[Closed] People interfering in you for sale threads.

There's a bike I keep seeing for sale that mentions 'downhill' in the description without specifically saying that it's a downhill bike but I can see that someone less knowledgeable might not realise the distinction.

Is it ok to mention that it's clearly not a DH bike (arguably it's barely capable of XC 🙂 ) or is that spoiling? for me, that's the kind of thing I take issue with.

the PRST-4 clubber?

I've bitten my tongue on that one.

[quote=Rorschach ]bye bye....

welll
[quote=Mark ]
You are of course free to disagree and you are of course free to post your disagreement on this forum, as you have been doing.

I'm simply disagreeing. I don't agree that posts in the classifieds forums are different to posts in the other forums, as Mark does. I do see this as a community, and as such the kind of place where we help other people by warning them of dangers and pointing out bargains and things of interest.

I shall be considering whether to cancel the subscription I've had running for ten years. I, like many others, fail to see how the new rule benefits anyone other than the sellers, and Mark's posts have in no way helped me understand

and Mark's posts have in no way helped me understand

Really? They haven't helped you understand his logic behind the decision at all? He's broken it down quite well to give an indication as to how he came to that decision and why he believes it is fair.

Apparently, those in favour of the new rule outweigh those against "by an order of magnitude"© Mark

As I said by way of example on the thread in the classifieds, you are free to advise Tesco that their beans are more expensive than ASDA's but not by sticking a big poster on their front door for everyone to see.

Agreed.

Lynching a seller for no reason other than to try and obstruct their sale is wrong. If you are trying to negotiate a better price on your own behalf, that is a different matter altogether and is simple negotiation.

In summary, to quote my nan, "mind your own business". If you're not interested in the purchase, stay out of the thread.

he's broken down a lot, I still down't see how it can be a good thing for anyone other than the seller. still, as duidh points out, I'm in a minority so that;s fine

@wwaswas - no comment...

That's a carp comparison with tesco and baked beans!! Tesco own their shop, pay the cost of running and maintaining the buying environment, so yes it would be entirely unreasonable to put a poster up on their front door.

Sellers on STW use a free service in the public domain. If individuals want to charge their own prices without feedback then maybe they should set up and run their own classifieds site (in the same way as Tesco run their own shops...)!!

And as for profiteering, I'd claim someone is profiteering if they buy an item, have x months of use from it, and then try and sell it for similar to what they paid. Depreciation and wear and tear have a "cost" so it's not as simple as "I bought it for £50 so now I can sell it for £49".

I think STW towers should stop being so bloody petty and concentrate more on the numerous real rip-offs and scams in the classifieds.

I think mark is right that on pricing it is nobodies business but the seller and potential buyers. But I do think members should be able to point out when something is clearly not as it should be in an ad. As above, someone describing a XC frame as a downhill frame or someone stating that certain cranks are compatible with certain bottom brackets when they are not etc.

It just seems to be this simple- the new rules are pro-seller, anti-buyer. Certain sellers think this is great, for some [i]mysterious [/i]reason. Buyers can't possibly gain from it and can potentially lose out. Decent sellers had nothing to fear from reasonable criticism in the first place. (and fwiw, I sell as much as I buy)

There's a case for some restriction on thread spoiling, frinstance I've seen (on another forum) "Bike for sale", with a page of responses critiquing the spelling, slagging off the bike, etc. That's not cool. But then on here the other day we had a light for sale, meanwhile in the main forum we had a PSA showing where you could get the same light, brand new with warranty, for less. That's not cool either.

What happened to the 7 page thread in the For Sale section on exactly this topic? Did the Truth Police get it?

I'm also one of the tiny minority that thinks the new rule is shit for everyone except dodgy sellers.

[quote=druidh ]What happened to the 7 page thread in the For Sale section on exactly this topic? Did the Truth Police get it?

it just got de-stickied, and being in the ad forum it's dropped right down

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/ad-spoiling-new-rule-dont-do-it-its-very-annoying

I'm in the minority aswell.

Anyone know where I can get a VW transporter that will TURN HEADS ?

News just in. We have just received our first classified donation in 3 months. It is for £5. Glad to see someone felt we were worth their money.

PS. Just got another fiver.

Careful Scruff - you'll get a warning for trolling(allegedly)

PS. Just got another fiver.

*Thanks for your order
Your payment of £5.00 GBP is complete.

You're now going back to Gofar Enterprises Ltd

*waves

If the chap with the camper van gives me proof of his sale, Cancer Research will get £20. Doubt he's donated anything

We have just received our first classified donation in 3 months.

Lost in the post?

If you're getting a fiver a quarter, by my reckoning, I'm owed the classifieds for 6 months (possibly 9). As such, I demand that I can spoil ads for that period.

PS. Just got another fiver.

could have got it for less from CRC

Interfering. Hmmm.

I suppose it's now more likely that people will do "particularly well with a sale" so might donate from their extra profit 😉

Adding my voice to the tiny minority. Agree with this:

It just seems to be this simple- the new rules are pro-seller, anti-buyer. Certain sellers think this is great, for some mysterious reason. Buyers can't possibly gain from it and can potentially lose out. Decent sellers had nothing to fear from reasonable criticism in the first place. (and fwiw, I sell as much as I buy)

I struggle with long sentences - (whatever that stands for)

wysiwyg - Member
Would I be right in thinking what I choose to charge for an item is between myself and any potential buyers, or should I expect busy bodies sticking their oar in telling me something's available from Germany for £1 more.

This is STW, expect it.

What happened to the 7 page thread in the For Sale section on exactly this topic? Did the Truth Police get it?

No its still there and that is unfair

STW are very good at bothering to discuss with us when they change things [ generally] and let us have our say on the issue - even if they dont always listen 😉

Would I be right in thinking what I choose to charge for an item is between myself and any potential buyers, or should I expect busy bodies sticking their oar in telling me something's available from Germany for £1 more.

fervouredimage - Member
I think mark is right that on pricing it is nobodies business but the seller and potential buyers. But I do think members should be able to point out when something is clearly not as it should be in an ad. As above, someone describing a XC frame as a downhill frame or someone stating that certain cranks are compatible with certain bottom brackets when they are not etc.

From Mark's post above, sounds like you can help 'clarify'.... So long as you're not 'spoiling' the advert, you're on firm ground. Sounds a bit subjective mind....

Something that the "pro-spoilers" (for want of a better title) have conveniently overlooked is the frequency of non-availability of items at the online stores.

We've all seen the CRC pages where only bizarre sizes are available at the headline price, and plenty of people have posted on here about German sites letting them get all the way to the shopping cart with their "bargain", only to find it is out of stock.

The classifieds are private listings, posted by someone who actually has that item with them and so users can be confident it exists, at the price it is posted up for.

I suppose it's now more likely that people will do "particularly well with a sale" so might donate from their extra profit

Donate? wouldn't payola be a better term given the 'protection' the sellers get now? 😉
They probably get 2 points on the 'Shy' action generated from the Wonga ads too 🙂

now that the "sticky" has gone can we plead ignorance? 😀

Junkyard - if it's still there then I apologize (how very un-STW of me). I'd fogotten the way the Classifieds forums ordered posts.

Sorry Jota, if you donated on the 1st of November, Thanks very much!

Sorry as well i did not realise they had Unstuck it either so it will take some searching unless you have posted on it already

Can I get a "D" prefix now? or I'll do a claim back 😉

Sorry Jota, if you donated on the 1st of November, Thanks very much!

Did I?
I can't remember, really 🙂

bruneep - was that the kind of D you were looking for? 🙂

I want one too!

Very funny

Yey that'll do

[IMG] [/IMG]

The classifieds are private listings, posted by someone who actually has that item with them and so users can be confident it exists, at the price it is posted up for.

patricksingletrack - Singletrack Webby
News just in. We have just received our first classified donation in 3 months. It is for £5. Glad to see someone felt we were worth their money.

*reaches for violin*

I thought that's what subscriptions were for, no?

For the next hour anyone who sends a donation gets a ;-D or the sort tag of their choice (within reason) for one week.
I'll set them up tomorrow

How much for Awesome Big Hitter?

thi could be quite a nice earner

you should allow us to buy titles for others 😉

Start mental list 😈

Can I donate and get Cynic-Al the 'Big hitter' tag he's always wanted? 😀

Junkyard - £5 and it's yours.

clubber - no, tags are for the donor only

Have you checked with the boss on that one 😀

If al does not want it I will pay for it for a week- I e-mailed him

Wow. Thread drift.

Right, that's me donated (fly...s) - "XC Jeyboy" please 😉

Mark is more than happy with that. You pay your money and make your choice.

Lets put it this way Junkyard - if we don't get a fiver from you, we'll be choosing your tag!*

*Not a genuine threat - that would be blackmail

Its ok I just laughed at it.

Me, me! I want "rubber sniffer" as my tag please!

I've asked for something subtle.

Although how they tie my donation to my account on here is anyones guess...

where's my tag, dammit?

I,m sure the people who've been ripped off may disagree....

Can you define what you mean by "ripped off"?

I define ripped off as "paying for something and not getting it, or it not being as described". Ripped off is not "agreeing to pay for something at a price you have agreed with the seller, when it may or may not be cheaper if you spend hours trawling the internet".

There's lots of reasons behind a buying decision, price alone is a tiny part of it, so it's wrong to oversimplify the sales process and focus solely on price. How about convenience, the fact someone you know through here has it in his hand and can get to you quickly, wanting to buy through a channel they trust from someone they "know" (either in real life or on here), etc etc etc.

And yes, if someone on here had something I wanted, that they could get to me quicker than I could get it from Germany, I absolutely would buy it off them.

🙂

Can you define what you mean by "ripped off"?

I think he was referring to your statement .....

The classifieds are private listings, posted by someone who actually has that item with them and so users can be confident it exists, at the price it is posted up for.

There's been a few where the poster didn't have the item and didn't post it out at any price
So yes, I agree,

I,m sure the people who've been ripped off may disagree....

So for this:

The best way to help though and to not run that risk of being accused of ad spoiling is to contact the seller directly. All sellers must have a valid email address visible in their profile for this to happen.

to happen, surely four of the top ten ads in the for sale section I have just checked should have am email address in their profile? Are they fair game otherwise?

And a location or at least county in the profile would help.

Judging by the rules, you can't spoil an Advert that shouldn't be there.

So if there is no email address attached to the ad or the profile then its fair game.

If the seller complains then the advert will be deleted anyway as its breaking the rules.

I tend to agree that a 'message seller' button that uses their stw registered email address (not visible to buyer) is a pre-requisite for this [edit I mean reporting high price/issue to seller without posting on the ad] to work.

OK I've donated (not my first time either, I think), "Epic Battle Legend Big Hitter" please 😎

For the next hour anyone who sends a donation gets a ;-D or the sort tag of their choice (within reason) for one week.
I'll set them up tomorrow

Balls. I stay of the forum for a couple of hours...

The price I pay for a lack of omnipresence.

What tag would you have chosen?

Well I'm loving the tags 🙂

I think that STW might have discovered a good way to get people to donate! 😀

[quote=clubber ]Well I'm loving the tags
I think that STW might have discovered a good way to get people [s]to donate! [/s] off a topic they were uncomfortable with being discussed! FTFY

Im prefectly comfortable discussing the issue.
Easy enough to e-mail the seller or report it to the modz.

Oh, you cynic, druid! 😉

Not uncomfortable - just bored and responding to a request for a D.
Anyway, if anyone paid for a custom tag and hasn't got it get - let me know patrick@singletrackworld.com.

PayPal reporting is horrid so I may have missed some.

Oh, you cynic, [s]druid![/s] druidh!

Are you saying druidh and cynic-al are the one and same? 😐

I may change my [b]D[/b] as I never new what events would follow from my tongue in cheek request.

BAN THEM!

I donated £20 in May 2007, the last time I sold something on there.

Can I have the Tag "Big Chopper" please? 🙂

^^ attention whores ^^

^^ poor person ^^

😉

test

Tset

bikebouy - Member
^^ attention whores ^^

Is that what you want for yours? 😯

I think cynic-al wins so far.

This should be peramanent - £2/month surcharge on the forum and you can choose your own tag.

[u]this space for rent[/u]

I'm already an attention whore.

No need to publish the fact.. 😉

And for the record, I once tried to sell some unused tyres (Hans Dampfs) but the thread was obliterated with "you can buy those from Germany" whining phish heads.. 🙄

So, so you can tell I support Mark in his adoption of some form of (cough) regulation.

Yay! I won!

stoner should definitely have "big chopper" - in the sense I use it at least 😉

Personally, I find the term Jeyboy homophobic and offensive. If by paying a fiver you can get away with it it might lead to all kinds of tomfoolery