Open question....

Is this forum really meant for modellers to exchange, sell or seek to buy stuff privately or is this also for webstores, hobby shops and wholesalers/retailers to advertise in too? Is it just me, or is there an increase in the latter lately?

I'm just askin'......

Bob

I believe it is supposed to be for individuals. I beleive they have been trying to address companies advertising here. If something does come up it hasnt been staying long. See enough ads every day as it is. Dont need more, Andy

I always felt this forum was for individuals looking to sell off kits or parts of their collections they no longer wanted or needed. And advertisers paid for ad space and left the "spam" ads out of the B/S/T forum until recent the most being cyberhobby this one has nothing but "spam". But i have also noticed a increase in the private business owners starting to advertiser their webstores on here makes it a bit harder for the individual seller to get noticed after being buried under these other types of "posts".

But hey this is just my two cents on this issue.

I agree with you guys. One of the latest ones from Cyberhobby for example about 'taking advantage of the economic crisis' especially left a foul taste... I really didn't like that one at all. The spam is bad enough, but for that ad to be worded the way it was was especially tasteless. People are loosing their houses and having thier livelihoods severely affecting these days and for a supposedly reputable company to advertise like that was very, very poor IMHO. I see the ad and posts have been removed now (at least I can't find it) so I suppose that's good.

I'm all for the idividual modellers having a place to go that equates to a virtual swap meet, but corporate advertising here in this forum should be banned I think.

My 2 cents worth....


Bob

Maybe we need a set up like on Missing Lynx. A commercial forum and a private sellers forum?

Jeff

In my opinion the buy/sell/trade forum should only be for private individuals. The businesses should buy add space to help support this site. Speaking of supporting this site is there any chance of being able to somehow donate to support this site?
Darryl

Totally agree with all that has been said above. I brought this up in the Site Talk Forum a couple of weeks ago. It was confirmed by Staff_Jim that the B/S/T Forum is for individuals and not for on-line stores to post ads in. I know CyberHobby is linked to Dragon, and Dragon is a big supporter, but come on. Buy an ad. This is rediculous.

Dealing with it. Thanks for the heads up guys. Sometimes a relatively quiet forum like this slips a bit under the radar...

While I agree with you guys, let me play the devil's advocate role:

If vendors aren't supposed to use the BST forum, why does it (BST) have a Vendors discussion group? Surely the vendor (forget that it's DML/Cyber-hobby) is entitled to post there?

Discuss (flame retardant suit donned)

Rudi

p.s. let me reiterate: I agree with you guys that the likes of Cyber-Hobby/DML are hardly short of green and can easily afford to pay the pittance Kitmaker charges for advertising.

As me learn'd council will be aware, the discussion forum is for discussions, and I'm sure that there are plenty of takers if Cyber hobby decides to start a discussion... say about the perceived accuracy of a particular kit? The alleged bias towards WWII German subjects? Merely posting a picture of a model, with an invitation to buy said model, is hardly a discussion. Unless they enter into a discussion about the price...

Let's not go that way, it would probably require yet more moderating...

*goes to get another cup of tea...*

I do understand vendors play a important part of this site by buying ad space which helps pay for the site which is great other wise we could lose armorama with out the support of vendors who buy ad space. Maybe vendors could be it's own sub-board meant for them only so if you want to brose more in depth ads from the vendors you can. But i know personally i use the B/S/T for seeing what is for sale from other modelers at the person to person level and not needing to wade through postings from vendors and those who only use this site to well get free ad space for their own web stores example "RoGarHobbies" has almost nothing but posts within the B/S/T forum to advertise his webstore and has contributed nothing to any other parts of the sight and thats just one example. I believe it was Gino that stated implamenting a post count limit to use the B/S/T forum that is the best option is to go by post count and not by joined time with a post count limit a person who joins that wishes to use the b/s/t forum will have to become part of the site and people can get to know this person and see they are also fellow builders and get to know on a personal level and earn some trust hopfully before they simply start posting items for sale or advertising their web stores and contribute nothing else to the site other then getting free promotion for their own stores.

But this is just my view point and in no way connected to my brain.

No, it wasn't me. Someone in the other post did though. I don't necessarily agree with that coarse of action. I just think it should be for individuals only; not on-line stores and companies to advertise in.

I stand corrected

But isn't that mostly what the BST forum is about? We don't have many, if any, of the conventional discussions in this forum - bar perhaps this one. Most posts, regardless of private or commercial intent, are simply text ads for kits. No real discussion involved.




In theory you already have that in that Vendors is a Discussion group within the BST forum. The problem as I see it is that you guys don't want the latest posts page flooded with BST: Vendor threads. You don't, per se, mind the fact that these guys are posting their wares (yes, we'd all prefer that they buy an ad) but you'd rather it be in a less obtrusive area, and not on the LP pages.





It may have been me. Having seen this sort of thing successfully implemented on other miniatures sites, I'm a big supporter of it. Unfortunately it would require decent analysis and considerable coding rework, so it may not be a viable solution right now.

Rudi

Here's another though:

Is it okay for a vendor who IS a paying advertiser to post specials in the BST: Vendors DG?

regarding posts by sellers who only sell, but not contribute otherwise ( a number of names spring to mind), these are on the whole small scale sellers, who in a way are providing a service to the wider membership by making available kits at often reasonable cost. These have to be looked at on an individual basis.

Again, we thank you for your vigilant help, and if there are adverts/ sellers you feel that need attention, please do not hesitate to contact a staff member.

Henk

Thanks Henk for your oversight on this, appreciate it very much.

cheers

Bob

I don't mind of a VENDOR who is a supporter of the site alerts us to a sale, but I don't want to see advertisements just to see them. They can buy an ad, or the site can have a vendor thread as there might be small vendors out there that many might not know about and advertising is stretching the budget. (As a business owner myself, I understand that.)

I'd prefer SALE alerts, discount codes, bargains etc. be all that's allowed in B/S/T but not spam.

I agree with the notion that if a vendor has some news (including a SIGNIFICANT price reduction, not just 10%), then I don't mind them announcing that. Or coming in to a stash of OOP or hard-to-find kits. Something that's newsworthy. Heck, a member in the Gulf pointed out how Hobby-Link Japan was selling sFH 18s at $9 each, and I bought two! I don't frequent their web site, and wouldn't have known about the sale.

But weekly announcements to "check us out" or "our prices rule" shouldn't be encouraged since the ads are reasonable here.