Ironballs]

Rich is there any chance of you making a post that doesn't refer to the government

Personally I'd like a wanted/for sale section as there's a reasonable amount of trading done here and it would just make it easier

 

[matt]

I have no objection to a WANTED/FOR SALE section but I think the argument for and against differs depending on whether you are a poster of a WANTED/FOR SALE versus a prospective purchaser.

As a poster it makes it easier to post a relevant sticky about rules, regs, etc. It also makes it obvious where to post such items and that it is allowed. It also, I believe, makes it easier to regulate who can post (i.e. member versus passer by).

As a prospective purchaser it does not make any difference, at least not to me. I arrive, I click on View New Posts, I read the topic titles and don't take a great deal of notice which forum they're in.

I've yet to come across (or make) a convincing or compelling argument for or against. It's all a bit lame both ways except we need to acknowledge that this is not a democracy so perhaps my earlier suggestion of a simple vote was nonsense too.

In some respects this leads me to think that if we'd already had a FOR SALE/WANTED section I don't think they'd be any arguments to get rid of it. So perhaps it would be acceptable to add a forum and see how it goes? (The only caveat that I would add is that history would almost certainly dictate that each camp is potentially biased in their view of the trial -blind to the aspects that don't prove points made in the past).

Perhaps the ensuing debate should be around a trial period starting with an initial response from a mod or admin?

 

[devonwoody]

I know of a woodwork forum that already has a sale & swap section and there is no reason why members here cannot visit it every day or bookmark it.
It doesnt matter in this web world where the forum is, any commercial advertising needs permission and fees to the administrator.

BTW I sold my Triton outfit 2 years ago to a member of ukworkshop , he must have registerred the same day as purchase and I have never seen him post since.