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Flea Market Section


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The Flea Market section of this forum was created, to help folks find minimates they wanted and to encourage trading. Selling was NOT an initial intention, but was always allowed. Same goes for non-Minimate items.

The amount of individual threads quickly became a sea of hodge-podge that needed to be waded through to find anything. If you started a thread there, it would be bounced to the second page by days end. This is the volume that was being posted and of course, everyone liked to bump their posts to the top, so it all became (IMO) Spam.

In an attempt to make things orderly, we requested that all members post their "haves/wants" in one singular thread and just keep it updated. This has worked very well for quite a while now. The rules are a bit "ambiguous" for a reason. That reason being that this forum is used by mostly mature, clear thinking individuals who can distinguish whether or not their post belongs with the others in the "Haves/wants" thread, "FS/WTB" thread, Ebay threads, etc., or if it would better fit a new thread of its own. The new thread option has been successful for non-Minimate items and/or *emergency items (*an item needed in a short time frame) without too much clutter. However, it seems folks are beginning to think they are more important than most, so they create threads of their own.

The Mods are not required to contact a member about any posts that do not follow guidelines and if they do, they are not required to be "nice" about it. The Mods maintain order and usually listen to a lot of complaining and name calling everyday. It is an often times, thank-less job and they get no pay or salary for what they do. I'd like to be clear about one thing, for sure. If a Mod contacts you and they seem a little "unfriendly" or short-tempered, its probably because they deal with hundreds of posts made by hundreds of members, each day. I assure you, it gets frustrating and to be called names on top of it all, does not help things.

With all the grief the section causes the Moderation team, I am beginning to wonder if it is worth having. Many forums I personally belong to, do not allow buying/selling/trading posts of any kind (one forum allows it only if you pay a yearly fee!!) to avoid the very same issues we now deal with daily.

Now that I have made these above statements, I ask the membership here, what would make it better? Should it be locked down? Should more restrictions be placed? More stringent guidelines? I'd like to hear from you about this section and I do not want any finger pointing at Mods. Just suggestions/opinions.

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I'll be back later with my thoughts & suggestions but I will comment now about the Moderators. I have been in conflict more than once with a Mod especially when I was the newbie. I subsequently learned that the Multiverse is far bigger than my petty ego & because of the almost subliminal & minimal policing it's a friendly fun place ....most of the time ;) The Moderators are the 'firemen' here & without them the whole forum would burn & whether we (the members) like it or not that is how it is. Accept it or go somewhere else.

So say we all.

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one thing that may help, if a poster is not following rules, or if a mod feels its just too many posts/threads, suspend them from using the section for a certain amount of time. repeated infractions and suspend them from the forum. if it continues, ban them, but only after they have received enough warnings to justify it. too harsh?

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Personally, as you say Shanester, I think it has worked pretty well, at least in the time that I have been a member here. Every once in a while something pops up that causes a small ruckus, but it never seems to amount to much.

I have bought and sold a fair amount, and I owe a great deal of appreciation to you and the other "powers that be" for allowing me to do this. However, if this section creates undue work or stress for any mod, then I would understand if you wanted to do away with it entirely.

I personally don't think we have seen many of the types of problems worthy of the response Espo is referring to (I think the mods get involved to the extent that they need to the vast majority of the time), but certainly, harsher sanctions is another possible solution to keeping things orderly.

One thing I've seen elsewhere is that a minimum post count and amount of time as a member is required to be allowed to post in the B/S/T section. I don't know if that would solve many of the problems that pop up--in fact, it would keep us from finding some of the great deals that guys like Recon1 come and post now and again--but it might keep those unfamiliar with the general rules and expectations of the board from posting unwanted or unnecessary threads.

Edited by karamazov80
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One thing I've seen elsewhere is that a minimum post count and amount of time as a member is required to be allowed to post in the B/S/T section. I don't know if that would solve many of the problems that pop up--in fact, it would keep us from finding some of the great deals that guys like Recon1 come and post now and again--but it might keep those unfamiliar with the general rules and expectations of the board from posting unwanted or unnecessary threads.

karamazov may be on to something with the minimum-post-count part... however as he said, as far as new members are concerned we DO have some "diamonds in the rough" mixed in with all the trolls/spammers/quick-buck-hunters and whatnot. Obviously a simple minimum-post stipulation can't distinguish something like this.

If I could make a simple suggestion, if anybody wants to start trading in the Flea Market then they must have at least introduced themselves properly in the main "let me introduce myself thread"... or at least this is the system a lot of other forums I've visited followed, our local toy collector's forum did something like this along with that suspend/ban-a-rulebreaker-for-a-certain-period-of-time bit to weed out scammers and stuff.

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I think in the end, it's your forum Shane and you can do whatever you like, we're just guest in your house. But I appreciate you asking our opinions. While all of the forums I belong to have them, I know firsthand what a headache they can be, being a staffer on other boards. I'm not really sure what lead to this, but do what you feel is best for the board.

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Is it possible to only have the Haves/Wants thread and the WTB/WTS thread in the flea market, and to only allow one post per person in these threads? I'm not sure how the back-end programming works, but perhaps that would cut down on the headaches?

Edit: And the Parts Exchange too. :)

Edited by luke314pi
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I can see where some of the headache can come from but I myself appreciate having the Flea Market section. Sometimes it can get cluttered and some people can push the boundaries a bit or a lot but you and your staff do police it effectively. In the end it is like Don said and I agree, we are the guests and if we are makin a mess in your rec room its up to you if you wanna close it up...but thanks for askin our thoughts!

Jeff of the Miniacs

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I really do appreciate the flea market section or better the Want/Have and Parts Exchange lists every member is allowed to have. I don't really scroll through those other posts - with exeption of the Tarde It Forward thread since I really do think that this is a very nice idea. Especially for those members from countries with a lack of Minimate availability - like Continental Europe I gues - the flea market is a very helpful offer and possibility to get Minimates. Sometimes at all.

I do understand that those occuring problems giving you mods a hedache and therefore this problem should be solved in some way. I'd rather see more restrictions than losing the whole section, but I'd do accept your decision, since it is your forum.

If it's technically possible, Luke's suggestion sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe with those Ebay threads added, but without the possibility of creating new individual topics.

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I agree with a lot of what's been said. I have to find another board where Minimates are sold and traded on a consistent basis and would hate to see this one disappear.

I would recommend that strict, precise rules on selling/trading be set-up with set consequences put in place. I know it would be more demand on mods, but maybe it could be handled by a moderator that only oversees that area (even if it means having a new one brought on board). I know there are several non-mods that visit the Flea Market regularly anyway and I'm sure someone wouldn't mind policing it if there were a set of strict rules explaining everything.

Also, I'm sure it'd be a hassle, I know some other sites where you have to ask to be allowed to post in the trading/selling area. It's probably a nightmare to set-up and maintain, but I thought I'd throw that idea out there.

And once again, thanks for all you do Shane. It's not said enough around here.

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I've benefited a lot from the Flea Market, and would hate to see it go. On the other hand, I'd hate to see the moderators fight a losing battle against idiots and twits because I want a place to trade Minimates.

This is your place Shane, and if you want to shut the Trade thread, I understand. I also don't have a problem if you start making the rules a little tighter and the moderating a little more ruthless. This is your place - people should follow your rules or get shown the door.

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I second the idea that people should introduce themselves in the appropriate thread before being allowed to post to the Trade area.

Furthermore, it seems like you should do one of two things: either have one thread wherein each person gets one post, or let each person have their own thread. Right now, we have both going on at the same time, and I think this is what leads to such confusion and frustration.

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I actually like the idea of one post per person in the general trade and Buy/Sell threads. Its easy to read through, and keeps things a bit orderly. In my opinion, we should keep these two threads, if nothing else. Look at a forum like Hisstank where each member can create his/her own thread(s) for anything, and it gets crazy fast. I'm sure that the mods wouldn't have the time or inclination to make sure that each member only had one thread, and so we would get people with 5-10 threads at a time on the first few pages. Just a pain to "police."

The issue then is in determining what (if anything) is worthy of its own thread beyond those, and whether members should be allowed to use their discretion in creating them, or if mods should make clearer rules, enforce said rules more strongly, or just do away with them altogether.

Edited by karamazov80
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According to the statistics 19% of my total posts in the Flea Market & I have a fairly healthy feedback rating . I have only had one bad experience here & that was basically due to my own naivety ,I try not to dwell on it :angry: . My Minimate collection is extensive & I have only been able to get it to it's present level by trading here .....& I love it. I scan regularly the Want/Haves although the For Sale thread unfortunately seems to end up as a tired duplicate of the W/H!

Those staccato statements basically sum up why I would be very disappointed if the whole Flea Market system ceased especially if it is because it may be currently abused. I think we all may be guilty of occasionally overstepping the mark,me included, but the recent incidents that brought the wrath of the mods was deserved, purely because of the blatant disrespect shown. The thread I'm particularly thinking of has been deleted but it was a bumped thread ....not bumped for the first time either ....or the second time...& was just plain fucking ignorance .

Unfortunately if all first-time posters were offering MIB Gold Spiderman for $16 I would also protest about them being banned ....especially if I saw it first :lol:

I'm not a Mod because I'm too bloody lazy & it seems like hard work so I again offer my total support ,as we all should ,to the Moderators who unfortunately must again take up the mantle & weed out the assholes.

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Granted, I know I'm still a newer member here but I have to say that the flea market area has been one of the most helpful areas of the website. Not only have I been able to obtain a lot of tougher to find mates (Black Costume Spidey and Iron Fist) but I love the Trade It Forward and Want/Haves threads. Not only do these threads help me and many others with our collections, but I think it strengthens our desire to track these down and engage in the various minimate discussions. I would hate to see it go, but could understand why if the mods are getting bogged down with complaints about these transactions.

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I think that those of us who have been here do a fairly good job keeping ourselves in check. We know the guidelines and stick by them most of the time. The problem comes in when newbies show up. They aren't tried by fire, they don't have a clue that something has been asked for a million times before. That, to me at least, seems to be where the issues arise.

As far as Mods go, I don't see any problems at all. I've had a few run ins, but I will be the first to admit I was at fault.

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