Updates to the Marketplace guidelines and restrictions

[Doug Add]

Thanks for the tips guys, I guess my next purchase should be a nice camera instead of another pen.

[wimg]

Thanks for the tips guys, I guess my next purchase should be a nice camera instead of another pen.

If you need any (further) help with that, or help operating the camera etc., please do post a message in the Pictures and Pen Photography forum; there are plenty of people around happy to help you with that.

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Margana]

To add to MYU's comment: in principle you only need a 2MP camera of reasonably decent quality, with a reasonable lens to take a good picture of a pen.

 

It shouldn't set you back too much , IOW.

 

Warm regards, Wim

 

For some people even purchasing such a low-end camera would be prohibitive especially just to sell a few fountain pens. However, there remain other pen forums where photos are not required. They do not have the traffic that FPN enjoys but pens do sell there.

[ZeissIkon]

To add to MYU's comment: in principle you only need a 2MP camera of reasonably decent quality, with a reasonable lens to take a good picture of a pen.

 

It shouldn't set you back too much , IOW.

 

Warm regards, Wim

 

For some people even purchasing such a low-end camera would be prohibitive especially just to sell a few fountain pens. However, there remain other pen forums where photos are not required. They do not have the traffic that FPN enjoys but pens do sell there.

 

While this is true as far as it goes (the lowest quality digital camera that stands a reasonable chance of taking a good photo of a pen is probably in the 5 MP range, mostly because cheaper ones either can't focus close enough or the image can't be cropped enough, or both, to give a useful final image), many cell phones have 2 MP now; my own, an LG enV2, is coming on two years old and cost under $100 with contract then (similar phones are cheaper now); with a simple, weak magnifying lens held in front of the phone's camera lens I can easily take acceptable macro images of nibs and such. Anyone who can afford a major carrier cell phone can have such a phone at their next upgrade.

[richardandtracy]

In the UK retailers like Argos sell a suitable 5Mp camera for about £40 (at current exchange rates that's $65), and is substantially lower than a majority of the price of pens in the sales posts.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[cvasara]

I note that IF I don't log in to FPN, that I can no longer view most boards in the Miscellaneous section. Is this a new feature resulting from the most recent 'upgrade'? I can fully understand the 30/30 rule that is new, but doesn't the block of not allowing non-registers eliminate a lot of traffic lookers, gawlers, (or potential buyers) in marketplace, and in perhaps helping others in members helping members?

I don't sell much on marketplace, the photo posting 'upgrades' made it very time consuming, with link requirements, etc., but I do like to browse the contents if for no other reason to see if there might be something that I might be interested in. To log in just for that, just to look around, seems like a possible potential lost sale.

Same photo problems stopped me from visiting chatter too, but thats just me.

Can I ask, without having to duck an incoming shoe, Are all the "upgrades really necessary? In other words, When does an upgrade cease being an upgrade?

Just my 2¢worth

[PinarelloOnly]

I note that IF I don't log in to FPN, that I can no longer view most boards in the Miscellaneous section. Is this a new feature resulting from the most recent 'upgrade'? I can fully understand the 30/30 rule that is new, but doesn't the block of not allowing non-registers eliminate a lot of traffic lookers, gawlers, (or potential buyers) in marketplace, and in perhaps helping others in members helping members?

I don't sell much on marketplace, the photo posting 'upgrades' made it very time consuming, with link requirements, etc., but I do like to browse the contents if for no other reason to see if there might be something that I might be interested in. To log in just for that, just to look around, seems like a possible potential lost sale.

Same photo problems stopped me from visiting chatter too, but thats just me.

Can I ask, without having to duck an incoming shoe, Are all the "upgrades really necessary? In other words, When does an upgrade cease being an upgrade?

Just my 2¢worth

 

Some lurkers are PayPal address hunters. Having individuals meet the min req. for posting, selling AND logging in to "see" is just a little more protection for all of us.

Edited January 26, 2010 by PinarelloOnly

[wimg]

I note that IF I don't log in to FPN, that I can no longer view most boards in the Miscellaneous section. Is this a new feature resulting from the most recent 'upgrade'? I can fully understand the 30/30 rule that is new, but doesn't the block of not allowing non-registers eliminate a lot of traffic lookers, gawlers, (or potential buyers) in marketplace, and in perhaps helping others in members helping members?

I don't sell much on marketplace, the photo posting 'upgrades' made it very time consuming, with link requirements, etc., but I do like to browse the contents if for no other reason to see if there might be something that I might be interested in. To log in just for that, just to look around, seems like a possible potential lost sale.

Same photo problems stopped me from visiting chatter too, but thats just me.

Can I ask, without having to duck an incoming shoe, Are all the "upgrades really necessary? In other words, When does an upgrade cease being an upgrade?

Just my 2¢worth

Neither of these have anything to do with software upgrades. They are purely "upgrades" of the rules here on the board, essentially a combination of trying to protect our own members better, and to comply with law and other rules and regulations.

 

If you don't want to view images in posts, there is a simple option to do so in My Settings. Go to the Forums tab, View/Posting/Email Prefs, and disable " View images in posts, such as smilies and posted images". If you'd like, you can disable other things here as well.

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Sidney]

If you don't want to invest in a digital camera you can probably find a friend with a one that will take some pictures for you.

[wimg]

If you don't want to invest in a digital camera you can probably find a friend with a one that will take some pictures for you.

Yes, that too. My first ever pen pictures, the ones in my nib smoothing article, were actually taken for me by a colleague with a 5 MP Ixus 50 . That only took a few minutes....

 

Warm regards, Wim

[jniforat]

i love the new market place rules!!!!

it was getting rather frustrating after a while seeing people flooding the network

and posting additional paypal fees.

 

Thanks, Admins!!!!!

[MarcShiman]

My problem is not with the rules but with the process of creating them. The rules were basically sprung on us without any discussion or input from buyers and/or sellers. My experience has been that providing negative feedback to an action by a moderator gets struck immediately from a board, so I've hesitated to write this post.

 

I had one post moved without warning (I thought I put it in the wrong place) and one post deleted without warning (at least someone sent me a message explaining why). I had a conversation afterwards with one of the moderators regarding the pictures rules which was helpful at least.

 

I don't underestimate the amount of volunteer time the moderators put in to solving problems from the board, and I don't underestimate the potential problems of someone committing mass fraud on the board. However, I thought this was more of a community discussion board. Perhaps open debate would have complicated things more, it just seems that sellers and buyers should have had a voice in things. The process for decision making in this case is awfully opaque.

 

Marc

[PinarelloOnly]

Two things need to happen with the new (positive) forward movement of this site.

 

ONE!!!! If you donate to the site you should get "Site Supporter" or some kind of special recognition (signature or under your avatar)

for a min. $10 yearly donation. Like other sites (BladeForums, PentaxForums, CandlePowerForums)

 

 

TWO!!!! ONLY Site Supporters can sell in the Market Place OR post reviews. Obvious dealers need to pay a yearly $20-50 fee for selling

in the Market Place. Again; BladeForums, PentaxForums, CandlePowerForums three tightly run sites with no cry babies about donating.

[macaddicted]

I have another problem that may simply be related to how I am accessing FPN. I use a Mac and log in to FPN through Safari. I've noticed that since the board changed software that my post counts rarely change. It doesn't seem to matter if I use Fast Reply or Add Reply but most often when my reply is posted my post count doesn't change.

[MYU]

Let's keep the topic focused on the title subject ... issues with accessing the site or other site related issues should be brought up in the appropriate topics already in progress, so they get better attention.

 

 

Regarding the hiding of the marketplace from public view -- this was necessarily for several reasons, the most important being the exposure of PayPal participants. Once a PayPal address is known, hackers can go to work trying to uncover the password. Also, there have been an inordinately high number of people coming by to join FPN and sell items straight off because they notice the marketplace... and such sellers with practically no FPN presence pose a risk to would-be buyers.

 

And the building of presence is precisely why we've put in a restriction on a minimum number of days and posts before someone can sell items on FPN. True, some people can find ways around it, but they will be a small fraction.

 

The Marketplace sub forum has over 36,000 topics and over 122,000 replies. This isn't the record (Writing Instruments is highest overall), but the rate of grow is faster than any other. It's now a significant effort to maintain it. It was never intended to be such a major part of the forum... and we have had to find some ways to cut back on this voracious growth. And possibly consider other software for providing such a marketplace, if it becomes too much. The last thing we want to do is charge for it... Hopefully it won't come to that!

Edited January 29, 2010 by MYU

[YesIamnotiamnit]

The Marketplace sub forum has over 36,000 topics and over 122,000 replies. This isn't the record (Writing Instruments is highest overall), but the rate of grow is faster than any other. It's now a significant effort to maintain it. It was never intended to be such a major part of the forum... and we have had to find some ways to cut back on this voracious growth. And possibly consider other software for providing such a marketplace, if it becomes too much. The last thing we want to do is charge for it... Hopefully it won't come to that!

 

------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

There is a very simple solution to this that most sites I belong to use:

 

Classifieds are exactly that. Replies such as "I like that but can't afford it." or "X is a wonderful person." are simply not allowed as they do nothing but waste space. Replies to ads in a forum are not beneficial especially when an administration forces them to be one sided. The other is to not allow "bumps." Cleaning up the forum is dirt simple:

 

Poster can post an ad which will show up for a specific period of time; on most forums I belong to that is one to two weeks. Expired ads will show up in searches.

 

No replies allowed.

 

No editing or "bumps" to move the ad to the top of the list. A sold/found "button" can be added for the poster which shows up in the listing by the ad so people will know if the item has already been found or sold and won't have to waste time looking at the ad.

 

I really don't understand the problem.

[macaddicted]

I have another problem that may simply be related to how I am accessing FPN. I use a Mac and log in to FPN through Safari. I've noticed that since the board changed software that my post counts rarely change. It doesn't seem to matter if I use Fast Reply or Add Reply but most often when my reply is posted my post count doesn't change.

 

I'm sorry if I was insufficiently clear, but my point was that if my post count isn't going up when I actually post to threads then I would not be able to post to the classifieds.

[Elaine]

My problem is not with the rules but with the process of creating them. The rules were basically sprung on us without any discussion or input from buyers and/or sellers. My experience has been that providing negative feedback to an action by a moderator gets struck immediately from a board, so I've hesitated to write this post.

 

I had one post moved without warning (I thought I put it in the wrong place) and one post deleted without warning (at least someone sent me a message explaining why). I had a conversation afterwards with one of the moderators regarding the pictures rules which was helpful at least.

 

I don't underestimate the amount of volunteer time the moderators put in to solving problems from the board, and I don't underestimate the potential problems of someone committing mass fraud on the board. However, I thought this was more of a community discussion board. Perhaps open debate would have complicated things more, it just seems that sellers and buyers should have had a voice in things. The process for decision making in this case is awfully opaque.

 

Marc

 

The marketplace rules are not set in stone and there are already some that are under consideration for change. Feedback is certainly welcome. The negative feedback that gets struck tend to be more along the lines of "you're an idiot for doing it that way". When posts get moved or removed the member is supposed to be notified. Sometimes this step is skipped when it shouldn't be. As you mentioned, the time involved is tremendous. Our goal is to add more moderators to help ease the workload, but it's a work in progress. The process in this case was based on trying to prevent problems that we've been seeing and have had many of the moderators glued to their computers. As I said, there's room for discussion from members.

 

Two things need to happen with the new (positive) forward movement of this site.

 

ONE!!!! If you donate to the site you should get "Site Supporter" or some kind of special recognition (signature or under your avatar)

for a min. $10 yearly donation. Like other sites (BladeForums, PentaxForums, CandlePowerForums)

 

 

TWO!!!! ONLY Site Supporters can sell in the Market Place OR post reviews. Obvious dealers need to pay a yearly $20-50 fee for selling

in the Market Place. Again; BladeForums, PentaxForums, CandlePowerForums three tightly run sites with no cry babies about donating.

 

One thing we are staunchly hanging on to is the non-commercial nature of FPN. We do not want to have a multi-class system. Sales listings are for the benefit of the members and for the hobby as a whole whether it's from a dealer or someone who just wants to sell a pen or two. We appreciate donations greatly, but will never say that someone (dealer or not) is a lesser member because they don't.

[MarcShiman]

 

 

The marketplace rules are not set in stone and there are already some that are under consideration for change. Feedback is certainly welcome. ...

 

The process in this case was based on trying to prevent problems that we've been seeing and have had many of the moderators glued to their computers. As I said, there's room for discussion from members.

 

 

 

Thats the discussion then that should take place. As I understood it from my conversation with one of the mods was that the impetus for rules changes were to reduce the number of fraudulent postings that were nothing more than scams (and consuming moderators' time). If that was the sole reason for the new rules, then some sort of discussion should be facilitated along those lines.

 

Simply putting the rules out there and saying "what do you think" is not really the proper way to facilitate input from members. Assuming you want input.

 

It seems that there are some solid new rules in place that will reduce scams. It also seems that there were a few "wouldn't it be nice if..." rules that were tossed in. Perhaps there were other problems that needed solving, but I'm not sure all of the posters (including me) were aware of what those problems are.

 

While I am criticizing the process, I'm not criticizing the intent of moderators - I'm only lending some of my experience working in the field of Democracy and Government in how to facilitate a more participative process from a passionate community.

 

Marc

[teeitup418holes]

Could there be some kind of limit to the amount of bumps on one topic? I have seen over and over again that there are members who ONLY use the FPN to sell their stuff (junk) and the only replies made on the topic is the seller adding a bump or a ^^^ or another cute way of bringing their topic (that obviously nobody is interested in to begin with, proof being in the fact that nobody is PMing or replying to the topic) back to the top.

 

It seems like we could keep the collectors and those of us who just want to avoid eBay and trade with some fellow collectors on the board and using the classifieds. I absolutely love the new rules. I got tired of having to sift through the posts that just push you to go to another Fountain Pen website to view a pen for sale, or people bumping their sale every three and a half minutes.

 

Thank you moderators for thinking through this and leading the way in this process. The reason you are leaders/admins is because of the time you invest in it, and because of your passion, dedication and commitment to the FPN.

 

Thank you for that!