Wanted/For Sale Forum Rant

Worminator

Worminator

AzB Gold Member
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Silver Member
I have been contemplating this post for quite a while. I know there will be many different points of view on this subject, and this one is solely mine.

It seems to me the the Wanted/For Sale section here at AZB has gotten a bit out of hand. The same cues (numerous cues at that) by the same posters, being bumped several times a day... everyday. It gets really old sifting through the same content all the time, not to mention all the free advertising they get from this site.

Yes, I use this site to promote cues I have for sale, but I believe I do it in moderation. However, I would be more than agreeable to pay for advertising here at AZB. I have purchased banner ads in the past, but I do not believe they offer as much exposure as a post in the Wanted/For Sale forum.

Many other hobbiest forums charge a membership fee to be eligible to post in the "classified" sections of their forum (something like $25-$50 per year). They also limit the amount of "bumps" one can make on their thread (e.g., a max of 5 bumps total and 72 hours between bumps). They also limit the amount of "chatter" in For Sale threads. In other words, the only replies allowed are ones committing to buy the item or questions pertaining to the item, no general comments about how nice it is, if it is a good deal, here's a bump for my friend, etc.

I believe this would be a nice revenue generator for AZB, and would make the Wanted/For Sale forum a much more enjoyable and efficient forum to visit. I believe that this can be accomplished using the current forum software, as another site I visit has this system in place.

That is my $.02 worth... I'm sure many won't agree.
 
AZ has a great vehicle for sellers to give back, it's called a Club Membership. You should check into becoming one.

I start on Friday and bump the shaft-wood I have for sale continuously until Sunday evening. Every weekend I generate sales this way, and before too much longer I will have sold all I have.

Cues seem to be a different story. They are not selling at the same brisk pace, so you see the same inventory daily. The depressed market also keeps new offers off the market because owners do not want to participate in that depressed market.

Overall, I think that the W-F/S section is working just fine, and when the market comes back you will not see the repetition anymore, as cues move quicker than than they do now.
 
I believe that everyone that sells on AZ should at least have a AZ Club Membership.
I also inquired about a banner on here but the price was way out of my league.
The Club membership doesn't cost that much and would certainly help this forum.
Take a look at the main page. See how many club members there are. They are colored blue. I was amazed at how few they are.
My point is people that have ten or twelve cues for sale on here should atleast have a club membership.

That's my .02
Lee
 
hangemhigh said:
AZ has a great vehicle for sellers to give back, it's called a Club Membership. You should check into becoming one.
Click to expand...

The "Club Membership" does not address the advertising issues in the W/FS section I spoke of above. I have stated that I have no problem supporting the site financially, but the "Club Membership" is not the answer IMO.
 
Worminator said:
The "Club Membership" does not address the advertising issues in the W/FS section I spoke of above. I have stated that I have no problem supporting the site financially, but the "Club Membership" is not the answer IMO.
Click to expand...

The membership is solely for revenue generation for the site. I would like to see all that sell be club members, it is a great way to let everyone know you give back to the forum.

The membership gives you some advantages as well, but does not set any rules for use of the forum.
 
I think if you start charging everyone a membership dues fee or a fee for selling, that a lot of people won't post a cue (maybe they only have one or two cues that they will sell), therefore AZ posters may miss out on some good cues. JMO
 
Its always nice to come onto AZ and go to the for sale section and see ***Several good cues for sale*** " I dont even read that thread because its so hard to follow" and there are many others. When they bump all the threads they have..it usually takes up at least half the page.


But, the great thing about it is this....If I dont want to read it, I just skip over it, so in essence, it really does not bother be because I am the one that ultimately will decide on what I want to look at and what I do not want to look at.

I do agree 100% that if you are going to sell on here, you should be a member. I have been a member here since a little after my joining, just have not renewed because im so busy during the summer and dont get on here much, but I will renew soon.

Thats my .03425 cents worth
 
I do however feel that you shouldnt be required to be a member if you have only sold, lets say 5 cues.....any more than that, yes, I do feel you need to be a member.
 
I believe that several good points were made by Worminator and doubt that anyone would say that it, in its entirety is wrong / unagreeable.
While a banner can definitely be unaffordable or even pointless for many selling here in larger quantities, I wholeheartedly support making the Club Membership obligatory for everyone selling say more than 2 or 3 items a year. I doubt literally everyone should be forced to pay who wants to sell an item or two in a year (i.e. the general users), yet everyone with further intentions in selling, trading, dealing should pay the fee, definitely.

In closing I myself find the repeating and never-ending threads distracting and unfortunate, yet I also assume that it is due to the state of the market mostly, and only partly for the desperate amount of bumps. My .02 here...
 
LPCUSTOMCUES said:
I believe that everyone that sells on AZ should at least have a AZ Club Membership.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with this one, I have been a member for over 2 years and have only sold 2 things, (one cue and a shaft) and I traded one cue I was trying to sell. I have bought quite a bit though, JP's, a few cases, and a bunch of cues, and I have participated in a few raffles as well. For an occasional seller such as myself, I don't want to have to pay any annual fees to sell.

Perhaps it should be the ones who sell a lot of cues and/or accessories be required to become Club Members, like many have already done. Or if AZ can figure out a way to get a % of the profits like eBay does, or just charge a fee per classified add posted.

I do agree the bumps all day long suck to sift through. I try to never bump more than a couple of times a week. If others were only as considerate.

I do love this forum and would gladly pay to subscribe to the AZ "forums", but I don't feel an occasional seller should have to pay a membership fee equal to those who use this forum to promote their businesses.

Just my 2 cents worth!
 
Jamie,,,
Easy way to do this is after post in the wanted for sale is made the post should be delete after 5 to 7 days if item sells or dont sell,,
BR
Ken
 
Worminator said:
I have been contemplating this post for quite a while. I know there will be many different points of view on this subject, and this one is solely mine.

It seems to me the the Wanted/For Sale section here at AZB has gotten a bit out of hand. The same cues (numerous cues at that) by the same posters, being bumped several times a day... everyday. It gets really old sifting through the same content all the time, not to mention all the free advertising they get from this site.

Yes, I use this site to promote cues I have for sale, but I believe I do it in moderation. However, I would be more than agreeable to pay for advertising here at AZB. I have purchased banner ads in the past, but I do not believe they offer as much exposure as a post in the Wanted/For Sale forum.

Many other hobbiest forums charge a membership fee to be eligible to post in the "classified" sections of their forum (something like $25-$50 per year). They also limit the amount of "bumps" one can make on their thread (e.g., a max of 5 bumps total and 72 hours between bumps). They also limit the amount of "chatter" in For Sale threads. In other words, the only replies allowed are ones committing to buy the item or questions pertaining to the item, no general comments about how nice it is, if it is a good deal, here's a bump for my friend, etc.

I believe this would be a nice revenue generator for AZB, and would make the Wanted/For Sale forum a much more enjoyable and efficient forum to visit. I believe that this can be accomplished using the current forum software, as another site I visit has this system in place.

That is my $.02 worth... I'm sure many won't agree.
Click to expand...


I think it is a bad idea for a couple of reasons. It would freeze out people like me who might only sell something once a year and it could raise the price of cues as the cost of doing business is passed on to the buyer.
 
Worminator said:
... They also limit the amount of "bumps" one can make on their thread (e.g., a max of 5 bumps total and 72 hours between bumps). They also limit the amount of "chatter" in For Sale threads. In other words, the only replies allowed are ones committing to buy the item or questions pertaining to the item, no general comments about how nice it is, if it is a good deal, here's a bump for my friend, etc. ...
Click to expand...

I support Jamie's recommendations for limits on the frequency of bumps and on pointless (other than bumping) chatter in for-sale threads.
 
Worminator has the right idea. I just joined as Club member.

Worminator said:
I have been contemplating this post for quite a while. I know there will be many different points of view on this subject, and this one is solely mine.

It seems to me the the Wanted/For Sale section here at AZB has gotten a bit out of hand. The same cues (numerous cues at that) by the same posters, being bumped several times a day... everyday. It gets really old sifting through the same content all the time, not to mention all the free advertising they get from this site.

Yes, I use this site to promote cues I have for sale, but I believe I do it in moderation. However, I would be more than agreeable to pay for advertising here at AZB. I have purchased banner ads in the past, but I do not believe they offer as much exposure as a post in the Wanted/For Sale forum.

Many other hobbiest forums charge a membership fee to be eligible to post in the "classified" sections of their forum (something like $25-$50 per year). They also limit the amount of "bumps" one can make on their thread (e.g., a max of 5 bumps total and 72 hours between bumps). They also limit the amount of "chatter" in For Sale threads. In other words, the only replies allowed are ones committing to buy the item or questions pertaining to the item, no general comments about how nice it is, if it is a good deal, here's a bump for my friend, etc.

I believe this would be a nice revenue generator for AZB, and would make the Wanted/For Sale forum a much more enjoyable and efficient forum to visit. I believe that this can be accomplished using the current forum software, as another site I visit has this system in place.

That is my $.02 worth... I'm sure many won't agree.
Click to expand...

Listen guys/gals i think that most of the people on this forum should join up as a Club member. Because i have used the forsale trade section and have gotten alot of good info from this forum i just signed up for a years membership $34.95 is nothing for the amount of help this forum has been to me. Even if you cant do the yearly thing at least go for a month or two, i think any and all will help keep this forum alive.
Jimmy K
 
Jamie's post is very good. I'll add if you separated (catagorized) the items, then it would also unclutter the area. Sold cues should be deletable by the poster, and it should be done after the cue has sold.

Cues
- Production: Joss, Schon, Predator, McDermott, etc.. sorry one of one from these guys is still production

- Custom: White, Mottey, Szamboti, Searing, Tascarella etc..

- Imports: Adam, Medici, Fury, etc..

Cases:
- US made custom: Justis, Whitten, Rusty etc...

- Production: Porper, etc..

- Foreign made imports: JB, Justis West, etc..

Two other ideas:
Prices MUST be in the listing.

Have a sub-forum to out lowballers. Ok.. I know not likely, but warranted.

JV
 
hangemhigh said:
The membership is solely for revenue generation for the site. I would like to see all that sell be club members, it is a great way to let everyone know you give back to the forum.

The membership gives you some advantages as well, but does not set any rules for use of the forum.
Click to expand...

I like it the way it is...I don't believe fees should be mandatory but I do believe people that sell should give back to the forum at least in the form of a Club Membership, just out of appreciation. Try running an ad in your local newspaper... if it still exists... and craigslist is full of scammers and spammers.
 
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Cue ID'ing should have a sub-forum also...

One last thing.. Jamie is a good egg, he comes to VF and pays for his booth spot. There are "others" that in the same token do not get a club membership here, also go to Hopkins to sell out of their rooms.

I guess one should not expect to much.

JV
 
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