Buying and Selling Rules - Discuss

Kurt300

Double post. (Not really - I just wanted to inflate my already tremendous total.)

F1nut

There is a reason, DEI thought that the forum was outdated and wanted to shut it down. They thought Facebook and Twitter were the way of the future. I don't do either, so not sure how that's working out for them.

scubalab

EndersShadow wrote: »

...
2. You can access these threads directly now as a result of #1. So if someone on the web finds your item they can simply sign up for an account and then post they are interested. Because you need 10 posts still to PM, they will have to post in your thread initially, because most of them are here for that one item and nothing else. I dont see removing the 10 post minimum before you can PM as being something we want to do, so I dont see a way to stop this from continuing to happen.
...

I don't think the 10 post minimum to PM is still in effect. I got a PM from a BRAND NEW member on Tuesday who only had 1 post... a for sale listing. On the positive side, it was a very nice interaction!

So, maybe that's another shortfall of Vanilla.

tonyb

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not condoning being a jerk in the responses, but dear God...."Nice try buddy" is being a jerk ? Granted, not the most welcoming either I'll admit.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is.....no matter what is cut and pasted, no matter the rules, you can't force someone to be nice in their responses, either in the FM, or in the general forum. Which is why we rely on the membership to police it all....with the help of Ken obviously.

Lets define what the FM is, and what we are trying to do.

The FM is a privilege for members between members. If you want to keep it that way or not determines how we move forward.

Increase membership ?

I think the easiest way is as F1NUT suggested, get the forum back on Polks main page. I don't even know if it's listed on Polks Facebook page or not. Advertising works best, imho anyway. Yeah, we can all take a lesson in politeness, but also it is the newbs who start the ruckus more times than not.

tonyb

F1nut wrote: »

There is a reason, DEI thought that the forum was outdated and wanted to shut it down. They thought Facebook and Twitter were the way of the future. I don't do either, so not sure how that's working out for them.

That explains a lot then. Of course they didn't look at what other forums are doing did they ?

F1nut

tonyb wrote: »

That explains a lot then. Of course they didn't look at what other forums are doing did they ?

Based on the chosen format I would have to say, no.

PSOVLSK

tonyb wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not condoning being a jerk in the responses, but dear God...."Nice try buddy" is being a jerk ? Granted, not the most welcoming either I'll admit.


Increase membership ?

I think the easiest way is as F1NUT suggested, get the forum back on Polks main page. I don't even know if it's listed on Polks Facebook page or not. Advertising works best, imho anyway. Yeah, we can all take a lesson in politeness, but also it is the newbs who start the ruckus more times than not.

"Being a jerk" was probably a little extreme on my part. lol You're more accurate in saying that it is not welcoming.

Totally agree with the part about increased membership. BUT, since that's probably not going to happen we need to look at other ways to increase membership, no matter how small or insignificant they may appear.

tonyb

Then your fighting a losing battle. If Polks owners don't want to increase membership by supporting the forum, your fighting the very company you want to promote. Does something seem half a$$ backwards there ?

rooftop59

tonyb wrote: »

Then your fighting a losing battle. If Polks owners don't want to increase membership by supporting the forum, your fighting the very company you want to promote. Does something seem half a$$ backwards there ?

As you well know Tony, most of us on here are not really supporting a brand (at least not any longer). It started off that way for many of us, but most have moved on. We are here because it is a good forum with a good community of helpful folks such as yourself and lots of great info. We are suggesting that its worth fighting for, but likely we only has access to unorthodox means. This is one of them...

F1nut

most of us on here are not really supporting a brand (at least not any longer). It started off that way for many of us, but most have moved on.

I don't know about all that. I support Polk products 100%.

EndersShadow

F1nut wrote: »

most of us on here are not really supporting a brand (at least not any longer). It started off that way for many of us, but most have moved on.

I don't know about all that. I support Polk products 100%.

I think that was meant in more of a we all started off buying polk speakers/gear but many have moved on to buy gear from other manufactures and no longer buy products from Polk

As opposed to not recommending polk as a great brand with lots of good options to friends and family.

tonyb

Of course it's worth fighting for, otherwise I wouldn't be here, nor would most of you. In the end though, it isn't our forum, and it can be shut down tomorrow.

If we aren't supporting the brand, least not any longer as you may claim, dontcha think that's part of the reason DEI no longer supports this forum ? It really has manifested into an audio forum rather than just a Polk forum, and DEI may feel there's plenty of audio forums out there to rest your hat in.

I would disagree with that of course because we do promote Polk products. However I'd gather the decision makers are not audio forum folks....if you know what I mean.

So in order to save this forum, we have to convince DEI it isn't the t u r d they think it is and somehow turn it into a Rose ? By doing that, we have to attract new members by any means possible ? You think that will change their minds ? Wishful thinking I'm guessing.

Again I ask.....why are you here ?

Because we have 500 members or 5000 ?
Because of the Polk brand ?
Because of the people ?

The first 2 I'm guessing never crossed your mind lately. The last....the people, took a very long time to build. In the last couple years we've gained a pretty good amount of members who contribute. Remember.....one thing we always say around here, quality over quantity. Now some of you want the quantity over the quality ? Just sayin' is all, because once you go down that path there's no going back.

vcwatkins

Quality vs quantity - IMO, there's no way to control quality so the more the merrier. I don't seek exclusivity here. Clueless morons like I will, in at least some percentage of cases, stay and learn and grow to love this place.

Facebook and Twitter - both link to root page only where visitors are unlikely to notice the forum link at the bottom.

Scrolling down through July 8 tweets, it looks like there's one individual who retweeted a Polk message in order to register to win product. No other messages by individuals, just other commercial/corporate accts. Not working would be my description, but maybe consumers who see Polk tweets are going to polkaudio.com to learn more. Dunno. 22.5k following.

FB looks much better. Mainly ads and giveaway promotions with 1 or 2 comments on about every second Polk post. To their credit, they are allowing critical posts to remain posted. 76k have "liked".

I guess I, or someone else with accounts, could periodically post an invitation to come check out the discussions?

voltz

I think one of the reasons the FM is pretty slow and stuff is not moving in it anymore is most of the current members have used the FM and/or advise from other members to put together a pretty good system already.

Heck if I didn't already have my Vincent Setup I'd be owning a all Rogue setup by now, and/or a Parasound setup with all those great amps that have showed up for sale. Kept thinking if they had just offered them sooner...

I know if I did have something to sell I would rather sell it here then out there and if I had to buy something I sure like to know it was from one of you all before others out there! but I'm lost to what is the right way to go about it.

Polkie2009

What initially brought me to this forum was___ Polk speakers , my SDA/SRS2's and seeing what other owners had to say about them and DIY projects on improving or maintaining the speakers. There still are a lot of vintage Polk speaker owners here and I notice new people do_ pop in every so often who have bought some used Polks and need help with a problem. Plus, there are a number_ of folks who bought new Polk speakers the past year or so during the last 2 FF Polk 2 for 1 offer. Enabled quite a few of us to buy their older model Polks they wanted to sell. I'm happy that Polk still makes a number of replacement drivers, tweeters, and other parts for my older Polk speakers such as the LS,LSi , and perhaps others. I wanted to add that by spending time here, I've found so many really knowledgeable, smart, articulate, helpful members we have had and still have here. I remember when they changed to vanilla, I couldn't figure out how to find the forum for about 2 weeks , I truly missed the camaraderie here. I noticed it took a number of other polkies awhile to find the site again too.

BlueFox

voltz wrote: »

I think one of the reasons the FM is pretty slow and stuff is not moving in it anymore is most of the current members have used the FM and/or advise from other members to put together a pretty good system already.

That is a good point. While the economy can be an excuse, if someone is really into music, and looking for something, then they will find a way to get the money. If you are already happy with your system then why spend the money?

tonyb

BlueFox wrote: »

voltz wrote: »

I think one of the reasons the FM is pretty slow and stuff is not moving in it anymore is most of the current members have used the FM and/or advise from other members to put together a pretty good system already.

That is a good point. While the economy can be an excuse, if someone is really into music, and looking for something, then they will find a way to get the money. If you are already happy with your system then why spend the money?

Agreed, and with disposable income shrinking these days, people learn to be happy with what they have...for now anyway. These things tend to run in cycles....FM slow, busy.....good quality stuff, or stuff nobody wants. When the good stuff sits, to me anyway, is a sign that people don't have the cash to spend, not a low amount of qualified buyers.

Why do I say that ? Because looking around on other sites, good well priced gear is also moving slow.

tonyb

To further emphasize my point, US wage growth for the last quarter.... .02%, lowest on record since the early 80's.

But my real estate taxes keep going north, my healthcare costs me 3g's a year more then 5 years ago. Groceries costs more, along with all consumer goods and my state raised it's state taxes to the highest of anyone. Equation equals.....disposable income down. Amount of toys to buy.....down.

Granted, this isn't the case for everyone, but it is for a lot of folks out there. So if the FM is moving slowly, my opinion is people just don't have the disposable income anymore and are forced to prioritize their purchases.

Moose68Bash

tonyb wrote: »

When the good stuff sits, to me anyway, is a sign that people don't have the cash to spend, not a low amount of qualified buyers.

I think it is both, and also a third factor:

There is so much uncertainty about where this economy is going -- the US economy and the global economy -- that a lot of people who have disposable income "to buy up" in audio (or anything else) are simply sitting on their cash to see what happens. I've lived almost seven decades, now, and I've never seen such uncertainty on a global scale.

Another factor, as I've observed on the Forum, older folks are beginning to downsize --- or as it is becoming the fashion to say, "to right size" -- their living arrangements. I've seen many friends make this move in the last five years. That seems to me to suggest that they are not looking to buy higher-end, larger-scale gear.

In fact, many of those whom I have seen make this kind of move are abandoning their higher-end audio for more convenient "whole-house" systems that, unfortunately, deliver Muzak, but do it very conveniently.

tonyb

LOL......also a good point. We do have some stuff though for a few hundies that sit. That uncertain factor you mention plays into the lower income families also. Those retiring are looking to sell some of their collections, downsizing as you say. Plus they are retiring early, sooner than they wanted to because their jobs are gone and new ones are hard to come by. The big picture isn't as rosey as some want you to believe.

Polkie2009

Spot on Tony, you are right on about the economy the last 6-8 years, my prop.taxes just jumped about 10% this last year, Obamacare health ins. is costing a lot__ more than my old health ins. ,food costs has jumped the last 2 yaers, plus moose is right, people are uncertain about their economic future and what's possibly coming in Sept. People are preparing for the worse.

warren

My thinking is we have a call for vote: Do away with the 100 post rule? Yes or No
Your vote counts for 1X your post count.
Geez, members vote? The way the forum is guarded now, shouldn't the executive board vote in lieu of the mrmbers?

Jhayman

I always thought it was strange when I first came here I was chastised for a great many things including complaining about FM rules..
Now I've come along way in many people's books including being the only person taken off someone's Bozo list Thanks Jesse, lol
That's a good thing, but for those starting out on their audio journey and looking to get into some nice gear a simple google search will bring them right into the FM and they are completely oblivious about rules, I know I was I've never came across them before, I use fleabay before no rules then about selling or buying.
I know it's different there, but I all comes down to disposable income and it's gone way down for many people.
I have bought from some members here but never sold anything that I remember, lol
I believe if a member wishes to sell to a newbie with under 100 or even 50 that's there business.
If the consensus says otherwise then move item in question to another venue..
I know I'm not here as much as I would like to be but I don't like the taste of Vanilla.
I miss the old vbulletin, lol

Hermitism

I have an idea! If you guys want to get more newbies to be able to buy in the flea market, change the rules from having to have 100 posts to having to "like" 100 posts.

I wish I could like my own post.

Jhayman

I liked it for you

Polkie2009

Lol, was there ever a disagree option?

Hermitism

There used to be a disagree button, but it was removed because it had the potential to create an environment where a person's feelings could get hurt. And as you know, in this modern time you can't do anything offensive or create a situation where someone might feel vulnerable. They even give trophies to the kids that lose ball games in school because we are all winners.

F1nut

Actually, the disagree and dislike (or whatever it was) were removed because a few members were abusing their use.

I tried to get all the buttons removed along with the Buttbook and Nitwitter links, but to no avail.

vcwatkins

Liked your comment above.

tonyb

F1nut wrote: »

I tried to get all the buttons removed along with the Buttbook and Nitwitter links, but to no avail.

lol.....c'mon man, it's the "wave of the future".