considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
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smokem

Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #15 on: July 02, 2013, 10:09:10 AM »
In my experience there are many other forums out there in the same boat - from motor cars forum to remote controlled car forums. But they don't really see it as an issue and have basically embraced it as the nature of internet forums. Not that you can't break new ground and find a formula that works. But it just does not sound so easy or it would have been done already...

If you make selling accessible to premium members only, you leave the door open for another forum to take your place. And I've seen that happen to another non-cricket forum. So a maximum number of sales per month would be better if something was to be introduced.

At the same time, sponsors need to "put in" to maximise sales from the forum. Simply paying and "turning up" just won't do. There is one bat maker on here who has had a massive surge in interest lately and it's solely because of him being very active on the forum. Same with retailers who have done well on this forum - they have participated, made contributions to quality content and have been rewarded.

Good luck with what you decide. I don't envy the admins here - it's a thankless task. But thank you for your continuing efforts in trying to improve the forum and asking for our feedback! :)
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Viper Cricket

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #16 on: July 02, 2013, 10:11:20 AM »
maybe you could move the for sale section out of the forum and onto its very own page/section/forum (not sure how websites work)

in order to see the for sale section you need to have a separate password/log in to go in there which is provided by admin. This would clean up the main discussion forum as it would just be the discussions and sposnsors and there would be a separate fourm specifically for member to member selling.

You could also put a restriction on members who havent posted 10 times in a month or something like that so people dont get 50 posts then just stop posting and start selling.

its tricky.

How many people actually contribute to discussions on a regualr basis??? 25 or so?
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rbblack

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #17 on: July 02, 2013, 10:13:10 AM »
Quote from: smokem on July 02, 2013, 10:09:10 AM
In my experience there are many other forums out there in the same boat - from motor cars forum to remote controlled car forums. But they don't really see it as an issue and have basically embraced it as the nature of internet forums. Not that you can't break new ground and find a formula that works. But it just does not sound so easy or it would have been done already...

If you make selling accessible to premium members only, you leave the door open for another forum to take your place. And I've seen that happen to another non-cricket forum. So a maximum number of sales per month would be better if something was to be introduced.

At the same time, sponsors need to "put in" to maximise sales from the forum. Simply paying and "turning up" just won't do. There is one bat maker on here who has had a massive surge in interest lately and it's solely because of him being very active on the forum. Same with retailers who have done well on this forum - they have participated, made contributions to quality content and have been rewarded.

Good luck with what you decide. I don't envy the admins here - it's a thankless task. But thank you for your continuing efforts in trying to improve the forum and asking for our feedback! :)

I pretty much echo smokem's sentiments.
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Nickauger

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #18 on: July 02, 2013, 10:40:45 AM »
How about a pay 'if' you sell, so that you pay maybe 10% on items up to £50, 7.5% up to £150, and 5% on anything more! Still cheaper than eBay, and a darn sight friendlier!
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RoCo Da Pixie

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #19 on: July 02, 2013, 10:49:54 AM »
Quote from: Nickauger on July 02, 2013, 10:40:45 AM
How about a pay 'if' you sell, so that you pay maybe 10% on items up to £50, 7.5% up to £150, and 5% on anything more! Still cheaper than eBay, and a darn sight friendlier!

Problem with that method is. How will you get the seller to pay the money that is owed?
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Nickauger

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #20 on: July 02, 2013, 10:54:59 AM »
I did think of that, would be far too much effort on the admins behalf. I'm sure 80% of people would be hinest enough to pay up but the chasing would be pretty horrendous work!
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RoCo Da Pixie

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #21 on: July 02, 2013, 11:01:22 AM »
Quote from: Nickauger on July 02, 2013, 10:54:59 AM
I did think of that, would be far too much effort on the admins behalf. I'm sure 80% of people would be hinest enough to pay up but the chasing would be pretty horrendous work!

I think a quota system will work. Or you pay a small fee to list an item. So it is then in your interest to maximise that sell as you will have to pay a fee each time.

For the topic to be created the admins will have had to receive their fee or it will be locked down. I know this will discourage sales but could be a viable option?
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Buzz

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #22 on: July 02, 2013, 11:04:58 AM »
FYI - my personal preference is for all for sale items to be pre-vetted by the Admin team who can then take a simple approach of declining people who are breaching the spirit of the forum or the selling rules - it would also limit the admin time needed.

The downside is that for sale items may take a little longer to get posted.
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charlie15

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #23 on: July 02, 2013, 11:05:19 AM »
I quite like the idea of stopping or at least reducing the number of for sale threads on here as I have found over the last few months the forum has become more like an ebay with added benefits, it will also put an end to any Brimble/Shaq episodes.  On the flip side we all have far too much kit and the for sale section is a good way of getting rid of that odd bat you bought without the missus knowing (Fattus  ;)), so limiting the number of sales allowed per member is one idea or alternatively raise the limit to 200, 250, 500 quality posts before members can sell, this way you would discourage any new members from racing to wahtever the level is now in order to offload kit.  As for the "Items Wanted" section I probably wouldn't make any changes here as both forum members and sponsors can engage on this, however, if a member sells something here then that is there 1 sale for the month used up. Alternatively offer it to Forum sponsors for a week to answer any posts and if nothing comes from it then open it up to members.
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Number4

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #24 on: July 02, 2013, 11:09:06 AM »
I'd like to see the posts raised to 250 or 500. At least it would deter the ones who are just here to flog their gear and seriously contribute to the forum
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procricket

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #25 on: July 02, 2013, 11:10:00 AM »
So so many ideas none of them right or wrong.

There are a few member who now try and use it as a free ebay for sure.

The admin team do a decent job no doubt I don't like the idea of paying a fee although I can see the logic because some on here try to flog more than sponsors.

Good luck admin team I possibly favour buzz's idea.

Some of the for sale prices on here are laughable though so agree something needs doing the best recent sales are the gone in 60 seconds bats
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Johng

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #26 on: July 02, 2013, 11:15:07 AM »
Depends on what Arvind is looking for. When the forum got going I saw it as a public interest forum but now there is commercial overtones to the site which can be a little more in your face. We all bought bats basically through opinion and if that opinion was good we all had one. Now it is whoever advertises and who is active and jumps on opportunities!!
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rbblack

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #27 on: July 02, 2013, 11:16:04 AM »
Quote from: Buzz on July 02, 2013, 11:04:58 AM
FYI - my personal preference is for all for sale items to be pre-vetted by the Admin team who can then take a simple approach of declining people who are breaching the spirit of the forum or the selling rules - it would also limit the admin time needed.

The downside is that for sale items may take a little longer to get posted.

As long as you admins are happy to do that I think it's a good shout to have that in conjunction with a 250 minimum posts.

You should also make the for sale section rules more concise and clear to try and help stop people being unaware of rules and bombarding you guys with junk sales postings.
1 stickied & locked thread with all the rules in 1 post only.

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uknsaunders

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #28 on: July 02, 2013, 11:19:04 AM »
Biggest problem Admins have is we have lives to lead. Selling issues whether it be selling fake stickers, disputes, advertising without sponsorship, etc, take up a large proportion of our time on the forum. I think any method that requires more admin interaction, instead of less probably isn't the way to go.

My biggest concerns are trying to understand why somebody needs to sell more than a couple of times a year. Surely if you buy to use the kit then it's more of a one off sale or a season end sale? Occasionally you get something that doesn't fit but some of the constant trading from members concerns me. Noted one guy has opened 13 sale topics since Jan. I'm also concerned about the amount of new or nearly new kit coming onto the forum. You spend £150-200 and then immediately sell it? Again, I can't quite get my head around it.

Some people just like buying kit but sometimes these things need to be reigned in. Ebay is the appropriate marketplace if you want to trade kit.
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i12breakfree

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Re: considered thoughts on selling on the forum please...
« Reply #29 on: July 02, 2013, 11:22:37 AM »
Quote from: rbblack on July 02, 2013, 11:16:04 AM
As long as you admins are happy to do that I think it's a good shout to have that in conjunction with a 250 minimum posts.

You should also make the for sale section rules more concise and clear to try and help stop people being unaware of rules and bombarding you guys with junk sales postings.
1 stickied & locked thread with all the rules in 1 post only.

My 2 cents on this
1) Letting Admin govern can cause issues as Admins can also disagree with each other. So avoid these situations
2) Increasing number of posts to say 200 will again lead to the unread section flooded overnight to Unwanted posts/comments
3) Keep a Limit to number of New sales posted per month per person and also charge a fees for the sale (may be once a sale is done) that will go to the forum.
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