Limited Sales period

Anything about use of this forum : NOT about cycling
thirdcrank
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Re: Auto-deletion too fast for For Sale

Post by thirdcrank »

I'd be the first to admit that as I'm not in the market for second-hand bike stuff I rarely look at FOR SALE ads and only occasionally at WANTED ads if I think I may have what somebody wants (unfortunately, I never see anybody looking for freewheels with fewer than 34 teeth big sprocket.) It follows that I hadn't seen this as a resource for information about older stuff. Now it's been pointed out, it doesn't change my opinion at all. Bearing in mind the number of ads overall, the likelihood that one may contain a nugget - of information, that is, rather than the advertised item being a rarity - seems small. I'm open to being convinced by numerous examples that I've got this wrong. On that basis, it's hard to see any point in a relatively short delay in the fall of the axe. If it's worth Grade 1 listing for preservation, that surely applies in perpetuity.

It really does seem to me that that the solution lies with anybody who's interested to secure the information for themselves within the period it's visible, by saving pics, copying text including interesting contact details, and so on.

On the subject of polls, I thought anybody could create their own although I don't remember ever trying to do so, and even though I sometimes comment on threads beginning with a poll, I cannot remember the last time I voted in one. Unless somebody devised a real clickbait thread title, I can't imagine this would attract more than a handfull of votes. Those with the most interest are the people who have to administer it.

I did consider suggesting you might volunteer to be a sort of adverts moderator (curator?) but I suspect that any system to prolong the life of ads would add to the admin workload and for little purpose.
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gaz
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Re: Auto-deletion too fast for For Sale

Post by gaz »

thirdcrank wrote:It really does seem to me that that the solution lies with anybody who's interested to secure the information for themselves within the period it's visible, by saving pics, copying text including interesting contact details, and so on.


A possible solution to this is in horizon's own hands.

Take some time to "bump" every thread on the For Sale boards today. In 28 days time return to the For Sale boards and "bump" every thread. Repeat every 28 days.

Keep it up and nothing will ever be deleted from the For Sale board again :wink: .

thirdcrank wrote:If it's worth Grade 1 listing for preservation, that surely applies in perpetuity.

The forum already has a permanent archive section, the "too good to lose" boards. Out of 69952 topics currently on the forum only 73 have been selected by forum members for this accolade. AFAICT none of them started their life on the For Sale board.
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Re: Auto-deletion too fast for For Sale

Post by Vorpal »

If there is something on a for sale thread that should be saved (the Primus stove stuff is a good example), we can easily split the thread, copy it to another forum, and/or put some or all of it in too good to lose.
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AdamS
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Re: Auto-deletion too fast for For Sale

Post by AdamS »

gaz wrote:A possible solution to this is in horizon's own hands...

He could also manually save each of the listings once evey month using the Wayback Machine.

I can see how an archive might be useful but I think the benefit might be outweighed by the costs of having ancient small ads filling site searches and having to store lots of disproportionately image heavy threads in perpetuity.
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Re: Auto-deletion too fast for For Sale

Post by PH »

thirdcrank wrote: On a marketing point, a month without signs of interest might be a good time to think whether the price is right.

I'm not sure that's correct, I know it's just a handful of us regularly posting, but there's plenty come browsing that have not necessarily seen it in the 30 day period. last year there was a nice looking Hewitt Tourer that took a few months to sell, post kept alive by several bumps. I've also seen buyers where it's their first post. Some of the stuff sold is pretty specialist, finding the right buyer may well take a bit of time.
Maybe the emphasis should be on the seller* to keep their post alive by bumping it, the info on auto deleting could be more prominent and that keeping it active was acceptable.

* EDIT Wrong word used :oops:
Last edited by PH on 22 Jan 2018, 2:03pm, edited 1 time in total.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Auto-deletion too fast for For Sale

Post by [XAP]Bob »

But it's the seller who wants to look at previous ads to see what price the market will bear.
It's the buyer who wants to look back and see what price they should be expecting to pay.

Potentially lock the threads after 30 days, then delete after 90/120?
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yostumpy
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EXTENDING THESE PAGES

Post by yostumpy »

Can the forum chiefs see fit to extend the FOR SALE pages from 2 pages to ..say 6, or even 10. Not everything sells quickly, and if there is a flurry of new postings, things drop off too quickly, and are never to be seen again, and its a hassle relisting stuff all the time. How about it chaps?
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: EXTENDING THESE PAGES

Post by [XAP]Bob »

IIRC it's time based, not number of posts based.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
yostumpy
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Re: EXTENDING THESE PAGES

Post by yostumpy »

other forums have more than 2 pages tho. Its frustrating to remember something in the section, that now could be of use, and one is sure it was only a few weeks ago, but now can't be traced . Parts section, and complete bike section, are both only 2 pages long.
Cyril Haearn
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Re: EXTENDING THESE PAGES

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Maybe the bump function could be reinstated
One could just post 'bump', some people do it several times :wink:
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John1054
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Re: EXTENDING THESE PAGES

Post by John1054 »

There's no limit to how many pages and threads at one time. Only threads that have been inactive for a month auto delete. We could end up with many pages of already sold items (not all sellers amend their threads when items are sold/collected/sorted etc.). We try and add "sold" when appropriate, but can miss now and again. I'll bring this to attention of mods in case there is any suggestion for change.
yostumpy
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Re: EXTENDING THESE PAGES

Post by yostumpy »

ok
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robgul
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Re: EXTENDING THESE PAGES

Post by robgul »

John1054 wrote:There's no limit to how many pages and threads at one time. Only threads that have been inactive for a month auto delete. We could end up with many pages of already sold items (not all sellers amend their threads when items are sold/collected/sorted etc.). We try and add "sold" when appropriate, but can miss now and again. I'll bring this to attention of mods in case there is any suggestion for change.


YACF has the ability to move posts - so someone selling can move a For sale item to the Sold section - works a treat, so why not do that and allow longer exposure for For sale which was the gist of the OP?

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yostumpy
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Re: EXTENDING THESE PAGES

Post by yostumpy »

Do other folks agree with me, or am I the only one?
thirdcrank
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Re: EXTENDING THESE PAGES

Post by thirdcrank »

yostumpy wrote:Do other folks agree with me, or am I the only one?


I think you are simply mistaken. There isn't a page limit. Posts in the classified ads sections auto-delete after a set period of inactivity. The "For sale" section is the one that attracts by far the most posts. I've not been back to look but AFAIK, the guidelines at the head of the ads section explains all this, including the advice to bump a thread which has not attracted any posts from potential customers. FWIW, a lack of interest has previously been suggested as being indication of the wrong price so the most effective form of bump is probably a price adjustment.

====================================================================================
Please do NOT post your item more than once
Multiple postings confuse & annoy.
Always use your original topic.
- You can bump it back to the top ( at couple of times if necessary ) . . best to have a new price or additional info
- You can edit your original post : subject line and contents, if necessary.

The only practical reason to repost as a new topic is if the original one was auto-deleted after 30 days of inactivity.


Auto-deletion
Once a topic has become inactive for 30 days it will be automatically deleted.

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