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Seller and Buyers - Read This

There's some real novel suggestions here. :rolleyes:
I would think the goal should be to make it friendlier and easier for the buyers! Reading other people's comments about any given knife helps a buyer make a decision. Be able to see at first glance if the knife is sold save furstration by lknowing it;s gone before you see it! The ablility to private message a /craftsman/seller without having to pay a "membership fee".
If I'm not mistaken the "For Sale" thread is for craftsmen to be able to sell their knives?????????????

If that is truely the purpose then why inhibit that ability by putting limitations and assinine rules?
You're going to drive buying customers away and damn sure scare off the once in a great while visitor who is looking to buy.
I almost never came back to this sight after my first visit because of the limitating rules.
So the short of it is, keep up imposing limitations and lose potential buyers!!
 
DaGriz said:
There's some real novel suggestions here. :rolleyes:
I would think the goal should be to make it friendlier and easier for the buyers! Reading other people's comments about any given knife helps a buyer make a decision. Be able to see at first glance if the knife is sold save furstration by lknowing it;s gone before you see it! The ablility to private message a /craftsman/seller without having to pay a "membership fee".
If I'm not mistaken the "For Sale" thread is for craftsmen to be able to sell their knives?????????????

If that is truely the purpose then why inhibit that ability by putting limitations and assinine rules?
You're going to drive buying customers away and damn sure scare off the once in a great while visitor who is looking to buy.
I almost never came back to this sight after my first visit because of the limitating rules.
So the short of it is, keep up imposing limitations and lose potential buyers!!
Click to expand...

I think you are missing a few points. In no particular order-

1: a non paying member can still email, and post on the thread that they have emailed or wish to be emailed.

2: I think there needs to be a balance in comments. Some comments are "just bumps", some are not. I think restricting specifically "just bump" comments might be a good idea, and that would be a visible trend sort of thing.

3: to make it easier on buyers, the maximum amount of easily navigable exposure needs to be made. This really has nothing to do with comments inherently. "fluff" comments have been singled out but they aren't the root cause of a particular problem. ------ In the past, the commentary hasn't been an issue, but over the last several months it's gotten a bit weird. My personal opinion is that it's not the comments so much as the sheer quantity of threads. I've come on and had half of page 1 be occupied by a single maker listing 7-15 knives at once. (more than one occasion, more than one maker)

Of course, as I stated before, I think the solution to that is one thread per $PERIOD_OF_TIME, be the variable value 24, 36, or 48 hours.

I do think BF is a fine place to have a full fledged market, and I think it's one of the aspects that makes BF into BF- big, huge, easy to navigate, lots of available product for custom and production users and collectors.
 
While I am not a knife maker I am a consumer and have purchased many knives from this forum. That being said I don't feel that I have the right to any input regarding this topic.

I do however think that the makers who pay the freight for this forum should have the final say, after all this is their mall.
 
I'm glad Stacy brought this issue to the forefront. It's not an easy job being a moderator but Stacy is excelling in this role by improving the model that Spark set up to start with. We are all guests (paying or not) and we need to abide by the rules. The rules are clearly listed and though we are all used to the bumps and kudos it's better to go back to the model as designed.

Yes, it's nice to support your friends with comments but this is not the forum for congrats. Actually, much of this banter seems disingenuous or forced as in the old street scam where the shills comment and pretend to have interest in an item to encourage an unwitting buyer to snap up the item. This occurs rarely...I think.

The additional seller comments before 72 hours, the compliments and the daring "bumps' that actually state "bump" are violations of the rules. If you don't like the rules leave but don't make things difficult for the moderators.

If you want to change the rules arguments and discussions of this nature are beneficial. In the meantime please help Stacy out. I actually agree with the rules as they stand and I applaud Stacy for bringing up this sensitive issue as I myself violated the regulations (without knowledge). I understand and agree with the rules though even as I transition into a gold membership so I can start trying to sell my knives as well.

Help Spark and the mods out and continue the debate but encourage and educate others about how that section of the forum is supposed to work. As I write this the comments and seller bumps continue. I find that discouraging and disrespectful.

Dean Lapinel
 
jvan said:
while i am not a knife maker i am a consumer and have purchased many knives from this forum. That being said i don't feel that i have the right to any input regarding this topic.

I do however think that the makers who pay the freight for this forum should have the final say, after all this is their mall.
Click to expand...

you pretty well summed it up with your comment!
 
I think most of my posts are related to knives for sale and/or knives that I buy. So, I do appreciate being able to comment in the knives for sale sections. I think almost all of my posts are in those sections and the Himalayan Imports section which is a 'manufacturer' but those great bladesmiths have to sit on a dirt floor. ;)

I noticed the other day that I had to pay to renew my membership to send a PM to a knife maker. I guess I forgot to renew. It must be somewhat less convenient for unpaid members to contact knifemakers.

Hopefully we can all just be happy and get along.
 
I know this has been said before but "THE BEST WAY" to fix the problem of bumps is to only allow the OP to be able to bump the thread.That puts all the responsibility on the seller.If there is a question before the allowed bump time the seller can respond with email or PM.It will stop any underhanded way of getting around the rules without angering innocent compliment or comment.Infractions given to potential customers for simply saying nice knife or any other comment will only hurt the makers chance at a sale.I am very concerned that too much heavy handed regulation will ruin what has been a good thing for me.

Please make it so that only the OP can bump if at all possible.
 
deloid said:
Interesting, I thought this forum belonged to Kevin Jon Schlossberg (Spark)
“Owner, BladeForums.com”.

I'm not trying to start a fight or argument. I'm just opposed to the opinion that the paying members own the forum.



http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/an...php?f=699&a=98
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I fully understand that Spark owns this domain I just sort of look at it from the standpoint that the makers are just renting this small section of the overall umbrella forum from him. Granted he is the landlord so to speak but the renters should certainly have input that is valued. No sellers and this particular forum is relegated to nothingness.

My original point was that I really don't have the right to any input because as a buyer I am just a visitor to this store.
 
jvan said:
While I am not a knife maker I am a consumer and have purchased many knives from this forum. That being said I don't feel that I have the right to any input regarding this topic.

I do however think that the makers who pay the freight for this forum should have the final say, after all this is their mall.
Click to expand...

I suppose in a way that is correct.. BUT.... if buyers/comsumers find it hard to contact a seller, cannot judge the product because there are no comments about the item, be they positive or negative, they won't come around. The "For Sale" thread benefits the craftsmen , without potentail buyers looking, reading comments, the thread defeats it's supposed purpose.

I guess as I buyer I should keep my opinions to myself and not visit this site sine I am beginning to find it cumberson and furstrating, as a buyer!!!
 
Hell to the cheif!! Esav and stacy sorry we or atleast i put you all through hell,i understand its not any mods fault, or sparks either, but there is just to many things in this crossfire for sure
my respects to you all, in the end im sure everything will turn out fine
 
One more thing stacy or esav , will you please post the rules here on this thread when they are set in stone,so there will be no screwups by any of the makers, it would be appreciated,ive read so much stuff my eyes are popping out aswell every ten minutes theres something new going on
thanks bill
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Relax, relax. We've got comments threads all over the place now, and there is a lot of crossed posts and missed information. For example New Rules for the Exchange forum - Feedback thread. Spark is thinking about a technological fix for most of the questions raised.
Click to expand...

Esav, We are just trying to get our idea's out there. We have a chance to make BF better for everyone. We are actually excited about the possible changes. This is not a bitch session by any means. It is about ideas. The more ideas from more people are going to make this better than ever.

There will be cross post. There will be some bitching. And of course there is misinformation. We will get it cleared up soon enough.
 
Jim, all I meant by "relax" was for people who were feeling the rules were going to ruin their experience here, and we do still want suggestions, that's for sure. :)
 
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