How is this forum helpful?

KevinK · Post by **KevinK** » June 13th, 2006, 8:18 pm

I need a part for my wifes car yet I can't post it anywhere? I moderate on a few boards myself (much larger then here) and people can post even if they pop in and out, not everyone is a car freak and lives to post 30 topics just to find a good deal on a rad. Some forums we apply that posting rule, but not in a FS forum, maybe in tech sections where searching should be required. In my eyes a site towards a specific car is to help others with a similar vehicle out. No, me nor my wife are Mx-3 fanatics so I will not live on here. Just looking for somewhere to buy a part. So my question in this forum is!
1. why is the Classifieds locked?
2. why is it geared towards Mx-3 fanatics?
3. why would you delete a post without warnings at all?

This is not bashing, but just want some clarification. Mature answers, not bashing or deleting. Atleast move this post to the necessary area as this site is very congested (IMO).

johnnyb · Post by **johnnyb** » June 13th, 2006, 8:52 pm

The reason you cannot post in the Classified section is because there was a big influx of people joining these forums, doing a search on popular but rare items then listing them for sale. After someone agreed to purchase it and sent money the user would disappear. The 30 post rule was initiated to stem this problem.

If you wish I will post a thread for you and act like a proxy (I won't be held responsible for any problems you have with selling or purchasing however)

mxmaz · Post by **mxmaz** » June 13th, 2006, 8:56 pm

I dont really know why they enforce the 30 post rule for buyers.

Try http://www.radiatorworld.com for that rad. They are in the US though which sucks for us canadian buyers.

Devlin · Post by **Devlin** » June 13th, 2006, 8:57 pm

Buy/Sell posts used to be allowed whereever, but the moderators changed the rules to limit buying and selling to that specific forum in order to better organize topics.
the reason you need minimum 30 posts in that forum is because in the past there have been scammers who make up a phony username and take some loyal mx'ers for some money, then once word gets out what they're doing, they go and create a new account and do the same thing again.
having min 30 posts says that you are a loyal mx enthusiast since most scammers won't waste the time making 30 posts every time they change accounts.
we all know that you looking for a rad for your wife's car isn't scamming anyone, but the rules were put there to protect everyone, and no exceptions can be made.

i would suggest you browse the buy/sell forum for someone who is parting out their vehicle and PM them directly about it.
another option is checking the local junkyards. there are a number in and around the city that have many MX-3s, and if you use the search function i believe there was someone asking about a list of junkyards in the area. there should be at least phone numbers where you can call and find out if they have it without having to actually go there.
i hope you find what you are looking for, and encourage you to at least browse the forum a little more. there is a wealth of information here that'll give you answers for almost any question.

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » June 13th, 2006, 9:10 pm

I do agree. I did recommend to create a section specifically for new users if there is a concern, that's it's a bad idea to block new users out. Ideally, I wouldn't recommend to post a site/forum recommendation in a club sub-section, you probabaly wont reach the target users (admins/mods). In the General Mx-3 and Off-Topics sections would of been better. Also, there's a thread about this in the recommendations section, please add your concerns into it.

http://www.mx-3.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=43544

Even scammers aside, I kinda do see the point. This site is geared towards enthousists. It's not really fair for Jeff, the owner of the site, to pay for this site, and for new users, who have no contributed (either financially, but specifically by experiences and knowledge) or participated in this site, to benefit to free advertising. Sure, it's not fair to the seller, or potential buyers, but keeping that option open makes the site's traffic (and traffic costs money) largely for rogue seller, attracting the wrong type of memebers. This site is geared as a type of community for those who are actually interested in their Mx-3's, someone who is coming by just to sell parts isn't that type of person, but someone who is looking for parts could be. It would be nice if you could automatically filter out posts for newbies who are looking to buy parts, since I don't believe anyone has ever been scammed by a new user for buying, since at that point the sellers would be and should be, reputable Mx-3 community member.

Although I would recommend for a mod to move this to a proper section to be discussed, it would more likely be commented and/or locked. I hope that you do find what your looking for, and that despite this, you stick around, it's a good community, despite it's slight imperfections.

Andrew_Pakula · Post by **Andrew_Pakula** » June 19th, 2006, 1:16 pm

Personally I never minded having parts for sale here in the Toronto forum as long as it was regulars who were posting them. There was however many problems that developed with untrustworthy people coming on here posting all kinds of rare expensive stuff or other questionable items who all had under 10 posts to their name. Also over time the forum began to become cluttered with only for sale posts and in some cases they were duplicates because people were posting them in both boards. I think having a seperate sub-board Toronto For/Sale forum would be a good thing but it isn't my call. I think if this was done a few years ago it might have been good but now I think the demand is starting to level off so it might just be better to leave the one For Sale forum.

johnnyb · Post by **johnnyb** » June 19th, 2006, 3:24 pm

like I said in the recommendations forum. We need a WTB forum, where people can request parts and if anyone on the board has it then things can go on from there.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » June 19th, 2006, 6:20 pm

Kevin, you make a valid point. And by now you have seen the different variations of the same rationale that warrants the implimentation of the 30 post limit. That is to say, the 30 post limit was put in place to protect the membership at large. A Buy/Sell Forum within a BB geared to the MX3 owners / enthusiasts with of course the emphasis on enthusiast. I've found that each BB that I belong to has their own unique quirks and limitations. What does this mean to you and what options are open to you? Well, you could make constructive use of the obligatory 30 post rule and make 30 posts in various Forums, hopefully gaining a little more insight into your wife's car (which wouldn't be a bad thing since you apparently are made responsible for it's maintenace and upkeep or else she would be making the post for her own car and not you) and perhaps give a little insightfull information in the process when you make your posts. And why not contribute a little to the cause, you're looking for an easy, inexpensive fix for your wife's car by using the facilities of this BB. Not an expensive price to pay, in my books.
Another option would be to send a pm to the owner/administrator (Jeff) requesting a waiver of the 30 post restriction. Although the options are limited to you, I'm sure you can see the validity in this restriction. It's for the protection of the membership.

johnnyb · Post by **johnnyb** » June 19th, 2006, 6:56 pm

jschrauwen wrote:Kevin, you make a valid point. And by now you have seen the different variations of the same rationale that warrants the implimentation of the 30 post limit. That is to say, the 30 post limit was put in place to protect the membership at large. A Buy/Sell Forum within a BB geared to the MX3 owners / enthusiasts with of course the emphasis on enthusiast. I've found that each BB that I belong to has their own unique quirks and limitations. What does this mean to you and what options are open to you? Well, you could make constructive use of the obligatory 30 post rule and make 30 posts in various Forums, hopefully gaining a little more insight into your wife's car (which wouldn't be a bad thing since you apparently are made responsible for it's maintenace and upkeep or else she would be making the post for her own car and not you) and perhaps give a little insightfull information in the process when you make your posts. And why not contribute a little to the cause, you're looking for an easy, inexpensive fix for your wife's car by using the facilities of this BB. Not an expensive price to pay, in my books.
Another option would be to send a pm to the owner/administrator (Jeff) requesting a waiver of the 30 post restriction. Although the options are limited to you, I'm sure you can see the validity in this restriction. It's for the protection of the membership.

you see this is the way I see it. Nothing is stopping a person from coming onto this board, seeing a part they need for sale in the forum and then sending a PM to the seller and making the deal. Why would it be important for people to make 30 posts just so they can find the part they need? To me it seems selfish to say to people "we only want people who post here to be able to buy or sell" this is a site dedicated to the mx3 and as such we should be open to new and old members alike in their time of need, instead everyone has the attitude that new people shouldn't be helped out on here.

I've also seen this behaviour when questions are asked, instead of giving a reply people always say use the search. If you have the time to post that phrase why don't you have the time to answer a simple question? To the new user, this board seems unfriendly and against those of the "inner circle" instead the people on this board should be helpful on ALL new users.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » June 19th, 2006, 7:48 pm

You make a point John. I agree, that someone can easily pm an individual on the purchase if they wanted something from the For Sale (Only) Forum. As far as creating a separate WTB Forum that does not have a 30 post limit - that's a great idea too. This would definitely solve those issues for the very infrequent/one-time users. I still like the idea of a minimum 30 posts for those wishing to "Sell" only. Have you or anyone else proposed this change to Jeff, and if so, what were the results? As it stands now, you're right, the rules do not favour the brand new member, but rather the more regular member. Maybe it's my point of view afer being taken a number of times by scammers. It's unfortunate that a few dishonest people have made it so difficult for the first timers.

As far as newbee posts are concerned. There's a good reason why information is stickied, FAQ'd and the like. Reposting is redundant and inefficient. Most frequent users can usually tell when someone may be just too lazy to do their own research and expect to be spoonfed. I'd say this BB is much more friendly than others i belong too. Ever try to ask a simple question on Probetalk without doing a quick search. One would surely get an earfull. Although that site is an incredible source of information it is also very unforgiving to those that do little to no searches on their own.
John, perhaps you may have missed a few recently posted notes from new members that applauded this BB for it's help, assistance and friendly nature. I know I make it a point when I see a fairly new member (say 10 or less posts) to actually "Welcome" them. But I also don't hesitate to "kindly" direct them to the search function when I feel it's warranted.

johnnyb · Post by **johnnyb** » June 19th, 2006, 8:58 pm

http://www.mx-3.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=52387

as you can see I have made the suggestion, but I'm afraid its fallen on deaf ears. A WTB user is less likely to scam a user of this board then a For sale this is why I suggested splitting them up.

As far as the rudeness, I've seen plenty of it on this board. People have just replied "search" as their response. It is in my opinion that if you cannot answer the post then don't post. Why do people have time to reply to a thread with the phrase "search" when they could have easily given a quick response and been helpful in the same amount of time.

I have noticed that a "regular" will ask a question and usually get a response, but if a new user asks a question the only response is "search" how can you call this a friendly forum with double standards such as this.

I may be rambling on here but I've grown dissatisfied with the general temperment of this forum over time. Not everyone is as computer savy as some users on here and the search feature isn't the easiest thing to use, I myself have searched certain items and received results that have nothing to do with what I'm looking for and I usually have to sift thru 1000+ posts to find what I'm looking for.

atlantamx3 · Post by **atlantamx3** » June 19th, 2006, 9:19 pm

johnnyb wrote:
As far as the rudeness, I've seen plenty of it on this board. People have just replied "search" as their response. It is in my opinion that if you cannot answer the post then don't post. Why do people have time to reply to a thread with the phrase "search" when they could have easily given a quick response and been helpful in the same amount of time.

I have noticed that a "regular" will ask a question and usually get a response, but if a new user asks a question the only response is "search" how can you call this a friendly forum with double standards such as this.

I may be rambling on here but I've grown dissatisfied with the general temperment of this forum over time. Not everyone is as computer savy as some users on here and the search feature isn't the easiest thing to use, I myself have searched certain items and received results that have nothing to do with what I'm looking for and I usually have to sift thru 1000+ posts to find what I'm looking for.

Thats because the "Newbies" and "Lazy" people he is referring to generally come and ask questions like:

How much HP will I get if I go turbo?
How much does that cost?
Where do I get a turbo?
What engine can I install in my MX-3?
How much will that cost?

etc etc etc

THOSE are the questions that get the "SEARCH" answer from me.

sk8erdude28 · Post by **sk8erdude28** » June 24th, 2006, 9:16 pm

Andrew_Pakula wrote:Personally I never minded having parts for sale here in the Toronto forum as long as it was regulars who were posting them. There was however many problems that developed with untrustworthy people coming on here posting all kinds of rare expensive stuff or other questionable items who all had under 10 posts to their name. Also over time the forum began to become cluttered with only for sale posts and in some cases they were duplicates because people were posting them in both boards. I think having a seperate sub-board Toronto For/Sale forum would be a good thing but it isn't my call. I think if this was done a few years ago it might have been good but now I think the demand is starting to level off so it might just be better to leave the one For Sale forum.

Good idea, but on FEOA, we have one 'For Sale' and another one, 'Canadian For Sale'.

It works great, then you don't have to worry about border fees, customs etc. Sure, it might ship from BC to Canada, but if Toronto has it's on Buy/Sell, thebn maybe BC will want one too. Might as well just have one for Canada only.

Grants · Post by **Grants** » June 27th, 2006, 4:54 am

I think something that is being overlooked is that a WTB forum is open to all the rorts a FS forum is.

KevinK jumps into the WTB forum asnd says he wants a radiator. The scammer just jumps on and offers him one BECAUSE THE SCAMMER DOESN'T NEED 30 POSTS EITHER.

I can't see it being any different than dropping the 30 post threshold in the FS forum.

Unless we think its alright to put casual / newbie users at what has been deemed a "risk". Personally I wouldn't think that fair.

I don't buy / sell on the forum and have more than 30 posts anyway so I'm not affected by any of this, but I've often wondered about this 30 post threshhold. Its not like Mx-3.com goes guarantor for sales made by persons with over 30 posts anyway, although it could be considered that mx-3.com approves of persons with more than 30 posts and is a tacit approval that doing business with them is safe. So the Rule may may have quite the opposite effect than intended in some cases.

How many times have you see someone come on here, post plenty in a day of 2 and whack something up for sale? I don't think the rule works, is right, and would think a big disclaimer warning people of the risks of doing business in a forum would be more appropriate.

96mx-3 · Post by **96mx-3** » July 19th, 2006, 7:37 pm

i was wondering the same things to and i understand that people are ripping people off but i dont have anything to reply to 30 times inorder to buy something i dont wanna just blab on about nothing inorder to get a part is there anything i can do ?