Petition: reform the FS forum rules

[FishBeard]

It's obvious there are those of us here promoting responsible reefkeeping, and some who treat the online community like their own personal Craigslist alternative. I would like to suggest the FS forum rules be refined to discourage exclusive use of the selling forum. This site was founded to promote certain values of the hobby. It should not be allowed solely as a source of income for members who provide nothing of value back to the community. It's not difficult and costs nothing to participate on the forum. If someone has enough time to spend selling stuff, they have enough time to join conversations, help answer others questions, provide input to ongoing discussions, toss up a link to something cool, or occasionally post updates on their tank threads. If someone is clearly just here to sell, perhaps it's time to put the kebosh on that activity or start charging them to do so, or perhaps some other option? Just one beard's opinion. Discuss?

 

[caragol]

I don't mind the selling as long as there are some pics and prices. I'm happy with a minimum post count to do so too. Buying can be a little annoying with the low balling and odd trade offers, but I don't sell often so I don't know if that bugs others as much.

Do we have some examples of offending types? Are they flooding the forums or something?

 

[Herbie]

my opinion is that if there were a CL for just fish stuff I would be on there pretty often . I completely understand the sentiment, but I like having access to stuff FS. Do I want to be preyed upon? No. Do I want to keep our sponsors happy and sponsoring? Of course. Do I think someone should have to be social or a "contributor" on here to give me a shot at buying something cool for less than I would pay elsewhere? No. What is the best possible way on earth to regulate this? I don't know, but we don't currently have much of an issue with this and I think the community has done an excellent job of policing this without additional cumbersome rules. There are clear rules and as long as they are followed there isn't much of a problem. I for one want to avoid the slippery slope of exclusion (Just one Herbie's opinion and in no way an official representation of CR's stance in this specific instance).

 

[Tethered_Limbs]

my opinion is that if there were a CL for just fish stuff I would be on there pretty often . I completely understand the sentiment, but I like having access to stuff FS. Do I want to be preyed upon? No. Do I want to keep our sponsors happy and sponsoring? Of course. Do I think someone should have to be social or a "contributor" on here to give me a shot at buying something cool for less than I would pay elsewhere? No. What is the best possible way on earth to regulate this? I don't know, but we don't currently have much of an issue with this and I think the community has done an excellent job of policing this without additional cumbersome rules. There are clear rules and as long as they are followed there isn't much of a problem. I for one want to avoid the slippery slope of exclusion (Just one Herbie's opinion and in no way an official representation of CR's stance in this specific instance).

aquabid is kind of fishy CL

 

[Funlad3]

Do we have some examples of offending types? Are they flooding the forums or something?

There are, but I'm not going to name them!

I'm all for the minimum post count to sell stuff, but it shouldn't be high. If someone who's getting out of the hobby joins to unload their stuff to fellow reefers, I'm fine with that. All the same, there should be a limit on the number of for sale threads in a given period of time for most members. There are also super members, like Jorge, Jenny, Walt, etc. that post incredibly frequently, and I think that they shouldn't be limited in the number of items they can sell.

This is a rather complex topic, and I think that the forum needs to keep experimenting.

 

[FishBeard]

Herbie, you mention excluding people but my suggestion is actually intended to do the opposite. The people that choose to live solely in their little FS world are excluding themselves from the community voluntarily, why should they be rewarded being allowed to profit off a community they don't want to be a part of? IMO, that form of activity is no different than someone preying on the community thru Craigslist, and if they are just here to sell, that makes them nothing more than a non contributing vendor, whether they are a business or not.

An idea, since this forum is a for-profit business, what about implementing a token system so we can buy points to list FS threads, with some of the profit going towards prizes for giveaways each month? At least that way those using the FS forum would in a way be giving back to the community as well.

 

[KeishaKornbread]

 

[Funlad3]

An idea, since this forum is a for-profit business, what about implementing a token system so we can buy points to list FS threads, with some of the profit going towards prizes for giveaways each month? At least that way those using the FS forum would in a way be giving back to the community as well.

That harms us under budgeted reefers who use our sales to fund our addiction...

 

[jfarris1976]

That harms us under budgeted reefers who use our sales to fund our addiction...

+1 Ya the FS thread helps ALOT I wouldn't be able to afford nothing but a FW tank

 

[FishBeard]

That harms us under budgeted reefers who use our sales to fund our addiction...

It doesn't have to be a large sum of money. A few bucks here, a few bucks there, next thing you know we got an mp10 up for grabs at the end of the month.

What about earning "rep" points you can spend if you don't want to pay for tokens? That way would also encourage people to participate as well...

 

[lunacris]

i may be wrong but why not just get over it . everyone knows who these peeps are. its pretty obvious, altho i know thats how i found this site was thru a cl post on buying selling reef and fish stuff. ive seen that add many times. why would one complain about these types of people coming here and buying selling if thats what was in the add . i mean its not right for those who are here for the "community" but just like any other thread if u dont like it dont read it . no need to beat the issue when obviously its not gonna change these peeps. all it does is hush them down for a couple weeks and then right back at it.

and as far as being responsible its always on the buyer at the end of the day imo . it may be from a fellow reefer or a shop at the end you should be doing your research and or asking questions to those that are here to help.it would it be nice and the "right thing to do " would be to put upfront any issues and or concerns in the fs post but even if that person goes thru all steps to try and be safe things can always happen. i totally get why people were getting upset but dam just look past it . just my 2 cents

 

[Herbie]

That harms us under budgeted reefers who use our sales to fund our addiction...

I agree and I really have trouble with the whole "managing to the lowest common denominator" approach. It's the worst atribute of my corporate world and I hope we can avoid that here. IMHO again we should assess and remove "bad apples" not assume bunches are spoiled and set down sweeping rules to prevent potential future spoilage. It's probably just my personal philosophies bleeding through, but I believe less rules=more inclusion. If people want to exclude themselves, that's there prerogative, but imagine Funlad's scenarion where some really great opportunities are missed because we have some sort of blanket regulation or cost prohibitive requirements. The community is, for each member, exactly what they put into it. To me the FS section is a separate function and service provided by the site. Again, I am all for running off wolves, but I'm not sure I know who is best suited to make that determination. (IMHO blah blah blah)

 

[Triggerdood]

I personally don't see the big deal either. If someone wants to come on here and sell a bunch of livestock or dry goods at a decent price, and healthy. So be it. If it's a good deal, let someone reap the benefits, if not, ignore the post. Just my opinion.

 

[Lil BamBam]

Herb,

Do we have this nice perk?

user cp -> settings and options -> edit ignore list*

This might slove members from seeing other members post

 

[MMreef]

I am in on this with Fishbeard. I know who and what kind of people he is talking about. The same person tried to low ball me to buy most of my livestock, most likely to flip it and selling for profit. I declined to deal with him.I don't think that people like him, bring anything of value to this community, except making a few bucks here, mostly of newbies and less experienced members. Why they are allowed to post on regular basics only FS threads without any fees is beyond me , but I don't own this site. I just choose to ignore them, and lately I am loosing interest in CR because of those practices being allowed. There are so many great and knowledgeable members here that I see less and less participating on CR, perhaps they feel the same way as me.

 

[Funlad3]

It doesn't have to be a large sum of money. A few bucks here, a few bucks there, next thing you know we got an mp10 up for grabs at the end of the month.

It all adds up. I don't wanna be nickel and dimed!

1 or 2 FS threads per 100 posts?

 

[Herbie]

Herb,

Do we have this nice perk?

user cp -> settings and options -> edit ignore list*

This might slove members from seeing other members post

I suppose that is a great way to make your own little ban list. Latin lover ftw!

 

[yogoshio]

I am in on this with Fishbeard. I know who and what kind of people he is talking about. The same person tried to low ball me to buy most of my livestock, most likely to flip it and selling for profit. I declined to deal with him.I don't think that people like him, bring anything of value to this community, except making a few bucks here, mostly of newbies and less experienced members. Why they are allowed to post on regular basics only FS threads without any fees is beyond me , but I don't own this site. I just choose to ignore them, and lately I am loosing interest in CR because of those practices being allowed. There are so many great and knowledgeable members here that I see less and less participating on CR, perhaps they feel the same way as me.

I think the majority of the reasons for low activity/people leaving has more to do with cliques and a feeling of "outside" when things of this nature come up.

If I was new, saw that people were complaining about posting FS threads, guess what I'm NOT going to do? Post for sale threads. I'm also not going to want to participate when I'm so worried about stepping on other people's toes in order to be a part of the community.

 

[FishBeard]

It all adds up. I don't wanna be nickel and dimed!

1 or 2 FS threads per 100 posts?

It doesn't have to be a requirement to pay for FS threads, but I think many people would be willing to give it a shot if there is something in return for the community. A set # of posts wouldn't work there are people with low post counts that are good contributors. Something like the thanks button that would work on a credit basis to redeem once you have enough. The people that contribute great info earn lots of clicks and points to spend, those that don't contribute never earn points and have to fall back to paying a fee. So one way or another everyone gets something out of it. Heck, could even earn enough points to redeem free "I heart chicagoreefs" status instead of having to pay $20/yr for it.

 

[Jason R]

I would say an ideal solution is to add a post to the low-ballers' FS posts calling them out on their bad practices. That would keep people from getting suckered and eventually could frustrate them enough to leave.