New Members: 20 Posts in the Open Forums are Required Before Selling here.

[RDS]

Or just sell a hundred items using the same thread.

On a similar topic, someone also just made a bunch of posts adding absolutely nothing to several threads just to bump up their messages count in order to sell in the Classifieds.

If that’s the case report the relevant posts to the mods using the option in the bottom left hand corner of each message. I’m sure they’ll take a look and if necessary delete the offending posts. They have done so to others who have similarly made a number of pointless, short posts just to build up their message count up in order to sell in the Classifieds forum.

 

[Coldsnap]

Well darn. I've been lurking since like 2008. Guess I should post more often. But I'm a quiet shy person.

 

[kermitt22]

In my humble opinion... to try to stem the tide. Involvement and commitment don't come by force. At best, 20 new, low-value comments are just a way to sell, and those who haven't spoken in years aren't going to do so now. On the other hand, if you don't want a market, just close the classifieds. I understand what you're looking for, but I don't think it can be achieved this way. A specialized forum works better with restricted access; that way, it'll be easier to shape it to your will.

 

[RDS]

In my humble opinion... to try to stem the tide. Involvement and commitment don't come by force. At best, 20 new, low-value comments are just a way to sell, and those who haven't spoken in years aren't going to do so now. On the other hand, if you don't want a market, just close the classifieds. I understand what you're looking for, but I don't think it can be achieved this way. A specialized forum works better with restricted access; that way, it'll be easier to shape it to your will.

As far I’m aware no-one is being forced to get involved in the FL forum. People can sign up or leave whenever they want and they can freely choose to just read, ‘lurk’, contribute or take part; there’s no commitment required either in terms of cash, time or anything else.
Granted the ‘20 Posts in Open Forums’ rule is a bit of a broad brush and far from perfect. Some have suggested that the qualifying number of posts ought to be significantly increased to try and deter those who are devious enough to try and cheat this rule by making ‘low value’ comments, however it does seem that it is really only those who are wanting to just take advantage of the FL forum by selling in the free classifieds who have a real issue with it.
Incidentally, of your 156 posts how many of them were in the open forums and how many were in the Classifieds ?

 

[kermitt22]

My knowledge of the Golden Age is basically zero, but I love reading people who do have something interesting to say. I can contribute things like, "Yeah, no, that's great..." I mean, low-value comments. Do you think my participation in the open forums will improve the forum? Well, that's debatable. There are people who write and there are people who read. Unfortunately, I don't have anything worthwhile to say on par with other participants.

 

[RDS]

I hope they don’t mind me quoting them but the following from Dortreo in the ‘Confused’ thread is pretty apt and relevant:

I was in your situation not that long ago, and wrote about the the “bootstrap” issue that new members face. I never thought I would ever had 20 meaningful posts. Now my post count is 130+ but of course whether or not they’re meaningful or just pointless drivel is in the eye of the beholder.

I found that as I read more, I had more questions that could not be answered with a simple search. So I started posting not to contribute but to ask. And friendly answers came surprisingly quick. In the end, TFL is more a community of knowledge and experience than a forum of posts and classifieds. For us newbies, it’s great to learn by reading but the more you read, the more you’ll want to learn by asking.

 

[Harris HTM]

Do you think my participation in the open forums will improve the forum?

If you start posting your jackets, hats, shoes, belts etc, start discussing what you would change in a next order, what bothers you in a specific pair of boots, give advice on members with the same measurements like you asking about what sleeve length they should order, then yes: the forum will be absolutely improved.
As @RDS mentioned: it is mainly the professional sellers and those who don't want to contribute that they seem to complain more about the new rule. Proof enough that the new rule is a good start.

 

[kermitt22]

Professional sellers? I'm a professional trainer, that's what I do for a living. I've sold a few of my brand-new jackets here for half price. As a professional business, it leaves a lot to be desired. I can't speak for anyone, but I think many would be in the same position. But trying to get people to participate in a conversation seems so childish to me. I think you're approaching this the wrong way. I'll make a proposition and that's it. I don't mean to fuel controversy. It's your forum, and you decide. But a site that has grown from 100 to thousands (I think I read that in another post) is never a problem; it's a real achievement. This generates more expenses and funding needs, so it would be a good time to convert members to subscribers, or a donation per transaction. That wouldn't turn the forum into a typical sales platform, but rather a specialized forum with added value. No one would see it as unfair to contribute something in favor of receiving the benefits of accessing a large group with common interests. I hope the idea doesn't sound too aggressive to our fellow Comitern commissars, haha. Jokes aside, you have a great forum. If I may, I will continue to be a part of it and will not put any more jackets up for sale. Greetings to everyone, and I hope I haven't offended anyone; that wasn't my intention.

 

[Harris HTM]

But trying to get people to participate in a conversation seems so childish to me.

Well if people participating in a conversation in a discussion forum seems childish, while people with zero contribution take advantage of what we collectively built the past decades and come here only to sell seems reasonable to you, then I rest my case.
Let's agree that we disagree about how we approach this discussion forum.
Good luck with your sales, and honestly thank you for keeping the discussion civilized and coming here with well thought arguments contrary to the rest who complain.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Professional sellers? I'm a professional trainer, that's what I do for a living. I've sold a few of my brand-new jackets here for half price. As a professional business, it leaves a lot to be desired. I can't speak for anyone, but I think many would be in the same position. But trying to get people to participate in a conversation seems so childish to me. I think you're approaching this the wrong way. I'll make a proposition and that's it. I don't mean to fuel controversy. It's your forum, and you decide. But a site that has grown from 100 to thousands (I think I read that in another post) is never a problem; it's a real achievement. This generates more expenses and funding needs, so it would be a good time to convert members to subscribers, or a donation per transaction. That wouldn't turn the forum into a typical sales platform, but rather a specialized forum with added value. No one would see it as unfair to contribute something in favor of receiving the benefits of accessing a large group with common interests. I hope the idea doesn't sound too aggressive to our fellow Comitern commissars, haha. Jokes aside, you have a great forum. If I may, I will continue to be a part of it and will not put any more jackets up for sale. Greetings to everyone, and I hope I haven't offended anyone; that wasn't my intention.

I don't understand what your complaint is. You have well over the number of requisite messages.

As I understand it, there are a few reasons for this rule. First is to cut back on the number of ****mers. Second is to keep this forum more of a community and not just a ******in board. Nobody's trying to get people to participate in the conversations, but participating in the conversations is the rite of passage to being able to sell.

When I sell items, I also state that I will not sell to anyone with less than 20 messages. I want to know who I am selling to so I can be more confident they won't do something like claim I sent an empty box.

I don't think this is a difficult rule to understand, nor does it really need to be made anymore complex.

 

[RDS]

I don't understand what your complaint is. You have well over the number of requisite messages.

Take a look at the particular member’s posts. Virtually every single one was related to them selling quite a number of items in the Classifieds.
It’s not the number of messages made it’s where they are posted and to an extent what they’re about.

 

[The Lost Cowboy]

Take a look at the particular member’s posts. Virtually every single one was related to them selling quite a number of items in the Classifieds.
It’s not the number of messages made it’s where they are posted and to an extent what they’re about.

Got it. I actually think all of his messages are in the classifieds section. As I understand the rule, it has to be 20 messages somewhere else besides classifieds.

 

[BClayton]

With an uptick in new members who are here either to just sell things or to relieve other members of their cash without supplying the goods, we will remove any classified post by anyone who hasn't taken the time to get to know the forum and all it offers. You'll need 20 posts at a minimum to participate in the classified forum as a seller from here on out.

So I have had my account for 2 years and posted, bought, sold many times and have 3 pages of posts and yet I had my classified deleted. I have a bunch of previous sales on here and lots of happy buyers. What else do you want?

 

[Harris HTM]

What else do you want?

20 posts at the open forums I guess.
This means outside the classifieds.

 

[charlieknie]

Great call!

 

[Antonio Rodriguez]

Hey there, I’ve been on this form for a couple of years now. I’ve sold and bought jackets here. I recently got my account blocked/ suspended. What did I do wrong? I had just posted a listing about 4 days ago. now it’s gone. Can you please explain if I did or said something wrong.

With an uptick in new members who are here either to just sell things or to relieve other members of their cash without supplying the goods, we will remove any classified post by anyone who hasn't taken the time to get to know the forum and all it offers. You'll need 20 posts at a minimum to participate in the classified forum as a seller from here on out.

 

[scotrace]

Constant bumping in classifieds.

 

[RDS]

Constant bumping in classifieds.

Also, of their 302 posts just 1 (the most recent) has been in an open forum. All the remaining 301 were for selling items in the Classifieds.

 

[Modog]

With an uptick in new members who are here either to just sell things or to relieve other members of their cash without supplying the goods, we will remove any classified post by anyone who hasn't taken the time to get to know the forum and all it offers. You'll need 20 posts at a minimum to participate in the classified forum as a seller from here on out.

Understood

 

[charlieknie]

Hi, my latest item in the classifieds was also deleted despite having more than 20 posts in other forums?