Lude Generation

I know this has been covered many times before, but I have noticed recently an increase of new members signing up and putting up an advert with their first post.

I seriously think we need to go back and review the possibility of enforcing a minimum post count or other method to stop this.

Another forum I was on had an "advertiser" subscription if you didn't want to pay the full annual subscription, you could buy permission to post adverts for a smaller sum. So perhaps a small fee of a few pounds will weed out any chancers (not that we've had any - YET) as using paypal will keep a record of their details should they start mucking people around. This also negates the "minimum post count" requirement.

I realise that the last thing we want to do is push potential members away, but if someone is joining up just to sell their car, they won't be hanging around for long anyway.

Just some ideas, anyone got any others that are feasible?

Makes sense. Will also weed out the people who pop up to sell stuff, get rid of a few bits & bobs, then disappear & don't answer your questions or PMs.

I kinda think that's where the rep points come in.
If you're buying off someone with zero rep, you know you're taking a chance.


A minimum post count or rep count would probably help.

I agree that the FS section should be locked out to new members until a certain post count is reached, or a small mandatory donation could be made to allow access to it..?

It is certainly irritating when folk with next to no posts put adverts up with scant regard for the advertising rules & clearly only use the forum solely to try & make money by advertising their stuff

Agree with the points said, although there are problems.

I think minimum rep would be too much of a barrier. Rep is too ambiguous; sometimes I give it for something that made me laugh, a good post, or some good information. In other words, unless the right person sees your post, rep can be hard to come by.

A minimum post count could just lead to people spamming just to get their post count up, I can see it now, the whole profile forum bumped with "nice car mate" and similar comments.

The fee/donation idea is a worthwhile one, although it would (in my eyes) have to be relative. If someone comes on here to sell a car, is their fee/donation equal to that of someone just selling a front lip, set of wheels or rocker cover?

It's a tricky thing to get around and I think as Pushki said, if you want to buy from someone with minimal posts and 0 rep, then that's your chance.

Gayno's idea of a small PayPal donation, somewhere in the region of £1-5 would of course allow the site to obtain the seller's details, although surely this breaches some sort of data protection clause. I'm not sure how I would feel if the site had the potential to disclose my information at any point, based on my attitude/code of conduct as a seller.

Gorgon wrote:I'm not sure how I would feel if the site had the potential to disclose my information at any point, based on my attitude/code of conduct as a seller.

I hear what you're saying, although if you're a good honest seller, you have nothing to worry about.

These barriers are about weeding out the bad ones and discouraging them from trying.

chrismc wrote:clearly only use the forum solely to try & make money by advertising their stuff

Exactly, Kawa is paying for them to make money in effect.

Obviously at the end of the day if he's happy about it then so be it. This forum doesn't make money from adverts or any other source (I don't think) apart from members contributions. Why should freeloaders be able to come on, sell their stuff, and bugger off at our expense?

If you wish to sell, you need to make a contribution (monetary or post count).

I'm not saying that Kawa would just hand over the details from any PayPal transaction (data protection as mentioned) but having these details will discourage them by the thought of the chance of being caught.

Of course, these are good ideas, I think it's just the way they're implemented and explained needs to be refined.

I think from a legal standpoint, the site should have minimal involvement between two people hoping to close a deal. I think it should end at providing a medium to advertise. However, what about something additional to the T&C when you register.

This is the only bit about user details mentioned:

You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-orientated or any other material that may violate any laws be it of your country, the country where “Lude Generation” is hosted or International Law. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned, with notification of your Internet Service Provider if deemed required by us. The IP address of all posts are recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. You agree that “Lude Generation” have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should we see fit. As a user you agree to any information you have entered to being stored in a database. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent, neither “Lude Generation” nor phpBB shall be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised.

Which really is just relating to behaviour, in order to disclose seller information their permission would be needed, and I really don't think someone of questionable intent will allow that

**Maybe a small donation (non-refundable to save a lot of ballache) could be asked to perhaps show good faith and then these temporary sellers can be put into a specific user group, and if you're not willing to do that then you would be at a visible disadvantage as a seller? I know this still wont stop someone who is looking to give a few pounds to make a few pounds in a dishonourable manner, but it's a start.**

EDIT: I'm not 100% sure how it works, but I imagine data obtained via PayPal is not interchangeable with data from this site.

EDIT2: **This could be included/explained better in the T&C before you begin the registration form, and then during sign up you could apply for the seller specific group, which would then be approved pending a donation?**

I have put it to the mods to discuss this and see what the general consensus is.