I don't see the need for charging to post an item, I do see the need to have a "qualifier" for people to post, and something to think about as opposed to number of posts as the qualifier, maybe time on the forum could be used. If you say someone has to have been a registered member for 2 or 3 months to post a listing that would stop someone from registering and posting 25 nonsense posts real quick just to qualify to list something. (just a thought)
Interested In Who Would Like To See A Trading Post As A Dedicated Forum
- Thread starter Steve Williams
- Start date
Law suits cost money successful or not. The question is who will be left holding the bag when the music stops. Most used sales are deemed "as is." Rules very from state to state. Most are beginning to have rules against concealment of known defects. This "amp is fine" when you knew the left channel was blown. A healthy disclaimer usually deals with most problems. Some states do not allow waiver of certain rights. I think Florida makes it a crime to stop payment on a check after receiving internet goods. Escrow is an extremely good idea for big ticket items.
Undoubtedly disputes will arise. Somebody will have to arbitrate them. For example I purchased my Yamaha tuner from a guy in Canada. I purchased an international postal money order. He still refused to ship untill not only the money cleared but any oppurtunity for me to stop payment had elapsed. Eventually Audiogon forced him to ship.
I think then you would need a dsiclaimer. Limit your liability, Have some arbtrators and as a condition of participating agree to be bound by the arbtrators ruling. Any clear violations suchas fraud or unfair cancellations should result in the perptrator being banned from further participation.
Fortunately Audiogn and Ebay provide vast experience in what can go wrong.
Steve I'm going to send you a PM about another concern I have.
Undoubtedly disputes will arise. Somebody will have to arbitrate them. For example I purchased my Yamaha tuner from a guy in Canada. I purchased an international postal money order. He still refused to ship untill not only the money cleared but any oppurtunity for me to stop payment had elapsed. Eventually Audiogon forced him to ship.
I think then you would need a dsiclaimer. Limit your liability, Have some arbtrators and as a condition of participating agree to be bound by the arbtrators ruling. Any clear violations suchas fraud or unfair cancellations should result in the perptrator being banned from further participation.
Fortunately Audiogn and Ebay provide vast experience in what can go wrong.
Steve I'm going to send you a PM about another concern I have.
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I have been exploring the concept of starting a Trading Post type forum for the buy and sell of used gear. Any special suggestions as to set up or just let the poster put up the ad? For now we all seem to be in agreement that there will be no charge to place the ad however this will be revisited from time to time. I have also been looking into minimum member requirements to allow for posting such as length of membership and number of posts etc.
Final ideas are now requested.
Final ideas are now requested.
I think that Pricing, Shipping and acceptable Payment methods should be clear from the start. The "condition" of the prodct(s) being offered for Sale/Trade should be as exact as possible, and I personally encourage the posting of pictures so potential buyers can see what is being offered.
John
John
Is it possible to have people who want to view the swap forum, be presented with a terms and conditions agreement, they need to click on to agree to, or if not exit, from the trading post forum.
In there you can provide the rules and responsibilities of buyers, sellers and traders.
In there you can provide the rules and responsibilities of buyers, sellers and traders.
Problem is that Vbulletin does not allow for this ( as far as I can tell) nor does it allow for members with a minimum number of posts or length of time for being a member. I need some more time on this to see if I can implement it with these requirements
Understood Steve, no need to rush into anything thats for sure. A question for everyone involved, do we really think that it will be a major concern having people posting for sale items that are not part of the forum? The reason I ask this is that on a couple of other forums that I have frequented over the years have similar for sale sections of their forums and the postings there were of a relatively small number and most were from well established members. Maybe some others can chime in here as they are also on one of the other forums, the two forums that come to mind are the Martin Logan Owners forum and the Orion Owners forum (Linkwitz Orions).
Steve,
I think both could potentially be managed by the MOD. T&C can be posted as a sticky to the forum and the MOD can verify that any poster has a) reviewed the T&C and confirmed backvia PM prior to an ad being posted and B) confirmed poster meets requirements for length of forum membership, number of confirmed posts or both.
I think both could potentially be managed by the MOD. T&C can be posted as a sticky to the forum and the MOD can verify that any poster has a) reviewed the T&C and confirmed backvia PM prior to an ad being posted and B) confirmed poster meets requirements for length of forum membership, number of confirmed posts or both.
I should have phrased that differently, I meant people joining the forum with the sole intention of selling items.
still very active in our minds but we just haven't reached critical mass of membership yet to make it happen. It will at some point
While I voted yes, I have thought about it some and would now vote no.
It comes from a piece of advice I got from a customer about 6 years. Put 100% of your focus on what you do best and brush away any distractions, even though they might look like they fit in your strategy.
Audiogon is very good at what their primary business is and much less so in their forum area. We are excellent in what we provide, so let's just keep doing it and getting better at it. I think it would be a very long time until we had the membership that would even allow that kind of business to make sense. A few other sites have sent me emails that are trying to be Audiogon "copy cats". My sense is that they will fail miserably.
It comes from a piece of advice I got from a customer about 6 years. Put 100% of your focus on what you do best and brush away any distractions, even though they might look like they fit in your strategy.
Audiogon is very good at what their primary business is and much less so in their forum area. We are excellent in what we provide, so let's just keep doing it and getting better at it. I think it would be a very long time until we had the membership that would even allow that kind of business to make sense. A few other sites have sent me emails that are trying to be Audiogon "copy cats". My sense is that they will fail miserably.
Who ever said anything about wanting to be another Audiogon?
All I envision is a friendly trading post were members can list their items.
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