Members only?????

Members only?????

  • Open to RFF only. If you want to look register.

    Votes: 98 78.4%

  • Open to the world. No registration needed to view.

    Votes: 27 21.6%
  • Total voters
    125
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Not open for further replies.
I think that there is a big difference between a for sale post and a want to buy post.

FS can be seen to be abused just to off load second rate kit without any restrictions from an unknown bod along the lines of "Hey I'm really into RF photography honest but am selling RF/SLR body X + lenses A, B and C to any twit who'll cross my sweaty palm with silver". The seller probably does not give a bulls bum about photography, only to make a quick buck.

I must admit the first thing I check (and I guess others also) is the time and the number of posts that the seller has. If it's single figures or if all his/her posts are FS, I'll pass with mild increase in blood preasure with the slightly uneasy feeling that somone may bite and get burnt.

Putting some sort of bedding in period (combination of time + small number of posts) for members before selling not only protects the seasoned RF member but more importantly the genuine new guy/gal as well. A seasoned member is less likely to ba parted with the folding green stuff.

That's my tuppence worth.
 
Kim Coxon said:
You could always have a max post count as well, say 3000. That would stop certain members grabbing all the good stuff and give the rest of us a chance. 😉 😀 😛 Seriously, I don't see the post count as a problem. Kim
Click to expand...

Only 1842 more to go after this one....... and I haven't bought a single item from the Classifieds.... yet! 😀

The post count could be stipulated for sellers only while new members could purchase right away. They just couldn't sell immediately. If the idea is to prevent scams, just becoming a member isn't going to stop them. Just my opinion.

BTW, anything I decide to sell to RFF members will have a 5 day money-back guarantee as long as it's returned in the same condition as sent. The member can use the 5 days to be certain that they've received a good working item.

Walker
 
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The problem would be that the server wouldn't know a WTB from a FS post so you would need 2 threads (I think). If the classifieds were not visible to non members, they wouldn't know they existed and wouldn't the join to purely make a sale. Phelsuma came here asking for advice on value and the best place to sell and was immediately bombarded with ME, ME, ME. I was one of the members who benefitted from that. Our moderator was another. By banning such sales, you are not depriving the sellers so much as the members.

True there are quite a few FS threads that I ignore but that goes for some topics on other threads as well. A members only ruling makes sense and is fair to all. If you start placing post limits and time limits, you have to join the few. I seem to remember that a short while ago on a different topic, one of the points made by several newcomers was that they sometimes felt intimidated by what was perceived to be an "in crowd". Any limits would make this worse.

Fred said:
Err. I don't see a problem with WTB posts, seasoned RFers tend to be RF savvy as to what they want.
Click to expand...
 
I think it would be good if users had to be members for a year before they could post a classified ad. Too much room for ugliness intruding upon we happy few.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
After more thought I think I may have spoken too soon (in more ways than one). It seems if someones first and only post is a FS - it tends to just get ignored anyway, yet members trying to sell something do benefit from all the exposure they can get, so.....as one who has reaped the rewards of the classifieds as a newbie (buying), I will just keep quite now.

scott
 
why?

the for sale threads are almost always posted by a registered member anyway.
even the spammers register first.

what would it possibly accomplish?

slow the bad guys down by a minute or 2?
or would they stop and think about it and then decide not to post here because of the bother?

too many rules folks!!
this makes us exclusive not inclusive.

too many rules and we become like the other sites.
we are different because we work together as a team!!
 
I voted YES but now have second thoughts.

If you make the Classifieds "exclusive" for members only - won't we just wind up with a lot of nominal "members" who are only interested in buying and selling?

I'll "swim against the tide here" and ask Jorge to change my vote to NO.
 
back alley said:
why?

the for sale threads are almost always posted by a registered member anyway.
even the spammers register first.

what would it possibly accomplish?

slow the bad guys down by a minute or 2?
or would they stop and think about it and then decide not to post here because of the bother?

too many rules folks!!
this makes us exclusive not inclusive.

too many rules and we become like the other sites.
we are different because we work together as a team!!
Click to expand...

One year membership. Works wonders. Really.
 
back alley said:
is this a big problem here?

too many 'bad' for sale signs going up?
Click to expand...

Joe,

As a follow up to my comments above - anyone can "join" eBay. After all it IS a membership organization.

So I really think we have to consider the "unintended consequences" of limiting viewing the Classifieds to members. Doing so may actually make this MORE of an auction site - not LESS.

And, as you ask, why has this come up?

George
 
The only "serious" problem I had was in response to a WTB. One of the nice things here is that apart from Joe and Jorge, we are all members. Do we really want to have "grades" of membership over this?

Apart from people getting hot under the collar, has there been a serious problem with a FS listing?
 
Put me in the "Open to the world" camp. The RFF classifieds have been very good to me. We have a very good moderator who knows what he is doing and in general we are a pretty savvy group. I don't see why we need to complicate things.
 
bmattock said:
I think it would be good if users had to be members for a year before they could post a classified ad. Too much room for ugliness intruding upon we happy few.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
Click to expand...


One year you must be joking. I have bought and sold here ( sold to cover the stuff I bought ) and have I hope added some to the fourm but a year. I voted yes at first but I am now also having second thoughts about it.
 
A year is to long. I just got a lens from Flashover for a good price. He hasn't been a member for a year. I would have missed out on a good deal.

Think carefully, we might be missing out on good deals if we make such a rule.

Remember is takes two to make a deal. If you don't want to dealwith newbies, don't.

Leo
 
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