I am pretty upset by the number of post that are
from members that only post on the classified.
from members that only post on the classified and are quite suspicious.

Time to do something?
Maybe the classified to be use only buy the premier member?

Premier M's only ?, not sure, Subs Only, maybe.

But if anything is done, it will probably be ad fees.

I'm unsure as to what the original spirit of the classifieds was when it was set up, but if people are just hammering it as an additional outlet for fulltime wheeelin and a deeealin, then thats a pity, imo.

Think I may have used it once, may be twice, and always want to donate as thats what I think you should do, but having the choice to pay or not is good, as if it doesn't sell, it hasn't cost you.

Although I'm a P-Sub, I'm grateful to STW for providing it, even if I hardly use it.

ad fees work for me too…

How about a threshold of say more than 100 posts? Obviously wouldn't stop the determined seller only types but may weed out the casual sellers.

I imagine ad fees are the only way something will ever happen. As it seems the powers that be are not prepared to sort out anything for free, such as a rep system like a million other boards such as HKUD, OCUK and even Bike Radar to an extent use….and why should they I guess.

If they did have a fees system maybe it could work like this:

WTD = Free
FS = £1.50 and maybe 50p for every repost.

STW would probably make more money off this than the mag 😉

Quite like the idea of a rating system but that could be a pain in the ar$e as could be misused.

Limiting to premier users means that it would be less used as alot of folk would not pay for it. If STW start charging folk then it will lose its appeal for selling stuff for a cheap price (compared to EBay) and also look for a bit of protection etc.

I think it works this now tbh, just sometimes a bit of a gamble! If its an expensive item I would only buy from a 'regular' but have taken a punt on others and worked well so far.

Like DroFluf's idea, if someone is posting 30 items a month, for sale, then its not exactly someone just clearing out their old parts and spares, is it.

I'd prefer not to see fees, but as with so many things, it may all be dragged down to the lowest common denominator.

Perhaps >30 ads in a month, and a fee is required ?….

In my experience of running a car based forum with 20k plus member, putting charges on the ad's simply reduces the volume of stuff to buy which isn't good for those of up working on budgets. By far the best solution is introducing a min post's limit and perhaps having to of been a member for 3 months or similar before being allowed to trade.

If the staff or mods were that bothered about it then it would be the work of 5 minutes to find out who the trade sellers were, and to warn them, or request they make a trade payment etc.
It doesn't bother me if people only want to post on the classifieds, not everybody wants to contribute to the inane noise on the other forums, or has the time to do so.
Like everywhere else, it's buyer beware- if you want to buy something, you assess the risk and act accordingly.

Juan, I would hardly think that who is using the classifieds would hardly affect you.

I used to fun them quite decent but looking on classifieds last night there were lots of posts with no replies. Getting harder to sell stuff and my wanted ads aren't getting many replies.

If the staff or mods were that bothered about it then it would be the work of 5 minutes to find out who the trade sellers were, and to warn them, or request they make a trade payment etc.

Which is what I do not understand. They could be making a bit of money out of this for relatively little time outlay.

What or who has upset you Juan?

I have noticed that there seem to be fewer and fewer replies on both for sale or wanted. Maybe people are either skint or so minted that they only buy new then can't be bothered to sell.

I say it every time. The STW people almost certainly have no interest in changing the classifieds because if they do in any way that makes it look like it's managed then it'll inevitably be followed by a storm of complaints to them when/if people get scammed/aren't happy with a deal/condition/etc. – Just look how much people complain that ebay does nothing to stop it happening. ST is a mag with a website (which admittedly now does offer some additional content) – they're not in the business of running a classifieds service.

A minimum posting limit might work but would also likely mean a lot of dross (even more!) being posted.

+1 for Vinney, easy enough to find the culprits. Maybe a sticky at the top with a more robust warning?

But, as he says, caveat emptor, surely we're all big kids and can look after ourselves.

This search for a mythical market-place of good honest folks, you could leave your front door open in my day nostalgia is going nowhere, if we all behave sensibly then the classifieds is a fantastic resource just as it is.

Just my two pence worth,

APF

I've got some great bargains from people that only post on the classified (a certain Cove, you may remember Juan, plus the lovely brakes on that Handjob).
I think they're ok as they are. ie. A good place to buy and sell bike bits.

There are plenty of people who are obviously doing it as a cottage industry, breaking a lot of bikes. I'd love to know how and where someone sources that many bikes in their free time 😆

Nevertheless, the big issue for me is the number of people who are taking the mickey – I don't buy that much on the classifieds, but I've had 3 problems with things from the classifieds – 2 items not as described, one taking weeks to be posted. I reckon that's easily a 10% problem rate, and it's put me off using the classifieds – the price saving doesn't outweigh the extra risk.

The only thing I can see sorting it out is some kind of feedback system. Even a reply of "yep, I've got it" from purchasers is better than nothing, but it needs to be policy (and therefore universal) to be of any use.

Insisting on payment for ads, subscriber only (and therefore having address data) etc. is of little impact. The kind of sums people get ripped off for on here are pretty immaterial from a legal point of view, so holding addresses on file is of little use.

If the staff or mods were that bothered about it ………..

The more people that post – whether it be the classifieds or main forum – the more page views are generated for the site
The higher the page views, the more advertisers pay for ads

I'm sure it's not that simplistic but it's something like that

The higher the page views, the more advertisers pay for ads

I suspect you'd be suprised at just how little revenue ad views generate. Click through which generate sales typically get more but it's not going to make you rich…

Jamie. But as I posted, perhaps STW didn't set it up for revenue, but rather to attract people to the site (commercial ads on the pages).

Also, additional income streams may bring with it additional admin, etc, which could snow-ball that part of the site into a full-on commercial selling site, which is not what I thought was the idea behind the classifieds.
😉

I like them the way they are – had pretty good experiences so far. I do check user histories more now than before as there have been a few scammers, but like others have said, we need to take responsibility ourselves instead of pushing for more nanny state regulation.

Minimum post level is a silly idea.

And FWIW, I think that the economic climate has affected the classifieds – people are trying harder to sell their stuff for more and similarly expecting to buy things for less.

I'd spend £3 if I could make £900 back on some mug.

Would STW guarantee or be in a legal minefield if they opened the classifieds to only premier users?

If I was a thief (not all thieves are thick with spelling issues you know) I'd register for a premier account, knock out a few posts then scam.

Lets face it, IWH royally fecked over a lot of people didnt he? He didnt type 'for sel m8 santa Cruise hekler' did he? 🙄

I'm with DezB on this one, you just have to use common sense. I've only had one real problem and because the seller had very little history (even though his email/web link was fitness and MTB coaching AND local to me) I had the sense to use Paypal (non gift) and eventually got my money back.

Which reminds me, I must make a donation as I've got a few bits to sell as it's much better than fleabay.

Edit

Minimum post level is a silly idea.

I'm on a watch site with a minimum 50 posts before you can even access the classifieds. Seems to work quite well and the mods can spot a scammer fairly easily from the posts. Probably not quite so easy on here.

From what I remember the Classifieds were set up so that your no longer needed bike stuff could be moved on to someone else. It isn't meant to be used as a means to shift on vast quanities of stuff to make money. I have used it a few times and have picked up some good stuff to complete builds.
I would have no problem though of there being a 5% buyers/sellers payment into Singletrack.
It does though seem to be getting abused by some, but you don't have to buy anything!!

Check the history, if its classifeds posts only or very few previous posts then I'm very careful.

Does seem to be alot of very overpriced 2nd hand stuff lateley.

I suspect you'd be suprised at just how little revenue ad views generate

no I wouldn't

it's still all about how many members/views/click through's a site has that gives it all sorts of advantages over a site with a couple of dozen members, whether that be directly financial or just 'league table' stuff

Only if their aim is to make the website successful really – I'd say that the mag is still very much the priority.

Buying on the internet, whereever, however is always going to be buyer beware – just use common sense.

I use all sorts of forums, and I find this classifieds section the most awkward, due to how the posting system works. Every other forum I use, uses the typical newest post to top.

You have to remember, it's not all about sellers, the buyers miss out as well. If fees were introduced then people would just sell elsewhere, which means others may miss out on bargains or hard to find items.

As an example, I have put a few multi item for sale ads up here and I think I've sold one item, yet the rest have sold easilly on ebay. But on the other hand, as a buyer, I have had some good deals on here.

The only system that works well outside of decent moderating, is the minimum post system. That can have it's downfalls though. As an example, I recently had a rare car interior that I no longer needed and wanted to sell. I knew which groups would be looking out for it, but as I needed minimum post or membership fees to be paid to advertise on their forums I couldn't advertise it. Sure, I was missing out, but so were they if they were looking for a hard to find, rare item.

I'd say leave it as it is, but maybe sort the posting order out. If you're unsure about a seller, check their post history, and pay using paypal (not gift). I've had my fingers burnt a couple of times (ebay & privately) and have always got my money back through Paypal. With paypal gift you get no come back.

My 2p 🙂

WTD = Free
FS = £1.50 and maybe 50p for every repost.

+1 (for items over £10 say?)

I agree with Woody.

Yes, STW shouldn't start purging the classifieds to protect the weak, etc, etc.

I was trying to indicate, that imo, classifieds are there for genuine folk, riding bikes, and wanting to sell what they have but no longer need or want, etc.

And that it shouldn't be for Joe the elicit bike breaker to earn a living from, etc.

Not all of us are lucky enough to buy-right first time. We may not be able to send it back, so bung it on the classifieds, and thanks to STW for that.

That is all.

🙂

I don't get the OP's whine TBH.

Its easy to check someones posting history. I happy to sell to 'traders' since they have to give me cash before the goods depart. But I never buy from them.

Caveat emptor innit?

For those that take the risk and get bitten, that's their fault for not conducting the transaction in a manner that protects them.

Joe the elicit bike breaker

I hate that guy!

I'd say leave it as it is, but maybe sort the posting order out

It was deliberately changed because people were stupid with bumping their posts constantly and it just ended up being that if you didn't do the same, your ads fell off the first page very quickly.

exchange phone numbers with the buyer / seller and talk to them ahead of the transaction – puts the personal element back into it.

started sending stuff out to people ahead of payment on occassion if they have good history. that was they can check it over first. Seems to have worked.

But even then, why hate on 'Joe' the bike breaker.

Sure, he is making a few quid out of a no cost system, but then plenty of people are getting a decent deal on bits they need.

Not only that, when Joe doesn't sell all of his bits, he's still outlaid for the bikes in the first place.

I use the classified section for exactly the reason mentioned above to move unwanted items and help someone whose looking for something, yeah some people just use stw to sell but so what live and let live? They're not bothering me and surely it increases revenue from the ads? Don't see why it bothers people if you don't like the user don't buy the item simple?

Premier M's only ?, not sure, Subs Only, maybe.

It's the same thing and I think a good call.

I don't (and you'll see that I'm a 'P') as it reduces the number of ads available. I've had countless bargains from here over the years and I would like that to continue. OK, I have to be a bit more careful these days with who I buy from but that's a price/risk I'm happy to take.

I use all sorts of forums, and I find this classifieds section the most awkward, due to how the posting system works. Every other forum I use, uses the typical newest post to top.

The classifieds here have a high volume of posts. The posting system was introduced specifially to stop older posts being bumped to the top, either by intent, or by potential buyers registering interest. I can't think of a busy classified board that sorts by newest post.

If the seller gets some cash and the buyer feels it's a fair price surely thats up to them, what does it matter if the guy posts regularly or not.

as freeform says if you worried check there history take phone numbers etc.

Sure, some minority knobs have probably got the bike bits there selling by naughty means but thats not going to change by putting restrictions on the site.