Suggestion - Template for Offers and Wanted

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sJBs

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#312390 12-Apr-2024 19:21

I love browsing the Offers and Wanted forum, but have some suggestions to guide buys and sellers. We've used this succesfully on another site (credit must be given to Carbonite in SA) which helped buyers and sellers of in particular tech related items.

If these templates can be incorporated as a guide when creating a new post in the Offers and Wanted forum, it will be great.

Offer to Sell Template:

Item: [Provide full description of the item including the exact model number. And no, a I7 RGB gaming laptop isn't a full description]

Age: [Item age since new]

Price: [price in NZD]

Payment Method Accepted: [cash/EFT/IOU/ETH/BTC etc]

Warranty: [No/Yes until specified date]

Accessories: [List all the accessories (original and aftermarket) and stipulate which are not provided that would have come with the item when purchased new.]

Original Packaging: [Stipulate whether the original packaging is available and included]

Condition: [Brand New (unopened), As New, Very Good, Good, Well used but functional, Broken - for Parts only]

Region: [The region where the item is located]

Town/City: [The town/city where the item is located]

Reason: [Provide a reason why you are selling. ie clearing out. Upgrading. Not used anymore]

Shipping: [No, Yes, included. Yes, for the buyer's account]

Collection: [Yes/No - shipping only]

Link: [provide a link to the item, ideally on the manufacturer's site where all the details and full specifications can be obtained]

Wanted Template

Item Wanted: [Provide full description of the item you are looking for. Generic can work, however if you can be more specific with model numbers it will assist]

Original Accessories Essential: [Yes/No]

Original Packaging Essential: [Yes/No]

Desired Age: [Stipulate what is the typical age of the item that you'll consider for purchasing

Region: [The region where you are located]

Town/City: [The town/city where you are located]

Willing to accept a shipped item: [Yes/No]

Ballpark/Budget Amount: Provide a ballpark of what you are willing to spend on such an item.

In future, if Geekzone has the ability to notify a person when a listing in Offers or Wanted is created by someone in his region or town, it will be a bonus.

Jase2985

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#3217556 12-Apr-2024 19:30

dont think its needed TBH

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Ge0rge

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#3217561 12-Apr-2024 19:50

Jase2985:
dont think its needed TBH

I respectfully disagree - how many times do we see a wanted post, followed very quickly by "you need to set a price / you need to set a location / read the FUG"?

A template that popped up when you create a new list would help alleviate that, and make reading for sale / wanteds a little bit more consistent.

Jase2985

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#3217564 12-Apr-2024 19:56

Ge0rge:
Jase2985:

dont think its needed TBH

I respectfully disagree - how many times do we see a wanted post, followed very quickly by "you need to set a price / you need to set a location / read the FUG"?

A template that popped up when you create a new list would help alleviate that, and make reading for sale / wanteds a little bit more consistent.

📢 Please read this before posting in the Offers and Wanted forum

Put it as an example in the above post for sure, but having it pop up when you make a post, no thanks.

rp1790

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#3218481 15-Apr-2024 07:51

Jase2985:

dont think its needed TBH

Agreed, and probably too much info.

eracode

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#3218484 15-Apr-2024 08:17

Ge0rge:
Jase2985:

dont think its needed TBH

I respectfully disagree - how many times do we see a wanted post, followed very quickly by "you need to set a price / you need to set a location / read the FUG"?

A template that popped up when you create a new list would help alleviate that, and make reading for sale / wanteds a little bit more consistent.

Sledgehammers and walnuts. Maybe needed if GZ was generating a very high number of 'listings' - but it's not. Despite the occasional 'read the FUG', I think it works just fine as it is. It suits the community look and feel of GZ. If a more codified template was adopted, GZ may get known more as a trading site which could attract more people here who come only for that purpose. Do we really want that?

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Goosey

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#3218485 15-Apr-2024 08:20

Doesn’t Peter Reader intervene when a post is made in the offers and wanted forum and offer their advice?

no need for a template….people should just read the sticky post..

i see this lazyness (or lack of knowledge/cognitive thinking etc etc), a lot on Facebook groups……”people asking the same questions over and over and haven’t even bothered to read the sticky posts (even though they were pointed to that when first joining the said groups).

edit, if said poster doesn’t put all the info in, they will soon get blasted with people asking… so up to them really if they want to be efficent or not in the first place.

I reckon many people just test the waters hence the lack of info first up.

lNomNoml

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#3218490 15-Apr-2024 08:42

Fully agree with getting a template instated, far too often there is information and generally it's just because it's forgotten and can either slow down the buying or selling process or prevent people from asking in the first place.

gehenna

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#3218548 15-Apr-2024 12:33

Jase2985:

dont think its needed TBH

As a Mod, I'd welcome fewer ways a user could miss including information in their WTB/FS post :) There's only so many times I can reply "You forgot to include a price". My limit is not yet reached, but my faith in humanity is diminished.

freitasm

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#3218554 15-Apr-2024 12:51

Implementing a template would help - but also create confusion.

I could create a new column "PostTemplate" in the database. If you are creating a new post in that sub-forum then the Template comes pre-populated in the post content. I've seen this in places like Github and Cloudflare support forum, where they have templates to let people know "Hey perhaps you could give this and this information on your post if you are looking for support"

The template would have to be suitable for both FS/Wanted because my solution wouldn't allow multiple templates and because we don't have a field for that sub-forum only that could be used for "FS" or "Wanted" separately. This kind of change would involve a lot more work which I don't think we need.

Now, we have a template in the body of the post. It's up to the OP to follow it. Some might remove the template entirely, and that's ok. Some might answer each question, and that's ok. Some might even post multiple items per post (as we have seen in the "Cleanout" topics that appear from time to time), and that's ok too.

We can't have something like pages and pages of forms with specific questions, requiring validation to post only the information needed. This is something Trade Me does well, and we are not here in the business of replacing Trade Me.

We offer a free service for people to sell, believing that being free might make the offer a bit cheaper for fellow Geekzone users.

Free also means that sometimes people post things in a format you don't like.

Guess what? It's free, so perhaps ask the question that needs an answer. It will cost nothing one way or another, and you still get to (hopefully) pay less than Trade Me prices and costs.

Jase2985

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#3218675 15-Apr-2024 15:05

freitasm:

Now, we have a template in the body of the post. It's up to the OP to follow it. Some might remove the template entirely, and that's ok. Some might answer each question, and that's ok. Some might even post multiple items per post (as we have seen in the "Cleanout" topics that appear from time to time), and that's ok too.

like the idea that you don't have to follow it as not all the info is always there.