Proposal for personal classifieds forum

[nmehta211]

Could we make a few changes to the rules simply to make things smoother and practical?

1. No feeler/ gaining interest threads...if you have something that you want to sell, it must be for sale and not involved in a thought process of being pulled to be sold, etc.

2. You must have a fixed price for the item you wish to sell. No highest offer, you would be better off on ebay with that. My suggestion--start your price at the point that you would accept 100% without doubt, and then if the item doesn't sell, move down. If someone matches the price you wish to sell for, you cannot then raise the price or change the terms of the sale.

3. Respond to your thread if people are replying. Nothing is more annoying than those part out threads for junk cars where there are 40 replies and the original poster is long gone. A certain time deadline should be enforced upon which point the ad will be deleted.

4. Shipping must be estimated for items that are to be sold...if it is a large item that has variable shipping costs, please indicate so.

5. Dibs play no role. First person to pay, gets the item, not the first one to post. Therefore, it is critical that the seller please indicate payment information (whether it be paypal or mailing address). If it is a mailing address, the first one to PM the seller and then get respective confirmation will be the buyer.

Thoughts/comments/additional suggestions?

[Darth Luder]

All sound pretty good to me, except 5. I can see someone selling something, say 3 people paypal close to each other, none knowing when the others paid, the seller then sends out the item to whomever he wants and he still has 2 more transactions in his account. Now I am not saying anyone with half a brain would skip out and make a run for it with the money, but it does create a situation that PO.com would have no power to do anything about and could create a vehicle for fraud.

Although, I still do not like dibs myself either, those that contact the seller first via email/phone should be in first.

[sandiegan]

getting shipping quotes isnt the easiest thing to do... i wouldnt want my thread locked just because i am to lazy to go to UPS in advance and ask them about how much shipping would be

[nmehta211]

ok, well let's make the necessary changes and implement the other items.

Regarding shipping, there are many ways to get estimates online based on packaging size, zip, and weight. But obviosly exceptions will be made. I am open to removing that clause though.

What i really want to implement are items 1,2, and 3.