Classified Rules Changes?

[Tru2Chevy]

We enacted the 50 post / 6 month rule because we had several problems in the past with members joining this site just to use the Classified forums.

I'm sure there aren't many (if any) spammers who would wait 6 months, which is why we chose that timeframe. The idea was to keep spammers out.

The rule about only posting items for sale that you actually own came from having several people post items for sale that a non-member friend had, or even just a car / part they saw for sale on another forum. These ads pretty much all had very little or no contact info, and we had complaints from members who were trying to make purchases and had difficulty contacting the actual owner of the item listed for sale to make the deal.

We tried briefly saying that if you posted an item for sale you must be the point of contact for the sale, but then all people would do was wait for one of our members to contact them, and then pass along their friend's / acquaintance's / whoever's contact info, and the trouble would start again.

Obviously this wasn't the case for every ad that was posted for an item that didn't belong to the member posting it, but it happened often enough that we felt action had to be taken.

If you (or anyone else) has any suggestions on better ways to handle an issue like this, we would gladly listen to your idea(s). If we feel that your idea could make things work out better overall, we'll most likely make a change.

Here are the current Classified Rules:

This area is strictly for members to buy and sell cars, parts, and other merchandise that they own. No corporate or shop advertising/sales by non club sponsors will be allowed to be posted here. Any member consistently posting parts, cars, car care services, or offering to part out cars in the Classifieds may be seen as offering a "professional service" and will be required to either limit such activity or become a paid supporting sponsor of the NJFBOA.

No thread should be "bumped up" more than once during a 48 hour period. The only member that is entitled to bump the thread will be the member that posted the ad. All responses must be directly related to buying/selling the item(s) being offered in the original post.

DO NOT post in someone's ad to criticize pricing or item description. That should be kept to a private message. If you feel that a particular ad posted is intentionally misleading, please report the thread and explain your reasoning. This is done by clicking on the Report Post icon (the red triangle with an exclamation point) found underneath the person's username and avatar.

All items listed for sale must have an asking price included in the initial post. The asking price must be an actual dollar amount. Posting an item and just asking users to make offers is not permitted.

This is not a place for eBay links to be left open. If you have an item you are selling on eBay and you would like to offer it locally, state that the item is also listed for local sale in your auction description and include the eBay link and asking price in the initial post.

All users will be required to have 50 posts or six months of membership on the board before using the Classifieds Forum. Excessive meaningless posting to reach the required minimum post count will not be tolerated.

Sales are to be held privately between buyer and seller. The club does not take any responsibility for the actions of anyone participating in transactions here.

All posts made in the Classifieds Forum WILL NOT count towards your overall post count.

If you have any questions about these rules, please contact a moderator or admin via PM.

Please note that inappropriate posts in this section will be deleted with no notification to the user.

NOTE: Once you hit 50 posts or 6 months, There is a program that runs several times a day to check for post counts of 50 or more. You will not have access to the Classifieds the second you hit 50 posts, but you should within a few hours. It is not immediate.

- Justin

[91chevywt]

Originally Posted by Tru2Chevy

We enacted the 50 post / 6 month rule because we had several problems in the past with members joining this site just to use the Classified forums.

I'm sure there aren't many (if any) spammers who would wait 6 months, which is why we chose that timeframe. The idea was to keep spammers out.

The rule about only posting items for sale that you actually own came from having several people post items for sale that a non-member friend had, or even just a car / part they saw for sale on another forum. These ads pretty much all had very little or no contact info, and we had complaints from members who were trying to make purchases and had difficulty contacting the actual owner of the item listed for sale to make the deal.

We tried briefly saying that if you posted an item for sale you must be the point of contact for the sale, but then all people would do was wait for one of our members to contact them, and then pass along their friend's / acquaintance's / whoever's contact info, and the trouble would start again.

Obviously this wasn't the case for every ad that was posted for an item that didn't belong to the member posting it, but it happened often enough that we felt action had to be taken.

If you (or anyone else) has any suggestions on better ways to handle an issue like this, we would gladly listen to your idea(s). If we feel that your idea could make things work out better overall, we'll most likely make a change.

- Justin

I'm not sure how others feel, but I do have a few suggestions myself. Maybe you could create a thred with a poll to see what everyone on the board thinks, or I wouldn't mind doing it if your busy. Here are my suggestions

1. Do away with the 6 month waiting period, maybe chop it in half to 3 months at the least
2. A post requirement isn't a bad idea, but I'm sure there are some who make short one word posts just to meet the 50 post minimum to post. I think if someone really wants to post in the classifieds, they will do that for 50 posts or 100 posts, so maybe for those who are legit the minimum should be cut back as well.
3. You can post a vehicle on here if you are a primary driver, or you can be dealt with as far as selling the car. No referrals, posting links to craigslist or ebay, or posting a friends car you dont know anything about. If your parents bought you a car, you can put it on here. If you bought a kid a car and its in their name and they pay for the insurance, you can put it on. I think as long as the original poster can give details about the car, and can be reached within a reasonable amount of time.

To help enforce this, I wouldn't mind helping to oversee the automotive and other classifieds. Does any of this seem feasable?

[sweetbmxrider]

i think if your last name is on the title, it should be good to go. i like the 6 month/50 posts though.

look how close you are to 50 posts! its not that bad, shows you can contribute to our community. we like that.

[Mike]

why change a system that has worked for 3+ years...........

91wt, there are many places to list the car that this cant be your only option. and to be honest, you have posted about the rules enough that any member that is active knows you have a car for sale. your complaining about the 50 post rule, but just by arguing with justin your up to 39 posts already.......just make 11 more posts, and list the damn car.

if YOU are authorized to sell it, and an interested party can CONTACT YOU for information, and meet with YOU to inspect/buy the car, then i cant see it being a problem

[91chevywt]

Originally Posted by cbrrmike

why change a system that has worked for 3+ years...........

91wt, there are many places to list the car that this cant be your only option. and to be honest, you have posted about the rules enough that any member that is active knows you have a car for sale. your complaining about the 50 post rule, but just by arguing with justin your up to 39 posts already.......just make 19 more posts, and list the damn car.

if YOU are authorized to sell it, and an interested party can CONTACT YOU for information, and meet with YOU to inspect/buy the car, then i cant see it being a problem

Ok, i'm not dead set on having everything changed, but if anything happens I think it should be the following. I was told that due to the fact that my name is not on the title I cannot post the car. I paid for the car with my money, but my girlfriend put the car in her name since she would be paying for insurance, registration, tags. I have done all the maintenance on the car myself, along with buying all parts and doing all the work. I know more about the car than the owner. A good example of a post that would not be allowed would be if a 17 year old had a car in their parent's name, and decided to sell. That kid could not put the car on, even though they are the sole driver, and the parents do not know how to use a computer. I think anybody who is knowledgeable enough about the car should be able to post it. Anyone who is found to not know anything about the car and forwards the potential buyer to someone else should have that ad deleted

I know there are other avenues to sell a car, its just that New Jersey F-body Owners Association would be the ideal forum to post it, because the members all are local. I do have the car on other forums, but I havent gotten too many bites. Anyone selling a car knows that it sucks just having it sit around, and you would like as many different ways as possible to promote the car.

On a related note, on the other forums I have been a member of, I haven't seen any with a post and time requirement. The rules are similar about the ebay ads, bumping up ads, having a price, etc, it just generally seems that it is up to the buyer to sift through the bad advertisements. I do think that its a good thing the administration cares about the members and tries to prevent the bad ads.

[LTb1ow]

So I can sell my parent's cars? I am pretty knowledgeable about them, I maintain them, and do most of the work on them....
And look at me, I have made over a 1000 posts in less that a few monthes, granted most of them are nonsense, but you can do it. 50 is pretty damn small of a number.

[sweetbmxrider]

i feel if its in the family, it should be allowed. i don't want to sift through advertisements/spam. it would take up server space too. which would inadvertently affect the members of the club through pricing of club merchandise.

[BonzoHansen]

I could care less if it changes. That said, IMO 3 months is enough, screw post counts.

Regarding posting someone else’s stuff, IMO if the member is the contact point, etc., that is fine by me – don’t ask don’t tell can apply here. I’m also ok with "my father is selling" or such for when there is family relationship involved. We should limit stuff with no relation/connection (hey, found this on LS1tech!) and of course links to commercial stuff. That includes “this is my friend’s truck’. Good, glad to hear it, let him sell it.

We should have a separate forum for ebay/craigslist, etc. Then you can scrap the eBay part of the rules.

[91chevywt]

I agree with what Bonzo says. He has been a member here for a long time, yet he only has 75 posts. I like to browse the forums, but I don't always have time to make and read posts. I've been a member here since July, and I run through the forum at least a couple times a week, I just don't always post things. It appears as though there may be some others that are in the same boat as me. I dont think I am the first person to question the post/time requirements am I?

[BonzoHansen]

My post count fluctuates wildly, commensurate with my level of boredom, don't go by that. LOL

No, you are not the 1st to question it, but in almost every instance it is someone who's been here like a month. To be honest I listen to but discount the thoughts of someone completely new to the site.

[NJSPEEDER]

I wouldn't mind the numbers being a bit lower, maybe 3months or 25posts. I just think that with the issues we have had in the past that we have to keep something there to prevent the professional sellers from getting going again.


-Tim

[Knipps]

Since when did Bonzo get so many posts?!

Posts: 123,458

I can see posting a car within family and agree to not have "hey, my friend is selling.."
The seller needs to be able to be a primary contact for the sale

[maroman88]

Originally Posted by Shownomercy

So I can sell my parent's cars? I am pretty knowledgeable about them, I maintain them, and do most of the work on them....
And look at me, I have made over a 1000 posts in less that a few monthes, granted most of them are nonsense, but you can do it. 50 is pretty damn small of a number.

guess not...the ad for my sisters camaro got the boot.... after being up for almost a year!

ive had cars listed for all my family members, and girlfriend in the past, why are we changing this crap now?

the car resides at the same house i do, i do the work on it, i even drive it once in a while, i am the point of contact for it.... but becuase my sister is the primary user of it and my dad "owns" all of our cars... guess i cant list any cars here any more huh??

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by maroman88

ive had cars listed for all my family members, and girlfriend in the past, why are we changing this crap now??

Nothing has changed, keep up. If Justin & the classified commandos did not delete the posts that means they missed them, lol.

[Tru2Chevy]

Originally Posted by maroman88

guess not...the ad for my sisters camaro got the boot.... after being up for almost a year!

ive had cars listed for all my family members, and girlfriend in the past, why are we changing this crap now?

the car resides at the same house i do, i do the work on it, i even drive it once in a while, i am the point of contact for it.... but becuase my sister is the primary user of it and my dad "owns" all of our cars... guess i cant list any cars here any more huh??

We aren't changing it now...the rule about not being able to post items for sale that don't belong to you has been in effect for several years, and I have deleted several threads for not following this rule. As I said in the PM to you, I'm not sure how yours went un-noticed for so long.

- Justin

[sweetbmxrider]

yeah sorry i pointed it out. i think the 6 months 50 posts is fine, but family vehicles should be allowed too. even if its like my brothers tv or my moms lamp. immediate family to me should be allowed. no middle man bs

[Tru2Chevy]

Just from what I am seeing so far, it seems as though most people are in favor of some sort of post limit / time rule and allowing items that belong to members of your immediate family to be posted for sale.

- Justin

[Jersyboyy]

YUP 6 months is a little to long but 50 is just right. As far as family is concerned why wouldnt you have allowed that from the beginning!?

[Knipps]

well it's 6 mos OR 50 posts. it's not required.. i think the 6 months is fine for people who don't post and just come here to sell stuff

[NJSPEEDER]

Originally Posted by Jersyboyy

YUP 6 months is a little to long but 50 is just right. As far as family is concerned why wouldnt you have allowed that from the beginning!?

Because we had people coming on selling for every uncle, cousin, parent, sibling, grandma, neighbor, friends, and everything else. Every time a question was asked, the response was "I'll ask" or the contact info was for someone who wasn't even on the site to tend to it and often would go completely unanswered.

I don't have a problem with people selling stuff if they are the one that can speak for it. But without a hard and fast rule, there is no way to police it and we are right back to the original problem.

-Tim

[V]

from selling stuff all over the web for quite a while, my opinion s that this system works and should be left as is..

[enRo]

Three months mandatory waiting period and at least 50 posts would work perfect, not one or the other. So you would have to have at least 50 posts AND three months of membership to post there. Keep the other rule, but add in the stipulation that if it's in the immediate family and easily accessable to answer potential buyer questions without replying with a "Ill have to check when I see it" or "Ill ask him/her" then it can be posted. Makes sense.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyKane

Three months mandatory waiting period and at least 50 posts would work perfect, not one or the other. So you would have to have at least 50 posts AND three months of membership to post there. Keep the other rule, but add in the stipulation that if it's in the immediate family and easily accessable to answer potential buyer questions without replying with a "Ill have to check when I see it" or "Ill ask him/her" then it can be posted. Makes sense.

See, that would be fine except new members will ask "Why can't I post in the classifieds" (in spite of the fact that there is an announcement on here about why, grrrr...) and post their crap all over the regular sections of the board...

[Tru2Chevy]

I think a 3 month waiting period would be a good change, but I wouldn't require both that and a minimum of 50 posts. That would hurt too many lurkers that do contribute from time to time.

- Justin

[enRo]

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

See, that would be fine except new members will ask "Why can't I post in the classifieds" (in spite of the fact that there is an announcement on here about why, grrrr...) and post their crap all over the regular sections of the board...

It happens now, so whats the point? There is a way to have it so that when you go to post in the classifieds, if you dont fall under the rules, it will display a message of the rules when trying to post. Thats the beauty of coding vbulletin.

Originally Posted by Tru2Chevy

I think a 3 month waiting period would be a good change, but I wouldn't require both that and a minimum of 50 posts. That would hurt too many lurkers that do contribute from time to time.

- Justin

But the reason for these rules is to prevent lurkers from posting ads, right? 90 days to make 50 posts, thats almost 1 post every 2 days.. thats enough time to contribute before posting a classified. I sure as hell wouldnt be buying from someone thats been here for 3 months with 0 posts, 0 contribution and 0 activity.