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IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ - Comments on Sales/trades/wanted threads

Comments on sales/Trades/Wanted threads.... Yes or no.... (Simple choice!)

  • Yes

    Votes: 131 85.6%

  • No

    Votes: 22 14.4%
  • Total voters
    153
I'm still a newbie here, but from what I can see most people are nice and fair and I don't think anyone will get ripped off on here if they are trusted by others on here. You will always get people say that's a bargain or its overpriced, looks mint or looks crap and stuff like that, all I know is that I have learnt a lot from the questions that are asked in the for sale part so please leave them on there for all us newbies.
Thanks.
Steve
 
I purchased a Star Trek TNG once. Great game but a bit beyond my skill set to maintain.

I was considering purchasing a Twilight Zone but didn't in the end because someone posted on the thread that it required a lot of maintenance. Considering my difficulty with STTNG I found the information extremely useful and it stopped me spending £4-5k on something that was not suitable.

I'm quite sure that had the equivalent information been posted in last nights thread it would have resulted in all sorts of accusations of skulduggerous trolling.

As someone who is relatively new to pinball ownership I find all information beneficial. I'm certainly old and ugly enough to discern useful information from someone being a tw@t when reading a For Sale post.
 
OP would have done well to keep his gob shut. We've all seen these types of posts before and generally speaking it's not off putting until the seller starts reacting badly. Judging by what time this all took place I'd be surprised if alcohol didn't play a part.
Normal people don't spend thousands of pounds on pinball machines so there's that as well. It's a niche market for unusual people.
 
Could you give the option for sellers to choose comments?

Closed or open their own for sale threads to prevent comments all the while giving the seller the ability to bump it when you want.
I know a lot of people may like having their for sale topics closed to comments

If the for sale section is blocked for comments

Eg I had a item for sale (on another forum)and the for sale section had a mandatory block for comments a friend wanted to comment on it and he couldn’t so then I was getting pmed have you blocked me.


It is dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t
 
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If someone was thinking about buying a machine but was concerned if it out of their technical depth then they can create a separate discussion about that.
I am not sure it is the best place to discuss that on a for sale discussion because it is a subjective question. The OP may have a very different view of how hard a machine is to maintain vs the person asking the question. The same for anyone who reads the post and answers.

To be clear on my view. I see more harm from allowing comments than good because rarely are the 3rd party comments helpful to a genuine buyer and seller. But I know they do put people off selling machines on this site which is bad for us as we could lose out.

Most people have an idea of what the next game they want is. They do their research and have a figure in mind based on their expectations. They see the post and PM quickly to get it.

My advice to newbies is the advice I got about house, pinballs, cars, art and just about anything else people can spend chunks of money on. Do your research, ask questions and wait your time. When you see the right one for the right price, calm yourself down and check if you can see everything you should know about to know the quality matches your expectations.
 
Agree with some of the comments made by Wayne. Same people time and again, posting “GLWS”, “beautiful machine”, “How isn’t this sold yet”.

Why?

Pointless and doesn’t add any value, it sometimes seems to be a ‘mate thing’ to try help to get a machine sold for someone. Even possibly making a newbie think, oh this is too good to pass up.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Chris said:
Agree with some of the comments made by Wayne. Same people time and again, posting “GLWS”, “beautiful machine”, “How isn’t this sold yet”.

Why?

Pointless and doesn’t add any value, it sometimes seems to be a ‘mate thing’ to try help to get a machine sold for someone. Even possibly making a newbie think, oh this is too good to pass up.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Bumps the thread for the seller back to the top, for those that view the forum in a particular way..

That’s the only benefit I can see...
 
Maybe it’s just me, but I love looking at games on here I don’t want to buy, or have right now and may comment with something like the above. I do it because I love these machines as pieces of art, or may be really enjoying a game, or genuinely think it’s a gorgeous game. I can hand on heart say that it’s never been to bump a friend or malicious when questioning a price. I think maybe people view a forum in different ways and perhaps that’s where the tension lies. I apologise now if I have offended anyone with such comments, I kinda see it as walking down the street and seeing something pleasing and saying so. I think my new philosophy is simple, keep it positive and don’t comment on price. However I really do feel stripping comments would make it very transactional and business like and this is a community. I love reading people’s comments on playing a game, how nice it plays or little tidbits on a game for sale, it adds to the character of the machines etc. Again, maybe I’m just coming at it from a different angle.
 
James said:
Maybe it’s just me, but I love looking at games on here I don’t want to buy, or have right now and may comment with something like the above. I do it because I love these machines as pieces of art, or may be really enjoying a game, or genuinely think it’s a gorgeous game. I can hand on heart say that it’s never been to bump a friend or malicious when questioning a price. I think maybe people view a forum in different ways and perhaps that’s where the tension lies. I apologise now if I have offended anyone with such comments, I kinda see it as walking down the street and seeing something pleasing and saying so. I think my new philosophy is simple, keep it positive and don’t comment on price. However I really do feel stripping comments would make it very transactional and business like and this is a community. I love reading people’s comments on playing a game, how nice it plays or little tidbits on a game for sale, it adds to the character of the machines etc. Again, maybe I’m just coming at it from a different angle.
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bingo.gif
 
Paul said:
There's a "report" on every single post!!
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But I think the vast majority of people would only consider using it for abuse, in whatever guise, rather than posting "GLWS", or commenting on price.
 
My 2p.. Current system works, don't over police or prevent free speech.

If people want to comment on the pricing, so be it. That ability stops sellers taking the **** and keeps the hobby self regulated.

You run the risk of ****ing the seller off, but that's your call. If you spent a month price policing every sale post very soon you'll have no friends on here. People get that, so most just zip it. Equally self regulating.

Unfortunately there's a lot of people right now who own pins which are not worth what they've paid. They've either got to lose out or find another mug. Problem then becomes exasperated and that won't help anyone long term.

As a seller, if you don't want to invite comment, use ebay and pay for the privilege of a closed sale. Don't use a public forum.

And on that note, please don't try to redefine what a "forum" is by definition. Let it be free and open.

Thanks for all your efforts Paul, and for inviting discussion.

Tim
 
I think comments should left on. I'm sure the threads that go sour must be like 1/100. Is it really worth putting an end to what is a very active area of the forum just because of the few instances where issues do arise. Has it been considered to appoint a few more moderators or perhaps have a few members who specifically moderate the for sale threads for the non-constructive comment? No offence to the current mods of course, you're an integral part to this incredible asset to our community but as mentioned previously - you guys don't live on here 24/7 so surely the more mods appointed the better chance of negativity and potential blow-ups being nipped in the bud before we have a full-scale nuclear meltdown.
 
Chris said:
Agree with some of the comments made by Wayne. Same people time and again, posting “GLWS”, “beautiful machine”, “How isn’t this sold yet”.

Why?

Pointless and doesn’t add any value, it sometimes seems to be a ‘mate thing’ to try help to get a machine sold for someone. Even possibly making a newbie think, oh this is too good to pass up.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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I would respectfully disagree.

I think it can add a lot of value if there is a machine for sale and someone for example comments that they know the seller and have played the machine and it is in great condition.

It helps the buyer figure out if they want the machine, and if they are overpaying or not. If the comment is from someone on here I respect then I definitely find that kind of comment helpful and it would be a shame to block this kind of extra info.
 
I think the whole 'abuse on for sale threads' has been massively overstated.

95% of sales proceed without incident and I'd hardly call the remainder abuse.

By far the rudest comments I've seen on here recently were last night from the seller. I know we've since been provided with assurance that he's a lovely fella but he was rude and unrepentant about it.

Ridiculously the first recipient of his anger was someone who liked the available machine and had praised it in the previous Alien thread.

Reading between the lines he clearly had a bee in his bonnet about previous Flash Gordon and Alien threads which carried over into his For Sale thread.

But let's not throw the baby out with the bath water over something which was a very rare occurrence on a very good forum.
 
Paul said:
Unfortunately not - it’s on or off...
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All forums go though the issue in for sale threads that go off the rails

Moderators do a great job and I understand that you have to work out away so you are not moderating and turning new members away from the site.
As was mentioned with the comments GLWS and pricing police
That it does nothing for the sale except for bumping the thread to the top.

It can also help as some for sale ads just die, for me I like to search and have found parts that have not sold
Found a fathom playfield and plastics that was for sale back in 2015 that did sell purchased in 2019

I will vote for yes for comments imop more positive than negative
As nothing positive comes out of being negative

For the people that don’t like comments
If you can make a new section for sale pinball items only that have no comments (just a thought) it may help
and then a pinball business that sells pinball stuff would be able to advertise without comment?

I don't know how the owner on Aussie Arcade changed the option for seller to moderate their own for sale thread with the option i mentioned in the previous post.
it works and there has been no blow ups ..

I would support a donation thread to support a new option ?
even know i would probably not sell anything on here as i am in Australia but i would like to think i could sell items
 
Forum - "a meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged"

Keep the comments going please.
  • Warns about scams
  • Sometimes folk offer spares/ support relevant to that machine
  • Known individuals on here vouching for a game supports a sale
  • Keeps adverts fresh (If, like me, you are drawn to unread posts)
  • 95 per cent of comments are well humoured
  • Minority of having a bad day/ drunk/ over-sensitive/ hissy fit sellers should not weaken the forum by censoring the majority
  • You can go to Gumtree or eBay for comment free sales
Covid will have a big effect on some folk- mental health, depression, isolation, unemployment, divorce, money worries .... so be kind with comments right now, count to ten and give a geez the benefit of the doubt.

Thank you to @Paul and the other moderators for doing such a fantastic job with this forum and doing so much to support the hobby. Many of us could not keep our games going, or have the skills to resurrect a dead one without this forum.
 
I agree with David @DRD , comments have many useful aspects. Completely preventing comments would seem to me to be using a sledge hammer to crack a nut. The problem isn't widely spread as others have explained.

In the Alien case, the seller expected something to crack off from the outset. Maybe a 'no comments please' at the end of the advert would have helped and could become the 'standard phrase to insert at the end of ads' for people who want to avoid negative comments on their ad. If that proves insufficient, moderators could lock the handful of ads where it would appear. Just a thought.

The world isn't black or white, they are many shades of grey in between. Just Trying to find the right shade of grey.
 
We are hearing you all.
Can we be mindful that what we see as relatively few threads that go bad can then echo much louder and that there are many more who now just do not want the agro.
Assuming comments stay, can we establish some good behaviour rules on what we should comment on them? Maybe that is the next vote.
 
Calimori said:
We are hearing you all.
Can we be mindful that what we see as relatively few threads that go bad can then echo much louder and that there are many more who now just do not want the agro.
Assuming comments stay, can we establish some good behaviour rules on what we should comment on them? Maybe that is the next vote.
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Agreed!

Also would be worth bearing in mind that whilst some of the ideas being brought up are really good, we are limited by the software... Custom modifications cost silly amounts of money, more then we could magic up on here... So we have to work around what we have :)
 
Agree. Which is why I have suggested what I did. No change of software needed.
 
Good honest adds with lots of pics good description s always sell pins fast I always do my best to describe my as is pins but you can’t always pic up on everything I do know that
On the mint huo stuff always good to mention how many owners and plays on it
I will mention 3 add which I think things where done wrong by group members on both sides

the gotg add at £5700 a little over priced but not ridiculous Neil said in a rude manner it’s over priced and yes maybe it was a bit but no need for it I politely pm the guy offered him 5k which was what I thought it was worth he told me it was on e bay for 3 days yet and he would see what happened and why would you not he told me he had been offered £5200 off e bay and would I pay that I said no 5k is where I am at but I would pay him now and have Martin pick up in 3 day s and deal was done and was very easy

the same seller then listed a hobbit black arrow with an honest description and priced right again James is straight on it telling it’s worth £600 less not a valid point the seller then sold it to Williams amusement s for £200 less than asking price with zero hassle I think a lot of seller s on here are choosing to sell to dealers rather than face the hassle on here and that only increase s prices

Flash Gordon listed for 2k these old games are not my thing so no idea on price some guy said it was over priced and really got it
There where lots of pics that did show a badly worn playfield but the description had very little to tell you any of the negative s on it and had no pics of the underside of the playfield and other things but if you where interested you could ask to see more pics and if there was any movement in price or just ask for pics to be uploaded to the public post

the iron maiden pro
I think this is where a lot of seller s slip up and are very economical with the truth lots of pics but no mention of huo how many owners and general condition only the fact it had been stripped and cleaned when he was asked about how many plays he avoided the question for some time saying that he didn’t see what the difference in 500 plays or 7000 plays made it’s not hard to say huo amount of owners and how many plays in a game less than 2 years old

just my observations and opinion
 
Maybe we all have to take a leaf out of chris' book when it comes to selling. His games sell within seconds in 99% of the cases without any aggro. On the odd occasion when something is slightly overpriced (I seem to remember one a month or two back), nobody said anything about it. It sat there for a couple of days before chris reduced it slightly and sold it. I suspect nobody said anything because it is chris and he has an excellent reputation as a seller. But why can't we observe the same discipline for others? If it is overpriced, it will not sell. Period.
 
Calimori said:
We are hearing you all.
Can we be mindful that what we see as relatively few threads that go bad can then echo much louder and that there are many more who now just do not want the agro.
Assuming comments stay, can we establish some good behaviour rules on what we should comment on them? Maybe that is the next vote.
Click to expand...

I vote for common sense, chill pills and the banning of snowflakes!


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