I have no problem using the Classifieds as they are, but I also understand the need to make them better.

The “geotagging” was turned off when I bought my iPhone, so please consider that when reading the following:

I have always included a watermark of my forum ID in every photo posted. Anyone who edits their photos to post can easily include a watermark which does not distract from the item being sold.

A photo with a specific request for visual validation can be requested by the buyer via email.

I do not remember ever requesting photos via email – might have in distant past – but if my 75-year-old dyslectic mind can process photos, then I have reserves with someone who claims they cannot.

As far as the suggestion to limit editing original post: see above sentence – sometimes it takes me a while.

My suggestions:

1. Post all the new refinements to the Classifieds in a sticky.
2. I understand that we have policies – which I prefer, but perhaps we need more “rules” because not everyone invited to the party understands that you don’t dip your cup in the punchbowl.
3. Do not bother to post regarding a violation: just delete it. They will eventually realize that they are rules – not suggestions.
4. Limit bumps to one per day or every two days.

Thank you, Para.

.

^ Minor issue with #3, is this usually leads to "why was my post deleted" threads in the 'Office'

I've had good experiences overall with the classifieds. If anything, I'd like to see a short sticky at the top of the classifieds section with some simple rules:

1. Must post "I'll take it" in the forum if you want to buy something.
2. Must have an email address in your profile.
3. No other comments in a classified ad that are unrelated to actual buying and selling. Posts in an ad should be limited to things like "I'll take it" or maybe "email sent."
4. Sellers are required to edit both the title and text of a classified ad when something is sold or sold pending funds.

Given how well Para runs the place, spending untold hours with no compensation, I would be up for paying Sig Forum a 5% "buyers premium" based on the value of sold items. Only members in good standing could transact business. Para keeps this place clean and free of advertising, and I think this could help compensate for all the time he spends policing the place and dealing with idiots and scammers.

quote:

Originally posted by FishOn:
Given how well Para runs the place, spending untold hours with no compensation, I would be up for paying Sig Forum a 5% "buyers premium" based on the value of sold items. <SNIP>

The challenge with stuff like this, or rankings, or anything where something has to be tracked is…who is going to track it and manage it?

For the most part the Boss is a one man operation. Nearly everyone on this board would be willing to contribute to one time site-upkeep fundraiser if asked, but to date, Para has consistently resisted those offerings.

I propose 3 options, and could care less which one if any is considered.

Get what you paid for;
Big boy rules. Basically there are no rules, but there will be NO admin support, policing, encouragement or involvement in that part of the forum at all. Get screwed too bad, don't come crying.

Get what you paid for part II;
Shut it down. It is obviously not worth the hassle as it is.

Pay for what you get;
Leave it open and continue to police it, but charge a fee to view or post. This way Para at least has a way to be compensated for the time, energy, and frustration of dealing with it. I belong to another forum that charges $100 a year if you wish to use the classifieds, or even discus values of items or sales. Seems like a fair deal to me.

In any case there certainly will be bitching, at least with the paid option Para will be compensated for his trouble.

Great example right here today.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/9580021784

First, I appreciate the effort being made here to fix the Classifieds issues and protect members, even at the expense of Para's sanity. Sincerely, I do.

I personally skip virtually every ad that says "email for pics," because an ad worth running should be worth running right, not schlepping up there without a pic, already. What, you can't figure out how to post a pic on the internet?? I keed, I keed (somewhat) Maybe the fix is to have a sticky at the top of the Classifieds that gives step-wise instructions on how to do it without giving away your digital DNA?

I love the idea of sealing the Classifieds from non-member viewing. Might this have the benefit of also keeping out most auto-bot type issues for those who forget and post up their email in error?

I agree with having a minimum post count. 200, as was stated by several, seems a good number, as it's tough to post whore 200 posts over a couple hours without wearing your internet knees out....

I agree that "Interested" does not mean "I'll take it," but neither should sellers interpret "Please send pics" to mean "Hold it for me," and ultimately "I'll take it!" is the game stopper that trumps all other statements.

I agree that sellers should post who purchased the item for sale in WTS ads, to show that they didn't sell on a duplicate site elsewhere. Not that something like that ever happens 'round here.

I only post when looking for or providing info. for a particular item/firearm. No offense but I don't post just to be chit chatting so I don't rack up a lot of posts. I haven't always indicated in the post that "I'll take it" I went straight to the profile email and included my Sig Forum name. Communication was always great. If I spent a significant amount of money like for a firearm, I spent a little extra and sent payment via Certified Mail.

I don't know that a bunch of extra rules, like number of posts, is going to help.

Just like using a computer, a savvy user is the best defense. Email address in the profile should be a requirement. If it's not there, I'm suspicious.

Big C - one more post for 100 !!

It may be unpopular, but anyone transacting business must provide a copy of their drivers license to Para.

I would have no reservations about this.

I’m sure some will say how this would be rife for abuse and open members up for identity theft; I’m sure some could explain how this could be faked as well, too.

I’m not denying this as a possibility, but it would be a great start.

quote:

Originally posted by Big C:
No offense but I don't post just to be chit chatting so I don't rack up a lot of posts.

In case you haven't noticed, all these pages filled up with "chit-chat" are the only reasons this forum exists. No "chit-chat", no Classifieds, no nothing. Say "Thank you" to all the contributors in this forum. Without them, we wouldn't be here.

quote:

I don't know that a bunch of extra rules, like number of posts, is going to help.

Spoken like a man with 99 posts, facing a 200 post minimum for use of Classifieds.

Something has to be done. Otherwise, do you honestly believe that after having gone for 22 years without a set of rules for Classifieds, that I would be doing this? I haven't exactly jumped in with both feet, have I?

I don't have any suggestions on security issues, but think posts should be deleted after 90 days or another specified time. I don't know if that would be problematic to the forum's operation.

I like the "must be logged in to view the classifieds" idea. A post number/minimum time requirement sounds good as well. Also, I think it would be common sense that at least some communication should occur in the open forum?

quote:

Originally posted by Sunset_Va:
I don't have any suggestions on security issues, but think posts should be deleted after 90 days or another specified time. I don't know if that would be problematic to the forum's operation.

It wouldn't be a problem at all. As a matter of fact, it would stop me pulling out my hair when someone bumps a four year old post to say "Hey, is this still available?"

One thing which seems to have been missed is that in the case of the latest probing by the thief posing as member Flash-LB is that member 1KPerDay was contacted by this insect via email, even though 1KPerDay does not have his email address displayed in any of his posts.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/1740075984

This means that the thief is a registered member in this forum, and what that means, almost to a certainty, is that this asshole is in the United States, because I screen applicants very carefully, and if the ones I approve and who are clearly in other countries, usually have their permission to view member profiles revoked.
1KPerDay indicated that the emails he received from this low-life were grammatically correct. Many times, we've seen scammer show up here who betray themselves with their fucked up syntax and spelling errors not attributable to typos.

So, this asshole is in the forum and their native language appears to be English, and they've now become sufficiently familiar with the culture of gun boards to look like something they are not- a sincere person with a moral base.

Restricting access to Classifieds would not combat this type of thief. It would stop some thieves, but if members adhere to our new policy of not placing their email address or phone number in the body of their post, then those thieves who are not registered for the forum would be stopped, because how would they go about contacting members in an attempt to scam them?

On top of that, restricting access to Classifieds would cause some people who would not otherwise register for the forum, to register. I can tell you to a certainty this would happen. This is not to say that these people would register for nefarious purpose, but the result would be new members, who don't really want to be members, and some of those new members would turn out to be troublemakers. Guaranteed. Think about it; they would register only to have continued access to look at Classifieds, which in and of itself is no crime, but since they really don't care about this place, yet suddenly have the ability to post, some of them would without any doubt, cause friction here.

This is why I have resisted the idea of restricting access to Classifieds to registered members.

Having said all of that, some of you will be surprised to learn that I may end up doing exactly that- restricting access to that section, because it would likely turn out to be that the benefits would outweigh the annoyance of a dealing with a few yammering dolts who have no business being here.

There's no rush in any of this. I have found in this life that unless there is a pressing need to act quickly, it is always best to think about a thing for a long time. Answers seem to present themselves, sometimes suddenly, after long rumination.

Para, aren't you overthinking this? No, actually, because I take the presence of these thieving motherfuckers personally and I am not going to make decisions in haste in a place I plan to inhabit for as long as I live. I take it personally when members of this forum have taken from them the money they've worked for, but I don't want to lock down this place any more than is needed, so we'll let this thread run, and we'll talk about it, and then, the answers will become clear, and when the rules and conditions are decided and the list goes up, at the head of the list will be the words "These rules were compiled by the members of this forum."

So many good suggestions have been made. The ones I like are:

1. Must be logged in as a member to see the classifieds.
2. (If the software is capable) cannot post or reply if no email in profile.
3. If you post it for sale, you MUST post photos, and a price. In those photos, MUST be your screen name and todays date, as well as the thread title written legibly on a sheet of paper with a pen or marker. No printouts or anything of the like. I get the EXIF stuff, sort of. I read it and I understand what it records. If it’s that hard to remove the data from the photo, how hard is it to use it maliciously?
4. First person to reply “I’ll take it” gets it. No thread reply, no deal.
5. For sale posts should be locked from editing shortly after posting. This preserves historical pricing. The title should remain editable so the OP can mark it as sold.
6. 100 posts of value. Until 100, classifieds are not visible. We are pretty smart and would pick up on the scammer posting “nice” in a hundred threads.
7. Year membership or classifieds are not visible.

I love typing out a well thought out post, just to realize in the time I took to type it all out, someone already answered half my ideas.

I need to learn to type faster.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by Sunset_Va:
I don't have any suggestions on security issues, but think posts should be deleted after 90 days or another specified time. I don't know if that would be problematic to the forum's operation.

It wouldn't be a problem at all. As a matter of fact, it would stop me pulling out my hair when someone bumps a four year old post to say "Hey, is this still available?"

I think it would aid in keeping scammers from "mining" posts. If some one is really interested in selling something, they will re post it after the time limit.

Most items either sell in 90 days or they don't sell at all.

I appreciate Para commenting that this needs to be well thought out. I hope his solution doesn't cost him more of his time. I cannot imagine how much effort he puts into keeping this site as shipshape as it is. Restricting access until you are a well vetted user is a good idea. Unfortunately, no matter what he comes up with, some loser is gonna do his best to try and get past his defenses.

I thank you Para for all your work and looking out for us.