Bumping Ads in the Classifieds

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EddieCoyle

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I've noticed a bunch of cases where people have bumped other peoples' ads with phrases like, "Free bump for you."

Please knock it off. OK?
 
Didn't EC's signature line once say something about poking fat kids with sticks?
 
Fat kids like to poke things with sticks.

Not trying to derail the thread though. This has been brought up numerous times, and there are giant disclaimers in the classified section. It's not a place for discussion or messing around.
 
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I particularly like when someone tries to get creative and posts a "delete" on their ad, only to re-list it a few hours later or the next day. [rolleyes]
 
Here's the problem:

Everyone wants their ad at the top of the list (or at least on the first page). If we had no bump rules, then the classifieds would be an f-ing mess - people would be bumping their ads constantly to 'stay on top'.

So we put in a simple rule: Don't put any new posts in your ad for 7 days after the last post. We allow for reasonable questions and answers, but the 7-day rule stands. If you bump your ad before 7 days are up and a mod sees the post, it will get deleted. If you're a habitual offender, the ad will get deleted altogether.

All of a sudden, we've got other people bumping ads just to bump them. In other words, if you want your ad at the top, get a buddy to bump it for you. That's not going to fly.

I'm going to start deleting those ads with the message "Ad deleted because CrapWeasel123 bumped it."

The other rule-skirting method that's not allowed is when some toolbag deliberately posts a vague ad, and then posts a little bit more info about the item each day. I'm going to delete those ads from now on too. If you want to add to your ad, and it's less than 7 days since the last bump, simply edit the OP.

ETA: If the forum software allowed it, I'd like to see it so that only the OP can post in a classifieds thread (Why the hell do some of you feel the need to post "PM sent" in the ad anyway? The friggin' guy is selling something. If he's too stupid to check his PMs, do you really want to buy anything from him?). I also wish the software had a way to make the OP unable to put in a new post until a week had passed. The software doesn't, so the mods have to deal with it.
 
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Here's the problem:

Everyone wants their ad at the top of the list (or at least on the first page). If we had no bump rules, then the classifieds would be an f-ing mess - people would be bumping their ads constantly to 'stay on top'.

So we put in a simple rule: Don't put any new posts in your ad for 7 days after the last post. We allow for reasonable questions and answers, but the 7-day rule stands. If you bump your ad before 7 days are up and a mod sees the post, it will get deleted. If you're a habitual offender, the ad will get deleted altogether.

All of a sudden, we've got other people bumping ads just to bump them. In other words, if you want your ad at the top, get a buddy to bump it for you. That's not going to fly.

I'm going to start deleting those ads with the message "Ad deleted because CrapWeasel123 bumped it."

The other rule-skirting method that's not allowed is when some toolbag deliberately posts a vague ad, and then posts a little bit more info about the item each day. I'm going to delete those ads from now on too. If you want to add to your ad, and it's less than 7 days since the last bump, simply edit the OP.

ETA: If the forum software allowed it, I'd like to see it so that only the OP can post in a classifieds thread (Why the hell do some of you feel the need to post "PM sent" in the ad anyway? The friggin' guy is selling something. If he's too stupid to check his PMs, do you really want to buy anything from him?). I also wish the software had a way to make the OP unable to put in a new post until a week had passed. The software doesn't, so the mods have to deal with it.

Thank you for posting this. This has been a problem for a long time. Unfortunately, whenever you get humans together there are always going to be those who try to get around the system
 
My biggest pet peeve (Haven't seen it here thank Allah) is when the item doesn't sell and a week later they put up the same exact ad. so now there are two three or more ads for the same item. if you want to lower the price edit your original ad!


Oh and thank you EC for your hard work to keep the board clean
 
My biggest pet peeve (Haven't seen it here thank Allah) is when the item doesn't sell and a week later they put up the same exact ad. so now there are two three or more ads for the same item. if you want to lower the price edit your original ad!

It happens. I delete all the ads and send the offender a PM.

I have another tip: If your item isn't selling quickly, then your price is too high.
 
EC, I don't know about anyone else, but I post "PM Sent" when I want to establish my place in line. Hard to argue with a post dated on the forum.
 
EC, I don't know about anyone else, but I post "PM Sent" when I want to establish my place in line. Hard to argue with a post dated on the forum.

You're assuming the seller goes 'in order', and that someone hadn't sent him a PM before your post.
 
EC, I don't know about anyone else, but I post "PM Sent" when I want to establish my place in line. Hard to argue with a post dated on the forum.

I agree with this. I think that is common practice so we do not have to post "i'll take it" and then get bitched at for that as well.
 
I agree with this. I think that is common practice so we do not have to post "i'll take it" and then get bitched at for that as well.

It's too bad we don't have a system where you can send a message to specific user, say the seller of an item, so that only they get it, and then you can send messages privately back and forth.
 
ETA: If the forum software allowed it, I'd like to see it so that only the OP can post in a classifieds thread (Why the hell do some of you feel the need to post "PM sent" in the ad anyway? The friggin' guy is selling something. If he's too stupid to check his PMs, do you really want to buy anything from him?). I also wish the software had a way to make the OP unable to put in a new post until a week had passed. The software doesn't, so the mods have to deal with it.

These seem like easy features to add to the forum software. They just need to add two columns to the table describing a sub-forum (original author only follow ups (yes/no) and time to next allowed follow up (hours)). New posts just have to be checked against those flags. Seems like a few minutes of coding for the vBulletin folks.
 
These seem like easy features to add to the forum software. They just need to add two columns to the table describing a sub-forum (original author only follow ups (yes/no) and time to next allowed follow up (hours)). New posts just have to be checked against those flags. Seems like a few minutes of coding for the vBulletin folks.

[rofl][rofl][rofl]

You had me there for a minute...
 
It's too bad we don't have a system where you can send a message to specific user, say the seller of an item, so that only they get it, and then you can send messages privately back and forth.

its too bad we need ad nazis for a pretty simple process. maybe we should get rid of the whole classified section so ladies don't get their panties in a bunch for pm sent replies.
 
EC, I don't know about anyone else, but I post "PM Sent" when I want to establish my place in line. Hard to argue with a post dated on the forum.

I agree with this. I think that is common practice so we do not have to post "i'll take it" and then get bitched at for that as well.

Exactly why some people (myself included) have started putting disclaimers in their ad's. If some chooch that wasted my time on a previous item I had for sale posts "PM Sent", "1st in line", "I'll take it"...ect ect in a current ad, I could care less...cash talks, [bs1] can go for a jog. Not a jab at anyone posting here, just saying...

It's too bad we don't have a system where you can send a message to specific user, say the seller of an item, so that only they get it, and then you can send messages privately back and forth.

Yeah, no kidding...[laugh]
 
its too bad we need ad nazis for a pretty simple process. maybe we should get rid of the whole classified section so ladies don't get their panties in a bunch for pm sent replies.

You seem to be the one with his panties in a bunch. Have you had a problem in the classifieds? If so, work on your reading comprehension, don't lash out at someone that's trying to help out here. Got that tough guy?

Also, what makes you think that posting "PM sent" holds you a place in line anyway?
 
Some other vBulletin forums I've seen shut off the ability to reply to posts in the classified section and also automatically delete classified section posts more than a month old. If an item doesn't sell in a month, the ad gets automatically deleted and the seller can repost a new one if he wants. (Could also be a week or whatever time frame the administrator sets.) This seems to help keep the classified section from getting crapped up with a million "BTT" posts and outdated ads.


EDIT: I don't know if those features are built into the software or some sort of customization.
 
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Some other vBulletin forums I've seen shut off the ability to reply to posts in the classified section and also automatically delete classified section posts older than a month. If an item doesn't sell in a month, the ad gets automatically deleted and the seller can repost a new one if he wants. (Could also be a week or whatever time frame the administrator sets.) This seems to help keep the classified section from getting crapped up with a million "BTT" posts and outdated ads.


EDIT: I don't know if those features are built into the software or some sort of customization.

That might work. Maybe Derek can check to see if those features exist in the software. The downside is that people would have to repost their ads every month if their items don't sell. The upside is that we won't have to deal with as much crap, and won't have to worry about manually deleting items that have sold.
 
On HKPro, the seller has moderator controls in any ad they post in the classified section (from what I understand, I haven't used it myself). This way, they can delete their own ads after the item has sold. Maybe it might be worth seeing if we could do something like that here? Process could be 1) create an ad, 2) lock the thread so no one can post in it, and 3) manage deletion yourself. Of course, it would come down to the person to not abuse the policies and still bump their own ad ahead of schedule.
 
On HKPro, the seller has moderator controls in any ad they post in the classified section (from what I understand, I haven't used it myself). This way, they can delete their own ads after the item has sold. Maybe it might be worth seeing if we could do something like that here? Process could be 1) create an ad, 2) lock the thread so no one can post in it, and 3) manage deletion yourself. Of course, it would come down to the person to not abuse the policies and still bump their own ad ahead of schedule.

There's a "thread reporting' bug in the software that makes this a bad idea.
 
"If the forum software allowed it, I'd like to see it so that only the OP can post in a classifieds thread (Why the hell do some of you feel the need to post "PM sent" in the ad anyway? The friggin' guy is selling something. If he's too stupid to check his PMs, do you really want to buy anything from him?).

Actually, there is a way. Give OP the ability to lock their own posts in that forum. The software can handle that, and if it cannot in it's current state, derek can add a modification to do it. (Permissions like this can only be set by an admin, unless the admin wants the moderators to be able to do it.)

Everything is possible with BB software these days. All it takes is a bit of work to get what you want if you don't have it.

P.S. By the way, EC........BUMP! [rofl]
 
ETA: If the forum software allowed it, I'd like to see it so that only the OP can post in a classifieds thread (Why the hell do some of you feel the need to post "PM sent" in the ad anyway? The friggin' guy is selling something. If he's too stupid to check his PMs, do you really want to buy anything from him?).

Actually vBulletin CAN do this. The permission is Can Reply to Others' Threads and it can be set on a per-forum basis. Feel free to PM me for details if you and/or Derek need help setting it up.
 
EC, I don't know about anyone else, but I post "PM Sent" when I want to establish my place in line. Hard to argue with a post dated on the forum.

I agree with this. I think that is common practice so we do not have to post "i'll take it" and then get bitched at for that as well.

As a buyer the smart thing to do would be to not post anything in the ad thread. That makes it show up in "new posts" list generating visibility and the potential for competition.

As a seller though, bump it baby (within the spirit and letter of the rules of course).
 
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