Classifieds

[Kakski83]

What happened with the amount of traffic on the classifieds? I haven’t not been here in a while, since they updated the webpage a few years back. It seems the classifieds are very slow. Is this normal?

 

thanks 

[gibbiesmalls]

1 hour ago, Kakski83 said:

What happened with the amount of traffic on the classifieds? I haven’t not been here in a while, since they updated the webpage a few years back. It seems the classifieds are very slow. Is this normal?

 

thanks 

It's picked up significantly over the last year or so (since the pandemic). About a year ago or so, the classified section was a ghost town for a bit.  There were days where a listing wouldn't get to the second page all day.

 

New website, plus feedback being broken for a while really drove many people away from it. Add to it the rash of scammers that seemed "buy in" to listing privileges was really a sore spot for many.

 

Volume of listings is way up, but I agree, not sure it is what it once was. Of course, I could be completely wrong.

[larryd3]

I've sold several items recently and it seems ok to me.  Getting feedback reinstated really made a positive difference.

[third-times-a-charm]

Hard to navigate, ruled by stupid rules (unrelated to post count and anti-scam rules), and botched transfer from the old site.

 

It needs to have separate forums for each type of equipment and stop with the 'paid posts' that get stickied to the top that take up like the first two pages.

 

It's the must un-unser-friendly classified section out of all my hobbies online.

[DFS PFD]

Lots of noncommittal buyers, scam sellers that only risk $5 with sometimes $1000 scam, and lots of long time users have been banned over the last two years so that too has affected the BST. I just go straight to eBay now.  

[larryd3]

wow it's certainly not perfect but for me has worked really well and a whole bunch better than paying ebay's crazy fees, etc.  Could it be better, sure but it's a free service.  Also "paid posts" from newbies don't get stuck to the top automatically, it's a weekly charge to keep your post up there.  I've done it several times and it's been worth it.  (at least that's my understanding)  

[dcfball88]

I think it has gotten better over the last 10-12 months.  I’m seeing a lot of great stuff listed, especially this season.

 

When I sell, I know I have some stuff that would be good to list on BST, and some stuff that just needs the bigger eBay marketplace in order to get moved. But there are a lot of good guys on BST, both sellers and buyers.

 

I’m hoping eBay’s fees and buyer (return) friendly policies continue to drive more people to list on BST instead. The chunk eBay takes out as a seller is brutal as well.

[OttoVonBizMarkie]

I used to be on Golfwrx during the early 2010s, then came back last year shortly before the pandemic. For me it's been moving, but not like it used to be where you could list something and get a bunch of PMs (and a couple low balls) within an hour - I've sold some stuff here lately and it's usually gone in a couple days. So not quite the same pace, but I guess I missed the ghost town period.

 

I'm sold part of my last listing on eBay within an hour of listing it, but the fees seem excessive. Hoping more people start listing back on here too.

[Stetson]

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is the impact of Facebook, specifically the selling of equipment there. FB transactions are often without fees and seems to reach a larger audience. 

[Murdock]

What about r/golfclassifieds on Reddit?  Just found them recently and looks pretty good with a lot of traffic.  I don't see that much traffic on FB Marketplace.

 

Of course, I'll always start here 😁

[postfold]

I sold a fair amount of non-golf stuff on Facebook Marketplace during the pandemic -- it's really impressive to me how they are consistently making it less and less user-friendly.  It should not be that hard to eliminate stuff from search that has to be shippped to you or otherwise doesn't meet your desired criteria.  As sales sites go it's impressively awful.  Given the built-in advantage of local traffic it should be an easy #1.

 

I've always had good experiences with the WRX classifieds but that's only been a very occasional buy.

[Murdock]

10 hours ago, postfold said:

I sold a fair amount of non-golf stuff on Facebook Marketplace during the pandemic -- it's really impressive to me how they are consistently making it less and less user-friendly.  It should not be that hard to eliminate stuff from search that has to be shippped to you or otherwise doesn't meet your desired criteria.  As sales sites go it's impressively awful.  Given the built-in advantage of local traffic it should be an easy #1.

 

I've always had good experiences with the WRX classifieds but that's only been a very occasional buy.

 

FB marketplace isn't any better than craiglist or letgo or any of those other similar ones, at least for decent golf stuff.  $500 for a set of garage sale irons?  No thanks 😆

[Stetson]

I wouldn’t list on Marketplace. You have to join Golf Club Traders or some other large equipment group

[gentles]

On 7/31/2021 at 1:02 AM, third-times-a-charm said:

Hard to navigate, ruled by stupid rules (unrelated to post count and anti-scam rules), and botched transfer from the old site.

 

It needs to have separate forums for each type of equipment and stop with the 'paid posts' that get stickied to the top that take up like the first two pages.

 

It's the must un-unser-friendly classified section out of all my hobbies online.

 

What rules would you change (remove) that wouldn't have an adverse impact on the security of the forum and revenue generated from it?  Genuinely curious given you got a few likes

Edited August 2, 2021 by gentles

[third-times-a-charm]

10 hours ago, gentles said:

 

What rules would you change (remove) that wouldn't have an adverse impact on the security of the forum and revenue generated from it?  Genuinely curious given you got a few likes

 

The 24 hour rule is stupid. Especially 

The BST needs a 'bumping' system. Threads are relegated to a dozen pages back after only a few days and native forum software search features suck. No fault of WRX there, though.

The paid system of pinning posts is asinine. I dont care about revenue because there is a point at which is takes away from the forum's experience as it's doing now. The forum is making money? Great - theyre also losing traffic in the BST because of it.

 

Multiple subforums for equipment types would solve much of this. Above ^

 

The rules about no posting shoes that are being flipped from Ross or whatever yet some clown can post 'I bought the wrong size' and get away with it lol. Just remove the rule and get more traffic in there.

The rules about no mixed grips or no unprepped shafts. Stupid. The other miscellaneous no mixed grips and etc rules. Etc.

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by third-times-a-charm

[pollock21]

@third-times-a-charm is spot on. I've found that the only way to sell on the classifieds now is to pay the pinned ad fee. I've had good luck doing that. I just sold a driver head that I posted last Thursday that was already on page 3 and only had 200ish views. I bit the bullet and paid the pinned ad fee and overnight I was over 500 views and got the head sold.

 

The hardest part is searching. When you're in the classifieds and click search on a mobile phone, there is no option to select "this forum" so you only search the classifieds. The option is there on a PC. So basically on a mobile phone, you don't have the ability to just search the classifieds. IMO, this really hurts your chances of selling as most people are browsing on their phones. So once your ad is off of Page 1 or 2, it's pretty much dead. Allowing a bump every 24 hours would help. Almost makes you think things are set up this way to generate revenue from pinned ad fees.

 

All in all, the $10 pinned ad fee is cheaper than ebay's fees, but it's a really limited audience. Facebook marketplace groups like Club Junkies Marketplace and Golf Club Traders have been really good places to sell for me recently. Much more traffic than here and no fees. Most of the time, it comes down to what you're selling. More exotic shafts, tour issue heads, etc. will do much better on here as it's a higher concentration of the target demographic. For a Ping driver with a stock stiff shaft, FB Marketplace groups will crush it for you. Ebay is a last resort for me, the fee structure is bananas, let alone the risk of getting a crappy buyer. I swear, eating the delta on a 150% trade in offer is better than ebay after you factor in risk and fees.

 

Example, $300 ebay sale with buyer paid shipping, you'll clear around $264. $300 value driver is about $150 trade in offer. Catch a 150% bonus and that'll get you $225 out of it. Provided you're buying new, I'd take that over ebay. $40 loss but there is zero risk.

Edited August 2, 2021 by pollock21

[Abh159]

15 hours ago, gentles said:

 

What rules would you change (remove) that wouldn't have an adverse impact on the security of the forum and revenue generated from it?  Genuinely curious given you got a few likes

 

Not really a rule, but a major pet peeve of mine is people putting something ridiculous in the title of their ad. I think it should be a rule that you list the object(s) for sale and that's it.

 

If you put "Getting married need to sell clubs" or "A bunch of headcovers" as the title then I'm not clicking. I don't have extra time to waste clicking on obscure ads just to see if it contains something I'm interested in. 

 

On a side note... As a seller I don't know why you wouldn't clearly state the item(s) your selling in the title. Maybe they think they are being clever or funny but to me it just seems like you're driving traffic away from your ad.

[Cleveland_Rocks]

What I will say about the classifieds is that as much as the tenured members here complain about new members sadly on a daily basis there are more of the long tenured members on here daily doing wrong with their listed ads.  I see mistakes and click on the member only to find out they’ve been here for numerous years!!  They should know better more than anyone how to properly list ads and if any question how to read and follow directions.  How can the “newbies” doing wrong be chastised when the “old salts” are some of the biggest violators?

 

Oh and I agree this game with trying to create the most “unique and witty” title with nothing to do on what is listed in the ad, drives me to absolutely ignore ignore it and move on.  Could be a brand new sealed SIM2 Max for $2, nope!!

Edited August 7, 2021 by Cleveland_Rocks

[Tzoid]

The Classified section has been up and down over the years and I personally appreciate having it to sell as well as buy items on occasion. Golf WRX doesn't charge it's members so 

I try to not complain when a Moderator gets a bit picky when someone comments on a WTS thread and bumps my ad and they lock it.  The members rating system going away when they changed to a new Forum platform sucked but now it's back and old feedback is reinstated so everyone can do their due diligence and see who has good or bad selling/buying history. I have had worse luck with the Want to Buy Forum with ads being posted and the OP not responding to messages .  Remember to set expectations and 99% of the time no matter what price you set you will get an offer lower than your asking price. 🙄 

[miket_81]

First off I love this place and appreciate the website greatly. However, I don't think it would be tough to do what I've thought for a long time would make the classifieds much better and more intuitive place to post and search on.

1) Every item and pictures of it is a file. Say I am adding a Sim Driver. When creating the file it would ask something as simple as the following from a pull down menu
      A) Type: (Driver, fairway, iron(s), wedge, putter, Bag, balls, accessory, etc) DRIVER

      B) Brand: (Taylor Made, Titliest, Cobra, other, etc) TAYLOR MADE

      C) Dexterity: (Right or Left) RIGHT

      D)  Flex: (Ladies, Senior, Reg, Stiff, X) STIFF

      E) Keyword:  HZRDUS

 

You would store these files under you profile and maybe charge a fee if over a certain number of items. When you create an ad you just copy the files to the ad and post.

 

You could still limit the times an item could be posted to an ad to a month or whatever but they would still exist in the "system" and could be edited or deleted at anytime.

 

Say you want to purchase an item from a guy that is accepting trades. You could PM him and say hey check my profile and see if there is anything that interests you.

 

If I am wanting to purchase a cobra driver I could filter the ad's that only have cobra drivers.

[Dion1970]

Apologies if this isn’t the right place but why would a classified item have a one star by the sellers name?

[dcfball88]

Not sure. What was up with your bst post?

[Willwinz]

On 9/14/2021 at 11:03 PM, Dion1970 said:

Apologies if this isn’t the right place but why would a classified item have a one star by the sellers name?

The only time I ever notice a star next to a certain topic is when I've commented in that thread. 

[Dion1970]

Thx. I had to close that classified post and create a new one,  and stat is gone. Appreciate the feedback. Cheers. 

[jschwarb]

On 7/30/2021 at 10:58 AM, DFS PFD said:

Lots of noncommittal buyers, scam sellers that only risk $5 with sometimes $1000 scam, and lots of long time users have been banned over the last two years so that too has affected the BST. I just go straight to eBay now.  

Yup, being banned sucks. 

[Gxgolfer]

A few things as always. 
 

1) We are a Forum first with a classifieds section

2) All transactions are member to member and Membership moderated. 
3) The system was designed to implement as much precautions as possible by membership feedback and been around for almost 20 years. 
4). We are severely handicapped on what we can change and implement because of the size of the board and stability purposes. Which is exactly why we moved back to IPB because of membership feedback. 
5). It takes a lot to get banned through successive warnings. Can’t win no matter what actions are taken. 
 

We continue to take feedback and looks at opportunities but

 

[Carolina Golfer 2]

I honestly have no issues with the classifieds.  I have bought snd sold several items here over the many years I’ve been a member.  I haven’t had one negative incident as a buyer or seller.  
 

I f I had one wish to be granted, it would be a shorter time period on starting a new ad.  Maybe 15 days as opposed to 30.   That’s about it. 
 

I much prefer buying and selling here vs EBay or FB.   I like that I can trust my fellow WRX’ers! 
 

[Gxgolfer]

It’s 1 day from closing an ad and starting a new one. 24 hrs in between. You cannot relist items within 30 days. 

[Carolina Golfer 2]

16 hours ago, Gxgolfer said:

It’s 1 day from closing an ad and starting a new one. 24 hrs in between. You cannot relist items within 30 days. 

Ah!!  Thanks for the clarification.  So I sell item A.  I can start a new add Selling item  B 24 hours after closing A’s ad?

 

My bad for misunderstanding that.  Thanks.  #readingisfundamental 

Edited September 19, 2021 by Carolina Golfer 2

[Gxgolfer]

Yes. 
 

Also, Don’t close an ad till transaction is completed. If an ad is archived, then one must wait 30 days to relist or have the old one brought out by reporting post to mods, and then pay to have it pinned.