New Rules for the Exchange forum - Feedback thread.

I haven't read through all 19 pages of feedback so forgive me if it's already been mentioned but I don't think I'm liking the new changes.
I have a sale thread that quickly went a few pages deep. No problem, with the old rules it can be bumped back after the required time period. With the new rules, it's buried forever yet I can re-list it after 14 days meaning now there's two threads and two sets of pictures I have to post. Seems to me like it would take up more space. BTW, I did lock the old sale thread.
Whatever the rules end up being I hope it's ironed out soon, it's a PIA to read through them every time to make sure something hasn't changed.

 

"...especially under the new default viewing options" isn't a fair statement at all. Under the new defaults, a person who hasn't checked in since Saturday is going to be far more likely to check back all the way to page four than they would under the old system. This is because there is now a very logical order in which the posts show up.

Now, if you are noticing a reduction in views to your thread back there on page four, that's because everyone who wants to see it already has (or can with relative ease when they find the time.)

Regarding price drops... I don't know about you, but once I've seen an ad for something and determined I don't have any interest in it, I don't want to see it again. If I am not interested in, say, a Benchmade 940... whether it's NIB for $115 or $50, I don't really care. That's what bumping did to The Exchange. So, what if I find a knife that I'm interested in, but don't like the price? Well, I should have no problem at all finding it if I remember roughly when it was posted. Additionally, I could subscribe to the thread with email alerts if I was serious about sniping a price drop.



Not quite sure what to say about lessening the time before reposts. The biggest con I can see to the new system is that we now have a bunch of "SOLD!" posts sitting on the front pages, slowly creeping towards the back. The problem is that allowing people to delete their own posts would be problematic for monitoring the repost rule and, lets face it, many people wouldn't even bother. Plus, it's nice to have an archive of all this stuff for various reasons.

The only real solution for this would be to have mods manually move every "SOLD!" thread to an archives subforum. Safe to say, I don't think anyone would actually want that job.

Yes. It is possible, though as previously discussed in this thread, not something Spark is willing to do at this point. This is because it would require modding the forum software, which can have it's risks.

 

I don't like the default changes to the Exchange section. It makes it much harder to track a thread.

Jim Treacy

 

That's one type of buyer. Another type, as has been stated, is the buyer that isn't interested at one price but is at another. The price does make a difference to them, and suddenly when the price is low enough, people start thinking about it, giving it is a gift, etc. To me, a good solution that has been proposed is to allow the OP to bump the thread to the top with price and important info changes (or to add new knives to the thread), but not let other comments bump the thread. That would allow the OP the same exposure as before whiel cutting down on bumps form other chatting. That's what feels fair to me as a seller on this forum. Honestly, there are other forums and selling venues that, compared to this system, offer much more immediate exposure to buyers. I would imagine members beginning to migrate where they post knives for sale if they can't get off of page seven for a week, and that would be a shame, since we have such a great marketplace here, and it's one thing that attracts new members and folks to explore the other forums as well.

The solution that has been proposed, allowing OP's to bump their own thread based on listing changes, would eliminate the need to cancel and repost, and significantly unclog the forum with useless closed threads.

 

But again, that is a solution that Spark is not currently willing to consider, as it would require modding the forum software. By default, there is no option to allow only the thread creator to bump his own thread.

 

I rather not see any bumping privileges because it will clutter up the front page like before. If someone was interested in a thread can't they subscribe to it to get updates?

 

Consider me unimpressed in general by the new "system". I just found out today when I noticed my last bumps and price drops never showed up on the first page. I assume that the rules changes were brought about because of moderation difficulties, because they sure as hell don't make things easier as a buyer or seller. I'll play for a while and see how it works out, but for the record if I had real jedi mind powers and knew about this before hand I wouldn't have re-upped my membership.

 

Hi If your still polling paying members thoughts on the changes I don't like the fact that posts don't btt any more.

respectfully,

a dissapointed member

 

so far , so good by me . I like it .

 

I agree. the old way to buy sell trade was fine.

 

As I venture into sales of knives (I already sell other hand made products)
I have followed this thread with interest.

The way I see it, as objectively as possible-

The old system benefited those that had friends, were well networked and marketed well. It was harder for a new seller to stay on the front page without self promotion bumps that are not generally well tolerated by the "regulars'.

The new system takes away some of the benefits of networking and marketing and it attempts to keep the playing field level...but should it?

The old system fit what we are all about in the United States...hard work to develop a reputation and product and compete to make money. The tricky part in this matter though is the fact that Spark also has to make money and new sellers at $50 will benefit the web page.

So, other than these thoughts I actually have nothing to contribute since I will try to succeed with whichever system survives. This is a good group of people even with the infighting that pops up. It's like a big family that doesn't always get along. It is an excellent gathering place and it is an excellent manner of selling knives and other goods quickly.

Dean

 

what is the 72 hour rule relate to?

 

Under the old rules, users were allowed to "bump" their threads in The Exchange once every 72 hours. That is to say, once every 72 hours, they were allowed to make a completely useless post for the express purpose of putting their thread back at the top of page one. The problem was that each and every reply to a topic would send it back to the top, not just these bumps. The most active threads might end up staying on the first page for days at a time, while inactive threads could drop off in an hour or two.

 

so now is there NO BUMPing?

 

Correct.
What made bumping possible in the first place was that the subforums of The Exchange were, like the rest of the forums, sorted by latest reply. Now they are sorted by thread creation date, so bumps go unnoticed until you manually sort the forums differently.

 

Sort of, now you have to go through the (somewhat minor) hassle of "edit post>copy post>lock thread>create new thread>paste>submit new thread" every 2 weeks or so. The only real benefit to this is that posts in some forums aren't getting driven to the 10th page after a day or so with the new default sorting, which I'm guessing 90% of the folks who casually browse the FS: forums are unaware of.

edit: Lord knows that many sellers don't realize this, and some of them are legitimately bumping their threads (under the old rules) which for the most part won't ever see the first page again. I generally ignore those stickies at the top unless there's express cause for concern. I'm with the guy that wanted the new post lockout or something for the exchange, with a "read and agree" notification popup about the rules changes. With such a fundamental change in how the FS forum works for most people now it would have been nice to get everyone on the same page.

 

Getting everyone on the same page is what the stickies are for.
If you ignore the stickies and don't know what is going on, it is not the forums fault.