I heard of a new rule that only members will only be able to start threads on the FS forum. I think this is a big mistake because:

1. there are plenty of nonmembers out there that have good stuff for sale, in which members will not be able to see/buy because they couldn't post it in the first place. This is detrimental to everyone on this site, not just to the guests.

2. thread-jacking will increase. "Ok so if i cant post, then i'll wait until someone else posts something similar and I will just thread-jack and post what I have for sale." This creates messy, unorganized threads.

3. there are people that should not have to be members to post. What about the guy that wants to sell his stuff but visits this site 3 times a year? Should he pay a membership fee?

So instead of me just complaining, how about I offer a solution?

Member threads are given priority and pushed to the top, just like featured items in ebay. Or... members are allowed to post a thumbnail preview of their item in the title.

 

This will reduce scams, a great feature. If you want to sell, then be a member!

 

it will definitely reduce scams for sure
There are a lot of non-members who ask their friends to post sale items for them... that could be an option


the regular membership is $30.00 a year... add $30.00 to the sale item if you think its too much

 

I believe the purpose of making the For Sale Forum "Member only" was to reduce scams and was requested by a good deal of the community(correct me if I'm wrong here).

 

I agree with everyone else..

This will help to cut down on on scams.. it's only $20 a year for a membership? (last time I checked)

Why's everyone gotta be so cheap?

 

The change in policy is based on feedback from Members to try and help reduce fraud and deception in items posted for sale on s2ki. There are still other options for non-members to sell S2000 related or other things (eBay?). What we don't want to see on s2ki is the sale of seats, for example, that have been stolen out of a members car or other forms of deceptive, criminal or otherwise unsavory activities.

Membership is not a fool-proof guarantee that such things won't happen but it does offer some form of filter. Membership involves making some sort of financial transaction with us (PayPal, check, whatever) which gives us some level of information about who the person is. If not directly it does offer us a lead.

Thread hijacking as you describe it will not happen, that's why we have moderators and they will put a stop to it pretty quickly. If someone intends to go about making an offer to members in such a way I (and I think the membership would agree) don't want that person selling anything (not even pencils) here. I'd rather make policy which prevents such use rather than making policy which permits it simply because someone's going to try it and I may as well conceed control of the site to them. If someone posts pr0n on the site we remove it, we don't change the rules to make it ok.

Your suggestion is a valid one but in light of what I just said doesn't fit with what the members want or with what I think is a good policy choice going forward. The idea of having a thumbnail in the topic title is a good one but requires some amount of programming to make happen, programming I don't have the time to take on right now. I don't want to delay the implementation of the change until I can. It's a good idea in general though and worth adding to list of potential valuable site changes in the future.

 

I think it is a great idea - The information I have gleamed from this site is worth way more than the membership dues I pay every year - Even though I am a community organizer I still pay membership dues and will continue to do so.
They might have to add a couple more Mods in the beginning to watch out for the thread hi-jackers but I think it will settle down and operate more smoothly with alot less clutter!

 

It's either the $20 membership fee or eBay's listing and final value fees -- pick your poison.

If you're a legit seller, the membership fee shouldn't bother u much 'cause I can pretty much guarantee you'll make that back after 1 or 2 sales here...

 

I don't know...I agree with the thread starter...and surprise surprise...I'm the first "guest" to post in this thread besides him.

I'm a college student...I have trouble even making car and insurance payments...am I suposed to ask my parents for money for the membership? I think not.

I also think that I contribute a lot to these forums in the form of information, I am rather well knowledgable about cars and contribute things that can be of benifit to other people on the site. Such as the Mechanical O2 Simulator, or other random answers to questions some "members" are "tooo busy" to deal with. While I CAN save up money and buy a membership, the things I have to sell are petty and I'm looking to give people great deals on certain parts...but maybe making $50 in the process that would go to...parents for back-pay before I had a job when I started college.

I agree, give us non-members some way of being less-important in the for sale, thats fine...but not letting us even be seen? Maybe a sub-forum that people could choose to look at if they'd like?

edit* and just so you know the parts that are on my car were either there before I bought it, gifts, or were paid for by me last summer before I went to college when I had a good job, at this time I was looking to get a membership but due to a massive forum change for some reason they weren't available...
any roadracing I do, I do it because I worked for NASA or etc. and earned a free day, I work to earn free things, because all I have to give is time, not money.

 

Thanks for your replies... Let me diverge further in what I was saying: It's not really about the $20, its more about non-members not being able to sell items that members may want. You guys may simply miss out on great deals. Thats my main point.

In regards to decreasing fraud, wouldn't it be just as simple as to make a conscious decision not to buy from people who aren't members? That does exactly what you are trying to enforce here, without the hand-holding.

But if its the consensus here that people want the hand-holding.... let democracy rule.