When people are trying to sell their dashcams?

[Paul Iddon]

@DashCamMan

I think it might be a good idea to have a "minimum posts" started requirement (say, 20 perhaps) before people joining the forum can sell their (used) gear - this to stop freeloaders joining and making no useful contribution to the forum.

Especially when they join and post only gear for sale?

Paul.

 

[Dashmellow]

I take your point and think it a worthwhile concern, however there is another consideration. The vast majority of DCT members have never posted a single time to any of the sub-forums yet many of them have been regular visitors to this site for years. One only needs to peruse the list of DCT registered members to see what I'm talking about.

There is no current requirement that members post to the forums. Many join for information and advice, then make a purchase and follow along for a long time after. Some members post a question or two regarding their first purchase and then never post again, but they are still here. Some join so they can access the posted images, etc. In theory, a long time member should be allowed to offer a camera for sale whether they've posted or not. Looking through the list of cameras for sale I see that most members posting a listing have otherwise posted to the forums. I also see that a few non-posting members selling cameras have purchased from well known DCT vendors and are now simply looking to upgrade or migrate to a new camera. I also notice that a few non-posting members are looking to purchase a particular camera. I don't see why they should be disqualified from selling or looking to buy a camera just because they haven't posted before.

There are a few dead-beats though. Not sure how big a problem it really is or whether it needs a strict new rule that may negatively impact some innocent members who just don't like to post. That's @DashCamMan's call, of course.

 

[Dashmellow]

Just a thought: Perhaps if there needs to be a rule about this issue then length of membership should somehow factor into it regardless of whether the member has ever previously posted. That would eliminate the "spam" factor of someone who simply wants to do a quick drive-by camera sale and joins for that purpose only. Posts looking to buy a used camera should be open to anyone who shows up, however.

 

[Paul Iddon]

a quick drive-by camera sale and joins for that purpose only.

This.



Like the one who joined and made 2 posts for sales and no other contributions.

 

[Dashmellow]

This.



Like the one who joined and made 2 posts for sales and no other contributions.

My point is that for the most part such behavior where people join only to sell a used camera seems to be fairly rare.

I can understand why you feel irked, but this person you are referring to has been a member since October, 2016 and has of today posted only twice about selling a used camera. Perhaps this member has been otherwise enjoying the forum all this time but just isn't interested in joining the conversation? What harm has he done really? It's not like he is a serial spammer who has been doing nothing but hawking used cameras and gaming the forum over the last nearly four and a half years. Are you suggesting that because this is a longtime member who doesn't otherwise post he shouldn't be allowed into what you believe to be an exclusive club reserved only for members who post?

 

[Paul Iddon]

Not at all.

I hadn't seen the age of the poster to be honest - but it is a well used practice to encourage engagement before selling something. At least on the forums I frequently use.

 

[Dashmellow]

I'll ask again. What harm has he done over the course of his 4 year plus membership? What rule has he broken? What "well used practice"?

 

[Paul Iddon]

The practice on some forums that sell what they are about - say for example - photography forums. Few would encourage joining and making 2 posts just to flog of 2nd hand stuff.

I didn't say he had broken a rule either.

And he hasn't done any harm, just as much as he hasn't done any good. For four years he has been a zero statistic (well, a 1 statistic) as I'm sure there are lots of others who have joined and never posted, which again, isn't necessarily bad either.

I wasn't headhunting him - I was generalising on what a common practice minimum posting can be.

I didn't say it should be an exclusive club (to sell).

My point is that if one person does it, then others may do it too, and then we end up with Forum Ebay members - i.e. those who are joining just to make a quick buck.

 

[jokiin]

would be nicer to see a post delay on new users that join up to tell you about some review site that they just found, or whatever else is the spam of the day (don't know that that's even possible without negatively affecting genuine new users that come looking for help though), there's barely any for sale posts at any given time so those are nothing in the scheme of things, easily ignored if you don't like them, spammers on the other hand are a pain in the ass and need to be dealt with or they just continue polluting the forum with their crap

 

[Dashmellow]

As I mentioned earlier, the vast majority of DCT members have never posted even once to the forum and many have only posted once or twice. You seem to be dismissing tens of thousands of members as "having never done any good". The fact is that there is really only a relatively small population of us members who regularly post to the forum or provide content. The rest are really here just to view and learn from content posted by others.

Clicking randomly through the "For Sale" sub-forum just now I see that the majority of posts are from members who have posted to other forums but there are indeed a few who only have posted for the purpose of selling something. I'm sure if @DashCamMan feels it to be a problem he will do something about it. My thinking, as I mentioned earlier is that length of membership should be an larger part of the equation if a rule is put into place.

 

[jokiin]

My thinking, as I mentioned earlier is that length of membership should be an larger part of the equation if a rule is put into place.

if anything you'd only want it to apply to the for sale section, don't want to restrict the genuine users looking for help, I think there would need to be a serious uptick in for sale posts for it to be an issue though, what is it now, maybe one seller a month, first world problem much

 

[Dashmellow]

there's barely any for sale posts at any given time so those are nothing in the scheme of things, easily ignored if you don't like them

I agree. I don't see a major issue here, even though it happens from time to time that someone joins just to offer a used camera for sale.

I think if someone has already been a member for several years they should be allowed to offer a cam for sale without being required to have posted content. And like I mentioned earlier there are some for sale posts where the seller has mentioned which well known DCT vendor he purchased from even though they themselves don't otherwise post to the forum. Seems to indicate that they've been around the forum for a while absorbing what DCT has to offer.

 

[Dashmellow]

if anything you'd only want it to apply to the for sale section, don't want to restrict the genuine users looking for help, I think there would need to be a serious uptick in for sale posts for it to be an issue though, what is it now, maybe one seller a month, first world problem much

Yes, of course, only for the "for sale" section. I guess that's partly what I meant by "part of the equation".

 

[jokiin]

I've seen other forums where they've tried to filter first time posts (which depending on the platform can be hard to do on a selective basis, not sure about xenforo) which has ended up having an overall negative effect on how things work, forums work best when there's lots of participation, need to be careful about anything that stops that from happening, I'm sure @DashCamMan is well aware of the pitfalls of anything that might discourage new members

 

[SawMaster]

Some forums have a minimum time or post count before sales and some don't. It's always "buyer beware" though.

I can see no real harm in allowing any member to sell. They will post in forums if they want to but no point in trying to force that; it might be counter-productive or might not. Having a larger marketplace might also bring new members who would otherwise not be here, and certainly at least some of them would post to forums. And if someone gets a bargain on a cam, they need or sells one excess to their needs that's a good thing IMHO.

Encouraging forum activity is probably best done by having topics, threads, and posts which folks would enjoy being part of. The technical and peer-support here are great already so that's all that's left on our end. I would like to see DCT being advertised but that takes money and I can be of no help with that. Just a shame more folks don't know about us.

I don't drive the DCT bus but I am enjoying the ride and the other people on the bus with me Minor details like rules for sales don't much matter to me

Phil

 

[EGS]

I don't understand why making a big deal of a problem that doesn't exist and for something that should be totally permissible.
I personally don't have any issues with someone trying to sell any of their used gear (dashcam related obviously) in it's respective tread.
Message count, reaction score or trophy points minimum allowance requirements sounds a bit ridiculous. As several members have pointed out, it is a very rare occurrence when someone does offer something to sell.

In the other hand I do have a problem with those unknown phantom companies that get here trying to sell a new product that in some cases are not dashcam related (scammers)

 

[HonestReview]

would be nicer to see a post delay on new users that join up to tell you about some review site that they just found, or whatever else is the spam of the day (don't know that that's even possible without negatively affecting genuine new users that come looking for help though), there's barely any for sale posts at any given time so those are nothing in the scheme of things, easily ignored if you don't like them, spammers on the other hand are a pain in the ass and need to be dealt with or they just continue polluting the forum with their crap

Think the easiest way to filter spam accounts is require new user accounts be flagged "under review". Require extra work on DCT mods, but would help eliminate people creating fake or spoof accounts. Prevents people from posting immediately.

Can also limit number of posts for new users to prevent spam. 30 Day trial period, 30 post maximum without Mod Approval or some crap.

Anything we suggest though is going to create extra workload for DCT mods.

 

[Dashmellow]

There is only one "DCT mod" - DashCamMan.

 

[jokiin]

forum currently requires very little moderation, would add a lot of workload, I help admin another forum where all accounts have to be approved and it does add a lot of work, zero spam on the forum as a result but it does take a few admins to keep on top of it and delays registration for legitimate new users

 

[kamkar]

Well so far i have just reported hit and run spammers, if a long term member gave me any grief with a post of his i would first talk to his sense in a PM, and if that did not work then i would ask for a opinion by the moderator.

I have myself been reported a few times over the years as i have stepped on someones toes, this is also fine, i just wish they had asked me first cuz i am not here to insult or provoke people, so it would not take much arguing by someone to get me to delete a post of mine.
I might not understand it or agree with the person, but that dont mean i will not be considerate none the less.