am i the only one noticing that there are suddenly a number of brand-new members who are only posting items that they want to sell?

yesterday, i noticed, in the wanted/buy/sell area someone selling crochet books. when i checked out this new person, i saw that she/he has posted 15 times, 13 of which have been for items for sale.

i also saw recently a member that was new to me (i never saw her/his name before) selling an expensive sewing machine, in the box, blah, blah, blah.

these might be great deals, but who are they? will they stand behind their products? are they contributing a share to the board, as are other sellers here?
will they accept returns if something is wrong or missing? who pays shipping?
are they really store owners making a living?

someone said that none of us knows any of us, so what's the difference? the difference is that we all have a feel for what kind of person we are and we didn't come on board with an agenda. although we may have sold one or two items over time, we didn't bounce right in trying to sell.

i think everyone should consider carefully what they're doing before buying from a stranger. this is your money you're spending with no guarantees as to quality or return policy. we don't even know where to go after them if they're not telling the truth.

Patrice and I are currently discussing this and considering new guidelines for the classifieds section to deal with the inflow of new people who seem to be doing nothing but posting stuff for sale.

Glad to see this posted. I too had noticed and was wondering. Thanks for staying on top of things.

Thank you admin-you're really earning extra bananas lately. And Kudos to Patrice, too. My profile is set to exclude stuff for sale but in recent topics it seems like more and more new members are just here to sell.
Thank you.

I have noticed it too. I feel bad for people if they respond and get stung. I hope no one does but without them having joined in and possibly doing a swap so they could be felt out we just don't know. I for one also always try to be prompt with sending things for swaps. If you were going to procrastinate why join in the first place. There are some exceptions of course- life gets in the way for all of us sometimes. I think good communication is the key on this board. I love this place and really appreciate all that Admin has done to keep it running smoothly!

I am fairly new here but never have sold anything, and I too notice alot of people that I had not seen selling alot of things. I also read the posting rules ( not sure what they are called) and it does say if you are new not to come right out and start selling things, I wonder if any of those people have read this??

I might get flamed for this, but...I'm really not seeing that -- I just looked through the most recent 10 items being sold, and just about all of them are from people who have at least a few dozen posts. A lot of people, such as myself, do not post a lot on the forum, but read it regularly every single day (sometimes several times a day, in my case!) Do you have to have a post count over 1000 to be a "real" member?

I can understand the concerns if the very first post that someone makes is to sell something (but hey, I did that myself, and I'm still around), or if the only posts they make are to sell items, but again, I'm not seeing much of that. I do think that there are a lot of people who don't post regularly who are posting items to sell right now, probably because the holidays are over and they're looking to get rid of duplicate items/gifts or just doing spring cleaning.

There are also thousands of members on this site -- just because you don't recognize the name doesn't mean they aren't a regular member. I think there's a tendency in forums like this for people to be clique-ish -- which is understandable, because of course, you're going to feel more comfortable with those that you talk to regularly and who have thousands of posts. But there's always a danger in making people who don't post regularly feel like their opinions or activity within the forum aren't valid by dismissing them for not having enough posts. Not saying that's what anyone is trying to do, but I've seen it happen on many other forums, and I'd hate to see it here.

Your points about buying from someone online whom you don't know are very valid, though. You should always approach doing so with caution.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I too noticed this and I enjoy this board because we are all here to help and encourage eachother. If we have a stash or extra something we need to sell, give away, trade or donate that is one thing. To just be on this site to sell is wrong. I know I was looking at some of those books that were for sale and $25 for a book was crazy when you can go to Ebay or Amazon and get them for $10 or like yesterday I looked up one book I wanted and got it off Amazon for $13 that was with shipping. I love the ladies on here and I love sending people fabric that is needed or helping out. That is why I love this site.

This doesn't sound right. If you excluded the Classifieds section in your profile, then it shouldn't appear in your listings of Recent Topics at all.

If you have it excluded but still see posts from Classifieds in Recent Topics, then please let me know. I'll look into it.

There are many different points of view on this from buyers, sellers, non-buyers and non-sellers.

If someone doesn't want to see any of the sale offers, they can exclude that category from their listings. And it could be argued that posting offers doesn't really hurt anybody so there is no reason to restrict it.

But what about the "regular" members who participate in other discussions and sell stuff? All members who only post offers and nothing else present an unfair competition for them.

There is no limit on the number of topics the Classifieds section can carry. But every new topic pushes all previous ones down.

So imagine one member who is a regular here and greatly contributes to the community. One day, she decides to sell some of her fabric (or whatever else). She makes a new topic, and within a day it gets buried underneath 20 topics made by people who do nothing else on this board but post offers.

That decreases the chances of this "regular" ever making a sale.

Just something else to consider.

joining a board is a cheap way to sell. unlike ebay or etsy, there is little or no competition, so your prices can be a little higher, as can your shipping. also, ebay and etsy take a cut, whatever it is, of your sales. not so here unless you have an agreement with the big cahuna. aditionally, here you have a captive buying market, so to speak. if you're selling sewing or craft items, boy, you have really zeroed in on a concentrated market. how do we know if these sellers have joined other sewing/quilting/crafts forums as well, doing the same thing. why not? we're a free venue for this kind of thing.

The point I'm trying to make is that the people who are posting are regular members. Maybe they don't have post counts in the thousands, but if they have post counts in the dozens, post on other threads, and have been here for a few months, doesn't that make them a "regular" member? The OP said that he's seeing a lot of "brand-new" members posting items -- as I pointed out, I looked through several of the postings, and didn't really see anyone that I would classify as "brand-new" (i.e. only a couple of posts). Just about all the posts I looked at were from members with at least a few dozen posts, who had been active elsewhere on the forum.

If you want to define a "regular" member as someone that has several hundred posts and/or has been here for more than a year, then of course, that's your prerogative. I would argue that doing so is non-inclusive of those who are only somewhat active, but are still contributing members to the forum. Just my opinion, of course :)

That's what we are currently discussing with Patrice.

It won't be based on a "post count of thousands".

WITHOUT pointing a finger, i saw, with my own eyes, a seller who made 15 posts. 13 were to sell things. i would not consider that a regular poster, and after this conversation, it would surprise me to see this person again. this was a new member, meaning within one fiscal month. do you consider that a regular member?

I'm confused. I looked at the profile of the person that you posted. They had over 180 messages, and they had an account that was created back in September. True, they had only created 15 topics in the time that they had been there, and 13 of those were selling posts, but focusing only on threads is rather unfair. The person you linked to had over 150 posts that were related to quilting on other sections of the site.

I would wholeheartedly agree that someone who joined in the last week or two, and only has a couple of posts is a brand-new member. The person you linked to before was not that. I'm really not trying to be contentious, but I think that it's only fair to be looking at the person's whole activity on the site, not just their topics created.

If the person you linked to before is not whom you're talking about, then it's a different matter.

maybe be a member for at least six months? that's fair.

Here we go again.

What are we becoming here? How are we deciding who is allowed to post?

My opinion for what it is worth is this-If you want to buy from a fellow quilter look in the classifieds. If you are unhappy with the classifieds don't bother with them. We all have the choice to do what we want to-one of those great things we have in this country. If you don't want to-don't. If you do, then do so.
Hugs
April

When I look at the classifieds and don't know the name I always look at the joining date. I have only bought a couple of things here and so far so good. I would not buy from a newbie and I think some of the things posted lately have been priced way too high.

Ditto!!! I much preferred it back when when no one sold anything to anyone. Now I just avoid that whole section, my choice, no problem. :roll: If you don't like it, don't go there.

I’ve bought things through the classified ads here from time to time – fabric, notions, and books. No problems and no great dollar amounts. I would much rather send money to a quilter than someone who picks up books or fabric at yard sales and has no attachments. I like knowing my purchase was bought from love.

That being said, at least 2-3 times a year here, police bust con artists selling high end sewing and embroidery machines through auctions ands then not delivering goods as promised. Sometimes, the items were stolen, sometimes rebuilt and not new, and sometimes never delivered at all.

Flea market vendors here have also been caught selling misbegotten wares locally. Cash businesses, and no records kept of where goods came from. I would hate to spend a lot for a machine, then have police confiscate it as soon as my registration was sent in for the warranty. If you sent money to a mail drop or a paypal account that no longer exists, you'd be out.

One recent offer from a first-time poster sounded exactly like that. No picture of the actual item, and an insistence that she could not return it to the reputable store it was purchased from.. I was very relieved when it was removed. Perhaps Rivka did not see that ad, so she did not understand the situation on that particular ad.

Since con artists are not likely to wait x number of days before posting, I am more inclined to think that is a good solution, but not sure how or if that would be do-able.

That is whyI liked the rating system Admin proposed. If you have a bad experience let us know if it is good let us know.

How can we get to know what is good or bad if no one let's us know.
What is best way to handle this??????/

I too have noticed an increased number of posters that are offering something for sale the same day or a few days after joining. But, it is true, that we have the choice to totally ignore that part of this awesome board, so it's no problem for me.

I'm a new member, but I've noticed decently priced fabric, patterns etc. offered here seem to fly out the door. Before I can even decide if I want to buy it, it's already sold most of the time. So, I don't think competition is an issue. My 2 cents:>

IMHO....I often visit the classified section and from personal experience, I've never had a problem. However, since I do visit this section so often, I have seen where some people have their first posting as something for sale. They often don't remember to check back for extended periods of time to see if anyone has responded to their ads. To me, (only MY opinion) these people are only here to make sales of whatever sort they have.
I agree that if someone doesn't like seeing something, don't go there. But I also see the point about the very first post someone puts up is an item for sale.
That being said, I leave things in the capable hands of the administrator. :D Have faith and trust that Admin. will do the right thing. (seems that Admin. hasn't done wrong for us yet) :D

Thanks for bringing this up BW. :-D

Although I don't look in Classifieds much as most members are in the US and I'm in France so shipping would preclude me from buying things, I am aware that there does seem to be an increase in the number of 'classified advertisers'.

I hadn't seen the posts of the person who is referred to, but am happy to take BW's and Moonpi's word for it.

My understanding was that the classified section existed as a service to members who wished to buy or sell 'one off' items, NOT as a commercial thing. I appreciate the comment 'if you don't like it don't go there' - I don't and I don't! But the question is, is the board being exploited for financial gain by being used as a market place by people who aren't 'real' members? If so, and if it's becoming endemic, then it should be addressed. I'm so sorry, I have no suggestions at this stage as to how. Will give it some thought. :D

when i open a classified ad, the first thing i check is the member's join date.

if they've been here less than 6 months, i next check their profile to see their posting history.

if their history is overloaded with classifieds to sell i consider that person a poser. that is, somebody pretending to be a member who is here only to stick her/his hand into our pockets. i resent that.

the board is free to us. it is not free to Admin. there are expenses involved. advertising revenue can offset those expenses. ideally, they would generate some profit. the more often he breaks even or makes a profit, the more he can afford to add to the board and offer to us for free.

people who want to exploit board members as a market should have to pay for their ads. that way, the rest of us can remain free to post occassional ads offering our extra supplies to each other at rock bottom prices without having to pay any membership or advert fees.

our classified section was created to give members an easy way to buy/sell/trade amongst ourselves so we can help each other makes ends meet. it was never intended as a place for professionals to ply their wares.

let's say you belong to a quilt guild. members are allowed to bring things to meetings to buy/sell/trade with each other. some creep shows up and "joins" but the first thing out of her mouth is "i have such a deal for you." all that member ever contributes to guild meetings are "opportunities" to get in on "bargains". (she may drop in a line or two of general conversation to "cover her tracks".) are you seriously going to tell me that wouldn't ruffle just about every feather in the guild? they'd run her out of town on a rail, nicely tarred and feathered.

the same principle applies here. we are a vitual guild; an ongoing party among friends; a huge extended family. the issue is not whether the seller is honest. the issue is whether the seller is truly one of us or just somebody hoping we're stupid enough to believe they are so they can take our money and run laughing to the bank.

I noticed too.

I agree with you. If they have just joined and their first post is selling something, I shy away.

You took the words right out of my mouth!

I can count on you to say what I'm thinking. You're right on here.

I'm new here....and it wasn't me!!!!! I read in that post that new members should wait a while before putting anything up for sale so that the older members could get to know us and trust us. And that's what I'm doing even though I do have something I would like to put in the classified. I'll wait.

I honestly haven't bought or sold anyting on here yet, but I have to say, it drives me nuts. I was just looking at a "too good to be true" sale posting. The woman joined quite some time ago, but EVERY one her posts was a classified ad. No conversations, nothing else. Don't know if we can report that kind of thing or not but it is enough to drive me nuts!

I always look at the poster to see if I "know" them. Sometimes it means now thinking, do I wait or do I buy? It goes quickly. I shy away from new posters, just until I know them better.

Most times the items I love are gone instantly.

Buyer beware. It's not a new concept, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded. That being said, I've bought some really neat fabric from one of our members! And it was a great deal!

If the classified posts are not your thing, turn them off. Admin has set it up so we don't have to read content we have no interest in. I would hate for someone to quit participating because of the classified posts. If you need help opting out of those notices, I'd be happy to walk you through the process. It's easy.

Since I have bought and sold machines on Ebay, I like to see things for sale here, too. And I think some just need to skip reading the classified section if they are not interested. I read it for curiosity's sake, and I do hope that if someone is stung by an offer that was not as pictured or described that someone would tell us about it, too! I still think that one person's trash is another person's treasure, and the sewing machine you might not want is one I might love to buy!!

I completely agree with beachlady...You don't need to look at the classifieds. I've bought before, sold, and sent "gifts" to a couple of girls that needed fabric that I was happy to send.

i deleted a few posts. i think this conversation will be more helpful if we keep it general. let's avoid the temptation to name names.

discussion ... good
respectful debate ... good

arguments ... not good

don't make me pull over. ;-)

Yes, MOM...I'll behave....