For Sale Section

A1ex · Post by **A1ex** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 9:56 pm

time delay on posting a for sale advert is a simple fix

It'll only stop brand new users trying to sell things and they cant just spam to get access to the features.

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:01 pm

I like the time delay idea

It will prevent people from signing up just to sell stuff quickly & they'll only hang around for 30 days if they are serious sellers. Existing site users will be unaffected too.

What about if we say they need to have a 'new members' thread first too so we know who they are and whether they are just breaking and selling parts or whether they are a Lude owner?

Post by **Gayno** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:40 pm

Rich wrote:What about if we say they need to have a 'new members' thread first too so we know who they are and whether they are just breaking and selling parts or whether they are a Lude owner?

Another solution I considered, however I believe this will require manual moderation by the team meaning there is no way to automate this kind of check.

The last thing I want from these is more ongoing work for the team as they do enough behind the scenes for us.

andypont · Post by **andypont** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:45 pm

I am probably one of the people that is being mentioned with this thread. I have had Preludes for 7-8 years (off and on) and have been on other forums for a while, but only recently signed up to LG. I used to be a regular on PUK so posted a thread on there seeking advice about a starting problem I had. As PUK was as quiet as a library after midnight I decided to look into other forums and came across this one.
I posted about my problem and had some help, but none that helped me solve the worsening starting issues. As a result I very soon became frustrated and decided to put my car for sale after only a short time on here.

I can assure everybody that seeking advice was my main goal, with access to buying parts or selling cars very much secondary. That said, I also like the idea of a minimum time on the forum before being able to post items for sale. On PUK, if I remember correctly, there were little or no restrictions on selling parts but a serious number of posts were required to advertise a car for sale. I liked the idea but it didnt work. New member simply posted on every new member 'welcome' thread regardless of how long ago the original post was. It was kind of friendly spam, and took something away from what the forum offered, in my opinion. (Though I have done that when a thread came up on my new posts, and only noticed the new member posted months ago after I replied!!

)

In case anybody is wondering whilst I mentioned selling my car on here, and then posted the ebay link, I certainly havent been bumpin the thread and intend on being here for a while. I have just bought my 3rd 5th gen, and consider myself something of an enthusiast. I am hoping to learn a bit, as well as hopefully being able to help & advise other members. I am sure I will get to meet a few of you at some point along the way.

Apologies if I have gone a bit off topic - my reply started off in the right direction!!

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:50 pm

Gayno wrote:The last thing I want from these is more ongoing work for the team as they do enough behind the scenes for us.

Quite right, but surely this could also be done with a few lines of code. Using PHP/SQL it should be fairly easy to check the table for a thread in 'new members' started by x user.

Post by **Gayno** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:51 pm

Andy, in no way was this suggestion aimed at yourself or any other individual, it's just a trend I've noticed rising in the last couple of months.

I feel bad that you feel you needed to come in and justify yourself. However having read above, you are not the type of person this was aimed at. You joined, introduced yourself and made other posts before deciding to sell your car. This I have no problem with. Also, you have taken the time to populate your user profile, add a signature and an avatar. People just out to make money don't bother with this either.

The fact is you made a contribution to the forum with your questions, as others with a similar problem may search and find your thread, and although it didn't help you it may help them.

What I've noticed is people joining, and on that same day with their very first post, they put up an advert for their car, or some parts. Once these are sold, they are never to be heard of again.

Post by **Gayno** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:55 pm

Rich wrote:
Gayno wrote:The last thing I want from these is more ongoing work for the team as they do enough behind the scenes for us.
Quite right, but surely this could also be done with a few lines of code. Using PHP/SQL it should be fairly easy to check the table for a thread in 'new members' started by x user.

I see where you're coming from, but to get around this, all a new member would need to do is create a thread in new members simply entitled "Hi" and they would then automatically be granted access to sell.

See my reply to Andy above, my main bugbear is contribution (or lack thereof). Too many people in this world try to get as much as possible for free. If something is provided for you free of charge, then the gentlemanly thing to do is offer something back in return for it's use.

andypont · Post by **andypont** » Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:10 pm

I know what you mean. I havent noticed it here, but have seen the scenario you describe on other forums.
I didnt want anybody to feel bad, and wasn't suggesting any of it was aimed at me.
I was just aware that the potential was there for my short membership / cars for sale post to be considered as not the behaviour of a genuine member / enthusiast.
I posted on this thread more to give my opinions on the subject, than to justfify myself. However, you highlighted the potential for my posts to be misconstrued, & the opportunity was there to eradicate any chances of people seeing me in a negative light (with respect to my posts) so I felt other members deserved somewhat of an explanation. Better safe than sorry kind of thing...... though also to agree with the 30 day membershiop idea!!

Post by **paul bristol uk** » Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:20 am

Well this is what we do on the Soarer Forum.
http://www.lexusclub.co.uk/forsale.htm
Parts are a different matter you can advertise those for free.
Another forum (Britmodeler) its 100 posts before you can sell anything and that 100 posts exclude the chat section so spamming it to get your post count up does not work.

I am not saying we should do it but that is how others operate

Post by **Merlin** » Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:58 am

Personally I dont think there is a problem. It's not like we are inundated with brand new members try ing to sell stuff, just the odd one.