Thread: Rules for Classifieds - discussion

It is time for some updates to the Group Buy instructions.

Most people creating a new group buy needed the instructions clarified to them. Particularly item number 6 tended to stump people. We are clarifying this item by splitting it up into a few items.
We are also removing one restriction that doesn't seem relevant anymore (group buys are now officially allowed for items already in production).

I will post the old instructions, and the new instructions. For ease of reference, pure additions will be colored green, pure deletions will be colored red, and changes will be colored orange. I plan to continue this practice in the future.


Old instructions:




New instructions:



Here is a handy link to the full instructions: https://www.sr20-forum.com/classifieds---group-buys/!575-want-to-start-a-group-buy-read-this.html
As always, discussion is welcome.

Until then, can we keep the regional wanted/ for sale threads open? I mean this has never been enforced and 90% of the Regional threads are used for this very thing. Cause right now, the Ban Hammer is making the regional section look very uninviting.

Also, if it is being added, why are you locking all the threads?

@ebinkerd, I apologize that this seems to have been sparsely unenforced for long periods of time. The recent crack-down does seem to leave a lot to be desired. A lot of that is the forum staff's fault. We should have been enforcing it all along and more consistently. We should never have let the regional classified links that we had in the past go dormant and unfixed. Basically, we've made a mess of things.

With the goal of cleaning up this situation, I want to get the links to the regional classifieds working again. I looked at it yesterday, and it is probably going to take some time to fix.
I've tossed around the idea with the other staff about temporarily allowing cross-posting of classified ads in the regional sections. It is clear by your expressed concern that we need to do something along those lines.

We can not allow classified ads themselves to live in the regional sections. This is because we have members who have been banned from selling (because of previous sales gone horribly wrong) and the only real way to implement that ban is to force all sales to the classifieds, and get rid of them everywhere else. If we allow sales in the regional sections, all of a sudden those who are banned from selling would be able to scam more members.
So, the proposed solution is to have the sale thread in the classifieds section as always (trust me, you're going to want to put it there anyway, as that's where people LOOKING for parts should be going) and then allow a thread in the desired regional section linking directly to the classified ad.

Everyone, does that sound like a workable compromise until the regional classified links we used to have are fixed?

First, a correction. I am deleting all threads offering an item for sale that I see in the regional sections. I am locking threads that are from users looking for an item. I am only going back 3 pages or ~6 months, which ever comes first.

As far as I know, we've never allowed sale threads in the regional sections. Maybe we did before the 2010 classifieds crack-down? But certainly not after that.

What we used to have was a system where every classified ad in the classified sections had a state field set. Every sale thread belonged to a state, and that state even showed up abbreviated in the title.
Using this, there were special search links that would show the user all of the sale threads in the region of their choice. This was how the regional classified sections were implemented, and that's how I plan on reimplementing them.

This is why threads are being deleted or locked in the regional sections. Because they have never been allowed there in the first place, nor will they once this feature is fixed.
I can't move the threads out of the regional sections and into the classified sections because 1) Almost all of them lack the required information to sell here and 2) I could move a thread from a member who is banned from selling and not realize it.

Why are people that are banned from selling even allowed on this site anymore? If that's the driving force behind this, then all the craigslist links need to be removed as well, because it also allows for banned sellers and opportunity to sell on the site.


"Everyone, does that sound like a workable compromise until the regional classified links we used to have are fixed?"

What compromise? Your whole paragraph can be summed up as "We, the staff, wanna change shit, deal with it."


I personally avoid the sites classified because it is a mess now.

We have various tools at our disposal with varying severity to deal with varying degrees of transgressions. Dropping the perma-ban hammer is the most severe tool we have, and as such, we only wield it when absolutely warranted. Ever since the classifieds crack-down of 2010, there were all of a sudden a lot of rules to follow in the classifieds section. A member could be a great member, but still fail to follow all of the rules in the classifieds section. Some members just aren't cut out for the strict, uniform, and well-organized classified sections that we have now. Those members get warnings, and then banned from the classifieds if they continue to break the rules. This simply means they are not cut out for our admittedly strict classified sections. It doesn't mean they can't get along just fine on the rest of the site.


We haven't spelled it out explicitly in the rules, but we have hashed this out in the past in gory detail.
1) Posting links to Craigslist ads has always been allowed anywhere on the forum (with one exception). They are treated as informative links, and the sale takes place entirely outside of the forum. These links don't allow members banned from selling on this site to sell on this site. The sale takes place on Craigslist. That distinction is important. Anyone buying an item from Craigslist should be familiar with the risk they are taking there.
2) The exception to this is that no member can link to their own Craig's list ad. This falls under the "You MAY NOT link to sale topics on other message boards. Just copy and paste here, very simple." rule.


I don't think you understood the compromise I was proposing.

First off, we aren't changing anything. Let me say that again. Nothing has changed. This is the way it has been since 2010.

Secondly, let me explain my compromise one more time. I propose that we temporarily lift the ban on cross-posting classified ads in the regional sections. This means that until I fix the regional classified links properly, we would allow people to post a classified ad in the classified ad section and then go to their regional section and make a thread that links to the ad itself. Is that not a really awesome compromise? I thought it was very fair...

Thirdly, I don't know what forum you think you're a member of if you think the staff around here says "we're doing X, deal with it". That is miles away from how we operate here. If that is how you feel, I want you to know that is absolutely not the case. Anything and everything is up for debate at all times. Make your case and your voice will be heard.


The classifieds are a product of the membership here. They are how the members want them to be. In 2010 people fought hard to get them to the state they are in now. If that is no longer the state we would like them to be in, please start the charge to have them changed. That is your right and duty as member here. Make a new thread about it. Speak up, and get others behind you.

I'd be happy with a filter in the classifieds that would only display the state you select (from lets say a drop-down box.)

Nevermind carry on

We are approaching 24hrs now and none of the threads you locked have been notified of the proposed compromise. How can a process of change be made, regardless of it not being enforced, without proper notification and clarification?

Selling regionally is likely the safest way to buy or sell. Considering in the past how often sent money/ products fraud took place, I cannot recall a single face to face transaction going bad. Was there a complaint made about a regional sale that caused the recent lock down? If not, I say that's reason for classified to be allowed without cross-post.

@ebinkerd, I have moved this discussion of the classified rules to the appropriate thread so everyone on the forum who is interested can find it.

Now those who are interested in the proposed compromise will see it in the Server News section where these discussions have always taken place.

In addition to that, I've also posted a reminder to the forum members that posting classified ads outside of the classified sections is not currently allowed, and in that reminder I've notified them to come to this thread if they'd like to discuss and get the latest news on the topic. I've let them know there is a proposed compromise in the works. So again, those who are interested should now see the proposed compromise.




I will explain exactly what happened.

I visited the New Posts page as I often do throughout the day. In the list, I saw a classified ad outside of the classified sections (in the Florida regional section) posted by user @BaDDiS B13 SE R . I deleted the thread as I always do when I see such a thread, and carried on with my day. The user who's thread I deleted then reported some other classified ads in the Florida regional section, which I then deleted as well.

At that point, I took a look at the Florida regional section and noticed a whole lot more classified ads, which I then deleted (for sale threads) or locked (wanted threads).

I then went to a few of the other high-traffic regional sections, and cleaned up any threads there as well (there were not many at all).

Maybe you're not familiar, but moving/deleting/editing a member's posts/threads automatically sends a PM to the user that their thread has been modified by the forum staff. So the owner's of the threads that I've deleted have all been notified directly. They can reply to that PM to discuss the matter with me, and are encouraged to do so. Because those automatic replies aren't sent out when a thread is locked (I don't think) I made sure to reply to the threads that I locked to let the users know their threads had been locked. And again, they can always get with me or another staff member to work out their situation. We are extremely lenient and very helpful in these matters. We want to help, and will do everything we can to get a member sorted out and on the right track to happy motoring.