BST consolidation issues, question?
 

Hey Ya'll
It has come to my attention, more than once, about folks having too many open threads in each of the BST forums. IS there a problem having a rule of only 2 open threads on the front page at once? I generally don't like rules but this might help everyone.

So, if you put up a T206 green Cobb. Then in 3 days you want to sell a red one, you can just add to that thread and change the title. It's not difficult to do and it might be best for keeping everything tidy. I continually get emails and PMs about this issue. I can consolidate them myself but don't want to upset anyone and would rather have members do it on their own. Thoughts??

Hallelujah. Long overdue.

I personally like the BST as it is. I really like the new T206 section.

leon
 

the lack of consolidation doesn't bother me.
but I sure love the t206 change. It has saved me enormous time.
I've also become more aware of things that rarely come up for sale--like the
T200.

great work,
all the best,
barry

+1

I would greatly be in favor of that rule, Leon. As a frequent B/S/T poster, it is continually frustrating to see my listings immediately bumped far down the page by some posters who choose to list, for example, 5 or 6 different individual low grade T206s in separate threads. The vast majority of the B/S/T users who ARE considerate of others and list/bump their threads at reasonable times are faced with the options of either being less considerate and bumping more often...or having their listings very quickly moved down the list.

As many others have noted, I am not really a fan of more rules myself, but this one really does make sense to me. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to discuss this.

+1

consolidation yes
 

Leon,
Yes should be a limit to 2-3 posts maybe every 3-4 days. Maybe it doesnt happen as much on the t206 new section but if you look on the 50s-70s section and the memorabilia section (I dont like to use names) But some of these people put up different items some for low prices 5-10 dollars but post 10 items ! Why not put them all on one posting! I know I usually do! Then after a very short time sometimes hours they BUMP it back to the top. Maybe to make it a little more fair a person shouldnt be allowed to Bump the item for lets say a week. Its a great place to do deals but I do believe Some people tend to take advantage of the lax rules on the BST. Like one person always looking for those harder and regional issues! Posts 10-15 different threads looking for these things, why not just make one posting with all the items you are looking for?Gets very annoying. Just my nickels worth!

I read the T206 BST & the Auction section every day. Seems as if you are going to sell 3 T206's, make one post for the 3 cards (as MOST folks do), unless maybe one of them is a really big $ card.

Right now the section seems to be clogged w/ several Sellers making different posts for EACH card.

When that happens, next is the constant bumps to get ahead of each other, plugging up the whole section.

Just COMBINE into 1 and all goes much smoother!

+1

The "rule" should be "use common sense".

Amen !!!!! +1

We are having this discussion because common sense isn't so common.

But....
 

What if you have say, 4 different items available but all in the same section (a signed ball, a signed bat, 10 signed photos and 15 signed cards). The heading area isn't large enough to let buyers know you have 4 different types of similar but different items and they may pass it over because they don't see what they want in the title. What would be the protocol for that? You can't just say "signed items for sale" as a lot of buyers might not just take a look. Just saying. Plus, with all the threads bitching about ebay, I would think LESS restrictive rules would be welcome, not MORE.

Just to be clear where I am coming from, I could give a rats a** about it personally. I don't use the BST a ton. We are discussing it to help most members. Maybe there will be a rule, maybe not. As for your scenario...how about


FS- ALL SIGNED - a ball, bat, 10 photos & 15 cards


I think that would all fit :)

I am very much for this, Leon. Some forum members already update their B/S/T threads (and titles) whenever a card is sold, new cards are added, or a card is moved to Ebay. If this becomes the norm, it wouldn't require much additional effort. I think it's courteous, like multi-quoting and responding to many people in one post.

Edit: vote submitted.

i think we are really only talking about 1...maybe 2...at most 3 pages you need to scan through on an every other day basis to keep up to speed. it really is only about 3 minutes worth of time. do others really have that much of a problem with their thread being 2 pages deep?

i think most of us keep on the board....that is why it still survives right? when was the last time someone needed to be linked to a thread that is only 1 or 2 pages back?

kevin

Great idea, do it!

you can update your thread without bumping it to the top...right?

you just edit a post, rather than adding a new post to the thread.

kevin

I like the rule... It doesn't seem fair for someone listing one item to get bumped down because someone else listed five or six items

I added a poll. Please only vote if you care :).

Apparently so, as the people I presume you are defending seem to feel the need to repeatedly bump their multiple repetitive threads to the top.

When one person starts 9 different threads back to back to back and then a 10th thread to explain why he did it, that is a problem. Its rude, selfish and inconsiderate and those defending it are no better.

This is a screen shot of what I am referring to. It's in the 1950 to 1979 Section of the B/S/T.

hit it on the head
 

David +10
As I posted in my first post I didnt want to name names but you seem to see what I was talking about! Thats one of them and another has posted in this thread! First name rhymes with Bony.;);)

Nothing much to add to this, except that I agree.

Whether someone thinks the rules should be changed or not, I think a limit of 2 is way too low. If someone is posting so many threads that it becomes ridiculous, then maybe a PM saying "Lighten up on the posts" is in order, but as someone who is very active in the 50's-80's B/S/T, it is beyond easy navigating around without ever getting bogged down. If things get changed, then the interest and activity in that section is going to wither away. I don't like it.

Maybe things are different in the T206, but I'm never there.

I agree completely. I can see if someone is posting ten or twenty different listings individually, but that is usually not the case. I check the BST almost every day and I'm not sure I've ever had to scroll to page two to see new listings, but if I did, who cares? People are selling items and honestly I would love to have a lot of items to choose from. I agree that not condensing items that should be condensed could be an issue, but is this really happening that frequently that it's a problem? I've been here for over two years and I'm just not seeing much of an issue although the one David displayed is one.

How long does it take to look through listing headings...a minute or two? Come on guys...

Don't blame your fading position on the B/S/T for why your item isn't selling. Check your asking price and the market interest in your item.

Guys, ya'll should know how I feel about change on the board. I don't really like it unless it's an overwhelming situation. I already said I am neutral on this. I did vote and voted no, because that is how I generally feel about change. I think consistency is good. So far, I don't think there will be a change for a 60/40 split. If the percentage gets more skewed I am still open and still open anyway. That being said maybe this thread helped folks understand to consolidate when possible. Even if there is no change, if someone goes crazy and posts 10 in a row, as posted above, I assure everyone a simple PM to me will get those types of threads consolidated in about 2 minutes or less. That being said things can change. The individual T206 BST forum was a change that was well received by almost everyone and continues to flourish.

Leon,

I respect your opinion, but the topic of this discussion is the very reason that we limited the Live Auction section of the B/S/T to no more than 2-3 open posts at a time...and that's worked great IMO. So, why should other sections of the B/S/T be any different?

Auctions are more time sensitive than the other sections. Therefore it's even more important in that section, imo, than the others. Let's see how this shakes out.....

The BST here is definitely too congested.

A bit off topic in regards to the number of threads, but sellers bumping their threads just to announce their item has sold is senseless. The edit feature is really helpful!


Best,

Andy

Only 2 of 11 sections currently have less than a week of threads on the first page. I don't feel that is too congested. Some members will disagree.

Its not really about the physical act of scrolling to the bottom of the page or clicking to go to page two. I think that everyone deserves a chance to have their thread be "above the fold" on the first page so that their posts are easily seen upon page load.

I voted "yes" so that i can have some degree of control over the situation. Really, Id be mostly wanting to prevent something a little more unusual, like what David showed us, from happening. So if someone posts 8 in a row or whatever, I can consolidate them. I don't know if we really need a formal rule, but I'd say anything over say, three or four posts at a time is getting kind of lofty.

If we see someone doing 5-10 in a row like that, I think we consolidate them first then let the offender know to be careful in the future. I am leaning towards it not being a rule either....If there is a rule about it I can see a lot more oversight being needed, which I am not in favor of at all. :)

I've been thinking this for awhile but we really need a new want list thread as it would reduce quite a bit of the clutter. Not sure if it would work best as just a big post as we normally do it or an updated first post as new needs are found.

Good idea, Jack.

We see some sellers making 5 posts in a row, 10 posts in a row, CONSTANTLY and it really does get annoying and I think a bit unfair to others. I try to wait between 3-5 days to bump most of my posts to give others a shot but they get pushed quickly to page 3 and 4 in certain sections rather quickly.

PM me or Brian about it. You will stay anonymous and we will take care of it. There is no reason I can think of that someone should post 5 individual threads in the same section at the same time. That tactic doesn't fly. But I know I don't, and I doubt Brian does, check every section constantly. Everyone that has ever PMd me knows their PMs get looked into...and usually quickly.

Wtb
 

I agree with Jack there should be a WTB thread by it self. Thanks, Marc

No one has ever stopped anyone from doing this. It's a great idea. More people should start one. I have seen a few over there and they worked well. I think Wazoo started one not too long ago and it went gangbusters..

I agree with everything Marc just said. 95% of members understand that there is an un-written etiquette that needs to be followed on the b/s/t. The other 5% take advantage of this by taking far more than their share of advertising space for their items. I haven't sold anything on there in awhile, but if I had a listing immediately moved to 7th position because someone who has 6 individual threads for different t206s decided to bump them all for the 12th time right after I made my post, I would be upset.

+1

I think those SELLING need to look at it from the BUYER'S perspective. As (mostly) a buyer, I check out a couple of the different BSTs every day or 2. It doesn't take me long to scroll through the "new" listings (very rarely even going to the next page). At this point I have 3 options if I decide to click the link for more info on an item that's listed to see if it's something I might be interested in buying: I want it, I don't want it, I'm not sure.

A ) If the price is for me a "buy it now", then I respond (PM or email) and get it. Case closed.
B ) If the price is too high, then YOUR position higher up could be construed as impeding MY finding something I might be interested in. At this point I don't care if I ever see it again, UNLESS the price is dropped/bumped. Maybe we need a rule to bump ONLY when there's a price change and not to jockey for position? (Just kidding, partly)
C ) If it's "iffy", then I might put a watch on the thread. At that point, bumping does nothing for me since I'm already "watching" the thread.

I think if we broke the survey down (and based already on the number of comments), we'd find the bulk of those wanting the change are mostly "sellers". And I think the bulk of the "buyers" would either not want the change or be indifferent to it.

I have only been a buyer on the BST so far. When receiving the card I purchased, I typically leave a post in the BST thread to let everyone know that the transaction went well.

Have I inadvertently been breaching etiquette by doing this?

No, I think confirming a good transaction is fine. It is mainly the selling of multiple similar items, in different threads, that is an issue.

I concur with this guy ^^^^


Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
John F. Kennedy

Yea I'm more talking about a dedicated thread where the opening post would be updated so sellers wouldn't have to dig through 8+ pages like wazoo's thread.

It would need quite a bit of maintenance to keep up to date but I think it would really help the clutter

If you look at the screen shot I posted (page 3, post 22), the member that started the 10 threads back to back was a BUYER (not a seller), so you're comments are really way off base. Besides, this is not a buyer/seller issue. It's a matter of simple common courtesy. People either have it or they don't.

Other forums have the same type rules about multiple threads. Here is the one from CU. I believe we need the same.

http://forums.collectors.com/message...hreadid=738361

The PSA forums are good forums but are different than ours. I think they are a bit too heavy handed. Not a lot, but a bit. I prefer for our members to act responsibly themselves. I get PMs often concerning board issues. I want to know if someone is acting irresponsibly on our board. I would rather handle it that way (as a one-off) than have too many general rules. Also, in our poll here it doesn't seem too overwhelming to me.

I can appreciate that. Even if there are no rule changes, perhaps this discussion made those that are guilty aware of the situation and it won't be a problem in the future.