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

Whizz as i have explained a hundred times, i dont have anything, thats ANYTHING, and i'll say it again , i dont have anything left from that and that i why i requested it to be deleted.

I agree whole heartedly about traders etc, if you give me half a breath...

Yes singledad07 was a little bit harsh.. but to the point.. And it is a very very valid point..

I resent being told that i aren't using mumsnet to the full as if that makes me some sort of second class citizen, i use mumsnet when where and how i want to i HAVE posted in other areas, but only when i have the time, inclination or BECAUSE I WANT TO. When i see something on active convos that is relevant i read it, if i have something valid to say, i say it, but to be honest, i like many others am scared of saying the wrong bloody thing and getting my head bitten off, so stay in the comfort of the selling and buying. Why does this offend people so much?

I do take your points, all of them, i understand how if you do not wish to buy or sell, then all the threads appearing when you "active conversation" must be annoying - i understand this an i think that something should be done so that you dont have to Hide everything, perhaps an Opt Out option, where the classfieds dont appear in the active convos etc...

I appriciate that Traders..ie by definition people who buy things soley to sell them on here (although how this would make a profit i do not know as lots of people expect something for nothing)should use other webistes or the traders section..

Although, despite the little conclusions you have come to about me and my life, i am not a trader.. i live, as i have said, in a little house, with my husband, and my baby son, i work 35 hours a week for N power and have neither the time, inclanation, contact, money or techology or sales technique to be a trader...

I wasn't going to post in this topic but I take the point one poster made that it's most useful if as many members put forward their opinions as possible.

I'm a little surprised by those who say the For Sale section 'ruins' Mumsnet and must put off casual visitors. I was once a 'casual visitor' to MN and never even noticed buying and selling, it wasn't of interest to me so I didn't look at it and skimmed the many other sub-headings for topics and forums I was interested in. Then, when it became an option, I put all buying and selling onto Hide, along with a load of others. To me it just doesn't exist, except when it turns up in topics discussing it. I can't believe my experience isn't at least fairly typical, so I'm unconvinced that it gives all or most new visitors the 'wrong impression'. Perhaps, like me, the majority come to Active Convos when they have already imbibed the 'spirit of Mumsnet' and then choose either to take buying-and-selling or to leave it?

Obviously there is an issue of some MN-ers wanting to use it and feeling 'put off'. The them-and-us thing is certainly divisive but there are faults on both sides, I've seen posters from both 'camps' being discourteous. Not sure what could be done about that one, but there are obviously practical problems with the rules and admin of the section, which hopefully can be sorted out and which will make it a more pleasant and cooperative experience for those who wish to use it.

Stayce..you are right., you do have a FFP thread...in For Sale with links to a number of picture trails.

I only bring it up because you did.

And just so you know, it was me that reported your thread along with several others on For Sale who were clearly taking the piss - you haven;t been singled out. You bump your posts a LOT you add *'s despite my telling you politely that it interferes with screen readers. you also start a LOT of threads therefore your name and the things you sell will be noticed more.

There are other places to sell things other than MN and ebay...there are NCT sales, car boots, etc
If you want to give it away then give to charities, women's refuges, women's unit in prisons even.

but there used to be tumbleweed in for sale and it was relatively unnoticeable

it has changed somewhat

you could have your very own website

What worries me (& maybe I'm over reacting as others don't seem too bothered) is the amount of money that is involved without any form of protection in place for eaither party.
In Active convos at the mo is someone with an £800 laptop for sale & another wanting to sell a Wii for £400 - I am not advocating MNHQ to provide protection for such transactions more worried in case MN gets held responsible for any losses.

What is the threshold for earnings online before you are supposed to declare it?

"another wanting to sell a Wii for £400"

You see, that kind of thing annoys me. Unless this has several things with it to make it actually worth £400 it is out of order on MN. MN isn't her to rip people off. Go to ebay for that!

hunofmonsters maybe stayce doesn't know what a screenreader is? (didnt see your post obviously), I imagine many people wouldn't?

Its true that there are discourtesies going on these days among both 'sides'- I even admit to a few 9though if peolpe DID come into MN proper soemtimes they may relaise why I am under extreme stress atm but thats by the by and I fully admit to a little narkiness recently, and apologise).

However, its imply hasn't always been the case, until recently- VERY recently- there were no issues at all with all of this, its what? 8 weeks, or so since it all satrted to kick off?

Which suggests that teh changes needing to be amde to keep everybody happy are small ones. Certainly no * in thread titles 9for sale or otherwise).

stayce, did you have a shop, or a stall? because theres threads from you saying both, and you had the stall a year ago, oh no it was 18 months, oh no it was 3 years.

Whizz that concerns me too, also what happens wrt to MN towers if someone is found to be using MN as a venue to fence stuff through?

Buying/selling is crap, I say get rid of it.

I thought you were a childminder/foster mum stayce? or was that someone else...was sure I saw you in the wanted section looking for sensory room items? [puzzled]

i don't know peachy, she never said, in fact her reply was "indeed there are".

I do try not to be rude and explain things clearly (such as telling the poster there is a wanted section)

yes I know Hun, was trying to be kind to Stayce tis all.

FWIW Stayce si you don't know, several MN posters use contraptions to read their screens because theya re visually impaired, and they get confused by for example text speak and repeated grammaticals (eg &^%$&*).

Benefit of the doubt given, nest time shall send you a Very Hard Stare

gawd I reallys houldnt ahve abbreviated that to Hun- no goading intended!

Must add the Wii - was a big package of other stuff too

hahahahah peachy!

AM not normally Hunofmonsters...mumofmonsters usually so will let you off

i take it back about suggesting they start posting in business..you cant hide it as whizzzzzzzzzzzz has just pointed out lol

the issue of screen readers has been mentioned on threads that Stayce has been involved in or directed to, tbh peachy.

i think part of the confusion is that the selling community largely isn't made up of professional traders, but of people who have weirdly too much stuff. and they're not really getting rid of it because they're buying as well as selling, so it's totally circular and keeps them selling to keep on top of the clutter.

they bristle at being called traders because they're not, but they are habitual buyers and sellers who have no time or inclination to contribute to the rest of MN. some people are like that, people do love to shop...

which is, yes, their business if that's what they want to do but it does mean that 'traditional' MNers can no longer use the buying and selling resource that was set up for them to pass things on every now and again.

oh it's so tricky... i just want to be able to buy stuff, i want to be able to read the messages and know what they mean and i don't want to get ripped off. i suppose this is what has forced me onto ebay...

Did relaise that actually MOM! I may be pregygy and thick brained but not that much! (although a 4- get me, 4 hour lecture on tantrism today may have used up the alst of the grey cells)

they are professional online dealers

the same people you get at car boots

but its warmer here or it was

fair enough Aitch- been so snappy on here lately and antagonistic that I am being overtly nice today!. Won't last I am sure.....

I have bought a couple of times, from people just selling their unwanted stuff, nothing from picture trails etc. That's what I want to be able to continue to do, but it is clearly being abused and its downright annoying.

As MNHQ are unable to do anything about the for sale section until Tech has time, I think it should be temporarily suspended with immediate effect.

do you really think so, Zippi? gawd, i was giving the benefit of the doubt. certainly the people who've responded on this thread i find very sincere. but yes, i suppose if there were more of them they'd have been on here too...

Seems we also have the Avon Lady Here. Apologies in advance for singling out...