Marketplace Forum Restriction For New Members

[xpitt]

......more like i was trying to say, "please please try to be nicer to newbies, they may turn out to be really good people even though you may not notice that at first glance when they're making their first "baby steps" — cause later, it may be too late to change the vibe once a certain attitude is built".

Sheena, that was exactly what I was trying to say in my post above. Mistrust is sometimes necessary , but we shouldn't forget to ad a positive attitude to people new here.

[sowhat]

Right, Alex. Just thought it wouldn't hurt to repeat.

[JakeK]

THATS IT!!!! I've had it !!!

.....this 30 post rule is totally backfiring. We need to up that figure to 200+

If I have to read another 30 two-word, substance-free posts by new members solely to gain access to the marketplace, I'm going to leave this forum. This week's offender is "treewalker" who spat out 30 mostly worthless posts to gain access, and we all have to sift through it while interesting posts are otherwise buried.

I don't want to sound like a curmudgeon (we have a resident one of them! ) I am just sick of seeing this phenomenon every couple days, and our 30+ rule, which was initially lowered as a courtesy....is now bring abused at our expense.

People (and Treewalker, this means you)....you may gain quick access to the marketplace with useless posts, but you burn many bridges in the process, and it's a bad way to start out in this forum community.

Thank you, bro! I can't agree more! I don't think leaving the forum is the wisest thing to do.

If I had a vote in this matter (which I'm not saying I do) I'm in the camp that thinks most marketplace privileges should be based on some combination of number of posts and/or time as a member, with the posts being higher than 30. Some people just post more than others. Some people like to read and learn more before they post that much, and theres nothing wrong with that.

For instance if it was 50 posts or two months, or 100 posts or 3 months, etc. I think that would take care of most of the "I've got something to sell right now; or the "I've really want to buy something today" people.

I think an exception could be the appraisal section, as I believe those can be legitimate questions; and we should be (and are) a good resourse to those looking for guidance. We do collectively know a lot about Rickenbackers

Personally, I have both bought and sold things here on this forum and never had a bad experience. I think mostly because I had a good feel for who I was buying from or who was buying something from me, even if I never met them in person.

There are some good deals here because you know if your selling something you love, it's likely going to a good home.

By the same token, when you buy something here, not only are you buying something from somebody that is likely to give you an honest description of the instrument; but you get to read comments from others "in the know" as well.

I think some combination of time spent as a member and/or number of posts, with time being more important, is the right thing. If your a member for 3 months but only post 25 times, maybe you just enjoy reading all of the information available here and are a bit nervous about chiming in too much .....yet.

I can't really say anything else more, because you said it all for me, Dan-O!

while i do understand that nobody wants to be fooled/scammed and that not having full trust in somebody we don't know is entirely human — we've all (apart from Peter who has created this site) been "newbies" at some point. Anyone remembers that time? Did it ever feel like, "looks like they don't trust me cause i am new and i have to prove that i'm not a bad person"? Ever been "discussed" behind your back (along with a bunch of other "newbies") and maybe even without you knowing? That kind of attitude to new members which can be seen at some points in this thread may really be more effective in turning people off than "30 posts rule". Not that it matters much, of course, cause once somebody has a strong will to join a certain community and feel like home there, he/she is usually ready to face that kind of attitude until "proved innocent". But still.

Another valid point, Sheena. I'm sure you all remember when I was new here. All I'd do was upset members wanting a 1997. I was 16 then, when I finally got the 1997 a year later, I began building friendships and in 2010 attended my first SCARF. Now, many of the SoCal forumites are good friends of mine and I know they can't wait till next year.

Everyone has given some excellent points. I love this place, and I want it to be as peaceful of a community as possible.

[winston]

Jake I have edited your attempt at profanity using $ signs. Please don't try to get around the filters by doing that. They are there for a reason.

[ken_j]

I first joined this forum after being pointed to it from another member (he no longer visits). I basically joined to sell some of my Ricks but I felt odd that I really didn't know anyone. I also felt it was out of place to post them for sale as I had no rapport with the comunity. Therefore I didn't post them for sale but sold them through other means. I thought no one would trust someone they didn't know. I imposed my own wait time out of courtesy.

As time passed I found myself selling off a close friend's estate. I posted both here at the RRF and the Boogie Board Forum. As it happened I found that a few people joined just to buy some items from that sale. All of these transactions went smooth and the new members never came back for addtional posts.

All in all I have had mostly pleasent experiences selling and buying here. There was only one time I got burned and it was from a long standing member at this forum. So the bottom line you never really no one's intentions. I will be happy and live with whatever decision our administartion decides.

[collin]

C'mon.....STILL?

This is the second one this week...I have screen shots of the other somewhere.


Can't even describe how irritating this is.......can we please DO something about it?

It was better when the marketplace was wide open, IMO...at least those "hit-n-run" posts were single posts, not 30 useless posts.

[winston]

Collin,

Would you buy from or sell to this member given the way he spammed the board? I bet not. He has sealed his own fate IMO.

[tmossman]

I have to say I agree with Collin. The number of transactions that occur, pale in comparison to the number of interactions (posts and reads) on the forum. The number of bad transactions is small percentage of the total transactions, and as already stated on this very thread, nothing will truly solve the problem of bad transactions. In order to provide the appearance of protecting a very small percentage of forum members, the solution impacts the entire membership regularly (waves of nonsensical posts, +1's and recycling of old posts, etc). There days when these mass posts make it impossible to read the board from a mobile device. Twice when trying to sell something I have had my post move to page 2 minutes after posting. I can't even "bump" my thread as it would break the rules.

Wouldn't caveat venditor and caveat emptor be a much simpler approach?

[gibsonlp]

Checkout his rank.
Is it okay or am I being nasty?

[collin]

Yep, here's one from Saturday (Glad Aitch and Todd squeezed their way in that day!):

I'll just keep posting them here so everyone can remember how these people chose to introduce themselves.


All I can say is that being on the board these days is a LOT more frustrating than it was a couple years ago before because of this.....it turns the whole thing into a quantity of posts, nevermind quality.....



ps....I would never call out somebody who made that many legitimate, meaninful posts...we all have days when we're feeling more talkative, but notice how the posting frequency of ALL these people wanes sharply after 30 posts.

[jps]

...notice how the posting frequency of ALL these people wanes sharply after 30 posts.

...and how fast the initial 30 pile up, often within a 24 hour period.

[cjj]

Well, at least they're usually just a minor one or two day annoyance and then you never see 'em again...

[winston]

Well, at least they're usually just a minor one or two day annoyance and then you never see 'em again...

Agreed CJ. People who only come here to see if they can buy and sell have no roots in our community and many of them have no interest in establishing any.

[cjj]

It might be kind of fun to be able to search on the number of posts and see just how many hit 30 and disappeared...

[JakeK]

I have to agree. I know it's annoying to have a member join just so he can sell or buy guitar and you never see him again, but it's even more annoying to see meaningless posts. Strangely enough, Bianca (treewalker) hasn't been seen since Collin mentioned something. Hmm.....

I may have said this before, there are days where I'll post too much, or not at all. Just all depends on my mood and what's going on. If it's a lazy day, I'll probably have a lot to say, but if I'm on a trip (such as SoCal '10 and '11 or my annual Labor Day Weekend pilgrimage to Texas) or have a lot going on (such as a party, gig, birthday, etc), I'm probably not going to post or if I do, barely.

BTW, Col, I was going to say something about the overactive posters that you mentioned, but you beat me to it. Next time, if I see it happening, can I post it?