Sellers and their locations

Zxthinger

Is it only me or does anyone else find it annoying that sellers aren't required to declare their locations or the location of the items.

Postage is a curse and collection saves money and time. Idprob consider a few more purchases if I knew where the item was coming form and if collection was practical

Anyone else's think that this might be a good thing for the "for sale" section

Sparks

You're asking for it to be mandatory to openly declare the location of items on a forum that sells firearms.

So let's just say "no" and "personal security" and leave it there. You can always ask where an item is if you're interested in buying it.

philmire

Sparks wrote: »

You're asking for it to be mandatory to openly declare the location of items on a forum that sells firearms.

So let's just say "no" and "personal security" and leave it there. You can always ask where an item is if you're interested in buying it.

Be nice to just no the county no point a lad from donegal looking at something from Cork save a lot of wasted pms

lefthooker

I agree with the lads above and can't see why lads can't enter a general location when you set up your profile. Why not enter your county and not some random rubbish liked the back of beyond. Other forums require a location as part of placing an ad.

What's​ just as annoying is when someone asks where are ya based when the OP has their location entered on their banner

Sparks

Lads, if all you want is the county-level location, that's actually a requirement of the for sale forum charter already.

Location. Too many times a for sale thread has post after post of people asking where the OP is based, or located. You don't need to give your address, but a county will suffice. This can be done in the form of posting where you are located or under your avatar, in the settings/profile page, filling in your location.

Zxthinger

Sparks wrote: »

You're asking for it to be mandatory to openly declare the location of items on a forum that sells firearms.

So let's just say "no" and "personal security" and leave it there. You can always ask where an item is if you're interested in buying it.

Well yes. If the item is at a gun shop then that should be noted.
If the item is at the individuals hone then the nearest town should be quoted.

It only to help potential buyers wade through the adds that might be relevant or worth a look or closer inspection.

I don't need to know your house but the town or town land would be helpful and not effect someone security.

Eg
Scope for sale €€€€
Bray..

Rifle for sale )€€€
Cork city...

Traps for sale €€€€€
South Dublin

If it's part of the charter then it seems to me that it might not be an enforced part of the sales section.

Cass

Everyone has the option of putting their location into their profile, and like yourself, some don't bother or don't want to. The site rules, which trump the forum rules, say we cannot demand or ask for someones personal details. This includes their address and to a slightly lesser extent, exact location. However general area is fine so we thought county was "loose enough" to be descriptive, but not disclose personal details.

The rule was enforced at the start but i found myself removing perfectly valid adverts simply because the OP did not give a county location. In other adverts, as lefthooker said above, people did not bother to read the adverts or check the OPs details and notice a location was already under their username. The forum suffered as a result. I then monitored the for sale section for a while and found that very few threads actually had people asking for locations. IOW people were not interested in where the item was as today with all the various methods of shipping it's not really relevant.

Unlike pictures and a price (the two things people absolutely want to know) location is not even third on the list of things most people seem interested in. As a result the rule was not rigidly enforced.

If enough people want it can be enforced fairly strictly. Will be the first time i've had anyone ever ask me to make the rules stricter, but know this. The forum will suffer. The majority of for sale posts that are currently up would be removed due to no location. This means a drop in items for sale, a drop in participating members, and as a result a decline in the usefulness/appeal of the forum.

We ask for as many details as possible when people post an advert, but if we demand to a level of advertising that exceeds even a professional service coupled with not malleable rules then we are effectively ending the for sale section.

Zxthinger

If I do ask sellers their location I generally do it via a PM as showing interest in an item tends to help make other buyers make the jump.

Also I don't think it has to be an all or nothing. Lads just need a gentle reminder to bang in a location of sorts

Cass

Zxthinger wrote: »

Also I don't think it has to be an all or nothing. Lads just need a gentle reminder to bang in a location of sorts

Thing is this is already being done. Gentle reminders are already offered/sent out. As well as 90% of other stuff that goes on in the background. Because something is not written on thread for all to see doesn't mean it's not happening.

I send out at least 30 or so PMs per week to remind people of this. I also send out over 100 per week for other reasons relating to adverts. However i don't force the issue on location as i believe having the adverts is better for the forum, hence members than not.

You might think why have it as a rule. It's in the rules so we can ask people to include a location as part of the rules. If i get an advert with 2, 3, 5, 7 people asking for a location i'm going to delete those requests and ask the OP to give a location. While it's in their best interest to give it we still get push back with some believing they don't have to. So the rules help hammer home the need for it as opposed to constant PMs politely asking.

Think of it like zeroing outside a range. It has "legislative" basis to say it cannot be done, but is not rigidly enforced.

eoin.d

I always use boards on my phone using an app and never see a location under anyone's profile, I have just noticed the app only shows one picture also

Cass

I can pass that up to the admins and see if they can do something, but other than that the tech stuff is outside my wheelhouse.

eoin.d

Thanks cass I'm not complaining just thought maybe that's why people are asking for locations

Cass

It doesn't matter if you, or anyone is complaining. We welcome any input whether it's positive or not. how else can we identify what people want or fix any problems.

The location thing is a tough one. As said, and without repeating it all, if we enforce it strictly it'll discourage and stop people from using the for sale section. If we demand more exact locations we might run afoul of the site rules about demanding personal info.

So we try and walk the line.