Pretty Crappy Forum Practice On Replacement Rubbers

[lawman0210]

Cutting down on traffic of the members who contribute nothing more then inflated prices isnt a bad thing. Now if it cost memberships of very knowlegeable members that would be a shame. Having a exchange portion is a nice perk and I say that if u are a member who gets upset with some of the sellers inflating prices I would say just use the site for information and ignore the exchange. Then its incumbent upon the moderators to moderate the exchange and keep the "scalpers" in check. I wish it was as easy as saying u can not list an item for then double the original retail price and if you can't live with that profit then sell it on ebay and pay the fees. As a paid member I don't consider myself higher then a non paid memeber. There a very knowledgeable non paid memebers. I do think that if you spend a lot of time on here (and especially if you sell or trade a lot) you should help contribute to the site.

 

[OakleyBoss]

Who decides what scalping is? The definition of value, in business terms, is what the customer is willing to pay for. If a member is willing to pay $100 for rubber, then it's not scalping. Scalping and price gouging don't apply in a marketplace where all goods are luxuries.

Its unfortunate but I agree 100% with this statement.

Harsher enforcement for Noob (probe) forum rule breakers? No PM's allowed at all?
1st infraction - warning
2nd - 3 day ban
3rd - Ban hammer

Clearer rules on whats scalping?

Or a complete removal of that particular rule?

I have thought of making new member have to get to say 15 posts before being able to PM, to crack down on this, but never implemented it.

This was a very interesting thread, and I enjoyed reading what everyone had to say. The quote above illustrates why scalping is nearly unenforceable. The market dictates what something is worth. If someone pays $100 for rubbers, than those rubbers are "worth" $100 to that person. Maybe they don't have access to buy them from where ever they are sold, or some other reason, but that is what they are willing to pay.

Just like many members said, if something is astronomically priced most members simply click past it. But some people apparently stop and even purchase. So where do you draw the line? $1 over Retail? $10? $1000? The point is, its impossible for us to be the police. Some people value the convience of simply clicking and buying online and paying a premium then having to search for an item at the best price.

Yes some people do use the forum as a business, buying and selling. It isn't for us to say this is right or wrong. If you think its wrong, then you can choose to not to buy from those people. We have setup memberships to give appropriate resources and structure to persons/companies looking to sell/promote on the forum. This allows those members to continue to make money on the forum, while also helping our members and supporting the site. Do we force people to do this? No, and we never will. This is a community for Oakley fanatics, and that's the way it should stay.

Whether or not the forum has worse deals than eBay has nothing to do with the site. The truth is, members may have noticed "better" deals on the forum a year ago because their were less members, and therefore "good deals" lingered longer. There are still very good deals, but they go fast, usually within minutes. Besides that, most items are sold around fair market value. Sure this is similar to eBay. At the end of the day, buyers and sellers dictate prices, whether they be on here, craigslist, eBay, whatever. This site has an exchange area to allow members to buy/sell/trade with other fanatics who appreciate the items, in addition to being able to avoid eBay fees. We do still strongly recommend you use paypal for the protection. As we have always said, We are not responsible for any transaction on this site with another member. You proceed at your own risk. When myself or mods intervene, it is out of the goodness of our hearts, to try to help a fellow member.

Let me wrap this up before this gets to the point where Spielberg decides to turn it into a movie. I love hearing about improvements, ideas, suggestions etc. for this site. Which is why this thread recently came about: Any new ideas? | Oakley Forum and within 24 hours, the blogs were introduced. This site was built for O fans, and it belongs to you guys. If anyone ever has suggestions, ideas, whatever please feel free to PM me.

OakleyBoss

 

[lawman0210]

So are you saying your going to lock this thread? Why so? Its a thread like any other that people and conversing in. Its not out of hand nor are there any insults being flung around. Its a discussion of our opinion as any other thread. Dont do what the government does and decides what is best for us or what we can participate/discuss amoung ourselves

 

[lawman0210]

Maybe there should be a input filter that says u need to a minimum X amount of posts during a determined time frame to be able to post in the exchange. That way a member can't wait the 15 days and just sell sell sell. He would need to input and be a productive member that contributes to the site. And it can't just be Glws, bump, i agree posts. I know this would make it much harder bfor moderators to set up. Maybe it can be done. Maybe not

 

[Rustpot]

Maybe there should be a input filter that says u need to a minimum X amount of posts during a determined time frame to be able to post in the exchange. That way a member can't wait the 15 days and just sell sell sell. He would need to input and be a productive member that contributes to the site. And it can't just be Glws, bump, i agree posts. I know this would make it much harder bfor moderators to set up. Maybe it can be done. Maybe not

It's 15 days and 15 posts, currently (I think). But you're right, nothing stopping them from making 15 post-whore posts and waiting.

You, as a member, can click on their name, view their profile page, and from there view all postings made by that member. Using that information you can gauge your comfort level in dealing with them. If they made 15 posts like an introduction, posted some details about themselves, or conversely made 15 worthless posts you have some history to make that judgement.

What more can you ask for? It's been brought up a couple times, and I don't think the current rules have been changed as a result.

But I also think it's doing the job. I haven't seen scamming going on. A few members have high prices or are here mainly to sell, aside from that there's no real abuse, is there?

 

[lawman0210]

I have had nothing but good experiences on transactions. I just ignore the flippers.

 

[Rustpot]

I get what you're saying and no offense to you whatsoever, but I've noticed you do a lot with the classifieds so I understand your position. Very passionate about collecting and such, absolutely nothing wrong with that and the amount of traffic that sees the classifieds, I bet over half that would go away if you limit it and then people that are solely here for the classifieds would diminish with it. I always check, listed an item or two, even bought an item or two, but the classifieds to me are a bonus to any forum.

This site isn't free nor do the owners make a penny off the classifieds, but if you limit the classifieds to premium members, you're right, 75% of the activity on this forum would cease to exist. And I will say with this being such a small forum and the limited amount of things that can be discussed (i.e. Do a search, this has been covered - yes, just like any other forum), I understand NOT limited the classifieds to premium members. But at the risk of turning this place into eBay, 14 days and 15 posts or whatever it is isn't gonna make a crook (use that term loosely) an honest seller.

I post a lot everywhere, and actually do very little in the exchange areas.

The classifieds are a bonus, but without them you get one of two things
a. people doing business in all other areas of the forum. Some blatantly, some through PM only
b. a moderation team that spends a lot of time cracking down to eliminate a.

This isn't the type of forum that would benefit well from b. in my mind.

The purpose of the time limit isn't expressly to reform would-be 'crooks'. It's to turn away opportunists (any barrier is a barrier) and to provide existing members some history on new people before setting them loose. See my post above. The balancing act is between making the barrier big enough to protect existing members, and small enough that it doesn't seem like the doors are closed to new members.

 

[atrain]

I got one for you. I posted a wtb ad. I had one member send me a PM asking how much I am willing to pay? But it gets better i had another Pm from a membe who said he had to at reasonable prices but get this. He said "but you will have to wait until this other member decides if he wants them. The other member happened to be the guy asking "how much I am willing to pay"? That's right he saw my post tried to hook up with another member to buy a pair he didn't have just to flip them to me. How's that for community? I passed on that member and contacted the member that had to pairs a few weeks later asking the outcome. He said " oh the other member bailed on me". Imagine that

Wow, that is just craziness

 

[freakface]

Wow, that is just craziness

wouldn't you know it. things ARE getting "crazy" in the forum. almost like it's becoming an oakley flea market but with outrageous prices on some. lol

 

[atrain]

wouldn't you know it. things ARE getting "crazy" in the forum. almost like it's becoming an oakley flea market but with outrageous prices on some. lol

Well I think some of those things were always there, I am just hopefull those rotten apples leave just as fast as they got here. Even though I have been a member for several years I wasnt active till about a year and a half ago and I have seen a lot of good new members come and be part of our community. At the same time I have seen some of the older members either quit or sell off a lot of thier stuff due to hard times. That being said I think for the most part a lot of us are honest and work with other members. Hell I have ordered @washi me sensie at least 3-4 oakleyvault orders and shipped them to him because Oakley wouldnt ship to his forwarding address. I did that out of kindness and the desire to help out a fellow fanatic. I think a lot of us are here for that reason but it only takes a few "scalpers" to ruin it for the rest. Unfortunattly with a supply and demand product and collectable like Oakley there will be a market for scalpers just like any other thing like concert or sports tickets. People try to find a way to make a quick buck in this world. There is no way to police it either because if they dont sell it here they will inflate the price on ebay. I have overpayed for something I really wanted because hell I really wanted it lol. Sucks but hard to get away from.