In House Auction
Posted By : Alistair Mathie, 06-Mar-2005, 00:08am
Ray,
I'd fully support that idea; i've lots of spitfire bits that I no longer need that I'm sure other members would be interested in.
Al
I'd fully support that idea; i've lots of spitfire bits that I no longer need that I'm sure other members would be interested in.
Al
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In House Auction
Posted By : Stephen Cooper, 06-Mar-2005, 01:47am
Sounds an excellent idea to me ray..-
In House Auction
Posted By : Colin Lindsay, 06-Mar-2005, 10:19am
This idea was bandied about a few weeks ago as a 'swap shop' for members - check the messageboard threads.
If you want to keep parts within the club, just advertise them in the club classifieds, or in the going spare section. Simple! Or should we have a 'parts for sale / wanted' section on our profiles?-
In House Auction
Posted By : Craig Gingell, 06-Mar-2005, 10:28am
I am currently working on the performance fix for the MessageBoard (no really), and once that is done we will implement the Swap Shop feature Colin Lindsay suggested a few weeks ago.
Comments, questions, ideas and suggestions welcome.
Craig-
In House Auction
Posted By : Tim Willis, 09-Mar-2005, 11:02pm
A lot of the points raised are aimed at preventing money being made by people selling parts, which if it offends then fair enough. But the club classifieds are hardly easy access, and the courier page should just be called the Mike Papworth page. What about people who are looking for parts and are quite happy to pay regular second hand prices to get them. It goes on all the time you know and Ebay is not user friendly to those who don't have time to spare / or sit in front of a computer all day.
I am sure we all have masses of stuff which is of use to others and doesn't need a contrived 'swap for xyz' just to get it advertised.
As for depriving the club of funds, come on, go on google and check some of the classified ad sections to other clubs, (big and small), there are plenty, all free to advertise on and view and very effective. If anyone thinks that items won't be bought from a swap shop listing they are mistaken. 'No sorry I won't sell it to you because I need my xyz in return'
Can't the club be big and brave enough just to put up a free classified page, it will benefit everyone in the club.
And yes I know I am a trader but I am not interested in running a business from free classifieds, and the stuff is no good cluttering my garage any more than everyone elses.
Tim
Willow Triumph-
In House Auction
Posted By : Colin Lindsay, 10-Mar-2005, 07:41pm
Tim, I don't really understand what point is being made here. The aim is not to prevent people making money from selling parts but to give them a) another outlet and b) a simple like-for-like format as a bit of fun. We're trying not to tread on club toes by undercutting the paying classifieds otherwise - why have any extra features at all?
You can't say the club classifieds aren't easy access as they hang off the back of every Courier, unless you're talking about the on-line ads, and here you have a duplication of being both in the magazine and on-line so everyone gets to see them. I'd rather sell on eBay as a) it's massively cheaper than classifieds, only takes seven days rather than a month's delay due to printing and publishing and I don't have to stipulate a final price but can make far far more from bidders than I would ever have the nerve to ask!
Yes we do all have masses of stuff which is of use to others, yet you rule out ebay as not user friendly, club classifieds as 'hardly easy access' and the Courier as 'Mike Papworth's page' and also state you don't want to run a business from free classifieds. So - what IS your alternative? You can't claim on one hand that there are people looking for parts and are prepared to pay regular second-hand prices for them, and then on the other deride the very features which are bringing these parts to their notice! I'd love to see on-line ads for free on the messageboard but why should the Club advocate anything which will lose it profits? Would members like a rise in membership fees to cover the loss in revenue? I'm sure other Clubs' free ads are wonderful, I don't know myself, I've never been to them.
The only advice I can give you is: if you want to use the service, go ahead, if not - don't knock it or else propose something better which we can embrace. The swap shop concept is hardly contrived, in fact we can all go elsewhere and no-one is forcing us to have anything to do with it. It's something to give members a bit of fun, another bonus feature on the classifieds, and move a few unwanted parts out of our garages.-
In House Auction
Posted By : Tim Willis, 10-Mar-2005, 08:27pm
My point is clear, free classifieds are useful, easy to access and benefit us all. As you point out, the courier ads are subject to printing delay and it is such a pitiful selection from what must be one of the biggest clubs in the UK, not many people can really be bothered with them as a useful way of advertising as proved every month. Most of them are business adverts anyway.
Why should the club make profits from them, do they make so much from the current arrangement? As for losing profits, come on be realistic, a large source of ads for parts will only attract people to the website and encourage membership. And anyway aren't we supposed to be in it for the good of the marque?
The swap shop idea is good as a bit of fun, the same way the TV program was, but like the going spare section I doubt if it will be a roaring success.
My point about not wanting to run a business from free classifieds was just meant to highlight the fact that I am not making these comments for selfish reasons.
As it is I do better financially by hanging on to stuff until it is needed in the workshop where the real need for that part boosts its value beyond that of normal second hand. How many of us have had to source ordinary, trivial bits and pieces from traders and paid through the nose. I am talking about the stuff on scrap and spares cars which are of no value until someone calls needing one to replace a broken or missing item.
A proper free classifieds would be a serious resource in Triumph circles.
But that is only my point of view.
Tim
Willow Triumph
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In House Auction
Posted By : Andrew Dann, 10-Mar-2005, 09:42pm
hi with all this talk about free advertisement i do agree if you have to pay to advertise something you either put the price up or dont bother and keep hold of it the trouble with ebay is that some things go for silly money with people trying to make to much money i run 3 triumphs on not a lot of spare money and cant affored to pay high prices for thing i need or would like two of my car were saved fromed being scrapped so what would be better free ad with things at a reasonable price of people like me endding up scrapping the cars because cant afford to keep them on the road cheers andy
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In House Auction
Posted By : Chris Mills, 06-Mar-2005, 10:28am
Colin
I raised your item at the last Council meeting
The COM has agreed to give it a try, I've talked with Craig and he'll start to work on it asap.
I'm not able to promise a date as yet when it may be " live "
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In House Auction
Posted By : Jonathan Binnington, 06-Mar-2005, 04:01am
gets my support too
bin
bin
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In House Auction
Posted By : Chris Wilson, 06-Mar-2005, 08:54am
And mine!
Regards
In House Auction
Posted By : Nigel Gibbins, 06-Mar-2005, 09:28am
You can already do this on ebay (I think) with a private auction.
And besides, we are discussing a voluntary code of practice for ebay on another thread, whereby we can all 'sign up' and then we can name-and-shame (I suppose) anyone who doesn't abide by the rules.
There are a lot of legal issues to be worked in order to start our own auctions here, also Craig would have to buld us an area, then there's the old - "equal value for non-web users" argument.... blah, blah... rhubarb
BTW - the parts for sale is already a feature of this site... look at the classifides... it's not just a messageboard y'know
And besides, we are discussing a voluntary code of practice for ebay on another thread, whereby we can all 'sign up' and then we can name-and-shame (I suppose) anyone who doesn't abide by the rules.
There are a lot of legal issues to be worked in order to start our own auctions here, also Craig would have to buld us an area, then there's the old - "equal value for non-web users" argument.... blah, blah... rhubarb
BTW - the parts for sale is already a feature of this site... look at the classifides... it's not just a messageboard y'know
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In House Auction
Posted By : Jonathan Binnington, 06-Mar-2005, 10:36am
hmm, classifieds we get charged for, perhaps theer could/should be a perk for membership dues which could be free acces to a parts for sale section??
bin-
In House Auction
Posted By : Nigel Gibbins, 06-Mar-2005, 02:50pm
What's the 'perk' for a non-web based member then? You have to remember that the club is for all it's members, not just for some (just reiterating the old argument there).. gotta keep a perspective on these things
If the membership keep asking for 'free' things you may find that the fees will need to increase to cover it, then you have to ask who is subsidising these free perks. I can't see any justification for allowing free advertising either in the courier or on this website. After all the seller will make some money by using the clubs advertising facilities, why can't the club there for charge an approprite fee for that facility?
The 'Going Spare' section was included some time ago FOC to members and that is fine as no money 'should' be changing hands through it. So why when I look there is it full of pitiful 'want' ads and parts for 'sale' for beer money? Why does everyone think they should get something for nothing?
If you read the financial reports for last year, you'll see that the club is not in a position to offer freebies at the moment. :S
*I'd just like to point out here, that as far as the direction the club goes in, I am not in anyway a part of the COM or do I have any influence... In that respect, I'm just a member like everyone else*-
In House Auction
Posted By : Jonathan Binnington, 06-Mar-2005, 04:40pm
NiG, I'm pleased to see that you have not missed my point about the balance between member to member assistance (ie something-for-nothing) and the requirements of a buisness being run as a buisness.
The going spare section is surely not visible to non-web based members anyway and i am not sure about the basis for posts here, perhaps some further guidance is indicated?
So it appears there are problems about getting this idea off the ground?
sorry, more questions than answers here, but these questions benefit from discussion in my experience
bin
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In House Auction
Posted By : Colin Lindsay, 06-Mar-2005, 05:10pm
I had hoped the going spare / swap shop section would be available to members only on a strictly no-cash basis; either parts going spare, unwanted and free, or else swap parts for parts ie like for like or like value for same so as not to hit club funds by taking away from the classifieds. The sort of concept I had in mind was such as my own personal circumstances eg now with a MK2 Gt6 engine requiring parts and with a lot of Mk1 ancillaries no longer needed; I have an unleaded Mk1 head, stainless manifold, head gasket set and pushrods etc. all going spare and require the same for my Mk2 engine, and was hopefully going to find a member in the opposite camp! Similarly I was exchanging a black Herald Estate interior for red, and am considering swapping my Coupe for a convertible. All like for like with no cash involvement. You see how it works?
I must agree, there is going to be a problem of services available to members who are not on the web. At the moment the message board is only available on-line but this is a service available to all, if they get on the Net. We cannot wait for everyone to get on the Net before we start offering Net based services, and if the services are there, more people will come on-line. With the growth of Internet cafes and the current crop of call-box access points, which I use to surf eBay when away from home, surely most if not all of us can get on-line at some stage?
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