Forum For Sale section?

Are we allowed to post “For sale” links in our signatures so long as it links to an external source (eBay, Craigslist, etc.) and is a design oriented object (3D printer, Cintiq, etc.)?

Greg, we don’t really do that. We’ve talked about it, but I think the general consensus is that it detracts from the conversation. Open to discussion around it though if the community’s views have changed.

I’m neutral on the subject since I’ve never put something on Ebay and had problems with people finding it. For sale forums are useful, but they tend to be messy and people start to debate what is actually “Design related”. IE “I’m selling my car, which will help you get to your ID job even faster!”

If it is worth considering I recommend following some guidelines set up by other forums:
-Dedicated For Sale section, not intermingled with anything else
-User must be registered for at least X (30-60 usually) days
-User must have at least X posts (50-100) - This needs to be combined with the above rule, otherwise you’ll have spammers who join, post the word “Cool” in 50 threads in an hour, bump a thousand old threads and ruin the real conversations.
-Only 1 for sale post per user
-Use an external feedback/rating site such as heatware.com

Just my $.02…which reminds me I have a really nice box of french curves sitting in my closet. :wink:

How about putting it into Off Topic?

I don’t think it is a bad idea. Some of us old timers have accumulated stuff that maybe someone else can appreciate.

For example, I have about 3 years worth of Car Styling magazines from the 80s. I’d give those away for the cost of postage, but I don’t want to recycle them because someone out there may like them. They would just get lost on ebay.

I’m all for it, I’d happily look in to seeing how much someone wants to sell a used Cintiq or 3D printer for. Even other stuff - for example I was looking for a cheap set of ellipse templates but everything was way out of my budget.

Perhaps a section that is moderated by someone that is only has powers over a “for sale/I’m buying” section?

I’m in.

Shall we take this to the moderators forum to discuss?

R

One of the paintball forums that I use has a section dedicated to “eBay Finds” (craigslist finds as well) where paintball only auctions are allowed to be posted. And of course some users post their own paintball related auctions there as well. Maybe Core77 could do this and the finds are design related only?

The BMW Motorcycle Owners of America web site has a “FleaMarket” section. One must be a paying Member (it is a national club) to advertise or even view items.

In the past there have been problems when someone feels that they were treated poorly, or were cheated, etc. That’s human nature. The real problem arises when that individual then kicks it up a level and takes his complaint to the general membership via a rant in the discussion forums. Many heated discussions have resulted over the years, personal dissing, threats, etc. At that point accusations, directed towards BMWMOA about not “protecting” the reputation of a member (by locking a discussion (for example)) have been thrown down and it all goes to hell in a hand basket.

But it isn’t a reason not to have a “for sale” section. A clear statement of what can, and can not be sold, a disclaimer that core77 is in no way responsible for the condition, terms of sale, collection of debts, etc. is needed. The BMWMOA mods are pretty good about policing it all.

What happened with the selling stuff idea?

I just had a very pleasant interaction with nxakt. He sent money to cover shipping costs and I sent 20 pounds of Car Styling magazines to China.

I’ve got other design crap to unload and craigslist isn’t much good.

We are talking it over in the moderators forum and discussing with c77 partners.

Okay I call dibs!

Send me a short list of what you have to chevisw@hotmail.com

Split this topic off the original…

Wow, I didn’t realize this gained traction. sweet!

I just don’t want it to take away from the real purpose of the forum; talking about design.

It would be cool (not sure if it is possible though) if each user had a thread that they can only access from their Control Panel. The only place they can link this thread could be in their signature. The thread could be stored in a forum similar to the moderators forum (ie. no one can access the full forum other than Mods).

We are not likely to do something that complicated (unless someone wants to volunteer time to figure it out) but we are working on something. Sit tight. It will be contained in a specific forum and of course there will be considerable guidelines to help keep it beneficial and on topic.

Complexity of the above transaction was zero, result on my side was a great box of my favorite magazines that arrived in two weeks to Shanghai in perfect condition. Have to thank iab for the great offer.

I realize that a considerable framework can be built around this process to cover all the eventualities, in this case, none was needed. Like others, I have design stuff that would be nice to find a new home for.

While my transaction with nxakt was very smooth, I did break one of the two rules I highly recommend.

  1. Pictures of the item (this is the rule I broke). - People know exactly what they are getting.
  2. Stated price. - No good ever comes from a seller fishing for an offer.

Definitely good rules. Nothing more annoying than someone posting an image off of the manufacturers website of something you want to buy. “It looks just like this, only blue…”

This is a great idea, my friends do the same with sports equipment. Once they upgrade to a better or newer one, they sell the previous one. I don’t see why this shouldn’t work with design tools.

Alright. Any new traction to this old subject? This time I’m looking to unload a couple of Philippe Starck chairs. Again, I can do ebay, but since it is “designer” crap, I think offering it to designers first makes sense.

And if it is OK, I will follow my 2 rules of posting pictures and price. Shipping is trickier to nail down as with a big box, zones make a difference.

I’d still have to side with “not allowed” We get enough spam as it is and for the small amount of legit posts, we’d be even more swamped with spam (they search out forums with “for sale” keywords I’ve heard).

R