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?
Please knock it off. OK?
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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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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?).
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?).
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.