Question about our Classifieds

[Freebird]

The classifieds are now setup so that only a member can click the "buy now" button to buy an item but it is open to anybody being able to "contact seller" if they are interested in something. I did it that way on purpose as to not restrict the seller from the possibility of selling their item even if the buyer is not a member here.

 

There was a recent incident where one of our member vendors sold an item and didn't get full payment. It was an issue where the item was being shipped to Canada and he normally has them pay for the item and then sends them an invoice for the actual shipping cost once he knows what it is. This is stated clearly before the item is shipped. It has never been an issue but this time, the buyer doesn't respond to multiple requests to pay the shipping charges. Invoices and emails are just ignored.

 

So my question is this. Do you want me to restrict viewing of the classifieds to members only? It would ensure that you at least have a member name for the buyer but it could also prevent more people from seeing and possibly purchasing your item.

 

This could also be done "per category". In other words, the bikes for sale (for example) could be viewable by anybody while the "member vendor" ads could be viewable only by members.

 

It's your call but I think worthy of some discussion.

 

At the very least, you should be aware of the fact that you need to do your due diligence when selling something. Not everybody uses the "buy now" button and if they do, it will be a member here. If somebody contacts you through the "contact seller" link though. You need to be a bit more cautious in dealing with them.

[Flyinfool]

If a person uses the "contact seller" option, does the seller know if it is coming from a member or not without having to go search for the name in the member list?

 

How about having it optional for the seller.

Set up the classified so that a buyer can look at items for sale but can not contact the seller. If the seller wishes to be contacted by anyone they can include contact info in the description. The drawback to this is that the seller will have contact info where bots or weirdos can find it.

[cowpuc]

I think its fine just the way it is Don. Part of me screams,, nooooo,, close our site off to members only, have only a limited amount of the Watering Hole viewable to outsiders so they can get a small sample of who we are and what being part of a great family like VR is and, if they want to give it shot - sign up for a free trial membership so you and the moderators have record of who's coming and going.. BUT,, I am not a Vendor/Member either and I think anything we can do to help Vendor/Members be successful is worthy of some tolerance to the being more open..

 

I think in the end, your last sentence:

 

"At the very least, you should be aware of the fact that you need to do your due diligence when selling something. Not everybody uses the "buy now" button and if they do, it will be a member here. If somebody contacts you through the "contact seller" link though. You need to be a bit more cautious in dealing with them."

 

Is very solid advice that we should all read very carefully and live by as, IMHO, this addresses the real issue..

 

Whoever you were that got taken advantage of, I am sorry to hear about the situation. Good lessons aren't always cheap (most do come with some kind of price tag) BUT, if we grow from them (and don't grow bitter) we are usually better people for paying the price and learning!

[Freebird]

I kind of agree with Cowpuc. I think it is in the best interest of our members to let anybody who wishes to look see the ads. That being said, I do have the option of letting each member vendor decide whether or not they want their ads to be viewable by only supporting members, registered members, etc.

 

So I will leave it at that. The main ads will remain as they are. The items you post are viewable by the public. Just use due diligence in any dealings unless you know who they are. One thing you can do is if somebody contacts you, simply ask if they are a member and if so, what is their member name.

 

For our member vendors. The same thing goes unless you contact me and tell me that you want your items hidden from the public. Just let me know if you want them viewable by only supporting members, registered users, expired members.....or any mix thereof.

 

It is not possible to do this on a per ad basis.

[Wrench]

I got burned once for a few $$'s on another forum. Since then I always get the potential buyer the shipping costs, and I always ask the potential seller to get me the shipping cost before any money changes hands. There's always that one person that screws up a good thing. I do like the idea of non-members being able to look at the classifieds, just my opinion.

[Carbon_One]

Well put CowPuc. To bad the seller sold and shipped his item prior to receiving the extra shipping costs and unfortunately got the short end on the deal. Don't know if he was a regular member or bought thru the contact seller button but it don't matter. For the record I have also sent items out prior to receiving full payment but no problems to date. I do have faith & trust in our membership. Usually when someone preferred sending a check.

I suggest keeping this set up as it is unless this becomes an issue. If someone is buying thru the buy it now or contact seller button and you don't recognize them as members then it pays to be careful. You can always refund their money if they don't want to pay the extra shipping fees.

[Freebird]

I intended to state in the first post but forgot. As far as I can tell, it was NOT a member here. We have no username and the real name nor the email show up in the members list. Now some folks use different emails for PayPal than is used when they registered here but I can find no trace of him in the members list present or past.

[cowpuc]

Yea,, thats to bad Don..

If I were back at it full time and a Vender/Member, I would actually contact you and want my ads here to be Member Only - Period.. Remembering the days of dealing with the jokers and scammers on Craigs and even Ebay,,,,, I would actually have enjoyed having one place of refuge to do business in where I was pretty much assured (I know - stuff still happens) that I was dealing with good folks.. Kinda use my buy/sell here as therapy

Then just run my usual ads on the open Internet and let the scammers do their thing....

[dingy]

I am fine with non members seeing posts I have in classifieds.

 

I have always been treated fairly from people here when I have bought or sold items.

 

Gary

[WildBill1]

Before we got a PM warning that our ad was running out and need to be relisted or it would be canceled. I've had two canceled just lately relisted one and in the process of relisting my Harley slip on mufflers again.

[Freebird]

You should get an email. I know that most do. Is your email updated and have you looked to make sure they are not going to a spam folder?

[cowpuc]

Don, do all the ads found under the section marked "Ebay" ads that belong to members here or do you have some kind of a flagging device on Ebay that grabs anything marked "Venture" that automatically posts it in our classifieds?

 

Did I word that so its understandable???

[Freebird]

The Ebay ads are just feeds from Ebay using keywords that relate to our bikes. They are NOT posted by our users.

 

The links to Classifieds, Craigslist and etc. are posted by our members. It could be their own stuff or things they have run across that they feel might be of interest. Also, it a member posts an item in the classifieds, that ad is automatically added to that forum.