A note about the classifieds

[MP Guy]

All,

Many are starting to use the classifieds section. Some ads require a minimal payment some are free. If you place an ad where you pay a minimal fee please keep the following in mind. Do not deviate from the process of paypal payment once started. If you do, I will have to manually activate the ads. The paypal process should bring you back to the classifieds section. Once you are back on the classifieds your ad is approved and ready to go.

By the way, Things are really moving in the new classifeds and I am getting a lot of positive feed back about the layout and benefits.

Enjoy.

[iñaki]

I agree.
Also, don´t you think that, in the ads, the photos are (even supersized) too small to see the item properly?

[Socke]

Jep, I happily trade five ads against five random pictures from the gallery

For the threads I use the new posts button anyways

[MP Guy]

ok i will make the change and increase latest threads

[srtiwari]

I am now seeing a lot of Ads apparently from Dealers. Whereas this provides more choices to buy from, I feel it takes away from the more informal trading atmosphere I have come to like. I was under the impression that the RFF Classifieds were for individuals trying to buy/sell personal equipment, rather than advertising for a business. Is this new trend in keeping with the intent of this forum ? Perhaps one of the big Cheese can clarify this for me.

[back alley]

there is only one big cheese.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by srtiwari

I am now seeing a lot of Ads apparently from Dealers. Whereas this provides more choices to buy from, I feel it takes away from the more informal trading atmosphere I have come to like. I was under the impression that the RFF Classifieds were for individuals trying to buy/sell personal equipment, rather than advertising for a business. Is this new trend in keeping with the intent of this forum ? Perhaps one of the big Cheese can clarify this for me.

How a separate Dealers/Sponsors forum within the Classifieds? Best of both!

[JoeFriday]

that's a good idea, Chris... I don't mind seeing dealer ads, but they tend to crowd out the 'common folk'.. a separate section would eliminate that problem and you'd have a better idea if the item has a dealer warranty or is total crap.. I mean, 'as is'

[srtiwari]

Originally Posted by back alley

there is only one big cheese.

Thank you, but my question was for info on the classifieds, not dairy farming.

Originally Posted by srtiwari

Thank you, but my question was for info on the classifieds, not dairy farming.

Just in case you don't know:

Jorge Torralba is the site owner (a.k.a. "The Big Cheese").

back_alley (joe) is the Moderator

[clarence]

Just an observation, after having used the new classifieds section for a while:

Advertisements without photos do not get shown on the front page or even on the 'Most recent' Section of the main page of the Classifieds. Is there a rationale for this? A photo is hardly necessary for many small odds and ends, and discriminating between the visibility of these items and that of the already more prominent items like cameras and lenses has caused me some trouble.

Also, want-to-buy and want-to-trade advertisements are not featured in the main section either, and thus hardly get viewed.

I would greatly appreciate it if all advertisements, regardless of whether they have pictures or not, or whether they are WTB or WTT advertisements, had the same level of visibility.

Clarence

[David Murphy]

My comments: I would not mess with what you have now -- seems to work fairly well as a start. The volume of ads here is very low compared to some other hobby sites, but it could grow and get some legs if you do not bow to pressure to overly regulate it.

I think so long as everyone pays a nominal fee for an ad as you have it now, it is not a good idea to try and distinguish "dealers" and "non-dealers" -- this is a very dicey value judgment and fraught with conflicts of interest.

Getting the quantity and quality of mechandise being sold to a higher level, i.e. liquidity and volume is important for classified ads to work.

The most critical policing of the ads to be done is to try to eliminate non-authentic seller/buyers attempting criminal fraud with PayPal or money order schemes (etc.). Another hobby site I belong to (www.astromart.com) has been great at keeping con men out and making it a safe place to buy and sell gear. You might want to examine their techniques.