Info Your Input Requested - HAM Community Classifieds Questions

[PasadenaMike]

Hey sorry I’ve been MIA. I’d say you have to accumulate say 1000 points to be eligible for the classifieds. Then id say run the ad for 7 days at 100 points. This is to avoid scammers. Don’t think a scammer will post enough to get 1000 points they want easy. I say 7 days so the ad won’t get buried.

 

[Hoppalong Doc]

Hey sorry I’ve been MIA. I’d say you have to accumulate say 1000 points to be eligible for the classifieds. Then id say run the ad for 7 days at 100 points. This is to avoid scammers. Don’t think a scammer will post enough to get 1000 points they want easy. I say 7 days so the ad won’t get buried.

Oh dear, Mike . . . I've been relatively active here on this forum from the very beginning (and an active reader of HAM for several years before) and I STILL don't have 1000 points, and certainly not enough to spare. Perhaps I'll have to borrow points from you . . . if the vig won't be too high. No broken knees either. No, wait. . . I'll just have to do my buying and selling elsewhere. Orv

 

[FL22]

Oh dear, Mike . . . I've been relatively active here on this forum from the very beginning (and an active reader of HAM for several years before) and I STILL don't have 1000 points, and certainly not enough to spare. Perhaps I'll have to borrow points from you . . . if the vig won't be too high. No broken knees either. No, wait. . . I'll just have to do my buying and selling elsewhere. Orv

@Hoppalong Doc , I seem to remember you saying that you would not mind a donation of points to get your total to 1000. With that said you are more than welcome to have some of mine. No true HAMster left behind .

 

[Florida_Man]

It would be cool to see “lifetime” points on HAM. I regularly cash in for the discounts, 5 times so far, so I always hover around 1000 . Mine would be skewed because I got 1000 donate by @Luis Leon to buy my sweet Atomic sooner

 

[Pumacarl]

And therein lies the problem with using points. Have a fixed amount of time that you have had to be a member, a set amount of reaction points that show you were participating, and a fixed number of HAM points, and call it a day. For the odd scammer that would jump through all those hoops, they are going to get through anything anyway. I am tired of getting nickled and dimed every time I head out the door and now it seems like it's going to happen here and everyone is so use to it, that almost no one is questioning the premise in the first place. It's your forum Stephen, and I will go along with what you decide but I think the continual charging of HAM points to well known members is 'pointless.'

 

[Ezana4CE]

And therein lies the problem with using points. Have a fixed amount of time that you have had to be a member, a set amount of reaction points that show you were participating, and a fixed number of HAM points, and call it a day. For the odd scammer that would jump through all those hoops, they are going to get through anything anyway. I am tired of getting nickled and dimed every time I head out the door and now it seems like it's going to happen here and everyone is so use to it, that almost no one is questioning the premise in the first place. It's your forum Stephen, and I will go along with what you decide but I think the continual charging of HAM points to well known members is 'pointless.'

@Pumacarl I can’t say that I totally agree with you, but I definitely understand what you’re saying. Well stated.

 

[PasadenaMike]

Ok maybe 1000 is insane lol. We can come up with a reasonable # but I think a minimum should be met before being allowed to post to classifieds.

 

[jps2486]

2 weeks max.
100 Ham points

 

[jlowe]

It takes so long on here to get to a 1000 points the way it's set up now. It would take the average person 2 years to get that many points.

 

[PasadenaMike]

It takes so long on here to get to a 1000 points the way it's set up now. It would take the average person 2 years to get that many points.

Yeah good point. Also mentioned by other folks. Ok 100 points minimum?

 

[jeffrey]

liberal? I hope the airgun gods punish you by causing your Ghost to leak lol.

Well, my opinions may seem harsh, but I’ve been on other forums and classified cause a multitude of problems.

They encourage people who don’t have any real interest in the forum make a lot of useless posts and trash threads just so they can sell their sh1t and leave.

I am aware of one incident where an individual was bullying another individual by ruining their reputation to get a better deal.

Which leads to another thing I’ve seen happen where the item that was sold broke, and they took it to the forum to hash it out to everyone’s dismay. Even when the moderators tried to settle everything and stop them from bickering they both ended up just being kicked out.

There’s a lot of good in having a classified section, and I’m of the strong opinion that there is just as much bad.

I want to see strong safeguards and high standards to make sure that the HAM Community as a whole doesn’t suffer for it.

The only thing worse than a leaking Ghost is a leaking Komplete! $ Jeff

 

[Danman]

Yeah good point. Also mentioned by other folks. Ok 100 points minimum?

There are some 'good' new members (contribute to discussions, polite or helpful, etc) and to 'ban' them by having a huge entrance points requirement seems odd to me....1000points is too much. That would just mean for the more active members less stuff available to buy/trade etc....that is not a win in my book. If there was an entrance point requirement 200p would be more than sufficient and you shouldn't lose any to participate, but just to list something. 2 week min run time....life happens and if you miss an ad bc you were away for a week that's also not a win.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Danman That’s fair.

What do you all think about setting the bar higher for people to sell versus to buy in the classifieds (meaning a high level of points required to sell than to buy)? Do you think this may deter people from joining just to offload their gear or to dump damaged gear and junk?

 

[Danman]

@Danman That’s fair.

What do you all think about setting the bar higher for people to sell versus to buy in the classifieds (meaning a high level of points required to sell than to buy)? Do you think this may deter people from joining just to offload their gear or to dump damaged gear and junk?

That isn't a bad idea at all! As much as I try not to bash someone.... IF it was found out someone on Ham was doing just that (more than once) they should be ousted/blocked from selling. Leave it to certain people to screw up a good thing.....Fun stuff to the Ham-master to figure out.

 

[PasadenaMike]

You’ll have to have a member review system post sale for both the buyer and seller.

 

[Hoppalong Doc]

@Hoppalong Doc , I seem to remember you saying that you would not mind a donation of points to get your total to 1000. With that said you are more than welcome to have some of mine. No true HAMster left behind .

What I was alluding to is that there are those of us who are active, participating members here on the forums who may not have enough HAM Points to "play". I thank you for your kind offer, but I can see how doing this might lead to the unscrupulous buying and selling of points. Thanks for your offer. Orv.

 

[hameditor]

What I was alluding to is that there are those of us who are active, participating members here on the forums who may not have enough HAM Points to "play". I thank you for your kind offer, but I can see how doing this might lead to the unscrupulous buying and selling of points. Thanks for your offer. Orv.

I understand the concern. However the only person who is able to transfer HAM Points from one person to another is me. Otherwise it is not possible.

 

[Pumacarl]

OK, let's take another look at this hameditor, Stephen, do you really want to become a banker, watching, controlling, and doling out the currency of the realm, or do you just want to make sure members don't get scammed? I am truly wondering why you would want to put yourself in that position with all the extra work it would involve. The key is to just make entry difficult to keep the bad actors out and once people are in, the members are surely going to let you know if something is up. This way you only have to check someone's credentials once, and not bother with every individual transaction. I think anybody would burn out chasing all the points, time limits, user reviews etc. Wouldn't you rather just be doing airgun reviews and trade shows? I know I would. There is no reason to bother yourself with all of the minutia being discussed until you have to. Start simple, but tough, and improvise as you go.

 

[hameditor]

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to comment on this topic. There were some outstanding thoughts and many of you put a lot of time and effort into your messages. Thank you!

We are finalizing a Classifieds solution for the HAM Community that addresses as many of your requests as possible.

Given that there was a wide range of opinions expressed - that's great! - we obviously will not be able to do everything that everyone wants. Also there is - as always - technical stuff "under the hood" that can cause limitations that may not appear obvious until they are encountered.

However, our INTENTION is to roll-out a HAM Community Classifieds area with the following key features:

- Simple and easy to use.

- Helps advertisers and buyers achieve a safe selling/buying experience.

- Allows for renewals.

- Includes a Classifieds Archive.

There's a lot of work taking place and our webmaster is fully engaged. As soon as we have a solution that we have thoroughly tested and works well, we'll launch it.

Steve

 

[Lee unsworth]

My input

Ads run for 2 weeks with a red sold button they hit once ad is sold

No discussion via pm apart from bank details

First person says they want the item it goes to them and no bids… fixed price items

3 month on ham before they can enter the sales section

Disclaimer that all sales and wants is ok but no come back on the ham website for any deals that don’t happen or any issues that can arise with online purchases as the deal is between the seller and buyer