Jeers to those that don't manage their sale thread and/or communicate well

[Pokerstud]

This is only the second Jeer that I have written, as it usually isn't my style, until it just gets the better of me.

I am writing this JEER because I have experienced an increase in ill-managed sale threads, predominantly the ongoing, long duration type of threads, and it is very frustrating. To lessen the confusion, I am talking about CPF, not CPFMP. The area of concern I have is not in the quality of the product or service that is being offered, it is in the poor communication skills of the seller(s). The lack of PM or email reply’s, and the lack of keeping their sale thread updated are my two main grievance points. I would think that if you went to all the trouble to create a sale thread to offer a product you make, or a service you provide that you would stay very attentive to your thread and have good communications with prospective buyers.

I will not, at this time, post any names, unless it continues to get worse. I really don't want to point fingers. I just wanted to bring this out in the open, and hopefully they will read this.

over!

[Sigman]

Thank you Pokerstud for bringing this up. It's not the first time the subject has surfaced though. It's frustrating indeed!

We've provided some "guidelines", rules for the lights B/S/T, & rules for the non-lights B/S/T to help the sellers out:

1. Many continue to delete prices after the items are sold.

2. Many never edit their titles as SOLD, (which is actually pretty disrespectful to the rest of the members who take the time to read their sale thread only to find out the items are already taken).

It really is irritating to have to follow behind and edit sale thread titles as "SOLD"!!

We ask that the seller add a post indicating SOLD and edit the title as well! IF someone doesn't know how to do that or if the title appears "locked" - PLEASE ASK someone on the STAFF how to do it!! Small request for what's being provided here for all!!

3. Additionally as you've said, some don't provide the communication that's needed to conduct a proper sale.

Very frustrating to all indeed...

BTW, I recently conducted my own "secret" contest. I've been adding "MDNET" to a few threads where I had to edit the title "SOLD". Finally a member asked me today what that meant: "Member Did Not Edit Title"

Just my own little indicator...I'm sending this member some free assorted Glo-Rings just for asking! Maybe I have too much time on my hands!!

ADDITIONALLY - a HUGE THANK YOU to those who do edit, communicate, & attempt to conduct a proper sale!!!

[Pokerstud]

ADDITIONALLY - a HUGE THANK YOU to those who do edit, communicate, & attempt to conduct a proper sale!!!
[/COLOR] [/COLOR]

Sigman,

Thank you very much for stating that ( I feel bad that I did not reference it in my post ) .

[djblank87]

I agree there is a huge lack of communication on CPF Proper and CPFMP. I sell numerous items all the time and I keep my thread titles updated, status of the items updated and when there sold I change the titles at once.

I always make/give a disclosed price to any Military/LEO members retired or active and those are the only prices I will ever never show unless the buyer is ok with that.

I always ship the same day unless bought after 12:00pm or on Sundays and once I ship it I always take a picture/scan a copy of the receipt and PM that information to the buyer at once.

I have bought a few things from other members and most of those dealings have gone ok, but a few have been really, really bad and if I didn't keep on them they would of never taken care of things and shipped my products.

People have to understand that while you might not be a business, when you put up something for sale you are providing a service and in due respect should give your buyers the "people giving you money" some respect and keep them updated threw out the whole sale.

Also, please pack items properly, it does not take but five minutes to wrap things up in bubble wrap and get it sent out correctly. Bubble wrap is $1.06 for ten feet at most stores and tape it $0.99 cents.

It does not take a lot to do the right thing.

[Norm]

I like to add to this Jeer, If you are selling something that has faults describe the faults and if it's a visual fault a picture will let the buyer know exactly what they are buying. I've purchased lots of things on BST where the sellers have been very honest with their descriptions of items but this isn't always the case. It's very disappointing to buy something and find you bought someone else's problem or stuff up.
Norm

[MarNav1]

I have forgotten occasionally to update a post or communicate quickly enough. Thanks for the reminder. I am curious though, why do people delete the prices? It doesn't really bother me but I'd like to know why it's done.

[savumaki]

Another thought;
It's only being polite to advise the seller that you received it.
Perhaps not a necessity with big time sellers but one off sellers would appreciate knowing you received the item.

[fnmag]

I heartily agree with the points mentioned in this thread. Communication is key. Acknowledgment of receipt of item is a courtesy that I wish more people would engage in.

[CM]

Number one and two on Sigman's list is really irritating to me. To people that delete the price, what is the purpose? While this may be extreme I propose that anyone that does this be banned from selling anything here.

[Cuso]

And whats with all the cross-posting??, its been getting out of hand lately...

[Sigman]

Ditto Cuso...please report it if you run across more so we can DELETE them!

[AFAustin]

This is an important thread with a lot of excellent points---some are common sense/common courtesy, and others are more particular to forum buying & selling.

One of my pet peeves, which fortunately doesn't happen too often around here, is someone posting "I'll take it", and then disappearing for hours---no payment, no PMs, no posts---and they are either signed off or still signed on but apparently with more important things to do than to close the deal on the item they just tied up. As with so many lessons, I learned this one the hard way, and now feel it necessary to put in my sales threads that if payment isn't made within a certain amt. of time, the item will be back up for sale. (Sorry for the slight hijack---I realize the original point was problem sellers and here I'm addressing problem buyers.)

Anyway, thanks, Pokerstud, for this topic, and Sigman/Rick, for the great work you do in moderating the sales threads. My minor rant above notwithstanding, CPF and CPFMP have been great places for amateur aficionados like me to buy and sell lots of fun toys. Gracias!

[Sigman]

...is someone posting "I'll take it", and then disappearing for hours---no payment, no PMs, no posts---and they are either signed off or still signed on but apparently with more important things to do than to close the deal on the item they just tied up...

I always followup an "I'll take it" with a "PM sent...", throwing the ball into the seller's court.

Good constructive criticism here...I wish more folks would/could comprehend it!

Treat the buyer/seller like you would want to be treated!

[djblank87]

I agree with everyone here and I to hate when prices are deleted. But I guess I'm being contradicting by saying that since I do not show the prices when I sell to Military or LEO members.

I always leave the prices up for any other sale and I make a point to do so and highlight it red or some other color. I guess it would actually make more since for me to disclose the price I gave to Military/LEO members.

That way others CPF Military/LEO members would see what I cut off the price and might check out my threads in the furutre.

There is always room for improvement for eveyone......

[Pokerstud]

[CENTER]

Treat the buyer/seller like you would want to be treated!

Sig,

That is such a simple concept, but worth its weight in gold!



AFAustin,

You made some good, valid points.



A slow burning fuse for me is when the seller doesn't visit / post / acknowledge their sale thread for 4,5,6,7, days. I realize that people take vacations and that people get sick, and have emergencies, but it is a rare case indeed when you actually see someone state that they " won't be back for xxx days, going out of town, etc. ".

[Pumaman]

May I add jeers to vague thread titles

Cheers to all the great sellers and descriptive thread title writers

[depusm12]

+1
I've seen lights or other items I've wanted to buy many times. I'll send a PM to the seller only to get the reply that the item is already sold and the title not edited to reflect the same. I always politely reminded them they need to edit the title to reflect that the item is sold or withdrawn.

[jumpstat]

Communication is very important whether you are a seller or buyer. Its not a one way street.

[gjg]

2. Many never edit their titles as SOLD, (which is actually pretty disrespectful to the rest of the members who take the time to read their sale thread only to find out the items are already taken).

Jeers to myself on this one - forgot to post a "SOLD" up and an upstanding CPF member nearly sent me paypal on an it. One thing though - I'll NEVER do that again....
Sorry again, Leef...

[Patriot36]

1. Many continue to delete prices after the items are sold.

For some reason that one drives me up a wall. I realize that it's ultimately between the seller and buyer but c'mon folks. Have they really not seen all of the discussion about this topic. I just looked at some of the lights sold in "customs & mods" today and some veteran CPFers are still removing their selling price.


Oh well. Hopefully they'll all catch on soon.

[loving light]

I hate when someone reads your pm,then does not reply.

[jumpstat]

Lately there are many sellers who do not update their main title, so many of us spend too much time going into sales thread that appears to be available but in actual fact not........

[Tempest UK]

Sellers not updating their threads can be very, very annoying. I don't know if it's a conscious attempt to increase the number of people looking at their thread (if they have other items left for sale) or just ineptitude.

It doesn't take long to alter a thread title. The very first sticky at the top of the sell forum even spells it out pretty clearly, so there's no excuse for "not knowing", either.

Regards,
Tempest

[Jumpmaster]

To be fair...if the thread is quite old, the original poster loses the ability to change the title. I've requested a mod to change my old thread titles in the past to try to make the title more accurate though...

JM-99

[Hell Light]

Make it simple! Ask before you buy. Otherwise don't buy it.

[PkdMslf]

Oops, guilty on deleting the price after an item is sold.

For all items that have not sold, naturally the selling price remains. If I have an "I'll take it", I usually leave the selling price posted along with a $SPF (sold pending funds). This so that if the original "taker" backs out, others who want second dibs on an item can take a shot at it.

Once I have received payment, I take the selling price down and plug in "SOLD". The item is not longer available. I do not see the purpose of leaving the selling price posted if the item is no longer available. This is for the buyer's privacy. If the buyer at some future date decides to sell the item, they will not have to worry about someone doing a search and possibly "hassling" the seller because they know what the seller paid for an item. Once the item is sold and is no longer available, what is the purpose of leaving the selling price posted? Nobody else will be purchasing it, it's gone.

[Empath]

This is for the buyer's privacy.

The buyer's privacy ends with what's posted in the forums. Privacy is a feature of PM and email. Public information is a feature of a public bulletin board. Efforts to privatize the content of public postings through selective editing is an effort contrary to the medium you've chosen to sell your goods.

I'd suggest that the members do a copy/paste quote of the postings of those that have demonstrated such behavior.

[abvidledUK]

To, too, true.

Don't forget you can read, and correct spelling and grammar errors after posting.

Especially in thread title.

I DO make mistakes whilst composing posts, but they usually jump out at me once posted, and (red) read, then corrected.

[GenEric808]

The worst ones are those who say "I'll take it" then PM requesting a paypal address, but never end up sending payment. And then they go on to ignore all PM's thereafter, while still going on their merry way posting and buying up other stuff on B/S/T

[m590man]

I'm a noobe here but nothing frustrates me more than sellers who request prompt payment (which I always do here and on all other forums I frequent, usually within the hour of commiting to the purchase) but then don't ship the items until a week (or more) later. Prompt on my side should also mean prompt on theirs. If there's gonna be a delay then sent out an email letting the buyer know that so that you're not sitting around waiting and wondering if there is a problem.

Sorry! Rant off.

M590man