Classified Leeches (1 Viewer)

[Jim]

I am looking to have a clean out of the Classifieds section as there are a lot of old ads. I have been going through it and noticed that the vast majority of items for sale are from members that joined FUN only to place an advert and have never returned. This means that, unlike a regular member, they never come back to delete the ad or say it was sold, (hence the hours I will have to spend tidying up) I purchased and installed the classifieds software to be of benefit to the members and I am sure it is, but mostly it seems to be used by people who have no intention of joining the community

What do you think?

Should we have a minimum post requirement before you can sell there?

Should we have a nominal charge for each advert ? How much?

Should I just leave it alone? It annoys me a little but I can live with it easily enough

 

[Wildman]

a number of air gun forums I'm a member of have a 30 posts min and 30 days membership before you are allowed to post to or even in some cases access the classified ads. I do not totally agree with that although can see your problem. Any ad placed that is a wanted or a sale ad directly benefits existing members, it obviously benefits the the advertiser as well but should existing members be deprived of that bargain for 30 days. More than one way to look at it I guess.
An option for an advertiser to delete the entire thread once item has sold may help reduce the clutter.

 

[6pm Cowboy]

As a new member it hadn't really registered that you have a classifieds section..... But I have run forums in the past and are currently working on starting a new ( totally unrelated ) one.

Many forums start this sort of thing to boost their membership figure with little regard to whether those members will play an active part in the community, the membership figure is the only baseline they care about.

I am sorry but if you dont fit into that category then I think you are on a hiding to nothing with this A post count thingy ( lets say twelve ) will just induce a dozen pointless 'i agree' messages and then the same thing will happen. Its a side effect of a free internet.

I woould go with a small charge for newish members and just accept the fact that you will incur a workload...... but I dont expect that is what you want to hear

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[zaskar]

Just leave as it is Jim, for the following reasons.

I too have had a roasting from a couple of caravan Forums for joining just to post an ad'.
Now, whilst I can understand the sentiment of the moderators when they say it's unfair to do that, I do think that it's a little short sighted/narrow minded for 2 reasons.

1. When I sold my caravan, I did so by Google searching "FREE CARAVAN ADVERTS". Quite a lot of the links took me to caravan Forums which means that somewhere in thier web site, there must be reference to being able to advertise freely.
Now, my way of looking at this, is that if your gonna have that sort of text in your site, then without doubt, you are gonna end up with tight a^s£s like me looking for free advertising rather than wanting to join a community. The fact that when you place your ad', it is VERY likely that you will look around the site and MAY think, "hey, this is a good place" and decide to stay, doesn't seem to occur to a great many site owners. Granted, you've already said that the majority seem to have posted just to advertise and HAVEN'T been back, but if just one DOES come back, is that not worth it?

2. Whilst I may not want my caravan anymore, there MAY be a long established, much respected member of that Forum who is DESPERATE to get thier hands on my 'van.
Would it not be better then that they got the chance? As soon as they get it, you'll get a miriad of further postings for help/advise/info and "Look what I got" photo's, thus contributing to the traffic on the site.

HTH

 

[Jim]

Hi Wildman, The advertiser has the option to remove it or say its sold. Most members do this, of course the one time visitor does not bother.

I don't really want to charge members, the admin involved would negate any club benefit and it goes against the grain.

The minimum post thing can work but then you get people just posting in the word association thread or adding "me too" to 30 threads to gain the privilege. Maybe I can work out a time element as well. so say 20 posts minimum but also been a member for 30 days. The coding might be beyond me.

Any other ideas?

 

[ourcampersbeentrashed]

How about having an "annual charge" JUST for adverts - would £5 be a sensible rate for private adverts annually with perhaps a separate charge for businesses who are more likely to place lots of ads over a year?

An annual charge means there isnt such a nightmare of collecting the money each time an ad is placed and all forum members can see the adverts free of charge.

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[6pm Cowboy]

Maybe I can work out a time element as well. so say 20 posts minimum but also been a member for 30 days. The coding might be beyond me.

Any other ideas?

Vbulletin.org
I think the hack already exists

 

[Jim]

Thanks Graham I'll take a look

 

[scotjimland]

Hi Jim

I broadly agree with the previous posts, don't see the point of having a minimum post count to qualify for a free ad, I think it should stay as it is but if it were possible I would like to see ads removed automatically after a set time period .. say 30 or 60 days .. The member is sent a PM before the auto deletion date reminding them to either renew or remove.

jim

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[Brisey]

Hi Jim

I broadly agree with the previous posts, don't see the point of having a minimum post count to qualify for a free ad, I think it should stay as it is but if it were possible I would like to see ads removed automatically after a set time period .. say 30 or 60 days .. The member is sent a PM before the auto deletion date reminding them to either renew or remove.

I agree with Jims posting, this seems to me to be the way to go.

 

[6pm Cowboy]

Jim, I think that fits into the ' damn, that was obvious' class

 

[sinbad1]

maybe there should be a time limit for the new poster's advert, subject to the number of posts/time

This way if they don't come back the advert is removed,if they do stay with us then the advert remains.

Regards

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[hilldweller]

What do you think?

Auto timeout ?

60 days and self destructs perhaps.

 

[lindyloot]

I agree with with Scotland Jim, if there is no activiy from the "member" auto delete

 

[Jim]

Thanks guys there is no auto expire in our current version but there is a new version just out which might help us do just that. :thumb:

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[Tony Lee]

Oz caravanersforum I help run is set up to autodelete adverts after 60 days. No need to send a PM either. Any advert not filled within that time is not going to be.

 

[vindiboy]

Is it not possible to set the page up so that after say 10 days the add just dies and disappears, I'm no computer expert but with todays' technology I'm sure that must be possible ,or am I wrong again?

 

[keith]

How about a choice of how long you want to post your advert for, as Ebay do?

There could also be an option to renew if you wish after the expired time? Perhaps a PM to remind you that it is about to expire ?

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[pappajohn]

i'll go with Jims idea.....auto-delete after a set period unless notified otherwise.
dont know if thats possible but a good idea:thumb:

 

[pappajohn]

Thanks guys there is no auto expire in our current version but there is a new version just out which might help us do just that. :thumb:

more expense Jimoh::Sad:

 

[G2EWS]

Hi Jim

I broadly agree with the previous posts, don't see the point of having a minimum post count to qualify for a free ad, I think it should stay as it is but if it were possible I would like to see ads removed automatically after a set time period .. say 30 or 60 days .. The member is sent a PM before the auto deletion date reminding them to either renew or remove.

jim

Agree with this, seems to make sense if you can do it.

Regards

Chris

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[davetthedon]

Auto delete sounds ok, but why not as well have a donation fund along the lines of ebays charity box thingy when you go to pay with paypal? Can't a small donation be given via paypal to the forum financial bod (sorry i don't know who that is, or is it Jim) and used to fund software updates, meets, free beer for members on meets etc? Just a thought, after all no advertising that works is really free is it! Don't they say up north "You don't get owt for nowt!"
ATB
DaveT

 

[wasp]

I think 30 days is plenty and remove it, although it gives every one a chance to look at whats on offer and decide if they want to buy or bid I`ve just looked at my ad and its had 1260 views so people take notice

 

[andy rob]

be register @ least 1 month before you sell ?

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[jhorsf]

my opinion is a time limit as this would self clean all the old ads, and people who just came to post an ad would maybe come back to repost and get interested in reading the posts and joining in.

 

[Terry]

Hi Jim, my vote goes with the auto delete after 30 / 60 days :thumb:If advertisers want to repost the add if not sold. It is easy enough for them to copy the add to a word doc or something then just paste it to save them rewriting it all.
I advertised one of my vans on a web site (free) and forgot to remove it until I got a call from the We have buyers waiting send us 100 quid lot
terry

 

[pudseykeith]

Hi Jim

I broadly agree with the previous posts, don't see the point of having a minimum post count to qualify for a free ad, I think it should stay as it is but if it were possible I would like to see ads removed automatically after a set time period .. say 30 or 60 days .. The member is sent a PM before the auto deletion date reminding them to either renew or remove.

jim

Morning Jim the R/L
ScotJimland's post seems to strike the way forward. It would be a shame to denigh funsters the opertunity to benefit from any bargains on offer. An automatic removal if poss, after 30 /60 days seems a good way to keeping the site tidy and saving you and Brian poss a lot of admin. :thumb:

Pudseykeith

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[DESCO]

I agree with auto deletion after 30/60days once set up no more work required on your part.

Dave

 

[tacr2man]

I go with auto deletion 30 days , if a member hasnt bought it within that time then it wasnt needed, and if the seller still has it they will need to return at least once a month to relist , and they might get into a habit of visiting the site .

 

[bobandjanie]

I think 30 days is plenty and remove it, although it gives every one a chance to look at whats on offer and decide if they want to buy or bid I`ve just looked at my ad and its had 1260 views so people take notice

Hi' I think 30 days, if it does not sell in that time nobody wants it.........


Just looked at my Add, 2901 veiws.



Link Removed

Bob.

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