Thread: Is there a way to stop people from joining just to sell?

A few comments,

I know several people who browse the forums all the time and have built very nice SE-Rs, but don't have accounts, or if they do, they may have only one or two posts. So I don't think your above statement really holds true. I think the large majority of people who anonymously or infrequently post to the forums, are good honest people.

Having to have mods enable accounts is waaaaay to much work. No one gets paid here, and no one wants a 2nd job. Honestly I feel lucky that the mods help out and do as good of a job as they do already.

In my opinion, nothing is more frustrating then signing up for a forum, and not being able to post. I totally agree, that 75% of the people who sign up and immediately post, ask a question that has been answered 100's of times already. But, being on the other side of the coin, when I sign up to post a question, it's generally because I searched the hell out of the forum already and couldn't find an answer (its always quicker to search for your answer then to post and wait for a reply), and its frustrating to be stuck in a 7+ day probation period where you cannot post. Generally I leave and find another forum.

And as far as people coming here just to sell things, given they post in the appropriate forsale section and are honest people, I don't see the problem with that. I'd rather go checkout the classifieds and see lots of cool things forsale, then only just a handful.

All that being said, I'm not totally against the idea of some kind of waiting period, I just think it needs to be reasonable, and painless.

--Edit--
Wow, I'm tired. We're talking about not allowing people to post in the classifieds, not limiting them from posting elsewhere on the forum. Half of my disagreement above is mute lol.

What about a 5 day waiting period to post things for sale? Too short?

I'd suggest 2 weeks. If you're here for the long term, it's not that long at all. If you're looking for a quick buck, it's forever.

Even a month seems a bit harsh, two weeks or 50 posts, or if they have say at least one iTrader rating for buying something.

I'd say 5 posts anywhere besides off topic and at least 5 days as a member.

i say 10 post outside of off topic with at least 5 days

Agree with 10 posts and 5 days.

Most forums I am a part of are like this, when it comes to classifieds.

I still wish there was a way to work the iTrader to incorporate what was earned on the "other" forum. I have a 36 there and a 6 here, even though I'd trust buying something here more because I think this is where 90% of the best of the old forum moved.

Anyway, moving on. On my local forum, we have a special section for the "hardcore" members and OG types. Guys that have a good rep around town and have more than a few grand into their cars, to weed out the thieves and kids in their mom's hot rod hand-me-down civics. I guess that's our supporter's section?

Crap, another rant.
I'm a fan of 2 weeks for posting sales, free reign to post in wanted ads (helps current members) or minimum of 25 posts, whichever comes first. it sounds harsh, but when people can just post anything right away, it gives way to scammers and unmotivated sellers.

bump

selling rules on the mazdaforum i am on.


i think it is a great idea. with atleast 50 posts outside of off topic and no buying or selling before this will at least allow people to search their posts to get a rough idea of the type of person they are.


another thing they do is everyone needs a picture of every part with a paper and their user name and the forum name hand written on the paper....then the paper is placed next to the parts and a pic is taken....doing this shows they have the exact part in question and if you get anything else other than what is pictured you can take action.

i dont agree. because if someone really wants to sell something or buy something and they see a person looking for their part they can always deal via PM.........however 20+ posts gets their foot in the door to being an actuall usefull MEMBER.........i could get 5 posts in 2 minutes under a new name and no one would notice then sell some fake crap then disappear. try to post whore 20 times with a new name and stay on the down low not gona happen. we all know whats up here and are pretty good sensing BS, but we need at least alittle back ground. and with b13's and FWD sr20's becoming more and more popular so is stealing them.......who better to sell stolen parts to than cheap ass b13 owners?

do you really want to buy something from a dude with 5 posts for someone to contact you in a few months saying "thats my turbo and it was stolen, i have tryed to find the seller but he does not exist.............i want it back"