Forum Observation/ comparison

[rutwad]

I have noticed tractorbynet has a huge amount of forum members and active posts, much more so than most if not all other forums I visit. However, the classifieds here are miniscule in comparison to the other forums. Just curious I guess....

 

[ovrszd]

I have noticed tractorbynet has a huge amount of forum members and active posts, much more so than most if not all other forums I visit. However, the classifieds here are miniscule in comparison to the other forums. Just curious I guess....

In my tenure I have looked at the classifieds maybe 3 times. Have no logical explanation for that.

 

[Muhammad]

I have noticed tractorbynet has a huge amount of forum members and active posts, much more so than most if not all other forums I visit. However, the classifieds here are miniscule in comparison to the other forums. Just curious I guess....

We never really actively promoted classifieds and found so many fraud attempts that we made efforts to build it up.

 

[ovrszd]

Had more thoughts about this. I've sold some items to TBN members without using the classifieds. I've purchased some items from TBN members without using the classifieds.

 

[Muhammad]

Ultimately there's probably a technology that would make it work but I never liked any of the classified integrations for forums.

 

[PJSprog]

I browsed the Classified ads today for the first time ... right after I looked at the "Reviews" for the first time (from another post). Honestly, I just never bothered to look there before now. I've bought stuff from the TBN Store, but never even considered the Classified section.

On most forums I've experienced, the classified ads are promoted by the people with items there to sell. They are generally the ones who steer traffic there. When it's an active part of a site, others will start steering people there, too.

A shame about the fraud issue, Muhammad.

 

[Dadnatron]

Heh... I didn't even know there WERE classifieds.

 

[LD1]

Not many members within reasonable driving distance for what I would be looking for. And even if they were and they were selling something I wanted, odds are they also have it posted on Craigslist where I would see it first

 

[reb]

The only forum-related classifieds I look at are local. Shipping usually makes any deals impractical.

 

[ovrszd]

I recently bought a wood crafted item from my new TBN friend Bill Rogers, who lives in Canada. Found it from a picture he posted in a woodworking thread.

I've sold six skid plates I built to fit M series Kubota tractors to members of TBN. I didn't build them to sell, just started a thread about the build. Readers of the thread showed interest in purchasing. I certainly wasn't looking for the business.

I never look at the Classifieds here because if there's something for sale that I might be interested in, I generally stumbled on to it in a thread.

 

[ultrarunner]

Way back in around my first post it was about a tractor a member offered for sale...

We spoke on the phone and agreed I would drive the 400 miles to meet the next day... scrambled to borrow a truck and rented a trailer and had cash as the seller said only cash...

I was ready hitched and ready and get an e-mail around 8 pm at night that I just happened to check... seller said he had sold local and no longer has the tractor...

Was not a happy camper... looked a little more and finally bit the bullet and bought new... no regrets buying new.

I do buy from TBN advertisers...

 

[ovrszd]

Way back in around my first post it was about a tractor a member offered for sale...

We spoke on the phone and agreed I would drive the 400 miles to meet the next day... scrambled to borrow a truck and rented a trailer and had cash as the seller said only cash...

I was ready hitched and ready and get an e-mail around 8 pm at night that I just happened to check... seller said he had sold local and no longer has the tractor...

Was not a happy camper... looked a little more and finally bit the bullet and bought new... no regrets buying new.

I do buy from TBN advertisers...

Bummer..... Guess that could happen regardless of the source of the seller. My Son sells a lot on Craigslist. He'll take a verbal commitment and hold the item until the agreed upon date/time. 80% of the time the buyer is honest and shows up. A friend of mine, on the other hand, sells a lot on Craigslist too. He sells to the first person to put cash in his hand, and states that in any verbal discussion. :confused3:

 

[ultrarunner]

I think the distance is a major factor with heavy equipment...

The used tractor was a larger Kubota than I ended up buying new 14 years ago.

My Craigslist experience has been varied and extreme... some really good people that have become friends and others with zero integrity or worse as in scammers and con artists.

 

[ovrszd]

I think the distance is a major factor with heavy equipment...

The used tractor was a larger Kubota than I ended up buying new 14 years ago.

My Craigslist experience has been varied and extreme... some really good people that have become friends and others with zero integrity or worse as in scammers and con artists.

Yep. And the scammers are there because people are naïve and trusting enough to send money. And that's usually caused by selfish greed. "It was a great price". I've read confessions of TBN members admitting that they got taken, for thousands of dollars.....

The exchange that I recently had with Bill Rogers on TBN was a complete leap of faith on both our parts. He mailed the product before we had even resolved a payment method. I mailed him a check before the product arrived. Good faith deserves good faith.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've done that with small items and TBN members...

It was mostly when I bought a case of TRC grease and then when a member had some old Ford Wrenches... he just sent them to me and I sent a check...

The Model A Ford Club is like this... but to be a member you have to join and most are connected to their local chapters.

My biggest problem selling on Craigslist is my location... people simply are unwilling to drive to East Oakland CA...

I can advertise the same item and have it 10 minutes away at my brothers and the first person always buys it... almost 100% no show when I provide my Oakland address.

 

[Xfaxman]

I sold this: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-flail-mower-central-oklahoma.html?highlight=

 

[Bird]

He mailed the product before we had even resolved a payment method. I mailed him a check before the product arrived. Good faith deserves good faith.

I did the same thing with another TBN member. I mailed the product and figured it would be OK with me if he checked it to be sure it was what he wanted before paying. However, he mailed the payment before he got the product.

 

[ovrszd]

I did the same thing with another TBN member. I mailed the product and figured it would be OK with me if he checked it to be sure it was what he wanted before paying. However, he mailed the payment before he got the product.

Bird, that's how we are supposed to behave. Even if it bites us occasionally. I'll take that kind of behavior over being a jerk anyday.

 

[ovrszd]

I've done that with small items and TBN members...

It was mostly when I bought a case of TRC grease and then when a member had some old Ford Wrenches... he just sent them to me and I sent a check...

The Model A Ford Club is like this... but to be a member you have to join and most are connected to their local chapters.

My biggest problem selling on Craigslist is my location... people simply are unwilling to drive to East Oakland CA...

I can advertise the same item and have it 10 minutes away at my brothers and the first person always buys it... almost 100% no show when I provide my Oakland address.

Admitting I have limited experience with Oakland. Primarily, that's where I landed on my return trip from Vietnam. I think the perception of an "Oakland" address might be misleading.

 

[ultrarunner]

It can be a huge deterrent... even when I sold my CAT Dozer... the guy drove hundreds of miles and almost turned around when he got off the freeway... thought for sure he was being set up.]

Fortunately, he continued and all was good...

It is something hard to describe unless you regularly experience it...