itrader and wanted/for sale forum

UGOTDA7

Ban pending.....
Silver Member
Stop deleting threads unless for legal reasons - deleting threads just allows the deals gone bad cycle to continue. Members here should stand on what they post whether that is good or bad. And that's all members.....quit with any favoritism.

Responsibility is between the buyer and seller and whatever agreement they come up with - it should not in any way be an AZ issue. This is an information sharing forum and should remain at that.

A small membership fee in order to be a seller might help - but with that comes the agreement from AZ to end the historically overzealous moderation....members would be paying money knowing it would not be stolen from them which in essence is what would happen if paid for threads get deleted.

Stop the shills from bumping threads for their friends. This BS shadiness and juvenile clique behavior drives down the objectivity of the section.

One more time - stop deleting threads unless for legal reasons.
 

alpine9430

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
  • With any indication that an item is sold, the thread will be locked by moderators. It is not fair to other valid ads to be pushed down the list when side discussions bump a sold ad to the top of the list. Moderators will do their best in changing the title and adding a 'sold' to the beginning of the title to save a few clicks for others.
Is it possible for the OP to CLOSE the thread so the moderators do not have to review the threads?
 

Hidy Ho

Missed 4 rail hanger!!!
Silver Member
Is it possible for the OP to CLOSE the thread so the moderators do not have to review the threads?

I'm not a vBulletin software expert but I don't think it's possible without some hack (as I tell my clients, everything is possible but it will cost ya!!!).

Most other sites that use vBulletin has moderator review and close process.

Honestly, without improving moderating (more moderator/moderation), I don't think we'll improve anything here.

I've moderated a site before where we move questionable thread into moderator forum, duke it other among moderators, cleanse it whatever and then throw it back locked. If moderators couldn't come to an agreement, then we escalated to the power-to-be for the final words.
 

DEXTER

Runde fan
Gold Member
Silver Member
my .02

I thought the rule for bumping for sale threads was once a day. At that rate your bumping from page 6. I've seen 2 days 4 days 72 hours being mentioned. Your item will be on page 20 by then. And what does that have to do with scammers? All the "Great looking cue good luck with your sale" posts. To me look like a way of getting around that rule, since you're not bumping it yourself. Other than that alot of good ideas have been presented. But I do have one question. How does a seller have total red rep one day and total green rep the next day? Seems a little fishy. But I guess if you're good at scamming people you're going to find a way. This is the best site on the net, lets figure out a way of keeping it that way.
 

alpine9430

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm not a vBulletin software expert but I don't think it's possible without some hack (as I tell my clients, everything is possible but it will cost ya!!!).

I am not sure of the effort it would take...
But another forum where I am equally as active as this forum, http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php, uses that as a model (the for sale section in this forum is open to active members only - this eliminates the viewing by non active members and those with the intention of scamming from just cruising for a new target).

Here is the instruction for closing the thread...
When the Seller has sold an item or a Buyer has found the item they were looking for, they should close the thread. Thread can be closed by thread starter by
- open the thread
- click on the "Thread Tools" menu
- make sure "close thread" is selected
- click "perform action".
If the thread need to be reopened, use the same procedure (open thread command will be shown instead). You may close/open only your own threads.

Again, just reaching out with an idea.
 

alpine9430

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I thought the rule for bumping for sale threads was once a day.
There are numerous threads that are bumped by the OP on the average of 6-8X per day to ensure their thread is on page 1.
Just looking for an idea to provide consistency to the for sale forum for all to follow or for the rule to be software enforced.
 

cfrandy

AKA: The Road Runner
Silver Member
Just want to add my 2 cents...
1 cent - The idea of requiring a club membership to post items for sale does not seem fair. I've been a participant here for a long time and have an impeccable iTrader feedback. However, I am currently disabled and umemployed. I will not have any income until August when I begin early retirement. I used to be a member but cannot afford it at this time. On the same token, I do NOT abuse the forum. Maybe if the requirement was one "for sale" a month for non-members, it would seem more fair. Imagine a newbee wanting to sell the cue YOU have been looking for all your life...but unable to do so because he is not a member! BTW, I do plan to become a member once again at sometime in the future. Maybe we could have honorary memberships for the disabled...lol.

2 cents - Many of the problems encountered in the for sale forum are encountered by lazy people who are unwilling to do their homework or take precautions. I remember the 1st cue I bought here. It was from Martin. Back then, he wanted me to wire him $2000 for the cue I wanted. Risky? Not at all, because I did my homework. I ask other members and even called Paul Drexler personally BEFORE wiring the money. It's really simple folks...if a deal sounds too good to be true, I'm sure it is! And, if you have any doubt about the purchase or sale...be CAUTIOUS! Use an escrow service or other means to protect yourself! I all the years I have bought or sold items here...I have NEVER got burned.

I would only add, I agree NO thread should be deleted. Maybe they could be moved to a "sticky" but we NEED to know who the asses are! Besides, some are truly great entertainment. I laugh every time Sutton makes an ass out of himself...which is every time he makes a post!
 

cfrandy

AKA: The Road Runner
Silver Member
Ok, make that 3 cents!

I also agree that "bumps" should be limited to no more than one in a 24-hour period!
 

classiccues

Don't hashtag your broke friends
Silver Member
Also when posting in the wanted or for sale sections one item must be included... Trade: yes OR no.

When selling, this makes a very clear point that I am sure some people will disregard anyways.

When looking to buy: sends a very clear message that you don't have all the cash and looking to trade.

Maybe we need more acronyms..

WTBACAP - wanted to buy as cheap as possible

WTBBDHM - wanted to buy but don't have money

FSPDOMJIT - For Sale Please dont offer me junk in trade

FSIYOMABJIWCTYHAKY - For sale if you offer me a break jump I will come to your house and kill you :p

JV
 

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
Just want to add my 2 cents...
1 cent - The idea of requiring a club membership to post items for sale does not seem fair. I've been a participant here for a long time and have an impeccable iTrader feedback. However, I am currently disabled and umemployed. I will not have any income until August when I begin early retirement. I used to be a member but cannot afford it at this time. On the same token, I do NOT abuse the forum. Maybe if the requirement was one "for sale" a month for non-members, it would seem more fair. Imagine a newbee wanting to sell the cue YOU have been looking for all your life...but unable to do so because he is not a member! BTW, I do plan to become a member once again at sometime in the future. Maybe we could have honorary memberships for the disabled...lol.

2 cents - Many of the problems encountered in the for sale forum are encountered by lazy people who are unwilling to do their homework or take precautions. I remember the 1st cue I bought here. It was from Martin. Back then, he wanted me to wire him $2000 for the cue I wanted. Risky? Not at all, because I did my homework. I ask other members and even called Paul Drexler personally BEFORE wiring the money. It's really simple folks...if a deal sounds too good to be true, I'm sure it is! And, if you have any doubt about the purchase or sale...be CAUTIOUS! Use an escrow service or other means to protect yourself! I all the years I have bought or sold items here...I have NEVER got burned.

I would only add, I agree NO thread should be deleted. Maybe they could be moved to a "sticky" but we NEED to know who the asses are! Besides, some are truly great entertainment. I laugh every time Sutton makes an ass out of himself...which is every time he makes a post!


The cost issue is really inconsequential. Club Membership is only $35 per year but you can order it for only $3.95 for a month, so if you want to sell something, you can insert it for $3.95 and have a temporary membership.

This is considerably less expensive than e-bay. I realize the buyer market here is nowhere near as large as e-bay - but if it were presented in a way that eliminated a lot of the annoyances (bumps, long discussions over irrelevant material, etc.) it would probably grow the market and maybe some of those e-bay people would be buying here.

The beauty of the AZ Wanted/for sale is the items are listed and easy to find - e-bay is buried by a cumbersome search engine. Here it's presented. There you have to dig.

I would actually recommend lowering the standard Club Membership to $25 annually renewed membership, or $5 for a two month temporary membership, 5 ads per year for the annual membership and one ad with the two month membership.

I would recommend selling the Industry Membership for $50 per year with a high limit - like 30 per year. I was originally thinking unlimited but i could see some yo-yo creating a catalog that way.

I would also suggest changing the wanted/for sale to appearing by date posted with an expiration date of a month (no bumps).

It would be a lot cleaner than what we have now.

Chris
 

Wheeljack

You Know It!
Silver Member
I like a lot of the ideas here...

I want to add one that will probably not be popular here, but here it goes:

Each person/seller should only be able to have one "sell" thread. You can list all your items on your thread, including wants and trades. Your thread would be like your own little shop. You can bump it up to the top of the list 2x per day, or when you have updated/changed the info or items on it.
 

DEXTER

Runde fan
Gold Member
Silver Member
Ideas

I like that last idea. I sold a cue the other day that went in 6 hours. We would need to be able to move our post it to the Sold section.
Oops Tate's post.
 
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Joqpub4

AZB GOLD
Silver Member
Thoughts...

I read through these ideas yesterday evening and this morning...

in no particular order...

A couple of thoughts:
1. the buyer beware, AZ taking no ownership for resolving disputes is the easiest and probably legally the right thing to do. Inserting AZ into the process via a membership or policies that look like AZ is guaranteeing anything, could increase the risk in our litigation happy society. If I was Mike, I'd think REAL seriously about that, before I went down that road.

2. I look at the Raffle forum and while the sticky that created it (suggestions for ways to run a raffle) was contentious to develop, when I see a raffle posted in the recommended way, I have a bit more faith that it it someone who a) plays by the rules and b) might be legitimate. A sticky to outline the suggested ways to post for sale/for trade/wanted/etc items with a proper format, items to include etc, does seem appropriate. Again, referring to #1 above, I don't believe AZ should try and outline the definitions of what words describing a particular condition mean, but they should post that condition should be mentioned.

3. Disputes on deals - This is between the buyer and the seller. Yes, as a buyer (and maybe a future seller) I value the information in these posts to see if a particular individual (by their own words) has established a reputation that I would not want to do business with. I (and most everyone else) has no idea who is telling the truth (or they both may be in their PERCEPTION), but I know from reading a recent bunch of threads, that I would not want to deal with a particular cuemaker since when apparently a deal went sideways, he responded in ways that I don't particularly care for. You can disagree and be respectful.

4. Moderators - I have been a moderator for an Information Science/Technology forum before. It never had the sheer volume of traffic that AZ seems to get. I don't know how many moderators there are, but I would think there should be a couple of overall moderators and then individual forum moderators (number needed depends on the traffic in that forum) so that they can keep up. I did it as a volunteer before, I'm sure there are people who would volunteer.

5. Problem threads/posters - There should be a separate private moderator section where moderators can talk about problems, threads that are issues can be moved there for discussion and if deletion is warranted (physical threats are a perfect example) sent to the appropriate authorities. People need to understand that physical threats are NEVER ok, not even in jest.

6. Funny Pic/Chunky type threads - NPR sub-forum for not work appropriate material... we don't need to get anyone fired.

7. One other suggestion I saw was in the listing, posting where you are... Country is helpful and where you are shipping to, but detailed location information can be problematic and continuing to have it as a volunteer item in the profile is the right way to go to me.

8. Moderators moving threads to proper forum... Yes, but that's not their job... 1st time PM, 2nd time Warning, thereafter deleted the threads and post in the forum (a sticky) that a thread was deleted started by XXXX due to continued misplacement.

I'm sure there are some other things that I've forgotten , but sorry for the novel.

Oh yeah, almost forgot... Owner can do what they like... they are paying the freight. We are the customers, if we don't like it, we can choose to start our own forums or move somewhere else. A lot of people have problems with that concept, but the fact that they pay the freight, means they have the control. That we contribute, may (or may not) add value for them, but at the end of the day... It's their call, their risk.

-Joe Sherwood
 

cfrandy

AKA: The Road Runner
Silver Member
The cost issue is really inconsequential. Club Membership is only $35 per year but you can order it for only $3.95 for a month, so if you want to sell something, you can insert it for $3.95 and have a temporary membership.

This is considerably less expensive than e-bay. I realize the buyer market here is nowhere near as large as e-bay - but if it were presented in a way that eliminated a lot of the annoyances (bumps, long discussions over irrelevant material, etc.) it would probably grow the market and maybe some of those e-bay people would be buying here.

The beauty of the AZ Wanted/for sale is the items are listed and easy to find - e-bay is buried by a cumbersome search engine. Here it's presented. There you have to dig.

I would actually recommend lowering the standard Club Membership to $25 annually renewed membership, or $5 for a two month temporary membership, 5 ads per year for the annual membership and one ad with the two month membership.

I would recommend selling the Industry Membership for $50 per year with a high limit - like 30 per year. I was originally thinking unlimited but i could see some yo-yo creating a catalog that way.

I would also suggest changing the wanted/for sale to appearing by date posted with an expiration date of a month (no bumps).

It would be a lot cleaner than what we have now.

Chris

Ok, ok...I'm a club member again!:clapping:
 

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
Ok, ok...I'm a club member again!:clapping:

Thanks man!

This would be one value added benefit that would enhance the value of membership for people who buy and sell equipment, collectors, and dealers.

I know it would be even more management for AZ, but wanted/buy/sell right now is a somewhat dysfuntional tool with a lot of potential but currently no real benefit to the website's bottom line.

My version would organize the department, get rid of a lot of wasted space, enhance membership value, create higher levels of membership options, help to protect the AZ community, and generate positive cash returns.

Chris
 

HDR10

HR Custom Cues
Silver Member
Would be happy/more than glad to become a paid member BUUUUT,I dont do paypuke and have e-mailed several times and a few different people how to do it another way with either no response or just a ''I dunno'' including AZHpro
 

Duce

Engineer
Silver Member
We should make it so that members with 5 or less positive feedbacks can't leave a feedback until they have the minimum of 5 feedbacks or something like that.
 
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Kid Dynomite

Dennis (Michael) Wilson
Silver Member
Rule change

OK gang, looks like we need to figure a few things out here. Having some problems lately with users flaking on deals and then whining about it when they are asked to do the right thing.

Want to remind everyone of a couple of things. Someone posting a negative itrader after a deal is not reason to post a negative itrader back. If you were happy with the deal, give them a positive itrader. If they give you a negative one, then reply with your side of what happened and let future customers decide whether to do business with you on their own after reading the facts.

This topic above could be solved with a technology or programming change. My idea is to have the itrader not post until BOTH parties have replied and then lock it. That way, neither party knows what the other posted prior to their own reply. Also, make it a rule that both parties reply with in say "2 weeks" or else their priviledges become suspendend. That way, the bad guys can't just never reply or never leave itrader to avoid being exposed for the bad deal.

I am thinking about the idea of putting some users on wanted/for sale probation if they have multiple legitimate complaints about the way they do business. I am open to anyone's thoughts on this sort of thing.

Also interested in other ideas as to how to police this area better. If you have an opinion, this is the place to make it known.

Mike

My idea above in blue!

KD
 

mortuarymike-nv

mortuarymike-nv
Silver Member
great transaction

my first international transaction
shipped 8/23 last tuesday at noon from nevada to Taiwan USPS express $ 55.25 w/ insurance
Cue packed double card board tubes bubble wrap news paper duct tape.
This is the great part the buyer in taiwan trusted this site enough to buy a cue from me.
But this would not of been possible if it was not history of honest transactions taking place in az forum.
to my surprize i had a pm this morning saying

Hi Mike,
i got the cue in the evening and i've tested it.
it plays so great !
tks for your perfect packing, too.
it's the best packing i've seen.
tks a lot !

ps i went to local flooring store they gave some heavy wall card board tubing for free.
i really didnt think about pvc pipe i think that would be the best packing container
Thank you everyone mike
 
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