FS/WTB Forums Suggestion

[ESPN]

Here is something that they do in another forum I Belongto-(its for cellphones not lax)--in their FS/WTb forum only the creator of the thread can post in his/her thread and all deals are communicated though pms.they are still only allowed to bump/post in their own thread once every 48 hours. I believe that this would be useful because it would help remove alot of clutter and flaming going on in our FS/WTB forums today--It would also make it easier for the mods to catch someone for bumping in less than 48 horas.

annyways thats just my .02 about it and i think it would be helpful for this forum to grow.

-ESPN

[BwineLAX42]

But then you can't see the highest bidder, and the person has to retype every single time someone has the same question. More downsides than just organization.

I think it should be mandatory to list your stuff like thedamnedfan. Or maybe creat a format reply to listings.

[ESPN]

But then you can't see the highest bidder, and the person has to retype every single time someone has the same question. More downsides than just organization.

I think it should be mandatory to list your stuff like thedamnedfan. Or maybe creat a format reply to listings.
bidding isnt allowed on tlf and they can edit there original post.

[Lax101]

ESPN, this idea has been discussed between the moderators a lot in the past few weeks. We're seriously thinking about this, among with a huge deal of changes in the FS/WTB forum to make it run smoother and easier to moderate.

Feedback is welcomed.

[spenny]

We're seriously thinking about .... a huge deal of changes in the FS/WTB forum to make it run smoother and easier to moderate.

or hopefully eliminated

[Live4It]

Eliminated? You're joking...right?

[kevidinho]

If it was eliminated completely..I think that a lot less people would visit here. But that's for a different thread.

[ML_LAX09]

I think Spenny is talking about the elimination of Mods patroling the forum, not getting rid of it all together.
And with this idea, that means that TLF should really beable to hold more PMs. The box would fill up very quickly.

[RIT37FO]

no just removing it completely
although there are a lot of good traders on here
there are a disturbingly high increase of scammers on the site lately and its ruining the forum rep.
personally I for one will be voting for getting rid of the forum


also there are other things possibly in the works to make it more automated and having more of a EBAY feedback (ran by computer not people +1ing and what not)

time will tell

[tiplax]

I think Spenny is talking about the elimination of Mods patroling the forum, not getting rid of it all together.
And with this idea, that means that TLF should really beable to hold more PMs. The box would fill up very quickly.

yeah i was about to say that. it's bad enough when you say "please post and i'll pm you" and some stupid guy pm's you. it leads to overloading your box so people you are actually interested in can't contact you.

i know it would increase the bandwith but if it happens i'd personaly like to have the boxes space increased to 100 like the mods(just my 2¢ which no one really cares a bout)

[tiplax]

no just removing it completely
although there are a lot of good traders on here
there are a disturbingly high increase of scammers on the site lately and its ruining the forum rep.
personally I for one will be voting for getting rid of the forum


also there are other things possibly in the works to make it more automated and having more of a EBAY feedback (ran by computer not people +1ing and what not)

time will tell
i'd be infavor of the ebay format feedback but someone would leave negative feedback before taking to the person and it would get out of control like on ebay

and like the others said, as good as mostof the discussions are the FS/WTB forum is a main attractor for a lot of folks. as far as i'm aware it's the only site where lacrosse players can chat and make trades without having to buy stuff like on ebay

[RgLax]

i am against that because i too many pms where they say "yo i want your proton or something along those lines". Most of the time this is right after they posted in my thread and with that waste of a pm, i have missed out in getting important info. We need the pm space for deals we already have going, not for every attempt at a deal.
But if thats gonna happen, we need more pm space, like at least 100. I for one wouldnt mind paying extra for more pm space. We could do something like the other forum dedicated to lacrosse that isnt nearly as good but has a good idea with their 3 different kinds of memberships. Paying like 10 bucks a year for like 125 pms and some other special stuff.

But i for one would be very upset if the fs/wtb forum got deleted

[Solstice]

Although it probly wouldnt be a substantial amount if we charged a fee for the forums, I would be against it. Its a hassle, and it goes against the spirit and nature of the forums. Many new memebers wouldnt join because they either dont have access to a paypal/credit card or they dont know what theyre getting for their money.

As for deleting the FS/WTB forum, I'm against it. Sure, scams have been on the rise, but that is a risk everyone takes when they make deals online. It's an internet-wide problem, not just on our forums.

A better feedback system is still based on members truthfully reporting the results of a transaction. It's not a perfect system, but then again, can the system ever really be perfect? That forum is basically a classifieds section and you can get scammed just as easily in the newspaper as on here. I think deleting it will severely cut the traffic TLF recieves along with destroying part of these forums' reputation.

TLF has always been known as a gigantic database of lacrosse information and topics, as well as a place to buy and sell lacrosse gear. Half of the time I spend here is inside the FS/WTB forum. I hope the mods and admins will think through their decision throughly, as this could backfire with numerous repercusions.

[tiplax]

Although it probly wouldnt be a substantial amount if we charged a fee for the forums, I would be against it. Its a hassle, and it goes against the spirit and nature of the forums. Many new memebers wouldnt join because they either dont have access to a paypal/credit card or they dont know what theyre getting for their money.

As for deleting the FS/WTB forum, I'm against it. Sure, scams have been on the rise, but that is a risk everyone takes when they make deals online. It's an internet-wide problem, not just on our forums.

A better feedback system is still based on members truthfully reporting the results of a transaction. It's not a perfect system, but then again, can the system ever really be perfect? That forum is basically a classifieds section and you can get scammed just as easily in the newspaper as on here. I think deleting it will severely cut the traffic TLF recieves along with destroying part of these forums' reputation.

TLF has always been known as a gigantic database of lacrosse information and topics, as well as a place to buy and sell lacrosse gear. Half of the time I spend here is inside the FS/WTB forum. I hope the mods and admins will think through their decision throughly, as this could backfire with numerous repercusions.

:love:
i could not have put it any better my self, i agree 100% with every thing in here

[RgLax]

Although it probly wouldnt be a substantial amount if we charged a fee for the forums, I would be against it. Its a hassle, and it goes against the spirit and nature of the forums. Many new memebers wouldnt join because they either dont have access to a paypal/credit card or they dont know what theyre getting for their money.

Now what im proposng is an optional fee, you could either have a free acount with 85 pms and standard membership or for like 5 bucks a year get like 115 pms and some special stuff with sigs and names.

[Lax101]

Although it probly wouldnt be a substantial amount if we charged a fee for the forums, I would be against it. Its a hassle, and it goes against the spirit and nature of the forums. Many new memebers wouldnt join because they either dont have access to a paypal/credit card or they dont know what theyre getting for their money.

As for deleting the FS/WTB forum, I'm against it. Sure, scams have been on the rise, but that is a risk everyone takes when they make deals online. It's an internet-wide problem, not just on our forums.

A better feedback system is still based on members truthfully reporting the results of a transaction. It's not a perfect system, but then again, can the system ever really be perfect? That forum is basically a classifieds section and you can get scammed just as easily in the newspaper as on here. I think deleting it will severely cut the traffic TLF recieves along with destroying part of these forums' reputation.

TLF has always been known as a gigantic database of lacrosse information and topics, as well as a place to buy and sell lacrosse gear. Half of the time I spend here is inside the FS/WTB forum. I hope the mods and admins will think through their decision throughly, as this could backfire with numerous repercusions.
That's a great perspective on the issue. Although I see the mess with moderating and handling the FS/WTB Forum, I'll even tell you guys I'm against getting rid of it. I'd rather do a deal here than on eBay 99 times out of 100.

Once we fix all of the bugs and readjust the forum to the new format, we will finalize how the FS/WTB Forum will work. Even if we don't remove the forum, expect a lot of changes.

[Hooligan]

See, what I love about this new version of VBulletin (software that TLF runs from) is that you can do virtually anything you want with it. Now, that doesn't mean that we'll eliminate or reconfigure anything more than we have, but if a great idea comes up, we can program the site to make it happen, in most cases.

I would like to see a change in the FS/WTB Forum, as right now its flawed. Most times people take it seriously, but enough you have some loser who decides to stiff people out of their trade/sale. Its because of these bad sales that we're looking into other methods of running that forum.

I can tell you, however, that if this situation continues with people screwing over others on deals, Inside Lacrosse won't see the value of having that forum anymore. And ultimately, if you want the FS/WTB Forum around, thats your worst case scenario. Its not the mods making that decision, its Bob Carpenter, the guy who owns IL and this site, making that decision.

[RIT37FO]

as for charging for the site, even 1$
people will not join i assure you
that free and premium acount thing sounds kinda interesting but I doubt 20pms will make anyone want to pay another 5spot

[bigdale9]

no just removing it completely
although there are a lot of good traders on here
there are a disturbingly high increase of scammers on the site lately and its ruining the forum rep.
personally I for one will be voting for getting rid of the forum


also there are other things possibly in the works to make it more automated and having more of a EBAY feedback (ran by computer not people +1ing and what not)

time will tell

agrred. im afraid to go onto the fs/ft forum because of scammers an ebay style feed back would work (maybye show it next to a persons avatar or in thier info) my 0.02

[tiplax]

Due to increasing SPAM activity on ShootersForum.com, new rules immediately apply to the Trading Post forums.

In order to start a new thread here advertising an item you must be a registered member of ShootersForum.com for a minimum period of 7 days and have a minimum of 25 posts credited to your membership.

All posts offering goods for sale or trade must also state up-front the purchase price of those goods, and/or the trade items desired. No exceptions!



that's a quote from a shooters forum i'm a member of.
I've been noticeing lately a lot of the new FS/WTB threads are created by people who joined that day or within the week. I always do a "background check" before dealing withe people i've never heard of/ who are new, by checking the Good and Bad Sellers list. then i look at their join date, and their posts and threads started. If i see they don't have any good posts or meaning posts i would know not to trade with them unless they ship 1st.
and a lot o time the new people say "You ship 1st no matter what" which i generally see as a sign of a scammerif they are new.
i don't know what else can really be done to stop scammers cause there isn't really anything to do cause this problem plagues the internet not just TLF.

and i highly suggest makeing the 7 day rule like in the shooters forum, or maybe make it 14days

[tiplax]

and with vBulitan would it be possible to put feedback in the sidebar where the postcount would be? (i guess you could do it in your location) but it would be easier for every one to see what people's offical feedback are

and could we make it like ebay(i think someone already said it) where you plug in feedback and leave a comment. then you could acess that in the persons profile. this would get rid of the good sellers forum and we wouldn't be waiting for an update for 2 months due to the time and hassel of the updating process

[kevidinho]

and with vBulitan would it be possible to put feedback in the sidebar where the postcount would be? (i guess you could do it in your location) but it would be easier for every one to see what people's offical feedback are

and could we make it like ebay(i think someone already said it) where you plug in feedback and leave a comment. then you could acess that in the persons profile. this would get rid of the good sellers forum and we wouldn't be waiting for an update for 2 months due to the time and hassel of the updating process

I don't like the idea of putting it in your location, it would be too easy to lie. But the second idea sounds perfect, in my opinion. The personal page would make it easy to access and no one would complain about updating the Good buyers/sellers list.

Edit: We could also have something like PBnation, just a separate thread for each user.

[mstrylaxdad]

Not a big issue, but please put back the link to Inside lacrosse magazine at the top of the new site. Often jump back between the two.

[ESPN]

there is no need for more pms, you just have to set it to save it to your hdd or just delete meaningless pms people. come on its not like you have 85 different pms that you need saved because they have shipping addresses.

[BwineLAX42]

How about just a waiting period, if you do a 25 post minimum, you will just see worthless posts.

How about an entire different forum, with an entry fee. $1, have the word premium in it, and it will turn other people away. Than spread it by word of mouth, so lax players know about it. But than you have lacrosse players who have gear, give you pics, and than never send.

And if he were to shut it down, people would just go else where, or start a new forum. Believe it or not there is a lacrosse world outside of TLF and IL.

I think in the end, it's going to stay the way it is for a couple more months. And this is a semi-good problem to have: trying to turn people away because were too big. I think maybe taking the coverage out of IL would help. I bet that is where the people find out about the site.

[murderlax]

agrred. im afraid to go onto the fs/ft forum because of scammers an ebay style feed back would work (maybye show it next to a persons avatar or in thier info) my 0.02

i dont think there would be a way of even telling if you made the deal or not. a spammer could have himself and a buddy from another computer just make a deal with maybe two items. there'd be feedback right there. so i dont think there is a surefire way to findout whether or not someone has actually made a deal.

it'd be nice though, very good idea, but i think it'd be too hard to try to pull off.

[laxplayer201092]

scammers are not only a problem with TLF, but with the world as a whole. If members are mature enough to mail a box at the post office, im sure that they are well aware of the consequences of trading via internet. I think the best way of doing a feedback chart is to have an avid FS/WTB forum user, who is willing to do it, become a mod, (or use a current mod) whose only job as a mod is to add feedback to users accounts. With the new V Bulliten software, im sure there is a way to create a tally, or count under a users avatar, that does not dissapear with warnings, that can be only add a good trade, via the mod in charge. The mod sees the deal happening, When BOTH partys pm him, or some thing, proving that a trade happend, and went smoothly, and both users are happy, then he may add a plus one. If a user is unsatisfied, he may pm the mod, and he will then rule the case as to deem a negative, or not. This is the best system i can think of, if a mod or someone would like an explination, pm me, and i can give you a scenario.

I am aware that TLF takes no action in trades, but a better feedback system woudl be a better thing for all. The current lists are inactive, users neglect to post feedback, and they are hardly ever updated. It was a nusiance to update teh negative feedback list, users gave unclear answers as to why they had given a negative feedback to said user. The mod idea i think would clear up some of teh wrongful negative feedback.

With the notion of eliminatiing the Forum alltogether, frankly, i find that proposterus. The WTB Forum is, Lamly, the only reason i bother with this site. I already know how to string, i know more than enoguh about gear, but trading seems to be a big thing for a hardcore group of us on the site. I beg you, do not eliminate the wtb forum. It will loose you users, plubilicity, and perhaps the best group of members on these boards.

[NdubLAX27]

can we make it a rule on FS/WTB that when listing items you have, you should have to include that its pending to another person, but when its GONE it should be deleted from a thread, its getting ridiculous, some people have threads of only things they have gotten rid of, and its almost like they're keeping a catalog

[MainLax28]

I suggested running an ebay like setup back in early spring, and is was shot down horribly. Now it comes back to be the top solution. I stand by the ebay feedback setup. It would be alot of work to setup, heck a ton, but once up, it would run 100x better than pur current system.

Defferences between here and ebay as far as scamming. You have scammers all over the net. the difference between here and ebay is that ebay binds both sides to a contract when a buyer places a bid. Therefore if you try to rip someone off, they have proof that a legitimate deal did happen, and then that person coulkd go through ebay to legally resolve the problem. On ebay if you sell something and never send it, the buyer is covered to a certain amount.

On TLF, there is no official contract, so anything could happen, and there is nothing you can really do to prevent or fix it.

Now, it comes down as to how far the Mods and Admins want to get their selves into it. Leave it alone as it is, and things will get worse. The more people you have join, the higher chance you have for a spammer. The feedback setup is a mess, I know I updated it the one time, and any normal person should not be able to do that without spending at least 24 hours of working on it. That is too much for a volunteer.

If we want to stop scammers, TLF has to take more control over the FS/WTB forum. They need to use the Ban hammer more on scammers to set an example that if you scam, you will be kicked off. No warning, or anything. A full IP Ban for scamming.

They also need to make deals contracts somehow where either party has access to phone numbers, addresses, names, etc. Reccomend that all cash deals go through paypal. Have a set of precautionary guidelines to prevent people from being scammed.

Another option would be for the FS/WTB forum to be cancelled. I gaurentee that would be the downfall of this site. I know there are at least 25% of all members on here that would never come back if they were removed and not replaced. I know I found this site because I was trying to sell something, and for that reason only.

A third option would be for a sister site to TLF to open up where it is setup exactly as ebay is where you make a thread, no one posts in it, stuff is broken down into categories, and you are bonded to a contract. Like an ebay for lacrosse stuff only. You could have trade options, auction options, BIN, all the good stuff ebay has. However this would require loads of money, and time, and sponsers and all that good stuff. This is probably the best option though. If anyone would like to brainstorm ideas about this, please PM me cause I'd definately be interested in helping.

A good analogy to describe what we are dealing with it that we have the wolf by the ears. If we leave it alone, it will eventually bite us, but if we let go, if will also bite us. Something needs to be done, but the question is What?

[Solstice]

Its a tough situation but MainLax28 brought up some great issues.

I dont think TLF has the man power, or the vast funding required to set-up an eBay style FS/WTB Forum. That forum is basically a classified listing, and thats why it remains a no-cost luxury. I think that requiring the use of Paypal is a great idea, but it's not one that TLF can enforce. People will do what they want and take risks at their own will.

I think one idea to throw around would be an unofficial contract. This contract would be filled out with information such as:
- Full name
- Address
- Phone number
- Email
- What's being traded/bought [received]
- What's being traded/sold [sent]
- Date of the agreement

A TLF member/mod/admin could make the template and sticky it in the FS/WTB forum.

This contract would be filled out by each party and then PM'd to the opposite buyer/seller before the transaction is made. This contract would clear up any confusion or scam switches.

It would also provide members with all of the information needed to fill for mail fraud if it came to that.

[tiplax]

but solstice and mainlax28, i agree tha kind of stuff would be nice, but i still don't think IL wants to be held responsible. if you have to fill out the information like solstice said, it would give the illusion that the forums and IL insure your trade.
the best thing to do until a new solution is found is to buy dilevery confirmation and or insurence and keep the other person's address so if they do scam you, you can file mail fraud

[Solstice]

Well, it would be easy enough to put a disclaimer on the contract.

And if it's created by a member, then there's no connection to IL or TLF. It's basically a form to gather all of the information you'll need to trade with someone. It's all things you should get anyways, but most people forget to.

[tiplax]

Well, it would be easy enough to put a disclaimer on the contract.

And if it's created by a member, then there's no connection to IL or TLF. It's basically a form to gather all of the information you'll need to trade with someone. It's all things you should get anyways, but most people forget to.
that would make sense. and you would have to agree not to hold lacrosseforums.com or IL liable for the trade if it goes wrong

[TigerMiddie08]

Honestly, I never trade anyone with lower feed back than me. When trading I check the persons join date. How many posts. Their feedback. And other threads they have started. If their feed back is lower. Chances are it might be to good the be true. If I do trade with someone lower. They ship first. I just always remember, I know im taking a risk. I think they FS WTB forum is fine, but these suggestions will only help.

[ML_LAX09]

Honestly, I never trade anyone with lower feed back than me. When trading I check the persons join date. How many posts. Their feedback. And other threads they have started. If their feed back is lower. Chances are it might be to good the be true. If I do trade with someone lower. They ship first. I just always remember, I know im taking a risk. I think they FS WTB forum is fine, but these suggestions will only help.

I usually have no problems with people of a lower feedback. They just ship first. If they ship first, there's really no risk.