New rule for the Exchange

Kiah

Kiah

Pit Bull Appreciation Society
Moderator
Joined
Jul 20, 2006
Messages
20,776
I was wondering about the possibility of adding a rule to the revised exchange rules.

When a member searches for a specific knife in the Exchange, they expect to find threads with that specific knife in them. However we have a lot of threads showing up in search results that aren't selling that particular knife. One member is linking every knife he has in other threads in every new thread he starts. This pretty much kills the ability to search for any of those knives as you get mainly sales threads from that one specific member filling up the search results, even when they have nothing to do with that knife. This member is a dealer (posting in the individual section) so a lot of results are affected by this.

While this is basically spamming anyway, it also knocks individual sellers down in the search results, lessening their ability to sell.

What I'm proposing is a rule that members don't link their other sales threads in new ones or list knives not for sale in that particular ad. It's not reached the point yet, but if it keeps up one member will pretty much own the search results for the Busse exchange forum by accumulation and individual sellers will only be able to sell if a buyer manually digs through the exchange or has the fortitude to wade through the spam to find real ads.

Thanks.
 
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That is quite sensible

& how about keeping dealers out of the individual forum?
otherwise, there is no advantage to keeping them separate
 
12345678910 said:
That is quite sensible

& how about keeping dealers out of the individual forum?
otherwise, there is no advantage to keeping them separate
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I agree, but I think that Jerry Busse himself has asked for an exception to be made for those who re-sell Busse knives under the "dealer" title. (By dealer, I do not mean an official dealer for Busse, but rather those individuals who choose to buy in bulk and then flip the knives for a profit.)
 
Don't most dealers have a website of some sort to sell their products? Might be something for the dealer in question to look into. Gotta draw the line somewhere.
 
Just to see for myself I searched the Busse sales threads a few minutes ago. I searched for "CGFBM" which is a popular knife that people look for. In the top 25 results 14 were posts by LK. I then searched for "Boss Street" which is a recent release. Exact same results 14 out of the top 25. Spamming is one of the words that comes to mind.
 
chickenplucker said:
Just to see for myself I searched the Busse sales threads a few minutes ago. I searched for "CGFBM" which is a popular knife that people look for. In the top 25 results 14 were posts by LK. I then searched for "Boss Street" which is a recent release. Exact same results 14 out of the top 25. Spamming is one of the words that comes to mind.
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Just two random ones and I didn't pick 'em for any particular reason or go past page 1.

ASH1 - 20 of 25
MOAB - 21 of 25

Keeping in mind this is the Individual Exchange, it's not only spam, it's a move that buries actual individual sellers.
 
I would have to agree that a rule along these lines is needed.

As it stands now, the only way to "level the playing field" would be for everyone to use the same tactics...and if everyone started to link every sales thread to every other of theirs or list knives not for sale, wouldn't this unnecessarily burn extra system resources to do a simple search? :confused:

...But, basically, it would be nice to have an uncluttered search option again...and since it would be apply to all, it would be fair rule for everyone looking to buy & sell here.
 
I haven't been on this site terribly long so I don't have much place to speak on this issue and I think this rule makes sense, BUT when you start making new rules and enforcing them on everyone when only one person is the problem it can sometimes lead to unintended consequences in the future.

I'm not saying that would be the case here but... wouldn't it be easier to just contact the user that is causing the problem and politely explain what the issues are and ask him to stop? Then maybe think about implementing some sort of rule against this, but... from the sounds of it you already have one against spamming that should cover this.
 
I have no problem with that common sense rule change, but if it's only one person who is flagrently abusing the system, shouldn't he be banned?
 
j3jymann said:
I think this rule makes sense, BUT when you start making new rules and enforcing them on everyone when only one person is the problem it can sometimes lead to unintended consequences in the future.
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I 100% agree. I actually don't think the rule should even be needed. Common courtesy and thinking about the community as a whole instead of how much you can get away with should prevail. Unfortunately, for some people greed is better than tact, and if a rule isn't made then people will whine that they're being singled out. Even when they were the only ones doing it in the first place.

wouldn't it be easier to just contact the user that is causing the problem and politely explain what the issues are and ask him to stop?
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He's been told. When people don't care how their actions affect others though, it doesn't matter how politely you explain something to 'em.
 
It appears that another forum has caused him to open a sales forum instead of littering up the public forums.
 
No matter how one cooks it, it's essentially spam. I, for one, have and will not buy from this individual since I noticed this questionable practice early on.
 
We can do that, certainly. Type up what you'd like the rule to say, and we can all review it before it goes live.
 
Well, my first choice would be:

Have some common freaking sense and don't do stuff you know will affect the functionality of the site or screw with other members. And take it to the dealer forum while you're at it.
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Then I'd probably throw in some expletives and name calling.

Barring that, I'm thinking something like:

No listing of knives/items not available in the current ad or linking to other Exchange ads for the purpose of promotion or increasing search traffic.
Click to expand...

Off the top of my head, but input and any needed clarification would be good. Mike, Dann, and the Supers might be able to adjust it based on their experience.
 
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With this new rule is the links I have in my sig OK?
I can remove them if not.
Thanks
 
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