Feedback Request Minimum Post count to post in classifieds to reduce Scammers

[ikeo1]

Absolutely not

I’d like to ask, i don’t mean to point you out specifically, because there are many others like you, but do want to mention.

It seems like you financially benefited from this site with several sales. How should we fund the site, if we don’t ask members for some sort of $ assistance? Ad revenue is limited in the 2A space, so that’s not entirely an option.

In what way can we encourage financial support without requiring it? This trend has grown where I see a lot of free accounts with feedback who’ve never donated but feel strongly about keeping it free. When any other platform would not only charge you more but wouldn’t let you list a lot of things too. $10 is a fraction of a percent of the items sold. So I’d like to ask for suggestions to make my life easier as an operator to help you do your thing

 

[USMC06RET]

@ikeo1, I am curious, what was your business plan as far as monetizing the site in the beginning? Considering that California is one of the largest markets for firearms in the nation, I would think that an aggressive marketing campaign directed at manufacturers and even retailers could produce some healthy sponsorship and ad revenue. Not sure Google ads is the way to go, you would know that better than I.

 

[ikeo1]

@ikeo1, I am curious, what was your business plan as far as monetizing the site in the beginning? Considering that California is one of the largest markets for firearms in the nation, I would think that an aggressive marketing campaign directed at manufacturers and even retailers could produce some healthy sponsorship and ad revenue. Not sure Google ads is the way to go, you would know that better than I.

Any big tech company doesn’t allow 2A advertising, this is why it’s limited. ArmoryHQ.com was a clean site that could be in that network but the time required here is high.

Also, I’m more of a tech bro instead of marketing guru and this is where I struggle with this site.

The original business plan was to stay busy while I was in the hospital and hopefully the site would cover its own costs. I’m on the path to being profitable from an operational standpoint but not for time spent.

I have fully built out sites that require marketing but don’t have the funding to do it. I’m in that grey area where just enough to cover costs but not enough to expand to build up faster.

My time has run out for this project and I’ll be picking up a contract gig.

 

[USMC06RET]

Any big tech company doesn’t allow 2A advertising, this is why it’s limited. ArmoryHQ.com was a clean site that could be in that network but the time required here is high.

Also, I’m more of a tech bro instead of marketing guru and this is where I struggle with this site.

The original business plan was to stay busy while I was in the hospital and hopefully the site would cover its own costs. I’m on the path to being profitable from an operational standpoint but not for time spent.

I have fully built out sites that require marketing but don’t have the funding to do it. I’m in that grey area where just enough to cover costs but not enough to expand to build up faster.

My time has run out for this project and I’ll be picking up a contract gig.

Hospital? , really sorry to hear that. I'm going to give this some serious thought, hopefully others do as well, I suspect that we can come up with a better revenue stream for you pertaining to this site.

 

[Ryan Gosling]

once again i bring up something i suggested a few months ago. all users under 1/2/3/etc tradescore must attach a timestamp with their sale items and username written physically on paper. Anyone can post, community can still report, easy but identifiable posts

 

[ikeo1]

once again i bring up something i suggested a few months ago. all users under 1/2/3/etc tradescore must attach a timestamp with their sale items and username written physically on paper. Anyone can post, community can still report, easy but identifiable posts

I have it as optional. Main thing here is it’s difficult to enforce and takes up time I don’t have nor want to ask others to spend doing. We would need way more moderators.

 

[ironmen]

It is a good idea. That is what they do on the HKPRO forum.

 

[Ryan Gosling]

I have it as optional. Main thing here is it’s difficult to enforce and takes up time I don’t have nor want to ask others to spend doing. We would need way more moderators.

tis time to get mo

 

[Pewpewwagon]

This already exists on the site but allow people to hide it. I’m also considering removing this option altogether and resetting it so people can see last time online status.

The current safeguards seem effective and this would only be another layer of defense. I’m also in the works of redoing the badging system to more like what I have on the other sites.

You should keep ninja mode for paid users. An option maybe.

 

[ikeo1]

tis time to get mo

Hard to find folks I can trust with the keys to the building!

You should keep ninja mode for paid users. An option maybe.

This is a great idea. Not sure why i didn't do it before.

I've just implemented this. Existing users can keep their settings. This is now available with Range Access or CAguns Supporter subscriptions

 

[DuckDawg22]

Im no coder but you might have the skills to make Google Vision work to detect time stamps. I work for a company that uses it to analyze user images (no hats, sunglasses, etc)

 

[pikachu]

How is calguns profitable? Can their monetization model be replicated?

 

[Ryan Gosling]

Hard to find folks I can trust with the keys to the building!

thats why you give em limited rights. admins and mods be with different permission sets

 

[ikeo1]

thats why you give em limited rights. admins and mods be with different permission sets

that takes a long time too man... lol. I'm going as fast as i can bro!

 

[ikeo1]

How is calguns profitable? Can their monetization model be replicated?

They charge 3x-5x what I do. lol. Their vendor subscription i've heard was anywhere from $65-100/mo plus they have a lot more users. Most of their $$ came from member subscriptions, lifetime, annual contributors, etc. We've replicated that part and extended it by adding other sources, but we haven't hit critical mass just yet.

We're on our way to 20k. Plus they had an organization behind them CRPA, Calguns Foundation, etc. It was really cool at the time, I don't know what happened and how my small project became the nemesis of alt-right Calgunners.

 

[Seeed]

When I see profiles like this it pisses me off to be honest. A month old profile, doesn't contribute to the caguns communuty, posts two for sale posts for ridiculously priced off roster handguns. Gives nothing for the service monetarily, or as an investment to the community. Take, take, take.

notninja​

 

[Yetiultimate]

I wouldn’t shy away from a small selective fee to post a firearm here. I recently sold some stuff on Craigslist: random items were free to post but the ad for my kids old car came with a $5 listing fee. At first I thought WTF, but then decided the fee was pennies on the dollar for my listing. Car sold in less than a week and I didn’t mind the fee one bit.

Maybe do free listings for Parts and $2 for Firearms? Caveat emptor to all, but I see guns being listed for more than I sold that old Acura for. $2 is a minor charge.

 

[ikeo1]

Since a lot of people didn't like the minimum post count and now that we have the new badging system, I've come up with a concept inbetween that should satisfy most people except scammers.

This badge will be applied to all users with less than 15 posts and will be automatically removed once the criteria is met..

This can be bypassed if they have a paid badge. People can still post in classifieds, but they'll have this on their account to provide as a visual aide for account status.. If buyers don't look at this then what can you do...

 

[pikachu]

Since a lot of people didn't like the minimum post count and now that we have the new badging system, I've come up with a concept inbetween that should satisfy most people except scammers.

This badge will be applied to all users with less than 15 posts and will be automatically removed once the criteria is met..

This can be bypassed if they have a paid badge. People can still post in classifieds, but they'll have this on their account to provide as a visual aide for account status.. If buyers don't look at this then what can you do...

View attachment 70728

lol in good humor, this made me miss the ‘haha’ emoji