Canadian Exchange Forum

[Andrew Taylor]

Back in January a thread started concerning a Canadian Exchange Forum with a few members saying they would be willing to upgrade if one was forthcoming. Some members have upgraded already during a bit of a membership drive we had recently.

I read that Spark has a new server and spare capacity, so wondered if Spark would consider a new Exchange Forum for Canadian members?

A few words of encouragement on this thread might gain a few more upgraded memberships? One member says;

i'd up grade if they took Canada Post INTL usd money orders......i dont use debt cards (credit cards), paypal or bank accounts.

Just a thought anyway.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=527151

 

[Liam Ryan]

Any chance of this happening, Spark?

 

[savagesicslayer]

I'm down for this as well

 

[stabman]

Me too.:thumbup:

 

[GigOne]

Something to consider. . . . . .if Spark opens a "Canadian Exchange Forum," how many other "Exchange Forums" will he have to open to appease other nationalities ?

A few words of encouragement on this thread might gain a few more upgraded memberships?

Gee, what happened to upgrading one's membership to support a cool place we frequent. . . .where we're allowed to share our passion addiction.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Quick note: in the next few days, we are going to see Bladeforums down altogether for perhaps one to four days, as Spark shifts us over to the new server -- which is not in place yet. He really is pretty busy right now.

 

[sunnyd]

Quick note: in the next few days, we are going to see Bladeforums down altogether for perhaps one to four days, as Spark shifts us over to the new server...

Esav,

Thanks for the heads up here. Will there be an official announcement on the site prior to starting the server upgrade commencement time and day/day's?

Thanks,

Anthony

 

[rprocter]

how would a Canadian Exchange Forum serve us (Canadians) in ways not already provided by BF ?
or, what is the purpose of such a forum ?
roland

 

[stabman]

how would a Canadian Exchange Forum serve us (Canadians) in ways not already provided by BF ?
or, what is the purpose of such a forum ?
roland

Prices quoted in Caanadian dollars, and not getting all excited over that knife you always wanted, just to be told "no, you can't have it because you're in Canada."
Also avoid Customs hassles when they confiscate a knife legally allowed in Canada(happens sometimes).

 

[rprocter]

so by "exchange" it means buy/sell/trade ?
that would be great. i have about 500 knives i unfortunately need to sell.
roland

 

[Liam Ryan]

Something to consider. . . . . .if Spark opens a "Canadian Exchange Forum," how many other "Exchange Forums" will he have to open to appease other nationalities ?





Gee, what happened to upgrading one's membership to support a cool place we frequent. . . .where we're allowed to share our passion addiction.

Many people, including me, signed up only for this reason.
I don't think it a hell of a lot to ask for, when you think of it, a half hour, max, and a tiny bit of bandwith, but sorry you feel that way.
On canadiangunnutz, a free site, we have unlimited pms and searches, and got a rimfire exchange forum in a day. We are supporting someones business here, on a pay site (free for some, yes) and it would be nice to see our request at least responded to.

 

[Andrew Taylor]

Something to consider. . . . . .if Spark opens a "Canadian Exchange Forum," how many other "Exchange Forums" will he have to open to appease other nationalities ?

Hello GigOne

First off, I like you and have followed your postings for a long time.

The way I see it the main nationality here, by a long, long way are the members from the USA, and they have nearly all the forums including an exchange forum. Then there are the Canadians who are in the same continent, (and just by the by are a larger geographical area with a lower population), who have one forum and are requesting an Exchange Forum. Sure we don't have that many members, but we do encounter problems when knife dealing with friends south of the border. The main problem is our own Customs Border Services, and carriers like UPS and Fedex who sting us with huge 'brokerage fees' and on top of that government taxes. Plus, your dollar is worth more than ours.

Anyway, apart from the US and Canada, the only other nationality forum is the Europeans, the Asian and Australian Knife Community, and the Africa / Southwest Asia Forum, so perhaps we are talking about an extra 3 after us if requested .

Now in light of this, it was Spark who said he is getting a new server with LOTS of redundant bandwidth, and that he was going to be opening lots of new forums, because the new server made this easy and manageable (para-phrased). We just asked Spark to consider giving us another forum. If it doesn't work out, he can close it, can't he?

Gee, what happened to upgrading one's membership to support a cool place we frequent. . . .where we're allowed to share our passion addiction.

Well, lots of this have done this anyway, irrespective of whether this happens or not. I was Gold and have been Knifemaker membership for just over a year. We all appreciate Sparks generosity in supplying us with somewhere to play and for registered members, allowing them to do it for free. I don't think many are just Registered Members anymore in the Canadian contingent, and those that are have expressed a wish to uprade if this happens.

Quick note: in the next few days, we are going to see Bladeforums down altogether for perhaps one to four days, as Spark shifts us over to the new server -- which is not in place yet. He really is pretty busy right now.

Thanks Esav for the update. I have been though an outage before, and it wasn't much fun.

how would a Canadian Exchange Forum serve us (Canadians) in ways not already provided by BF ?
or, what is the purpose of such a forum ?
roland

Hi Roland

An undiluted Forum where the articles advertised are within Canada with no restrictions imposed from Canada Border Services, no GST, PST added, Brokerage Fees from carriers like UPS, Fedex, and Purolator and in the same Dollar exchange rate that we all use. Postage at a reasonable cost via Canada Post with tracking and insurance. In some cases, you could meet a trader at the local Tim Hortons!

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Until and unless we get a Canadian Exchange, you can go to Search, Advanced Search, put in Canada as the search term, date it perhaps 2 weeks and select Exchange forums. All that takes a few seconds, and I just got a list of 15 entries mentioning Canada. The few I checked were US sellers saying they would ship to Canada.

Spread the word: Canadians selling or trading be sure to put Canada in the first paragraph to make it easy to work out.

 

[Steven Penner]

Esav, that is one solution, but may i say?

The search feature leaves a lot to be desired...especially the time limit between searches...

If my parameters give me no hits, i have to wait for the countdown to pass before a second try. Perhaps as a mod, you don't have this restriction...but it frustrates me to no end...i have given up on searches

and yes i know how to do the google site search...i just don't think it should be necessary.

 

[ColdOne]

I was the one who talked to Spark a while ago about this and as he said there doesn't look to be enough to generate the traffic in the forum.

Truth be told, I prefer to list my knives for sale in the US since the audience is larger. I would like to be able to browse for folders in Canada though to avoid headaches.

Perhaps an easier solution would be to add another prefix for the exchange? A "Canada" prefix would provide an easy way to quickly locate all Canadian sales without the need for an additional forum.

I upgraded first to gold and then platinum to support this forum which supports my habit. Given the hours I spend on here, if I was to break down the hourly cost of my membership (which I don't dare do) I am sure it would come down to fractions of a penny per hour.

 

[GigOne]

I don't think it a hell of a lot to ask for, when you think of it, a half hour, max, and a tiny bit of bandwith, but sorry you feel that way.

Just looking at a slightly larger picture than you.

For you, it's a tiny bit of bandwidth. In the 10 years BFC has been in operation. . . .how many upgrades have taken place? Since the last hardware upgrade, what problems have existed (i.e., slow log ins, function trimming, etc,). Point is. . . . .it doesn't take much to eat up bandwidth.

On canadiangunnutz, a free site, we have unlimited pms and searches, and got a rimfire exchange forum in a day.

Good for them. On a side note, they don't have anywhere near the traffic / membership BFC does.

We are supporting someones business here, on a pay site (free for some, yes) and it would be nice to see our request at least responded to.

Free for most.


I'm sure Spark will post something soon.

 

[Spark]

I'll consider this, but not one for Europe as I can't see sustainable traffic. We'll try a 90 day or so experiment after the servers as switched and we'll see what happens.

 

[stabman]

I'll consider this, but not one for Europe as I can't see sustainable traffic. We'll try a 90 day or so experiment after the servers as switched and we'll see what happens.

Thanks!
I'm not sure about how much cash I'll have to buy stuff right away(although I usually find some), but it should make trades easier to find.

 

[rprocter]

i have some pretty "decent" knives which i will list for sale in the Canadian Exchange.
after 2 years of ravenous feeding on ebay and on line knife sellers, a focus on vintage traditional folders and on current custom made knives is finally developing. i also need to try to recoup some of the ridiculous amount i have spent.
the difficulty as i perceive it with a Canadian selling knives on ebay or here at BF, is that most buyers are American and our international postage rates are high enough to add significant cost, detering potential buyers.
centralizing to a Canadian forum may make selling from Canada easier.
i would appreciate any comments on this from those with experience as Canadian knife sellers.
roland

 

[Bushman5]

if the CDN exchange does'nt wkor out, I quite like the idea of a Prefix "CANADA" or simething li ke htah in the thread title.