The For Sale/ Wanted boards - update from M Towers and post your ideas/thoughts here

[JustineMumsnet]

As you may know we have in mind a complete overhaul of the For sale/ wanted boards as they seem to be making many folks' lives (ours especially) a misery.

Clearly it makes sense for us to have classified ads - why not re-cycled used stuff? That should in theory be good for buyers and sellers alike (and it's very green too). But equally clearly, at the risk of understatement, it is not functioning well at the moment.

However, complete overhaul is going to have to wait a wee while as Tech's got quite a lot on... (We are hopefully bringing you improved local listings, blogs and more in the next few weeks and months).

In the meantime do give us your ideas for how you'd ultimately like to see For sale/ wanted working. (I know some of you have already posted some sensible (and not so sensible thoughts around and abou but we'd be super grateful if you'd re-post the best of them here so everyone can see, discuss and refine.)

So... what rules would be fair/enforcable and assist in the smooth working of the thing? (nb we are never going to enforce a no huns policy I'm afraid, so do be realistic - MN is for all parents even those with poor grammar and spelling.)

Should we re-house somewhere off Talk? And will it be used/useful if we do? Can we make it work on Talk if not? What would make it easier to use/ more functional?

Should we charge and if so how. What would you pay to use and how would you like to pay it?

Which other boards do this successfully and what are the best ideas/functionality should we pinch?

To ease the pain of waiting for overhaul, next week we will introduce a couple of quick fixes that might hopefully smooth the operation a little, namely we're going to insist that everyone who posts a for sale notice pays a CAT and we'll break down the boards into categories so things are more easily searchable.

In the meantime, please hang on in there and if it all gets too much there's always the hide thread/topic option .

Thanks for your input and your patience.

Peace and love,

Mumsnet Towers

I'm worried about the suggestion that sellers should have a minimum amount of postings before they're allowed to sell anything.

Won't that leave us with a load of drivel on the talk boards just to notch up up posting numbers?

I don't think sellers should be made to post on the talk boards either. If I sold on mumnset I wouldn't want to post much on talk. Good point 2sugars (I don't mean the you talking drivel bit )

My thoughts:-

1. To be able to post in the classified section (apart from media requests and small businesses), users must have been active for at least 3 months and have at least 50 posts.

1. To be able to post as above users must also pay the standard CAT fee

1. I don't see the difference taking selling etc off the main site would make, but I don't think it should be shown within active convos

1. All new members should also fill in a profile and this should have a post count number on it and a feedback section if possible, where other members can add their + or - comments on any sales.

1. We must remember that above all else this is a parenting site, and the facility to be able to pass on or sell used baby items or clothes is a fantastic one. I have bought many items from both regular regulars and from selling regulars.

Another suggestion - why not add sale threads to mumsnet local sites while taking them off 'talk'?

It could be free of charge if a seller lives locally (does mumsnet have a way of checking postal addresses?). This would increase the traffic to mumsnet local sites and let sellers who can't afford to pay fees, still sell things on a small scale.

If sellers also want to sell to the whole mumsnet community, then they have to pay to go on a general 'for sale' section separate to 'talk'.

Add my two pen'orth, although no doubt it's already been said....

1. would help if the for sale section was categorised a little more....baby stuff, childrens clothes, ladies, games and toys etc

2)would also be nice if the listing title ONLY included what was for sale, not any of this "I need to clear out my house" "need money for paypal" "will go on ebay tomorrow"

3)if location was also listed so that you could tell straight away if you could collect or not...

Unless it's benefitting MNHQ in any way, I'd like buying and selling banned.

I dislike the 'them and us' and the inverted snobbery and aggression. It's just the antithesis of what mumsnet is. Mumsnet is the broadsheet of the online world, it just is. It's not about wealth, snobbery or class, it's just the most intelligent parenting forum, regardless of the posters' origins. And that's why it's routinely quoted in the press. What goes on in the Buying and Selling boards is just a nightmare - scammers and people with 19 buggies swapping them for other buggies. It's all just insanity. Can you imagine some of the threads being quoted if another SWMNBN lawsuit popped up?

Buying and selling was supposed to be for mums to sell on outgrown/unused items not as a free Ebay. There are plenty of places to sell on your things. Ebay, freecyle, charity shops, hospitals, car boot sales, other boards. It doesn't have to be mumsnet.

I think that maybe mnhq should start charging people for using the for sale board, the same way that ebay does, then mnhq will benefit from it and people on here are not selling things for free.

I think we should be trying to get back to what the sale boards used to be like, which means discouraging people who are only using them to make money. Only allowing those who have been members for a period of 3 months and who have made a minimum amount of posts on other subjects, ensuring that they pay the CAT fee and that they add a profile would go some way, I think, to getting them back to the way they used to be.

I'll pay to CAT, but not for selling or buying.

Well I understand why people opbject to the use of the term hun but I've found the term regular applied to the rest of us with just as much derision.

It's aptently not true that the regs feel welcome on the for sale boards. I saw somethinga dvertised this morning, thought ooh yes- almost clicked it then thought better.

Frankly iof that's the effect the culture over there is having, then the sellers are only ahrming themselves with their (not all but some) objections to any form of regulation.

I think hun's pretty mild, actually.

And quite descriptive.

And something the huns call each other.

I can't see the HunXXX thing without thinking of this, which is surely not how they wish to be regarded?

What annoys me about 'Hun' is it's short for Hunni, IT'S HONEY.

i think its a bit like 'doll' or 'babe' a term of endearment i wouldnt necessarily use myself as only common as shit people use it and i am clearly above them.

in that context therefore i accept it as a nice thing whilst clearly looking down on people who do.

btw mumsnet towers real suggestion spurring from CD's housebuying thread - which everyone on there ignored.

there is a brighton mumsnetter who recently set up an estate agency and therefore would know the legalities - i dont think that with the help of tech and their skill in estate agency that it would be to onerus to set up the MumsnetMove housebuying/selling website. i do not know how the partnership would work regarding who gets what - and i havent een spoken to her ( the original) DesperateHouseWife.

any way. just a thunk

if thats too difficult can i have a prive for mumsnetMove - say a villa in greece for a week or sommat?

thanks

Lol, Custy.

I must admit, I have RL friends that put babe and hun and lots o kisses in text messages and want to scream at them.

Talking about me custardo?

should i be sparkybabe?

here is a prime example of how dreadful it all gets...

I think it either needs to be in some way accountable so you can get an idea of the seller's repuation and sellers need to pay a fee OR the whole thing should go

it gets very intense in there, doesn;t it?

FWIW, I hide the threads but it is irritating if you haven't logged in and they're all over the place. Separate section please.

Having just seen this thread, I have changed my mind and want the whole selling thing binned. What a rip off for used perfume. Grrr

at that thread you linked to Blonde !!!!!

I think it demonstrates once again that the boards cannot be relied upon to self-moderate.

It used to be conducted on goodwill.

It needs a dispute console of some sort. I don't think MNHQ have the resources to do this unless they start charging commission on the sales. That action alone will probably half, if not more, the amount of traffic on those boards anyway (because I really do think they are being abused because they are free). Therefore a dispute console wouldnt be worth it anyway. Or would it?

i was a fan of the for sale thread but i think its got fucking ridiculous

sorry for foul language

Blonde - that thread is truly shocking. Have your reported it? I am going to.