Uke marketplace 2.0

First let me say thank you to the members for the incredible wealth of knowledge on the forums. I'm much more familiar with the acoustic guitar forums, in particular AGF so please take these suggestions as newbie feedback.
Since this is a different suggestion for the marketplace than the current thread, I thought I'd start a new one.

Under the UU forum rules, item #8 pertaining to the marketplace suggests a few common sense points in listing an item for sale. I would look to the AGF marketplace as a guide for a more concrete set of rules. Even though uker's are way more laid back

1. When listing an item for sale, you must post an asking price. No best offers or "email me" for the price. This takes the "game" and the ambiguity out of buying and selling.
I think this works well on AGF and would do well here. It puts the responsibility on the seller to look at current market value and decide where in that range they are pricing their instrument. It looks like most of the members do this however a few listings I've looked at have not posted a price.
2. I'm not sure if sellers can place linked images from photobucket or other image hosting sites. Although it's nice to have the images hosted on the UU forum, they are limited in resolution and size.

Again, please take these as a new member's response to looking at and learning from the forums. I've only purchased one Uke from the UU marketplace, (UAS withstanding) and it was a perfect transaction. No complaints.
But in looking at some of the ads I think these rules would be helpful.

I agree with this completely. I find it a hassle to ask each time for prices when they should put it up in the original post, that way we know from the get-go. They are the ones trying to sell their uke anyway. I also find it a hassle when I have to lookup what ukulele they have, and dig through which one it is, often times not finding results. It actually reminds me of my visit to Chinatown. Bunch of items all laid out, yet no prices were shown. You'd literally have to ask the owner how much an item costed each time, and eventually we got so tired of asking we passed on a bunch of shops.

Totally agree. Naming a price at the outset should be a rule, not a suggestion. If a listing comes up like that it's an automatic "nothing to see here" from me.

You can link to photobucket et al for pics with higher res.

To that, you can also add the "I'm not sure I want to sell this, so make me an offer and I'll decide whether it's enough" type posts. You either want to sell it or you don't, that's why Ebay has so many rules.

I commented on a recent MP post that people seem to pounce on threads where there are no prices or photos, except when there is a potential bargain, and they want to get in first. The MP should have a 100 post minimum before being allowed to view or sell, and strict rules on the inclusion of recent photographs (which must be of a minimum quality...no out of focus, 1 megapixel potato-cam pictures). Any posts suggesting that an item is overpriced should be the subject of a PM, not public, or referred to a mod', and "bargain mate, good luck with the sale, whilst helpful, should be kept to a minimum.

There have been far too many snake oil salesmen posting on UU...I should know, I've been banned often enough for calling them out...but they've never come back, because all they wanted to do was jump on the uke bandwagon, import a few boxes of s** from vietnam, and try to sell it on a badly designed website with a few "Hawaiian" pictures and "Aloha" comments scattered around to distract from the fact that they are just trying it on, and will have moved on to selling fake investment opportunities after a couple of weeks.


*phew*


Yes, I feel strongly about scammers, mainly because I'm English, and when us and you yanks were told to choose between good teeth or the ability to see through bullshit, we made the right decision

^ I am printing this out and putting it in my Kahuna scrapbook.

The Big Kahuna said:

.......The MP should have a 100 post minimum before being allowed to view or sell, and strict rules on the inclusion of recent photographs (which must be of a minimum quality....There have been far too many snake oil salesmen posting on UU..

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Agree completely with the "minimum post" concept. I'm not sure if 100 is too many, but at least 50. Other websites have minimum posting requirements, mainly to keep the forum from becoming a "one-shot" where folk use and then run. A minimum posting allows some "community" identity established. After all, the marketplace (at least I think so) should be a "community" exchange rather than a one-shot garage sale site or alternative for commercial vendors.

Have made a few friends and a lot of positive contacts with UU regulars thanks to the marketplace, and never a bad deal.

The Big Kahuna said:

... I'm English, and when us and you yanks were told to choose between good teeth or the ability to see through bullshit, we made the right decision

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You've just made coffee come squirting out my nose, and it was terribly uncomfortable. I'll make sure I'm not consuming any form of liquid next time I see your name, sir.

On topic - I fully agree on posting both higher resolution photos and prices. If I think the price is more than I want to pay, then I will make an offer. I could do the same when there is no price listed, but generally I just skip it.

As for a site participation requirement for posting a classified ad - not a bad idea. 100 seems a little excessive, but having your first post be a for sale ad seems inappropriate too. I like to be able to see some posts from a seller before I buy from them, even if those posts are complaints about the item they are selling. As an on-line community it is good to be a participant.

As a new guy I would be pretty bummed if I couldn't even SEE the marketplace until after 100 posts. Reading about people's experience with different ukes is part of what continues building my interest in playing / learning. I get a minimum for selling but it's a bit of a double edged sword as creating minimums might inspire a lot of useless posting by people who are just trying to get their count up.
With that said, I just inherited a bunch of ukes that are from this AMAZING custom builder. You won't ever play your current uke again after you play one of these. Shoot me an offer and I'll let you know if that motivated me to sell. (photos available via usps after is payment received)

I think having a minimum of 100 posts would do more bad than good. The person trying to make a quick buck will just try and fill up their posts to 100 as fast as possible then just leave. Won't make a difference, except now there's a bunch of spam. Maybe post an introduction before being in the marketplace?

20 posts and they'll try to go that route. 100 posts and they'll give up after 5. 100 posts isn't very many at all if someone is taking an active part in the forum, and there is precedent for this many. A number of forums I am a member of, Talk Photography for one, have a 100 post minimum. Many also don't allow new members to view for sale posts.

I hear ya kahuna. It's a tricky balance. I'm sure there are scammers but for every one of them there's probably one (or more) like me who is new to the forum but genuinely interested in upgrading my first uke. I assure you that nobody needs 87 superfluous posts from me as I strive to get access.
Again, I agree on the concept just not sure if the benefits would outweigh the downside overall. Probably depends on the specifics of the threshold

The OP chose to use his "FIRST POST" to try to change something here. How about contribute a bit before you can buy anything or worry much about changing anything.

Nothing to see here except a first time poster trying to make everything better. lol

~AL~

A minimum number of posts is only one way to discourage less than scrupulous vendors, and I think the one shot sales are actually pretty rare in specialty forums like this. I don't agree with dictating community involvement, rather I trust that if someone is spending time lurking on a forum, then I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they are already part of the community.
I think MARKbOC is correct. Minimum posting requirements often discourages newbies. I've stopped going to forums that have silly numbers of minimum posts before you can participate in the marketplace or on some, before you can post an image. IMO it reinforces an elitist vibe. I've spent hours on the UU forum reading various threads and searching for tips and techniques. However I've not posted much. I could have started threads with questions, but the topics have been already been addressed. Many forums FAQ's ask members to do a search for info to limit the redundancy of posts.
Another way to discourage trolls and less reputable commercial vendors is to charge a minimum annual membership fee to be able to post on the marketplace. $20 for a year also helps the site owners to defray cost and time for maintaining the forums.

InksplosiveAL,
What would you have me contribute?
How about- gee... that's a snarky response to posting on the "suggestions" section of the forum.
Thanks for making me feel so welcome.

As I posted, I'm new to POSTING on the site, although I have been lurking for a while.
I know how to use a search engine and so most of my questions I've found answers to. And I've already purchased a very nice Pono from another forum member via the marketplace.

Inksplosive AL said:

The OP chose to use his "FIRST POST" to try to change something here. How about contribute a bit before you can buy anything or worry much about changing anything.

Nothing to see here except a first time poster trying to make everything better. lol

~AL~

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Why view it so negatively? Isn't making suggestions to better the forum a contribution? I don't see why people are trying to shoot down others for trying to help out and making good suggestions. Not cool at all.

Everyone seems to think that 100 posts is a lot, but it really isn't. It's 10 posts a day for 10 days, or 20 posts a day for 5 days.

View and comment on videos, ask questions if there's anything in a post that you don't understand or that's new to you, insult me in a creative fashion, post in one of the non-ukulele, non-musical sub-forums.

Trust me, the reason other forums choose 100 as a number of posts isn't arbitrary, it's because it's an easily achievable post-count, but is sufficiently high that it dissuades spammers. And even if they aren't dissuaded, they'll be spotted, identified and banned long before they hit 100.

Just participate ​and be patient, 100 posts is nothing.

KikonuMedia said:

Why view it so negatively? Isn't making suggestions to better the forum a contribution? I don't see why people are trying to shoot down others for trying to help out and making good suggestions. Not cool at all.

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Ive been told I run the negative before... *throws virtual hands in air* What are ya gonna do? I could see it as negative that someone who hasn't done anything at all but become a member and buy something decide the first thing they have to offer is their opinion on what needs to change around here.

I'm not shooting anyone down just observing out loud.

Do what you will.

The forum works well.

Inksplosive AL said:

Ive been told I run the negative before... *throws virtual hands in air* What are ya gonna do? I could see it as negative that someone who hasn't done anything at all but become a member and buy something decide the first thing they have to offer is their opinion on what needs to change around here.

I'm not shooting anyone down just observing out loud.

Do what you will.

The forum works well.

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The site suggestions doesn't require a minimum amount of posts, so why criticize someone for it?

Is what he has accomplished on the forum make his suggestion any more right or wrong?

He is doing something good by giving out a helpful suggestion. Sure the forum works well, but could it improve? Sure! What is wrong with giving a suggestion?

Sorry that we are less accomplished than you on the forums, but it doesn't make our opinions any less credible.

KikonuMedia said:

The site suggestions doesn't require a minimum amount of posts, so why criticize someone for it?

Is what he has accomplished on the forum make his suggestion any more right or wrong?

He is doing something good by giving out a helpful suggestion. Sure the forum works well, but could it improve? Sure! What is wrong with giving a suggestion?

Sorry that we are less accomplished than you on the forums, but it doesn't make our opinions any less credible.

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Well said bro.

The Big Kahuna said:

Yes, I feel strongly about scammers, mainly because I'm English, and when us and you yanks were told to choose between good teeth or the ability to see through bullshit, we made the right decision

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Wrong on the teeth. You guys can see thru bullshit, and do it with the best teeth in the world.
Source: http://www.economist.com/node/15060097
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More on topic, great first post.