UU Marketplace Feedback System and Bumping

commandercup

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I haven't posted much on here, but I've been reading a lot of the threads and posts here. Consequently, I watched/listened to some of the Townhall meeting on the 9th just a few minutes ago and the talk about the marketplace got me to thinking about how it could be improved.

I've spent a fair amount of time buying, selling and trading on various forums including an immensely popular paintball forum (referenced below) as well as various tech forums. I've seen lots of systems, and I think pbnation.com has the best system, although I'm not sure if it would be necessary here since the frequency of sales and trades seem to be much less than with paintball guns. Nevertheless, I still think it'd be nice to present their system as an option.

The system is a vBulletin plugin known as iTrader so it shouldn't be too hard to implement/customize on UU.

The system works by adding little things to the forum such as a little feedback listing under people's avatars on their posts as well as little "Post feedback for buyer" and "Post feedback for seller" texts on appropriate posts within the marketplace forum in the little headers of each of the posts.

This screenshot shows the system in action.

feedbacksystem.jpg


As you can see, there is a 3 number listing under the user's avatar which shows the positive feedback received in green, the neutral feedback in black and negative feedback in red. There are other little interfaces such as one which lists only "iTrader Rating: X" etc.

On the top right of the header, you can see the "Post feedback for buyer" link which is only visible for the seller of the item (original poster). A similar "Post feedback for seller" link is visible for people who post in a seller's thread.

The system links up with a main feedback page for each user so that when you click the link, you can post feedback for the buyer/seller which automatically links the feedback to the thread and allows for a positive, neutral or negative rating with a title that is displayed on a main page (seen below) for all users to see. Clicking a specific feedback rating allows the two traders and all site staff to see more in-depth comments about the transaction which can also be left.

feedbacksystem2.jpg


This system is great because it automates the process of leaving feedback and makes it easier for everyone, buyer, seller and the staff. It also provides an easy form of verification of an actual trade as the thread is linked to each feedback rating to help prove that an actual trade was conducted. This eliminates the need to create an alternate forum for leaving manual feedback etc.

On a side note, I think it's also important to implement either a bump plugin or implement manual limits so that people won't bump their threads constantly and so that everyone gets a fair chance to increase the visibility of their threads.

I'm guessing tl;dr will be a common response to this... but eh? :p
 
This system is used on another forum I'm on -talkbass. It works fine there too.
Doug
 
Looks like ebay to me. It might be a good idea. I used the post count and rep dot inmy previous marketplace dealings. All good experiences so far.

Well the problem with post count and rep is that some people might come just to buy and sell ukes, which I don't see as a problem and I think this was mentioned in the townhall meeting as well. Not to mention, post count is gone now heh although I guess you can still go by user titles. EDIT: Oh and they are visible on user profiles heh.

This system is used on another forum I'm on -talkbass. It works fine there too.
Doug

Yeah, I think itrader is incredibly popular and for good reason. :)
 
Well the problem with post count and rep is that some people might come just to buy and sell ukes, which I don't see as a problem and I think this was mentioned in the townhall meeting as well. Not to mention, post count is gone now heh although I guess you can still go by user titles. EDIT: Oh and they are visible on user profiles heh.



Yeah, I think itrader is incredibly popular and for good reason. :)

It looks good. I wouldn't but from just anyone b/c of the trust factor. I'm not a big ebayer but that is mainly b/c I don't really buy much stuff other than ukes. I also have certain ukes that I buy and usually I just go to the companies and bypass the middle man. I like the idea of a trust factor but I doubt I'd post much stuff in the marketplace b/c I don't sale that much stuff and it would be difficult to build up many positive feedbacks if one isn't selling alot.
 
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