Announcement Disabled Marketplace Forum Posting! > "Overview"

[ikeo1]

In an effort to reduce confusion between the Marketplace and Classifieds listings. I've disabled posting to the forum, but left it there so people who are still familiar with Calguns can search the standard way.

This will:

• Reduce accidental posting
• Guide all users to new tool buttons / tool sets
• Move to a single comment string

The post will have the link that will direct users to "Overview" which is the actual listing where all the tools can be found.

This will get people to get used to the new format and also review any other listings you have open.

Comment below what you think. Sorry for the abrupt change but there were a lot of mistakes by new listings which takes a toll on me. I think this will reduce confusion, so please give it a try and let me know what you think.

 

[SuperMoistNugget]

I gotta be honest, I am not sure what the real difference is even after re-reading. But if the change is simply making the marketplace and classified one, then I think that would be a welcome adjustment.

 

[DB>)>]

I too was confused a little...

What is the difference between "Marketplace" and "classifieds"? It seems like both describe the designated area for selling/buying, but it appears that rather than buyers being able to post directly to the listing in "classifieds", it directs to discussion in "marketplace"? Logically this leads to confusion if the responses are separated from the listing? I'm sure there's a reason for this, but I'm scratching my head?!

 

[ikeo1]

I am not sure what the real difference is even after re-reading.

It was late, I’ll review and edit it in later.

Logically this leads to confusion if the responses are separated from the listing? I'm sure there's a reason for this, but I'm scratching my head?!

Only reason was out of familiarity. It’s not really necessary but adds forum benefits to it. Hard to explain.

Classifieds and Marketplace are two different applications. At CG they used a forum and made rules around it so that it act like a system. Now there’s code & logic to make the actions into buttons.

For a seller, these tools are exposed



As a buyer, these tools are there. In the forum you have nothing. At first it was there to act as a discussion area, but there are comments available in the main application. I can get rid of the forum piece all together but that might lead to further confusion. Plus, I was just learning the software. Now that I’m more familiar with it. I realized we don’t really need the discussion side other than to keep something people are familiar with.

 

[DB>)>]

Cool! It's a really awesome, beautiful, work in progress! Since we now have to use our toes to count, and we are almost at the infamous "two weeks"... it's nice to have this happening!!!

I corrected my error on the listing I put up (just got confused when I was getting errros for too many characters (no counter or warning on that, and turned out that i misread and "inserted" pictures into the main description box, which of course was WAY TOO BIG!). I might suggest that there is a separate box for location, and it might be easier for us boneheads if you just append that onto the "title" field? Not that the listing process was overly problematic, just somethings were a little awkward, and ya need to keep it simple fer us! Still very happy with what is coming along, the future is looking very bright...

 

[ikeo1]

I corrected my error on the listing I put up (just got confused when I was getting errros for too many characters (no counter or warning on that, and turned out that i misread and "inserted" pictures into the main description box, which of course was WAY TOO BIG!).

Someone else mentioned this and created. There was a limit of ~200 words. This site is mobile optimized 70-80% of people read this on their phones so long descriptions aren’t preferred, probably not my long posts either . Now it’s doubled to ~400 words after this suggestion. I don’t use counters cause it’ll slow things down and I’m focused on other things. We have to process every word of every message to count the words, that takes up cycles.

If you run into problems suggest it in Site Feedback. There’s likely a reason for this. If there are enough of you or you are a paid subscriber, chances of getting things fixed are better or if enough people vote for it.

https://caguns.net/threads/1000-word-limit-counter.709/

I might suggest that there is a separate box for location, and it might be easier for us boneheads if you just append that onto the "title" field?

I did this in the beginning. There’s no standard way to enter Location. So searching becomes a PITA. It’s more easily scanned scrolling than when it’s in its own separate field. I can put it back. But other features would look more awkward. The point is to narrow down the region and coming soon sub region now that I have enough data to narrow down areas. For users to visually scan what’s in their area ~1 hr. vs distance

Main reasoning here it opens up more listings because people will search SF, Bay Area, San Francisco, Penninsula etc. it’s easier for the brain to scan than enter all those different search terms. We have limited inventory so we have to expose as much as possible.

But the main reason, people don’t enter “Locations” the same way. Learned this very early on. If people don’t read Title - Location 5x over. There’s no way I can get a standard Location format. Even when it says City. Boggled me for a bit. BUT we’ll use Localtion for setting up Preferred FFL location that’s easier cause it’s very specific.

 

[ikeo1]

Moral of the long winded posts. Vote in these polls so I know how all of you are feeling about this. Otherwise I just do it out of best judgement

 

[Librarian]

But the main reason, people don’t enter “Locations” the same way. Learned this very early on. If people don’t read Title - Location 5x over. There’s no way I can get a standard Location format. Even when it says City. Boggled me for a bit. BUT we’ll use Localtion for setting up Preferred FFL location that’s easier cause it’s very specific.

You noticed ...

Pick lists? Tables of valid ZipCodes, County names, City names? I've long thought that the CG marketplace would be better run by a dedicated app that forced inclusion of required, validated info.

You'll also notice that no three people would define NorCal, CenCal, and SoCal the same way

 

[DB>)>]

I have a very peculiar taste in firearms... in many cases I've driven quite a way, or set up meets @ FFLs to accomodate longer distance transactions.... so I'm sort of an extreme example I guess. I'm also relatively rural, so I usually list a general area (IE, or Inland Empire) and indicate I'll drive to meet a buyer when selling (saving some of the double DROS drive), and I've driven quite some distnce when there was something I really wanted.

What I had in mind is use whatever is put into the "area/region" field and append it somehow into whatever is in the title field = somewhat awkward, but make the user enter the location field separately and they won't be a goofus like me and forget as I'm trying to compose the title! I really LIKE having a solid indicator as to where an item is being offered, as I can mostly ignore anything geographically undesirable....

 

[ikeo1]

Pick lists? Tables of valid ZipCodes, County names, City names?

It's a good suggestion and I started to build this out and mentioned the issues in another thread but I'll break it down a little more here. It would be an awkward user experience on mobile & desktop. As a downloaded app, it would work better but since we're not downloaded.

• 58 counties
• 482 cities
• 1765 Zip Codes

The seller and the buyer would have to select from one of these options or multiple, which is a burden if the site isn't large. We try to keep things simple here. So besides selecting from a long pick list. You'd also have to download the data each time or validate against the list. This only adds friction to the experience, including processing time on your phone and multiple callbacks.

Instead my approach is to be less precise, but this allows for users to scan listings just outside their radius to find what they're looking for. This has a few benefits.

• You might find what you're looking for just outside your radius and negotiate
• There's more listings for someone to go through, we don't have many now
• Keeps users more engaged surfing through the site
• You might find something else you wanted instead

If its too precise, the view is too narrow and uses a lot of resources and because of low inventory, be bad. But if you can find something, just outside. It keeps you more engaged. I see people all the time, "wish you were here". It's the thrill of the hunt for a deal.

That said, initially people wanted NorCal/SoCal/Central Valley. Now that I have some extra data thanks to our CAguns Supporters.

I'll be creating Sub-Regions for top 10 ish. It's coming soon. It's wide enough for someone to drive and negotiate. As we grow larger, then we may adopt more precision, but I think this is a good compromise for now. The data and community voice will drive what goes in. I will have to figure out, how a good portion is bypassing that. If people are using Tor browsers or ip blocking tech, we may have to close them off since that's an open vector for scammers.

So I'm aware of it and glad you guys bring it up to discuss. I've thought pretty deeply on this for awhile to see what would be good according to the 80-20 rule.

 

[Librarian]

The table you post matches the population fairly closely - no surprise: https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/california/counties

Los Angeles
San Diego
Orange
Riverside
San Bernardino
Santa Clara
Alameda
Sacramento
Contra Costa
Fresno

Hey, where's my Contra Costa peeps?

 

[Rob Bonta]

glad its disabled. if all transactions are meant to be done through dms, i dont think a discussion post is needed in conjunction with the ad.

but, thats just me. especially knowing the average age of gun traders (reminder to schedule your colonoscopy), it makes it simpler

 

[ikeo1]

i dont think a discussion post is needed in conjunction with the ad

You can still comment. Ultimately, this is a learning experience for all of us. Calguns left you guys on a stranded island called CAguns.

We get something right, we'll get somethings wrong, but we'll listen to reason. If the community agrees, which so far it does we move forward. I tried the other style because that was OG Calguns style. We're now moving on since it doesn't work here and I have enough feedback from the community doing deals.

I put some stuff out, you guys try it out and tell me if you love it or hate it.. lol. We go from there.. That's pretty much how I develop the site... Rapid prototyping.

 

[Fat_Old_Guy]

Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into making this a great experience. I'm sure you are making changes based on what we tell you. Once I finally realized I needed to go to the "Overview" button to get the details, it was easy to read and understand.