Controversial I Know-Can't We Get Rid Of The "For Sale" Board.

[FIMBO]

Or at the very least charge a nominal amount. It is threads like THIS that makes me feel this way. MN IS NOT A FREE VERSION OF EBAY!!!!!!

If its a conceren, then maybe the board should just be restricted to selling things to do with parenting like baby stuff i.e prams,cots,tots and things to do with older children like clothes,books and toys and maternity clothes then maybe it will deter people from using it as a free board for selling things like say a mobile phone,house things etc

How do you pay EBAY on ebay?

Why can't the same happen on here?

Could it have a feedback scheme?

And a % go to MN headquarters or charity?

I get annoyed with people who use MN like a FREE ebay

And then con the MNetters

I feel completely different when it is regular MNetters selling stuff cos they are PART OF THE COMMUNITY iyswim

IMHO anyway

wonders if mumsnet could do a deal with ebay to have a shop type thing for mumsnet members where items can be listed and sold and take some revenue?

I think you take your chances on the board.
I arranged a sale then exchange with a v regular poster who then didn't appear to send my stuff. She then disappeared from MN and didn't reply to any of my emails. I felt . I think I was over £10 out of pocket.
Ebay is safer for a buyer but I like the idea of supporting other Mums on here so I have listed some nappies again and asked for Paypal this time.
I do think it should stay though but perhaps be monitored better????

That poster is back by the way. She knows who she is . I had a different name then though.

Blimey SKYLER

That is dreadful perhaps you should name and shame her

I think we should have a feedback thingy it may shame people to behave better

You pay ebay through paypal.
They must have an account. They invoice you after you have sold items.
I know paypal just take their cut as soon as the money goes into your paypal account.

Restricting goods sold to parenting items seems like a good idea. I am buying something for the first time at the moment, but must admit I did a search on messages about the poster first just to reasure myself.

Mostly I just ignore the sales board, after all, if you don't like the sound of some posts you don't have to open them.

difficult one, really

I do tend to see it as keeping it in the community.

and have got some decent stuff off here.

I think its a system that can police iteself. I would never buy from someone without doing a name search. I also kind of want a RL name and RL address by email, in case of difficulties (seeing as how I'm handing over RL money!) and would not normally buy without them, tbh.

Thanks

So what if you don't have paypal?

I have never sold anything on ebay and I gave away stuff for free on here

I have bought stuff and paid with PO

DS still talks about buying PIFFLE's DS lego

Not entirely sure tbh Kanga.
Surely MN could use the same system for the For Sale boards as Media and Business?

I dont see why that would hurt tbh, a small fee for using it and I'm sure the extra funds would help MN.

I've seen other sites use MN competitions before. They advertise them and basically stipulate that all you need to do is register to enter.

Ahh I think you need to register your card details with ebay IIRC.

I feel that I must apologise as a new Mumsnetter. I have listed a load of dd's clothes and stuff recently on MN rather than putting them on ebay, lets face it, its mums like us that are buying off ebay anyway, why should we pay ebay costs when it can be done this way? I rarely 'chat' on threads simply because I dont get alot of time. I have bought a couple of things off MN too and I would always offer paypal because its an instant payment so you dont have to worry about taking cheques to the bank etc.

Oke doke thanks for explaining about PAYPAL and EBAY

But if you pay for something it still doesn't mean that the person will send it does it?

Cos there was a problem a few months ago with a picture and a neckalce wasn't there?

I wouldn't name and shame as it was a while ago now. Part of me still hopes there was an explaination as it did seem very out of character.
Lol WriggleJiggle aren't you buying from me?? What did you find out about me I wonder .

Thanks for raising this Fimbo and for all the useful feedback from everyone else. We regularly talk about ways we could make the For Sale section better/more efficient/more useful etc etc , so it's great to hear a range of views and some interesting suggestions - do keep them coming!

i think the boards should staybut agree with most of the suggestions here like only selling parenting related things etc.
i do click on quite a few of the for sale threads because dh and i dont have much money to play with now i SAH. i think it is a valuable part of mn. i feel i wont get ripped off when i buy things from here, especially when i recognise the sellers name from the talk boards, but am a bit wary at the same time because of the sort of thing that happened to skyler.
i do get annoyed tho when nearly every for sale i open is by the same person and i hardly ever see them on the boards.

Ok, I've been having a think about this.
Not sure how people would feel about it but it could work.
What if when people sign up to MN, they are asked which boards they wish to use?
For example if they want to use the for sale board, they have to pay a fee so possibly provide card details. This way it will probably get rid of those people who just use MN for the for sale board and those that will use it, will probably be the regular posters. Does that make sense?

If you really wnated to, you could ask everyone to provide card detials when they registered. You'd be sure not to get as many trolls that way too!

What annoys me are those who do more than sell their personal used/unwanted items ie. blatantly have access to bulk amounts and who happily exchange email addresses because they can't be bothered to subscribe to CAT (not that MNHQ should want to spend its time forwarding those sort of enquiries).

The Wanted board has got beyond its remit too. Fair enough to look for 2nd hand and recycle or if you are on a tight budget but some people seem to expect to be given everything on a plate "I want a Bugaboo/P and T et al but can't afford to pay for new or even the going rate for 2nd hand - must be pristeen condition, with all extras ...." Sorry but in this life you sometimes have to compromise according to your pocket be it a lesser kudos pushchair or only one pair of shoes per child. Either that or they are looking for opportunities to profit by reselling on ebay.

You often have to pay to put a card in a shop window so why not a nominal fee to register to initiate threads on for For Sale/Swap for a certain period (I'm sure sellers would then happily "shop" anyone who hijacked their threads to advertise their own wares !).

Skyler it wasn't me was it! I sold a bundle of dd's clothes on here and they were returned to me saying sender refused the parcel, but then i spoke to the mumsnetter on here who didn't know anything about the parcel being returned to me until i emailed, then i sent them again costing me another £10 in p&p but i never heard if the mumsnetter received them! God i hope it wasn't me and the clothes never turned up here again! This was last year!

Oh please dont do away with the for sale thread. I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if this has been said already but....

I hope you will all agree I am a very regular Mumsnetter with a lot to contribute (though I am not into handing out tips of the day, I admit) and I would seriously miss the for sale board. I rely on it to make a few pennies for my children's endless need for new clothes, and also occasionally buy things from other Mumsnetters. However, they are only a few pennies and having to pay to advertise would mean I would not use the for sale board anymore. I also use charity shops and nearly new sales so I would not be entirely bereft without it, but it would be sorely missed.

I do think it is a good service and intrinsic to the support we mothers can give each other if we can buy and sell our second hand goods here. Not everyone here is well off and making ends meet as a parent does seem to be a common theme across all the subjects discussed here, not just in buying and selling.

I do agree, however, that the system is open to abuse from outsiders and so I would propose that MN Towers should introduce a way of keeping out those who are only using MN for the free selling board. Perhaps you should have to rack up a number of posts first, or you should be a regular member for 6 months or so? Is that possible?

I also would not object to the for sale thread being shown somewhere other than on talk. I know people can click on "without buying/selling" but maybe that is not enough. I admit I sometimes find all the sales threads cluttering up the chat irritating, but I am not in the habit of clicking "without buying/selling" because I like to look out for a bargain.

i tend to put things on here first before ebay as its a fixed price instead of bidding so mums like me tight on cash can afford it.hadnt even thought about danger of buying from someone banned from ebay!i agree on the clicking if you WANT to include buying/selling.

I'll occasionally offer things here rather than on Ebay because in a way I feel I know (at least some of) the posters here and am therfore happy to pass things on at a lower price than I would via Ebay to total strangers. Also it's quicker to put things up here - both how long it takes to type out a desciption, and you know the outcome far quicker.

I think of the last three things I've offered here two have been for postage (at cost) only, and the other we went out of our way to deliver free. So used properly it can be a great resource.

I agree that it's easily abused though - perhaps we need a limit on how much any individual can post on the for sale boards, or as DumbledoresGirl says a pre-requisite of having made x number of posts on other threads and/or having been registered for a minimum period first?

I've posted a few things on the For Sale board- sometimes because I wanted a MNer to have the chance to get them first, sometimes because it's easier than faffing about on Ebay. If I wanted to make a fast buck though, i'd use Ebay-couldn't stand the shame of you lot knowing I'd fleeced someone!

I dont know whether I am doing right or not???? somebody help me out here???? I am new to mumsnet, need to get rid of dd's clothes and stuff as I am moving, was gonna put them on ebay but I think these clothes are so lovely I would rather see them go to nice people like the ones on mumsnet that have helped me out. If I am offending fellow mumsnetters I will stop listing, if there is some king of fee involved, I would rather put it to charity or something well deserved rather than into ebays pockets. Also what is CAT? GIVE ME GUIDANCE REGULARS!!