Trading post

[Canapin]

Ah, yes. Indeed, new users aren’t allowed to send private messages to prevent abuses (spam, scam, etc) until they have minimal requirements.

@mowcius

are there any threads where the discussion has clearly affected the sale in a negative manner?

Examples would be a good thing! This kind of hypothetical issue isn’t an issue until it shows up for real.

@mindbalance

But overall I feel I personally have a broad enough perspective to accept whatever kind of comment happens on any kind of thread - be it trading post or others.

I tend to agree. And like you said, this forum community is very well-behaved (and has always been, from what I suspect – wasn’t here from the beginning ).

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And also, if some of you can take a little bit of time to reply about this particular issue reported by @Gockie:

@Gockie

The most important thing for me would be the seller needs to state the location they are in. There’s not a lot of point in me seeing American or European listings really.

@Canapin

we have added some useful features, like the location of the ads in Trading Post (but often this field are not filled, which can not enforce but only remind the person manually to do it).

Here, when we list all the ads, only a minority of people has properly filled the location field, which is a problem:

There is currently no way to force the location field to be filled in before posting the ad.
What incentive could we set up to remind people to fill it?
Would a pre-written message on the ad textbox would be a good way ? How should it be written (English not being my first language…)?

Open to other ideas, of course!

[Gockie]

@Canapin

Would a pre-written message on the ad textbox would be a good way ? How should it be written (English not being my first language…)?

What you have there looks like a fine solution to me

[Canapin]

Let’s give it a try then. Here’s how it looks now, when you create a topic in #trading-post

I wish the reminder was a notice rather than an actual message that need to be manually deleted, but I can’t do better right now.

[Eric_aus_Chemnitz]

Maybe you can modify it to “… field above [and delete this message] before posting your add. …”

[Canapin]

I thought about it but I wonder if it would be confusing. Maybe we can try as it is, and see how it goes?

[Bug72]

Thank you canapin for putting so much thought and effort into making the trading post a better place to buy and sell. And thanks to all of you that have contributed to this lively discussion. For me this discussion has altered my way of thinking somewhat. Stating a location definitely will weed out inquiries that are going no place based on logistics and as you mention I never realized that statng your location was an option. I also see that outside input in some cases can be helpful but I will stand my ground that it can often do more harm than good.

A final though from me would be, all of us should use some decorum when it comes to trading post. If you can add something of value to the process fine, if your just looking to a have a discussion to occupy your own time you should probably do it in another section of the forum. If you see something out of line with a trading post ad you probably should DM the person instead of calling them out in public. Also please consider the date when reviving an old trading post ad and DM the seller to see if it is available , reposted trading post closed out ads.is very confusing.

[Gockie]

@Bug72

Also please consider the date when reviving an old trading post ad and DM the seller to see if it is available

Thanks for your thoughts.
Just a note, you can want this but new forum members are not permitted to DM other users. So occassionally old ads may still pop up.

[Bug72]

Thank you for your thoughts and input.

[Shi]

the less informational transparency on the site, the less fair transactions will take place on it.

you suggest lowering transparency, = worsening deals.