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 dont mind em now you can ban em

but like some one already said as well as stayce her self why is all her stuff boys if shes a shop? umm seems bit dodgy to me i also had loads of stuff way too much for my son but i passed it all on to my sis as she was preg if she wasnt then i wud have sold it and looked like a shop as for on my ebya i have sold loads of prams ppl prob think im a shop but i aint they are just all my own prams

"dont wanan see mated slaged off then get upset"

But it's Ok for you to be rude to people? Fab.

I'm off. Still voting SCRAP them

no coz its happening too much its getting beyond a joke and i wasnt rude just stating my opions oh no thats not ok is it? seems every one else was doing it.

How sad you all are...

To hound a woman like this...

I find it very very pathetic and childish behaviour

As if stayce is a trader for gods sake....Business on here would be like suicide... the amount of competition and stuff for sale on here, combined with having to actually post the items... There's no profit in it unless you have little slave boys sat on the floor making the items for you!

As if your are all actually discussing this...Maybe as a bloke i dont understand your urgency to FORCE everyone to post everywhere, even if their sole intention of joining mumsnet was to flog all their baby stuff...wheres the harm in that?? I know thats what attracted me..and probably many others!!

And in anycase..She's a pretty shit trader considering she is asking for items to buy on the wanted post...and buying from other sellers on the for sale board...i've heard about drinking the profits..But thats a bit far fetched dont you think?

'so wat if ppl are trading'

well, for one, they're supposed to be registered with the IR for this, for tax purposes, and allowing people to do so with no restrictions here could land MN in a lot of trouble.

and for what?

so a select few can run an online market stall for free?

scrap for sale, please!

Stayce on Mon 28-Jan-08 20:59:07
"I have used mumsnet to its full, I havent replied in all the other areas of mumsnet firstly because i do find them quite hostile if you say the wrong thing to the wrong person.. and because sometimes i just dont have the time, i log on , check if there has been any response to threads and check my emails..."

But a quick search of your name reveals that you have only posted in For Sale or Wanted. How is that using MN to the full?

Becauseimworthit....

GET THIS YEAH

ITS OPTIONAL...

YOU CANT MAKE PEOPLE POST WHERE THEY DONT WANT TO

THERE IS NO RULE TO SAY THAT YOU CANT SPEND 6 YEARS POSTING ONLY ON THE FOR SALE THREAD.....!!!???

IS THERE?????????????????????????????

Single dad, in waht way does

'The thing is claire, trading (as opposed to selling bits and bobs) '

attack anyone who is a non-trader? I thought that was quite expicitly NOT about hounding the bots and bobs brigade!.

I genuinely think sellers should use ebay, for their own safety in transactions (Dh ahs had more than a few scammers trying it on) as anything else- however I'm not screechng for an all out ban, just some moderation. if it can be kept within a cerain controlled area so that sellers can use the site and non-sellers can also navigate freely, then where exactly is the ahrm in that? If there is a section where one can list their items for (say) boys aged 12 - 18 months or whatever? Most of us object to the multiple posts not the existence of bits and biobs selling per se, the rpoblem is if you suggest anything toehr than the status quo some people seem to get extremely uppity and defensice- assuming that we're attacking them specifically, or trying to stop them being on MN.

And FWIW people might not want to come n the other threads- but i'd have been a lot mroe likely to kit this baby out on here rather than ebay if the names had been familiar. There's no seller ratings like ebay, so its mroe of a risk, and one I cant afford to take.

No,

There is a thread somewhere regarding how long you should keep your babies clothes for... (it was on active conversations once) and i posted quite a few times on there...

There was also another one regarding when your child is in hosptial, i posted on there too as my son is currently in and out of hospital having major surgery after major surgery.

Not that it is, as singledad so bluntly pointed out lol, a regulation that you have to use all of mumsnet.... you can use what you want to and leave the rest, you can never post on the for sale and wanted section, or you can only post on the for sale and wanted section, or you can post everywhere your little heart desires, its your personal choice, your time, your keyboard, your laptop, your personal choice!

Don't shout at me, please.

I wasn't trying to force anyone to do anything. I was merely pointing out that Stacy is not using MN to the full as she claims.

She is only using the site to trade. Which is what this thread is discussing.

there is a place for traders on mn unless its been taken off ...the business section where you pay

it's crap but it exists or does it?

zippi too uninspired to look

why don't sellers just used ebay for goodness sake it doesnt cost a fortune and people seem to like it lol

It exists Zippi, Flame has a nappy shop there for a start.

Zippi - because of the way MN has gone over the past year or so (and tit really wasn't always like this) - I agree with you. Ebay seems to be the best option.

MN did use to be a fab place to sell on clothes and toys your DC had grown out of, but now it is ridiculous.

How many For Sale threads are there today? It's gotten silly.

But Stayce - you cannot deny that you did post a For Sale thread that clearly stated you did once have a stall that was now closed and hence you had hundreds of brand new items to sell. OK so you haven't got a stall now and you may have a lot of your own used stuff to pass on - but you did say that in the thread that was deleted by MN.

yep it still exists

this is where traders can go

Peachy i take your point as to the classifications on the sellers board, i think that is a good idea, as i've found that problem when i have been tryin to buy things.

I apologise if you feel i had posted more than a fair amount, i was only trying to over come the classification problem, ie i had one trail RE the books and one re the baby stuff etc... As its hard to explain everything you have for sale in one little thread title..

I only object to people coming to conclusions about me, and my father, all because i wanted to pass of some practially brand new things to people for free or next to nothing, and have been made out as basically a shop or something...

Believe me...I wish i didnt have all this stuff lol!!

There are 646 threads with new messages/new threads in For Sale today.

That isn't what MN is about is it?

of course if you are a business then you have to be compliant with various regulations that make your business legal

Stayce I assure you I have no idea how many trhrreads you ahve, and was in no way attacking you or even referring to you directly.

if anyone on here is a trader in reality then I suggest they register with the inland revenue, Dh doesn't even make a profit thisbyear (amazing how much equipment costs) but at least he knows he isn't going to find them on his back at some distant point asking questions- and I think last year his extra tax came to £1.80 or the like!

Whereas I worked for VAt in the distant (very distant) past and the fines they lambasted you with, plus the additional grief, wasn't even vaguely worth it.

I put a thread on yesterday selling 2 lappad books. No response, I bumped today at 5.15 - there are now OVER 100 threads above it. YOu really don't stand a chance of selling much unless you join the 'throng' and continuously bump your threads, things just get lost too quickly.
I think things have to change as the board just doesn't seem to be able to cope with the volume of posts

Singledad07, no nobody should have to post where they dont want to.
And that is the point, these sellers dont want to take part in the mumsnet community.

On the other hand, you seem to be unable to post where you want, though, which must be annoying, seeing as you came here to the mumsnet Sales boards looking for a way to Bounty. It is here.

Look this is another problem sorry to use this as the example - but here's another reason why the board gets clogged !

Whizzz - had exactly same problem today

is mn ever going to do anything to end this