Classifieds and members

[NoGi]

What are peoples thoughts on opening up classifieds to regular members as well?

Subscribers would still enjoy free listings but we could implement a listing fee for non subscribers. The fee could be set so subscription becomes more appealing for frequent traders.

Just a random thought I decided to put out there while I wait for my missus to finish work.

[ineke]

I don't have an issue with it. Some of our members advertise on Facebook as well as here so they are selling to the general public anyway.

[Squiggle]

IMHO, I thought the purpose of having premium membership was to get access to the great shrimp at great prices, if there's no incentive to become a premium member the I think that side of it will slacken off. It's true that people do sell their shrimp on other sites as well but that's up to them & I know I don't sell them there as cheap as I do here.

[NoGi]

Back then, classifieds was about all you got for your membership. I've been slowly bringing on other value add stuff that regular members don't get.

My long term view is with solid regular sponsorship and merchandise sales, we could eventually do away with member subscriptions. Just not quite there yet.

Like I said, just some random noise rattling around in my head right now. When I get time I'll do a strategic roadmap for SKF.

Edited May 27, 2014 by NoGi

[NoGi]

You know what would be cool, if classifieds supported differential pricing based on membership.

[BristledOne]

once it's open to standard members to view it would be too easy to circumvent any fees with a simple PM to the seller. As squiggle said, the biggest incentive to become a premium member is the ability to see the classified section.

 

You know what would be cool, if classifieds supported differential pricing based on membership.

 

Differential pricing based on membership? I imagine the seller would be the one wearing the discount cost? or are we talking about having to pay for membership + an adjustable fee for selling/buying on skf? Because then it becomes more attractive to buy/sell elsewhere...? There are already people that post their classifieds on multiple forums + Multiple FB groups.

I think the current system works, no need to change it.

[NoGi]

As squiggle said, the biggest incentive to become a premium member is the ability to see the classified section.

 

There are a lot more benefits to being a premium member these days then before   But that's for a different thread I've been meaning to create for a little while now. I'll post screenshots as each type of member to give you an idea.

 

Differential pricing based on membership? I imagine the seller would be the one wearing the discount cost? or are we talking about having to pay for membership + an adjustable fee for selling/buying on skf? Because then it becomes more attractive to buy/sell elsewhere...? There are already people that post their classifieds on multiple forums + Multiple FB groups.

I think the current system works, no need to change it.

 

No, SKF subscription members don't pay anything to use classifieds. The fee was more of an incentive for regular members to consider subscribing to gain access to fee free classifieds. On that note, what you pay for subs is that for life (well as long I'm running the forum anyway) - as in, you won't see any increases to price or reductions in benefits. If I'm forced to make any changes down the track it will be only for new subscribers. Same goes for the sponsors, you won't see any of those magical mega increases here that some have experienced on other sites.

Unless someone can convince me otherwise, I'll park this idea for the time being and focus on how I can get a better auction system happening and integrated with the classifieds.

 

Thanks for letting me bounce the idea around guys, sometimes it's easier to work through them out loud.

[newbreed]

Are there any further thoughts on this topic?

Opening classifieds to be viewed by non-paying members. Selling would only be open to premium members.

[K9932]

My opinion: I agree with Squiggle and BristledOne

[ellasfish]

Yes I agree with Squiggle & Bristledone  too.

[Ronskitz]

Yeah keep the way it is

[inverted]

I just bought membership to view classifieds ...

I vote NO!

[mst_mugen]

Regardless of other said benefits, I only purchased the premium membership PURELY for the privilege of gaining access to the classified section. I wouldn't bother with a premium membership if I had access to view the classified section just from being a regular member. Being able to sell items for free is an added bonus, but this alone would not be a big enough incentive for me to become a premium member (if this new system was implemented and I wasn't already a premium member).

 

Given the reason why I became a premium member, I would probably end up feeling a bit cheated if the classifies were to become viewable to regular members.

 

Just my 2 cents 

[newbreed]

Thanks for the feedback all!!

I personally think the premium membership is a small price to pay to be able to access the classifieds and it keeps the forum going. And the bonus, as a seller, is knowing your selling to members who are supporting the hobby, the forum and not just selling to anybody. As we also have a Code of Conduct established here, there are added benefits to buying through this forum over others.

Please keep the feedback coming as it would be good to have as much input into this as possible.

[NoGi]

I'll leave this thread open, don't see an issue with revisiting the topic every 6 - 12 months. If anything it will at least confirm that what's in place is working. If the time comes when it isn't working then we can look at changing to meet the new needs of the forum.

 

How are people finding the classifieds? Is it working? Do we need to go back to old way of selling? I don't really want to go back but if it's hampering classified than I will consider it.

[HexaD]

+1 classified was a huge incentive why I went premium but there's a lot less classified ads nowadays compared to before, not sure why tho considering the weather is perfect.

Having to post a pic on a wtb ad is a bit weird..

[Proto]

+1 classified was a huge incentive why I went premium but there's a lot less classified ads nowadays compared to before, not sure why tho considering the weather is perfect.

 

I tend to agree. I subbed based on various posts making it seem like the classified section was bigger/more active than it turned out to be. Few people seem to be selling and few people are placing wanted ads. While you can probably track down potential sellers of cantonensis and cherries, if you're looking outside of that your probably out of luck (for example, with what seems like northboy being MIA since Jan 2014 there's few others who seem to be selling natives or have made it obvious that they are, some of the species he sold don't seem to be sold by anyone else, it's odd how dead end things get).

[NoGi]

It's part of my reasoning to opening it up. With the format back to using forums, the whole non subscribers paying a listing fee is no longer feasible. As it's been around 6 months since I first posted this to the community, I'll check again.

 

Thoughts on opening up the classifieds to all members:

• All registered members > 50 posts can access
• Only subscription members can create for sale threads
• All registered members > 100 posts can create wanted threads

We need to shift the focus of paid subs = classifieds to paid subs = supporting skf and getting additional subscription benefits. In 2015, we'll be holding subscription member only comps as well and one of them is going to be significant. There are other benefits of being a paid member than just having access to the classifieds. The quality and price of shrimps should benefit all our members otherwise they'll end up at the end of some dodgy deal on some other medium.

 

The risk is off course that members decide not to renew as a result. That would be unfortunate as every little bit helps to run SKF. SKF isn't a forum with a big business behind it, I fund the gaps myself.

 

Thoughts? Feedback?

[Shrimpy Daddy]

Hi Nogi,

 

Usually when a forum has classified section or allows member to trade freely and openly, it will attract those hard-selling member to hang around the forum. This is good to attract more people coming over to perform trading. However, these hard-selling member may tends to post fictional information about their shrimp/ product that may confuses shrimp keeper. In addition, this may add extra load to your moderation team for verifying the authenticity of the information, and to guide the shrimp keeper back to the correct knowledge.

 

As such, you may need to want to consider additional rules on top of minimum post to govern this aspect. 

 

My 2 cents.

[NoGi]

Yes, so true. Fortunately we have some great knowledgable mods and members here. We tend to go down the scientific path rather than marketing which is why you don't see some of those funky names people are giving cherries on other forums here. Also enforce a fairly strict code of conduct.

[NoGi]

IMHO, I thought the purpose of having premium membership was to get access to the great shrimp at great prices

 

My counter argument today is that we should ensure all our members have access to quality shrimp at great prices so that they aren't getting ripped off elsewhere.

 

Also, by allowing all members access to view FS threads you are opening up the number of people premium/platinum members can sell to. Regular members won't be able to create FS threads just WTB ones. Only premium\platinum members continue to enjoy the ability to start new FS threads amongst all the other benefits of being a paying member.

[newbreed]

 

Thoughts on opening up the classifieds to all members:

• All registered members > 50 posts can access
• Only subscription members can create for sale threads
• All registered members > 100 posts can create wanted threads

 

Thoughts? Feedback?

I like the concept behind these criteria for accessing the classifieds.

Might be the inspiration needed to et it more active.

[NoGi]

Looks like I can't do min posts on a per group basis it's everyone or none at all.

So still the same rules but without the min post limit. E.g. Only paying members can list new FS threads.

[Sprae]

I'm cool with only paying members can create FS threads. But I'd suggest that sellers have the right to choose who to sell to anyway.

[Squiggle]

Good point, I'd be a bit worried about selling some TBs to someone with <5 posts.