[Zaph]

Honestly, new users should just sell on ebay.

The for sale part of this forum is for actual participating members, and that is part of the built in security. People with friends on the forum and many posts can easily be trusted.

 

[Smitty9006]

Sucked back in...

What about new members wanting to buy?

As for selling, I had a NIB Arrow slip on that I sold for $450 on eBay. To me, that was a great deal and someone here could have had 1st dibs.

Whatever....

 

[Shamrock]

Maybe have a time limit associated with new registrations and not just post count. I know on some forums I do a lot of lurking (actually using the search function and all that) and not a lot of posting. That way a long time lurker isn't penalized for clogging up the forum with drivel. A month seems like a good starting point.

Selling items on forums, especially higher priced items, is much more attractive as a seller since ebay's fees are out of control. They were 10% last I checked. That's not chump change on a $500 suit or exhaust.

Actually there is one. It's 30 days, AND 25 posts.

 

[MacBandit]

What needs to be understood is that the members on this forum are what makes it good. There are quite a few of us that have been on here the better part of a decade and we know each other and trust each other as friends. We do a lot of trading and selling through trust alone. Funds on receipt or pay me when you have money etc.. It’s a forum first and foremost. The classifieds are just there to keep things tidy in the rest of the forum. Yes there has been some bad sales in the past and people get pissed off because there is zero recourse. This is a forum not a sales site with any form of protection. So to protect our members our family we prevent unknowns from doing business on here. People that would before just drop in and sell some junk maybe rip someone off and never come back. That’s not what this site is for. It’s for trading information and making friends with people of similar interest first and foremost 99.99%. If that’s not what your looking for in a forum this probably isn’t the place for you. If getting to know some of the best people on 675s heck on motorcycles period on the Internet and having a great resource for information than this is the place.

 

[t_bare]

It may be helpful to allow new users to "reply" to a FS Thread. When someone buys their first used 675 the next step is to look for goodies. I know when I bought mine I did extensive searches so I really did not need to ask many questions about 2009 675 because the information is already posted and searchable. My favorite is when someone does ask a question and the responses are "do a search" To a great extent our own attitudes are killing forums. Consider the new owners who came here to join the fray, they are looking to BUY not sell. Limiting the ability to sell sounds likes a good idea but limiting their ability to buy is bad for everyone. We are chasing off new users.

t_bare

 

[MacBandit]

They can always use private messages.

 

[t_bare]

They can always use private messages.

I got a angrily worded PM and Warning from one of the Mods for making that exact suggestion.
t_bare

 

[MacBandit]

I am apparently poor at communicating if you think it was just about that. Although I will apologize I was a tad hard on you. We’ve had a a few people around then that we’re doing everything to circumvent the rules so I drew a line in the sand and made it very clear to anyone doing what you were doing that it wasn’t acceptable. The rules are available and hard to miss right at the top of the forums. Whether you agree with them or not if you want to join this community they should be followed.

It’s seems kind of short sighted to join a forum because it’s seems like a great place but then immediately ignore that forums rules. The rules of a forum are what make it a good place. If you want an example of forums without rules we can all give you examples of forums we don’t like.

 

[t_bare]

I am apparently poor at communicating if you think it was just about that. Although I will apologize I was a tad hard on you.

You were not the Mod that PM'd me.

I am not interested in perpetuating any negativity. I was sharing my view from the perspective of a newb. You buy a bike, you buy stuff for it, you join forums. If the forums are not welcoming you go away. Forum traffic depletes, advertising dollars wain, forum dies. Facebook is all to happy to pick up the slack but Facebook does not contain the treasure trove of information that can be found in forums so we all have a vested interest in welcoming the newbs, perpetuating the forums and keeping access to the treasure trove of knowledgable posts alive.

t_bare

 

[Smitty9006]

You were not the Mod that PM'd me.

I am not interested in perpetuating any negativity. I was sharing my view from the perspective of a newb. You buy a bike, you buy stuff for it, you join forums. If the forums are not welcoming you go away. Forum traffic depletes, advertising dollars wain, forum dies. Facebook is all to happy to pick up the slack but Facebook does not contain the treasure trove of information that can be found in forums so we all have a vested interest in welcoming the newbs, perpetuating the forums and keeping access to the treasure trove of knowledgable posts alive.

t_bare

2nd these thoughts.

What would be the downside to letting newbies buy from the classifieds?

Regardless if rules change, I love this site and I hope it remains successful. I'm only trying to make it better from a newbie's perspective.

 

[administrator]

What we see on alot of other forums that have little/no rules for posting in the classifieds is that new members solely join to sell their stuff and nothing else, thus adding nothing to the forum. Also, alot of spam bots will target the classifieds sections on sites as they can add links (sometimes harmful) and people will click on them thinking they're images/sale links etc. The rules are in place to avoid this and others.

Niall

 

[Phicurious86]

I think the requirements on this forum are fine. I took that 30 day period to learn as much as a I could and do a little research before jumping in to buy something that looked enticing. That said I don't think there's any good reason to discourage an experienced rider from messaging someone selling an item to inquire about buying it. The seller can then decide if they'd like to sell someone who hasn't met the forum requirements for being able to post in classifieds.

I also have no issue with blocking the classifieds page until the initial requirements for posting there have been met.

 

[project compassion]

I agree with Smitty and t_bare. While this is largely of my own doing, I had an account contributed, took a break from riding and have come back. Now had to make a new account, I also recently binned my bike and can't put up a "WTB" thread because apparently I should just reply to the "FS" threads. I can't PM everyone asking if they happen to have what I'm after. At the very least it would seem reasonable to at least allow WTB thread creation.

 

[Shamrock]

An @administrator can help you with recovering an old account.

 

[administrator]

Send us a PM with the account name, email address on the account and we'll look into it.

- JB

 

[connellcr3]

I'm a newer member, still lacking the required post count. I completely understand having the restrictions for selling to keep the spam out, and I appreciate it. But I do feel like new members (with an intro post, or fewer post counts) should be able to reply and buy things in the classifieds. I have been on several forums in the past and so when I picked up my '06 D675 that needed a ton of work I knew this was the first place I should check. Some of the best info and deals I've ever found have been on forums. I try to contribute when I can, but typically the questions have been answered, or I don't know the answer, and I refuse to spam post to get my count up.

Just wanted to give my opinion as I would love to be able to reply and buy things for my bike instead of having to PM the seller every time, and to get that extra post count.. lol jk

 

[administrator]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts @connellcr3! You're already almost halfway to meeting the requirements, so I'm sure you'll be there in no time! :smile:

Cheers,

Erik