Regarding The New Classifieds / BSA / BST / Buy Sell Trade System

[Nifty-Chicken]

We thank everyone for their feedback and patience as we work through the new system. It is a bit different from the other system, and there are still a bunch of details we're working out.

Here are a few things that will hopefully clarify a few questions:


The new system is a bit different from the old one, for example:

1) The new system does not support "Proxy Bidding", but we're working around that so we can still allow our members to post auctions and bid on items.
2) Your listings don't expire



This last part has caused some confusion, so here are some Comparison Examples:

Examples:


I have 12 eggs every 3 days:

• In the old system you had to create a new listing every 3 days.
• In the new system you just leave your existing listing open and keep selling the items as long as you have them, or close the listing when you're out of stock. You could even re-open the same listing

Every week I have 4 breeds of eggs that I want to list separately:

• In the old system this would be 4 listings that would expire and you'd have to re-list over and over.
• In the new system: Just 4 open listings... that's it.

Technically everyone now has the ability to sell "unlimited" items. What we are limiting is the number of open "classifieds" and how often members can "bump" their listings.

Example: You could list that you have 50,000 chicken purses for sale for $5 each.

• On the old system: that would be 50,000 listings!
• On the new system, just one single listing.

So, with a better understanding of the new system, please help us understand how and what you want to sell and what challenges you foresee. Please provide very specific examples like those above.

Give us an idea of what you're trying to sell, how many "different" items, how many of the same type of items, how frequently, etc.

We want to make sure the system's settings are appropriate for our community. Having it too open or too strict can both cause problems. We want this to be "just right"

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

It seems that one of the problems many people are having related to the new system is trying to understand that they aren't limited by the number of items they can sell, but by the number of different items / listings they can have open at a time.

Here is our big question: How many different breeds do you sellers have available for sale at any one time?

 

[kathyinmo]

It isn't just the number of breeds alone. For example, I may have only Silkies.... BUT, I may have 8 pens of varieties of them.... and each variety has a different $$ value.

• Lavender Silkies
• Blue Silkies
• White Silkies
• Buff Silkies
• Porcelain Silkies
• Black Silkies
• Paint Silkies
• etc................

 

[banjoejoe4783]

hi and thanks here at VILLAMIL FARMS i have 45 diferant breeds of chickens turkeys and quail i usualy have my incubators running and do not need to have listings running for all 45 breds at one time . but in the old setup i would have between 7 to 15 running at the same time but would change witch breed i was offering at diferant times for an example i may have somthing like this

12+ coronation susexs
12+ new hamp
6+ black sumatras
8+ motteld houdan
30+ fill your bator special
12+ LF cochin eggs
12+ long tail special
25+ SQ bantam asortment
18+ OEGB special
YOUNG pair of show quality new hamps
6+ bantam dark cornish
12+ bantam sicilyan butter cup

i am truly thankfull for the BYC and will try to work withing the restritions you put in place but if you can alow your members to have more open classifieds it would be greatly apresheated for example

non member --0 listings
member--5 listings
GFM--5-10 listings
PPM-- 10-15 listings

 

[wolftracks]

I was going to post a thread on the auction setup, but saw this and figured this might be a good place to ask.

With things set up the way they are, does this mean if you win, that the seller needs to send a pm to the buyer?

Also, I never thought i'd really miss them, but I do. I had placed bids on eggs that I obviously didn't win, but there are no archieves to see who won and what the item went for. I guess I really did need those archieves sometimes. LOL

Nifty, do you think we'll ever be going back to the other setup and if so, any idea when?

 

[corancher]

Let see if all my birds were laying at the same time which is sometimes possible in the Spring. I could have listings for

14 different breeds of chickens
4 breeds of geese
4 breeds of turkeys
4 breeds of ducks
and guinea eggs.

Looks like that would be a possible of 27 for hatching eggs and several more for chicks or adult birds.

I am still learning the new system. My biggest problems thus far is that on 3 different computers the speed is awful. It is almost to the point of not even wanting to bother so I have spent a lot less time of BYC.

My second biggest problem is the change in the BST area. It worked so nicely before and it is a shame that it was one of the areas that was sacrificed. I am with some of the other members that liked the auction system since it lets the market set the price instead of the seller listing a price. It was real easy to re-list items for sale so the never expiring is a moot point in my opinion. I think one of the main problems with an ad never expiring is that many people will post and then never update so after awhile there will be a lot of unavailable items and people will stop looking at the ads.

I tried listing eggs for sale and keeping a list of people who wanted them. It was a time consuming nightmare on my part. I found that most people who have to wait either go elsewhere where they can get the item immediately or if they do wait they have decided they don't want it any longer or can't pay for it. I also had people who wanted the eggs shipped on a certain day to put them in the incubator on a certain day. Trying to do this will make you crazy real fast if you have a large number of breeds. Anyone that has poultry for awhile knows that you can never guarantee a certain day since you don't know if the birds are still going to be laying, that fertility is still good, that a fox didn't take your one and only rooster, etc. and then is the postal service going to deliver the eggs when they are wanted. The auction system allowed me to list the items when they are available, the market set the price, and most people pay as soon as the auction completes. This was easy pleasy.

The work around auction system is very cumbersome. I myself if I am watching an auction don't want to weed through pages of comments to find the current bid.

I will try to be patient as the kinks are worked out.

 

[ginasmarans]

I never was a fan of the auction site in the beginning, and I'm still not overly fond of it, but I think I will like those changes since I really only have one breed and I sell those eggs all Spring and into early Summer. For me,I think the no expiration feature will work well. Thanks

 

[ChooksChick]

I, too, have numerous breeds and numerous colors/varieties of each breed. I can't think well enough to count them all out today, but I'd guess it's around 25 or so.

Perhaps a partnership with one of the existing auction sites would be a better choice, or link the user database to an existing auction software package-run site...because the classified system is not going to be able to take the place of auctions.

One of the things about auctions is that the frenzy of competition and proxy bidding drives the excitement of the system. It's more than exchanging hands full of eggs and money- it's an experience involving community and competition, and while the 24 hour auction thread got that way occasionally, it requires all parties to be in front of their computers simultaneously. This will not occur on a large enough scale to support classified selling due to schedule restrictions. In order for that to occur, each seller would have to regularly come back to their page on a pre-determined deadline, and so would all of their bidders. THEN, they would have to 'reset' the auction for future bidders, who would have to figure out where in the thread the 'current' auction starts and when it ends. Do you see the complications piling up here?

Now- you also have to see that this could get VERY ugly with simultaneous auctions and bidding for 23 other breeds and colors. The threads would be too complicated to navigate and bidders would bail. Not good when a seller is trying to put food on the table.

Next, the lack of proxy bidding means that if trying to sneak in under the wire with a bid, multiple bidders would be putting up the same bid with the same increase increment, and there would be mass confusion in trying to figure out where the bid actually is (under pressure) and then who made the first highest bid. It could be worse if people on dial up were participating, because they would (rightly) feel at a disadvantage. Proxy bidding is the way that buyers and sellers are most comfortable, feel like they have a fair shake, and what we REALLY want.

I really encourage you to look into other software packages and the possibility of tying 2 sites together if it's going to be obnoxiously difficult and delayed to put a workable auction into this system. I DON'T WANT to go elsewhere, but I can't earn as much or have proper control in classifieds. My New Year's Mantra is:

I will not knowingly complicate my life.

A normal auction setting is necessary for me.

 

[NicoleRM]

I agree wholeheartedly with what ChooksChick and corancher have said. I feel the new system is going to drive sellers away from BYC. I'm not even going to bother with the auction "work around" that has been proposed and the inevitable drama it will create with sought-after items. I'll just list my eggs at a set price and hopefully someone will want them. I much preferred being able to start an auction low and let people bid what they think they are worth.

I also don't see the point in buying site whatever-feather memberships anymore. If I wanted I could just make a classified post with a list of everything I have available and never need to upgrade to get more classified postings, unless there is a rule preventing this that I haven't seen (or will be created). I would, however, be happy to pay for listing if it brought back proxy bidding similar to the old system.

 

[sonew123]

I, too, have numerous breeds and numerous colors/varieties of each breed. I can't think well enough to count them all out today, but I'd guess it's around 25 or so.

Perhaps a partnership with one of the existing auction sites would be a better choice, or link the user database to an existing auction software package-run site...because the classified system is not going to be able to take the place of auctions.

One of the things about auctions is that the frenzy of competition and proxy bidding drives the excitement of the system. It's more than exchanging hands full of eggs and money- it's an experience involving community and competition, and while the 24 hour auction thread got that way occasionally, it requires all parties to be in front of their computers simultaneously. This will not occur on a large enough scale to support classified selling due to schedule restrictions. In order for that to occur, each seller would have to regularly come back to their page on a pre-determined deadline, and so would all of their bidders. THEN, they would have to 'reset' the auction for future bidders, who would have to figure out where in the thread the 'current' auction starts and when it ends. Do you see the complications piling up here?

Now- you also have to see that this could get VERY ugly with simultaneous auctions and bidding for 23 other breeds and colors. The threads would be too complicated to navigate and bidders would bail. Not good when a seller is trying to put food on the table.

Next, the lack of proxy bidding means that if trying to sneak in under the wire with a bid, multiple bidders would be putting up the same bid with the same increase increment, and there would be mass confusion in trying to figure out where the bid actually is (under pressure) and then who made the first highest bid. It could be worse if people on dial up were participating, because they would (rightly) feel at a disadvantage. Proxy bidding is the way that buyers and sellers are most comfortable, feel like they have a fair shake, and what we REALLY want.

I really encourage you to look into other software packages and the possibility of tying 2 sites together if it's going to be obnoxiously difficult and delayed to put a workable auction into this system. I DON'T WANT to go elsewhere, but I can't earn as much or have proper control in classifieds. My New Year's Mantra is:

I will not knowingly complicate my life.

A normal auction setting is necessary for me.

I agree wholeheartedly with what ChooksChick and corancher have said. I feel the new system is going to drive sellers away from BYC. I'm not even going to bother with the auction "work around" that has been proposed and the inevitable drama it will create with sought-after items. I'll just list my eggs at a set price and hopefully someone will want them. I much preferred being able to start an auction low and let people bid what they think they are worth.

I also don't see the point in buying site whatever-feather memberships anymore. If I wanted I could just make a classified post with a list of everything I have available and never need to upgrade to get more classified postings, unless there is a rule preventing this that I haven't seen (or will be created). I would, however, be happy to pay for listing if it brought back proxy bidding similar to the old system.

Really..I cannot say anything more than the three of these folks already said..They nailed evey point I wanted to raise..thank you folks!