Rafa

iTrader: (22)

In the end it comes down to applying common sense. I'd like to use johwag's post as an example: he registered on January and granted his post count is low; so what's wrong with that? In my mind he would be a better candidate to deal with that some others with much more posts to their credit.

I like what braineack is trying right now but you have to think about the sellers too when taking any decision; anyone selling a part wants to have as many potential buyers as possible. In fact, most of the sellers posting a for sale in this forum will simultaneously post at m.net and cr.net.

I remember I had only being registered for a very short period (I was mainly wasting my time asking my stupid questions at m.net) when Andy Floyd decided to put his turbo kit up for sale. I wanted that kit so I pmed Phillip and asked him to contact Andy on my behalf. I also left Andy my email address on his thread.

Whatever the mods and Rick end up deciding I think you should put it in a sticky and force the noobs to read it before registering.

SchoonerPaul

iTrader: (1)

These are the points I'm trying to make.

If a person wants to sell a part he wants as much traffic as possible for obvious reasons. Limiting that traffic to only people who talk a lot isn't doing much for an honest buyer who has a low post count. There is also personal responsibility. If you don't like how a buyer is acting, sniff some bull$hit in his/her story, don't sell to them. The forum isn't ever going to truly protect you from a crap buyer.

Granted, having some sort of history on a guy gives you some idea what they're about. But it's not superman's cape when it comes to protecting you from a dead-beat buyer.

Making it difficult to do something as simple as buying parts does create an adversarial relationship with new users. I'm sure some folks run into that wall and just leave. Your response to that might be "Fine! Good Riddance!" You're entitled to that. Who knows? Maybe you ran off the next Corky Bell?

Also, I'm sure M.net does a lot of business in the classifieds. I've bought a ton of of stuff on there personally. No post count minimum on that site.

Yeah! I'm a . I have an opinion.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

See here, bud. We pride ourselves on adversarial relationships with new users.

jayc72

iTrader: (14)

Fixed

hustler

iTrader: (6)

johnwag is a flaming homosexual. I was going to buy some parts from him, but he siad I could just have them if I let him give me a hander.

I say 25+ post minimum to look in here. We can all go over to miata.net if we want top dollar. Most of us would rather just deal with people here though.

macker

iTrader: (3)

So here's the problem I really have with post requirements for the classifieds...

New user comes to the forum, sees a part in the classifieds he'd like to buy. But he can't post in the thread because he doesn't have post count. So he now has a choice: try to contact the seller via PM, or go out of his way to post elsewhere.

What we're saying is, literally, we're going to force you to post elsewhere, before you are ready. (If they were ready, they'd already have posted.)

If we're concerned about crap posts elsewhere in the forum, how is forcing people to post going to improve that situation?

The other theme I see is "hey, mt is about tech talk, not classifieds!" Okay, ignore the classifieds section. Does it in some way affect you, if half the users on the site are _only_ in the classifieds? They're choosing how to use the site.

The last concern seems to be people either asking stupid questions, or having stupid answers, in the classifieds section, or outright fraud. This is two different problems. One is the idea of a new user being a low-quality seller, the other is users polluting threads. To the latter, this is what mods exist for. I'm conflicted on who should be allowed to sell parts... only for concern of the classifieds being overrun by scam sellers creating multiple accounts. Otherwise, buyer beware.

BenR

iTrader: (2)

You missunderstand me. I think the classifieds are useful, currently, the way they are. But the goal of the site has never been, and shouldn't be to peddle parts. If decisions are made that favor making it easier for user commerce to occur, but it comes at a cost of content quality then we are doing ourselves and the community at large a disservice.

jayc72

iTrader: (14)

If they only come for the classifieds they leave nothing of value behind and use bandwidth in the process. If you want to post an ad in the classifieds you need to be approved. Either you pay $$$ or ask a mod for access.

BenR

iTrader: (2)

It's not exactly like the current rules are hard to follow. By not even trying to adhere, it shows a lack of respect for everyone on the forum.

Ben

iTrader: (33)

The Classified section is here to be of benefit to the community.
Someone who signs up here just to post ads there is not a part of the community.

The only people who have a problem with this are.... people who are not yet members of the community. Since they're not part of our community, they have no right to bitch. In the same regard that illegals have no right to vote. And because they're not members/citizens **** THEM. If they want to join and follow the rules, then they are welcomed.

Quit this stupid bitching. We're not changing the rules, at least not in the sense of making it easier for s to access the classifieds.

QFT

BenR

iTrader: (2)

Maby miata.net or ebay.com are better suited for you, and thoes users who are here only_in the classifieds. They do not require a minimum post count.

johnwag

iTrader: (3)

fixed.

Rafa

iTrader: (22)

I see Ben is already getting pissed with this thread but before this goes any further, let me make a small suggestion: if a noob gets on this site to peddle parts make it tougher for him to sell but if he wants to buy; why limit the seller's options?

I would impose tough rules for any noob to sell stuff but I would leave it up to sellers as to whether they want to sell to a noob or not.

In my particular case, I love the rating system on this site. It really gives me an accurate pulse on who I'm dealing with. That is not the case when I buy something from some m.net member.

Ben

iTrader: (33)

This is absolutely the system that we have now. The *only* catch is that a member with a <10 post count can not send PMs. They can still receive PMs, and they can email sellers.

We must have this rule. Otherwise, bots and spammers can join the forum to bulk message the entire member list.

Seriously, how hard is it to compose 10 (or 20 for that matter) quality posts? Especially considering we have the BS section that begs for NSFW jokes, full frontals from g/f's, etc.

wildfire0310

iTrader: (1)

Well why don't we follow the rules more like IA(atlanta people well know). As much as I hate the site, they have an ok Classified rule. You can reply to someones post in Classified section but unless you meet the 2 rule or pay $10 you can't post a for-sale topic.

It is something like X amount of time on the forum and X rep points(which is the biggest b***h to get there), or you pay $10 and you can post as many for sale ads as you want for 1 month. This would help weed out people trying to hit X post count to just sell something.

This way new people can still buy from users but are unable to sell until they have been part of the MT.net and we have time to start to judge the person. Also I believe the Classified should not show until you are logged in.

Also I think the 10 post count to PM is fine. I know I had that issue when I first joined and there was not the Noob area so I posted a few post here and there and double in the forsale so i could PM the person, but I posted that I was trying to reach the 10 count so I could Pm. With the off-topic area counting towards post count it really easy to get 10 post. Most forums make it so the off-topic area doesn't count towards post count.

Ok that is my 2 cents

cjernigan

iTrader: (13)

I have a real problem when things I'm interested in get purchased out from under me by users with 20 posts or less. I consider it a right to be able to purchase here because MT.net is not Craigslist. If you want to sell parts here it should be because you're benefitting the community by offering it here. If you don't like it then you can sell your stuff at m.net or elsewhere.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

https://www.miataturbo.net/forum/showthread.php?t=21812

post number 11 for this guy.

incidentally, i'm very surprised we dont have more totally unrelated for sale ads from having all the random people over here for mouglie's stopleak thread.

Ben

iTrader: (33)

I watched what he did. Actually, I had assumed he would since he had it listed for sale in his sig. Flipped a coin on if we should keep or delete. He won.

Quality Control Bot

iTrader: (3)

I really don't think that is the issue here, the clouding of important and useful information.

What some people fail to realize is this site doesn't exist and pay its bills based off my stunning good looks. Forum member support, sponsors and other affiliate programs keep this site up and running. That is FACT. This site isn't hosted on a hostgator $3.99 / month setup.

The wealth of accurate turbo miata specific information isn't going anywhere unlike before, where content was deleted to save bandwidth (who does that really ???? )

Some valid points!

Post count has no bearing on a persons honesty. I think we have all seen that even a large corp / inc's scam forum members elsewhere.

Users doing transactions should make due diligence in making sure all grounds are covered as to not get scammed.

The only time that would ever take place is if there was a way to promote the paid classifieds is a superior more premium way to justify a cost. I personally would never impose a minimum payment to use the classifieds or base features of the site.


I am very content with the way things are going. I find most the users and mods keep people inline and with Brain at the helm, MT is in good hands.

If people step out of line and act like idiots (noobs), i have no issue with them being ****-canned by the guys. I mean, i generally get 1-2 emails a week telling me how evil everyone is here. LOL

It's important to me that the site continues to grow. I believe it is also important to the community.


While the point of this site means one thing to you, to the majority of new comers and current users, it's not (statistically speaking of course).

Doing this site a disservice would be hiding the classifieds, losing the new users, the traffic, ad revenue generation, the hosting, the site.

What people seem to forget quickly is this site almost had its plug pulled because of lack of revenue. I am not interested in walking that path, so, classifieds stay open. If the tech area was the #1 entry point and where most people spend their time, I would be saying the same about that area. Not that the tech information has no value, but, people troll around in the classifieds seeing what deals are out there.

There is also only so many DIY write ups that can be done. Not to say there can't be many, but don't expect 15 new posts a day on new projects 'you' can do.

And they get banned. When they email me, I often ask what happened. They explain, I reply "life sucks" (my customer service kicks ***).

Generally when people attempt to sell or do sell things it's not to benefit you. I am sure most sellers do not share the same sentiment.
While I agree that it does suck when sweet deals go quick, what could be so sweet that won't come up again ?

I agree. People shouldn't be selling their firebirds, camaros or mopeds in the Miata classifieds.
I think we need to have a misc area where non Miata stuff can be listed.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Go find some of the humorous stories Hustler posts and reply with those.