GameSX B/S/T? Maybe?

[RobIvy64]

I wanted to get everyone's take on starting up a B/S/T (Buy, sell, trade) forum here. There are some obvious benefits as well as some negative aspects to doing this.

Having a BST would allow for GameSX's senior forum members to trade goods and/or services relative to the scene. I know that this would require heavy moderation and some extensive rules, but I think as long as people understand the risks and rewards of trading goods online, everything would be ok.

Thoughts?

[blackevilweredragon]

On Sega-16 it worked out good..  I traded one item there, and bought a working Sega CD from someone there..

I think it would be a great addition here..  I could probably trade from things from Lawrence, if he's still in Japan XD

[NFG]

Do you think it requires a dedicated forum?  I've never been averse to people making deals on the regular forum, provided it's done in moderation.

[kendrick]

I've bought from and sold to GamesX members in the past. I agree with Lawrence, I don't think it requires a dedicated forum that's separate from the others. All of the sales I participated in occurred in the context of some other mod or project someone was working on.

The main thing I'm worried about is me or Lawrence being held responsible for sales gone bad. Also, I'm not interested in attracting users who are only interested in the commerce and not in game mods. We must not overshadow or supersede our core competency here. :)

-KKC, throwing around the corporate lingo with frightening familiarity.

[RobIvy64]

I think having it's own forum would allow for a one-stop shop where people can look for BST listings specifically. People would have to understand that the same risks apply here as with anywhere else when it comes to trading goods with a stranger over the internet. If you guys were "hip" to the idea, here's a few basic guidelines I thought would be helpful to keep the scene rid of selling spammers.

1. In order to post in the BST, a user must have a post count of 50 or higher.

2. User's must have been registered for at least a month.

3. Items offered up for sale must be in-hand, no exceptions. Modding services can be permitted for listing.


Maybe this is something we could try? I'd be more than happy to moderate this forum.

*looks at Super Famicom he got from a member of GameSX*

[Epicenter]

Such a forum would be quite beneficial. For sale/Want to Buy threads would not be pushed off the first page so easily by more recent threads, thereby increasing their exposure to would-be buyers and sellers.

[NFG]

If it were to happen I think my take on the rules would be different.

I don't see the post count as any real kind of assurance of reliability, so I question the merits of a post-count restriction.  Ditto for rule 2.

As for rule 3, would this exclude things like group buys, pooling money or orders for a future purchase?

I'm not sure what a 'selling spammer' is, but I would certainly encourage businesses and manufacturers to offer their wares here, as long as they recognize the intent of this community and offer products of suitable interest.  Since we can't really expect a sales rep to post here frequently the post restrictions (rule 1) wouldn't be useful.

What other rules would you suggest?

[RobIvy64]

Well most sites consider businesses an unwelcome guest in a BST, so thats what I was referring to when talking about a selling spammer.

I think even a small post count restriction should be enforced simply because the individual needs to interact with other GameSX members before offering goods for sale. This is a community, and I think people registering just to offer goods for sale should get to now the people they are doing business with.

Unfortunately there will be individuals who will attempt to rip people off, but we'll have to make a "Read me first!" thread to inform users that they engage in these transactions at their own risk. If one of these trolls surfaces, all we can do is ban them and warn others (IP checks would have to be made as well).

These are all just my suggestions though, ultimately it's your call  B) .

[NFG]

I used to run a business, so it may be that I have empathy for anyone else gutsy enough to do it.  It ain't easy to do, and if a business wants to target us 'cause they sell something we want, I think everyone wins.

I'm against post-count as a requirement to post, but as an evaluative measure, like an ebay feedback, I think it has a certain value.  

The single biggest things the BST forum needs are coherent rules and guidelines outlining responsibilities of both parties, and enough interest to maintain momentum.

Start a poll, and gauge interest.  Then, if there's interest, we'll hash out some guidelines for use - no restrictions as such, but a list of suggestions - and then it's a go.

Sound good?

[RobIvy64]

Awesome. I'll write up some suggestive rules for you to peruse as well.  B)  

[phreak97]

the guidelines shouldnt be too hard to figure out, there are tonnes of sites which have this in place happily. originally i was thinking i agreed with the post count restriction, but now after reading lawrence's post, im thinking we should leave it up to the buyer if they want to take the risk, the post count would be a measure of trust to a point.. nothing official. i think a bst forum would be great here, because you could actually come accross cheap things which dont work, for parts or repair. i've often posted "WTB: Non-working games or consoles" on forums before. quite often they make it worth my money too.. got a sega cd for AU$12 shipped from th us, and it just had the metal laser shield out of place.. (i dont expect such things as that here, i would hope everyone here could have worked that problem out and had a working console for themselves lol.)
so im thinking of the "i couldnt fix this, but if you want to try, here it is" sort of sales. not to mention all the bizarre and uncommon hardware i hear about here.
i very much like this idea.

btw, blackevilweredragon, pretty sure lawrence is living in australia now, havent spoken to him in a few months, but it sounded fairly permanent last i spoke to him.