Should we combine the Dealer & Individual for sale forums?

[Ken44]

I think they should stay just like they are. Works great now, and nothing seems cluttered like it may if combined.

 

[jonnymac44]

More info.... are most of the knives Busse knives?

No, most of my inventory is Kershaw and Spyderco, with some ESEE here and there. Fenix flashlights, Zippo, etc. I have a bunch of stuff, but no Busse. I was just trying to find out in general about being a "dealer" selling his own personal knives.

 

[LMT66]

I feel a Dealer Membership should be restricted to the Dealer Exchange regardless of who endorses him.

A single Dealer in the FS by Individuals area can constantly change and update his/her existing thread titles based on existing sale trends by individuals. Not fair.

It is unfair to others who pay the Green Fee. Either all in one pool or all separate with no exceptions.

Maybe things can be rearranged on the site to give Dealers more exposure? Move the Busse/Swamprat/Scrapyard & Buck FS by individuals to the Exchange with all other sales.

 

[jonnymac44]

I feel a Dealer Membership should be restricted to the Dealer Exchange regardless of who endorses him.

A single Dealer in the FS by Individuals area can constantly change and update his/her existing thread titles based on existing sale trends by individuals. Not fair.

It is unfair to others who pay the Green Fee. Either all in one pool or all separate with no exceptions.

Maybe things can be rearranged on the site to give Dealers more exposure? Move the Busse/Swamprat/Scrapyard & Buck FS by individuals to the Exchange with all other sales.

I totally agree with your point. That wouldn't be fair. But what about my threads with a few knives for sale from my personal collection? It's not like I'm posting threads in the "individuals" area that contain long lists of new knives for sale. Those are restricted to the dealer section. The only knives that I have listed in the individual section are from my individual collection.

 

[SPXTrader]

I would like to see them kept separate also. Thanks Spark.

 

[LMT66]

I totally agree with your point. That wouldn't be fair. But what about my threads with a few knives for sale from my personal collection? It's not like I'm posting threads in the "individuals" area that contain long lists of new knives for sale. Those are restricted to the dealer section. The only knives that I have listed in the individual section are from my individual collection.

I would think that if it's from your personal collection, and you posted as such, there wouldn't be an issue??

If you denied being a dealer, were pressured about it, made to purchase a Dealer membership then later admit you are or work for a dealer, then i'd say No.

 

[jonnymac44]

I would think that if it's from your personal collection, and you posted as such, there wouldn't be an issue??

If you denied being a dealer, were pressured about it, made to purchase a Dealer membership then later admit you are or work for a dealer, then i'd say No.

Again, I agree. I've always only sold my own personal knives on the individual exchange, and upgraded my status to dealer as soon as I wanted to sell any knives that were specifically purchased for resale.

That being said, I like having two separate forums. I agree with others who have said that it would be too cluttered and hard to find things if they were combined.

 

[Jaxx]

JMO, but I think that it kinda comes down to this. Why is there a Dealer membership tier and a Dealer Exchange? I believe because it's for large volume Sellers to do their business without clogging the Individual Exchange in the same way that Busse collectors and I'm guessing Buck collectors did, which caused enough of a ruckus to warrant the creations of their Exchange sub-forums.

I don't think that the Exchange forums should be combined or re-combined, either in part or in whole.

On the subject of Dealers... Nothing against Spark and the SuperMods, I think you guys are awesome and I love this site...but I think that BladeForums has reached a certain level in size where the vague "You Might Be A Dealer If..." thread needs to be more specific for determining "Dealers" from "Individuals" both in threads and/or knives allowed per individual for sale at one time on a particular Exchange forum, or in a week/month/year, or however Spark sees fit to determine. I type this with trepidation because my suggestions, if implemented, may very well work against me in the future should I decide to begin selling off more of my own collection...however, I believe the question was posed to see what changes might be better for the site and its membership as a whole rather than for the individual member.

My personal opinion is that no Dealer should be allowed to list items in Individual Exchange forums just as (I believe) that no individual without a Dealer level membership is allowed to post listings in the Dealer Exchanges. But, if Dealers are allowed to continue to post listings in Individual Exchange forums, then they should be held to the same standard as individuals if more definitive boundaries are established as I mentioned above. In their Dealer Exchange forum, they can list as many knives/gadgets/gear that they want, so they'd still have that. This might help individuals from seeing their threads bumped off the Individual Exchange forums' front pages in a very short period of time, and still allow Dealers to get exposure.

In any case and my personal opinion aside, I also agree with Mike G... On the issue of Dealers in the Individual Exchange forums... No favoritism. All or none.

 

[Knife Crazied]

I may be in the minority, but I'd like to see them combined. I usually head straight to the For Sale by Individual forum & rarely think to check what the dealers are listing. Combining them might keep me from missing out on something.

I agree :thumbup:

 

[Mike G]

jonnymac44, you need to make a note in your personal FS threads, stating you posted those before you upgraded to dealer, and that they are from your personal collection.

Until we straighten all of this out, and Spark makes a decision, you need to list your additional items in the Dealer forums only.

 

[jonnymac44]

jonnymac44, you need to make a note in your personal FS threads, stating you posted those before you upgraded to dealer, and that they are from your personal collection.

Until we straighten all of this out, and Spark makes a decision, you need to list your additional items in the Dealer forums only.

Ok, Mike...That sounds good. I just have those couple of active personal threads right now and don't have too much else on the table now or in the near future as far as personal knives go.

I'll get over there and do that right now.

Thanks,
Jonny

 

[Josh K]

I feel that at the price dealers are charged those forums should see more traffic.

What exactly is the difference between a dealer selling and an individual on the forums? When it comes down to it both are selling knives.

Could dealers simply post a locked sales thread (with 72hr bumps) and take orders via email?

Dealers: Is it a headache to take orders off a forum? How about again, a locked sales thread showing inventory pointing to your website?

 

[Karda]

I fail to understand how combining the dealer forums with the individual forums will increase the dealers traffic. It's not like any member can't scroll down and click their mouse to view those forums. Nothing is stopping them from doing so. I feel all that would be accomplished is to muddy the individual forums even further and make increased work for the moderator staff.

 

[Josh K]

I fail to understand how combining the dealer forums with the individual forums will increase the dealers traffic. It's not like any member can't scroll down and click their mouse to view those forums. Nothing is stopping them from doing so. I feel all that would be accomplished is to muddy the individual forums even further and make increased work for the moderator staff.

That doesn't mean they actually go and click.

Please explain how you feel the individual forums are "muddy" and how having locked Dealer threads would increase the workload on the moderators.

 

[Karda]

That doesn't mean they actually go and click.

That is not the forums problem, How will putting them in the individual forums make any difference?

Please explain how you feel the individual forums are "muddy" and how having locked Dealer threads would increase the workload on the moderators.

It is already a pain to moderate that forum when members fail to read or understand the posted rules. Having locked dealer threads goes against the duplicate thread rule and having dealers bump their dealer threads in that forum will undoubtedly push off individual sales threads, thereby increasing that problem. Combining the two forums will just serve to confuse things and make more unecessary problems.

 

[2brothers]

Combining the two forums will just serve to confuse things and make more unecessary problems.

It's pretty confusing already when "individuals" have multiple threads selling the same knives over and over again. "I have a few left." "These are the last."

 

[Karda]

It's pretty confusing already when "individuals" have multiple threads selling the same knives over and over again. "I have a few left." "These are the last."

And combining things will only add to it. If people reported these type threads then the moderators would have an easier time taking care of the problems.

 

[oldschool45]

Let me play devils advocate here for a minute I'm not trying to piss in anyone's cornflakes.
1- What are the Dealer's getting for their $200/yr membership?
-Are they getting that now?
-Is the site obligated to try and increase traffic to their postings?
-Do Dealers gain or lose anything by combining the the 2 sections?
1a- Maybe revisiting the banner idea using Dealers ads might be a partial solution to this. (Lets not discuss the details of that here again, one thing at a time and we hashed it out about 6 months ago.)
2- Gold Members and up get to post for sale items.
- Its a benefit to their paid membership, not the primary reason for it like a Dealer.
- Sounds like littering page 1 of the individual sale page with multiple listings needs to be curtailed or a flat rule that if you have multiple listings they will be combined for you if you can't or won't do it yourself.
- Or Gold can have x number of sales and Platinum can have y number of active/concurrent sales going. Lock the thread when your done!
Just a few thoughts.

 

[MORIMOTOM]

I feel that at the price dealers are charged those forums should see more traffic.

What exactly is the difference between a dealer selling and an individual on the forums? When it comes down to it both are selling knives.

Could dealers simply post a locked sales thread (with 72hr bumps) and take orders via email?

Dealers: Is it a headache to take orders off a forum? How about again, a locked sales thread showing inventory pointing to your website?

a bit of speculation, but the dealer membership is what allows a business to have access to quite a few members of the knife buying public. i suspect that is the reason behind the dealer memberhship.

there are a few that became dealers after their arrival, but i would think new graham and knifecenter get a fair amount of business being able to "advertise" here. i know i learned of their sites after becoming a member.

i think combining them with the regular sales forums will hurt their business. there are so many threads started every day that theirs will drop off pretty quickly. and this would require the dealers to monitor every thread to keep it within a couple pages from the top. as it is, every dealer thread is on just a couple pages.

 

[danlberry]

For the MUCH higher fees dealers pay, they should get all the bang possible for their buck. Anything that helps get them more sales & exposure is a good thing. After all, it is their livelihood & just a passion or hobby for most of us.

I also suspect that this forum is not a money maker for Spark (I am no computer geek but something this fancy can't be cheap ), so more exposure for dealers would lead to more dealers participating & bringing in more revenue. This is a great forum & its owner should do all possible to make it worth his while as well. Additionally, I am sure all members would like to keep membership costs as low as possible.