Survey time – What do we do with the classifieds?

[NoGi]

As most are aware, this is something I have been struggling with for a long time now. But one thing is for sure and the classifieds section can’t continue the way it is. Some points to note:

• The classifieds section is pretty much dead – traffic to that part of the forum confirms it
• Facebook is where people like to trade now
• Issues that come up as a result of a sale are extremely taxing and frustrating on the staff here and negates any motivation to keep the classifieds

What I propose is this:

• Removal of for sale section(s)
• Keep Free/Giveaway – restricted to subscription members only
• Keep Wanted to Buy – open to all

Combined with the trader feedback system and the WTB section, members should still be able to work out who they can/should trade with. But we are essentially removing SKF Aquatics from the equation. This ensures that we remain a content driven forum rather than a marketplace driven one.

[VickiH]

From my experience Facebook is pretty much dead when it comes to shrimp sales, it's like a bargain basement clearance house & most pages now seem to sell more buce than shrimp.

 

Some people sell rubbish quality shrimp without stating the grades & sell them for really low prices which makes others think that must be the standard price for that shrimp. I'm very proud of my yellow cherry shrimp but finding buyers is not always easy - I recently needed to move juveniles because I had way too many & I struggled to sell them off at $4ea (when they're normally $8ea for med/high grade) I don't sell my culls because they shouldn't be in the marketplace - I want people to have nice shrimp, not spend 2 years refining and improving them like I had to. I ended up selling to a good LFS who then resold them for $15ea

 

There needs to be a place where sellers can build up a reputation (like eBay feedback) and where people can go to buy decent quality shrimp from reputable breeders. The administration needs to set up rules that they are not responsible for sales & that those issues should be brought up with the seller directly. There are always buyers out there who shouldn't buy shrimp because their tanks are not ready or suitable for the shrimp they are buying - I don't like selling to people without asking a lot of questions to ensure I'm not sending my shrimp to their deaths. I'm always happy to share my parameters and help people who want to get into keeping shrimp - sadly there are some sellers who don't care about the shrimp they send out or sharing their hints & tips, some breeders treat sales like a competitive arena and keep essential information close to their chests. Some treat shrimp like a cash cow & others like myself aren't in it for the money - I'm a passionate hobbiest who enjoys sharing the hobby - I'm not a shrimp business looking to cash in & rip people off.

 

I was hopeful that this forum would be a better place to offer shrimp for sale - because the members here have access to all the forums and information needed to have a happy healthy shrimp keeping experience - not a nightmare of deaths & disappointment.

 

I would vote for the classified/for sale section be kept & breeders encouraged to offer decent quality healthy shrimp advertised accurately & honestly. If you're selling culls then list them as such. I like that you make potential sellers upgrade their membership to be able to sell on here - because it should help the quality of sellers & support the forum financially at the same time (++ bonus!).

 

This is a great forum & the opportunity should exist for buyers to have somewhere to buy decent shrimp direct from the breeders.

 

That's just my 2 cents worth.

[NoGi]

Wow, that's a long message to type on your iPhone but thanks for taking the time to do so. Don't forget to actually vote on the poll. There was an issue that popped up on a different FB group last night which I was following, it reminded me of the headaches you have to deal with when deals go south and you get pulled in to play piggy in the middle.

The last issue I had to deal with took up a good part of a week. That's a week I don't generally have and a week that takes me away from building better things here to improve the quality of information to get out into the hobby.

That said, I've always valued the feedback here by the members hence why I am polling rather than just making an executive decision.?

[Madmerv]

When something starts to become a problem for the moderators then remove it. The last thing we want is moderator burn out and then a neglected site.

If you follow the forum and read the posts then it dosent take long to work out who has what and where they live. If you want to buy some new ones or get some genetic diversity then a direct PM is not that hard to do. 

Is it against the rules to include a note that you are willing to sell in a Post? PM's between members then exclude the moderators involvement.

[NoGi]

2 minutes ago, Madmerv said:

Is it against the rules to include a note that you are willing to sell in a Post? PM's between members then exclude the moderators involvement.

We try and keep sales out of topics otherwise you end up with for sales topics all over the place. I could work something out, maybe create some self awardable awards for subscription members that flags them as a breeder/seller.

[Madmerv]

I see what you are saying although i was thinking more along the lines of @VickiH thoughts. She dosent want to sell to inexperienced shrimpers but she does sell them every once in a while. In her post on the Yellows earlier only those people that were interested in them read it. If she had a line at the bottom that she does sell them and was contacted by a person that read the post, well at least she knows they are reading up on what they need to keep them and they are not just time wasters.

I was not thinking that for sale topic posts be allowed to spring up in the different sections.

[NoGi]

Rather than in the post, what about in the signature?

E.g.

If you are interested in aquiring the yellow cherries in my topic <link>  drop me a PM

or something along those lines. 

Have a requirement that in order to be allowed to place in the signature, a topic must exist showing the colony, tank setup etc...

[neo-2FX]

On 2/14/2017 at 1:16 PM, NoGi said:

Rather than in the post, what about in the signature?

E.g.

If you are interested in aquiring the yellow cherries in my topic <link>  drop me a PM

or something along those lines. 

Have a requirement that in order to be allowed to place in the signature, a topic must exist showing the colony, tank setup etc...

I think that's a decent idea @NoGi

[NoGi]

So it seems that most want to retain the for-sale forum?

Interesting given that the that part of the forum is usually fairly quiet. 

[VickiH]

So it seems that most want to retain the for-sale forum?

Interesting given that the that part of the forum is usually fairly quiet. 

 

I imagine some people are put off by the fact you have to pay (a very small amount IMHO) to upgrade membership - it's sad that some people are so cheap they don't want to outlay to make sales - it's standard business practice to pay to advertise products. So even as a hobbiest it's a good opportunity to financially support (with a small outlay) a great helpful forum as well as having access to interested buyers. I can understand that attitude from kids - but adults should understand that things in life cost money - eBay takes 10% of every sale, newspaper classifieds cost money to post a for sale item, other websites like car sales charge to list your car. The reality is if you want exposure & sales then it normally costs money.

 

Perhaps your suggestion above that people show the entire colony in a separate thread and then can advertise for sale items without premium membership.

 

I'll be upgrading my membership and advertising my yellow cherry shrimp in the next few days.

 

:)

 

[NoGi]

On 2/20/2017 at 9:52 PM, VickiH said:

I imagine some people are put off by the fact you have to pay (a very small amount IMHO) to upgrade membership

Unfortunately, that's the society we live in these days. Everything for nothing. Perhaps people don't realise that 100% of any funds generated here go back into the running of the site. Without the support of our sponsors the site would have shut down years ago.

What I struggle to understand is that we have a majority vote to keep the forsale forum but hardly anyone wanting to actually use it? If it wasn't clear before, the poll is about the sale sub forum only, the wanted to buy would still exist.