Commercial Postings on diyAudio

[pinkmouse]

I have opened this thread to canvas opinions on commercial postings on DIY Audio.

In the past, you the members, and us the mods, have been fairly strict on people posting to the board with a business offering.

However, many of our longstanding members do run businesses related to this hobby of ours, and what we would like to do is to help them, in return for their non commercial input, to offer relevant services to members.

One of the current ideas we are playing with, is that traders with products to sell should have their own forum. They would be allowed pre moderated posts in that area, say one a month, or one for say every 50 or so posts they make.

This is not a commercialisation of the board, it just legitimises the current situation where longstanding trade members get away with the odd post in TP, and we turn a blind eye. It will not involve pop -ups, banners, ads or any of that nonsense, and unless you go to that forum, you will not be aware of it's existence.

We will continue to prosecute spam in all its forms.

Comments?

[tiroth]

I don't mind at all seeing business offerings by forum members. I think everyone here that has a business is very polite about the manner in which they advertise, and if there is a way to make their products more accessible then that is great. I think many forumites might be looking for something and not even realize that, say, Steve @ ApexJr stocks it.

I don't see any reason to limit the number of posts if they will all be moderator-approved anyway. I don't think tying anything to #/posts is a good idea!

I don't think this new forum should preclude someone quietly mentioning their wares in the correct context though. I guess I am against adding more levels of control to the board; I don't think we have a problem with spam currently, so why do we need more spam controls? If the suggestion is more to provide another, more structured area in which to advertise, though, I am all for it.

[roddyama]

I would like to see a separate section created for businesses to post offering in the same thread and post manner as the main forum. This will allow any business to offer their products or services and give them incentive to participate if they want the thread/offering to stay current. The uninvolved will quickly have their thread buried into oblivion while rewarding the participator with extended “air-time”. I feel it should be separate so the DIY atmosphere is maintained on the main forum and actual DIY threads are not buried by business deals.

It may even be a way to eventually finance to forum, but that’s another issue.

Rodd Yamashita

[janneman]

Personally I think nobody should have the right to veto commercial offerings, PROVIDED that they are in a separate thread. The beauty of this forum is that you can select threads of interest. If I am interested in commercial offerings, I can go to that thread. But please spare us the regular hobby threads interspersed with commercial blabla!

And as long as it is a separate thread there should not be a need for a close moderation. You guys would only get yourself a lot more work, with no advantage I can see. Do you moderators really want to get involved in disputes of the type " hey I send this guy money and I didn't get diddly, please throw him of the board"? Commercial = commercial != moderation IMO.

Jan Didden

[dhaen]

Hi,

I think the DIYaudio should consider collecting revenue from commercial posts.
If people want to profit, they should invest.
Of course defining "commercial" would then become an issue.
Commercial offerings must be kept separate.

Cheers,

[Sandy H.]

I agree with Rodd. A separate forum for commercial offerings. Trading post could be more for the small DIY/random project surplus, whereas the DIYMart would be commercial. It might not hurt to allow some sort of feedback via posts in there as well. I'm sure if anybody gets cheated, though, that would make its way to light whether or not there were feedback.

As you mentioned at the end of the post, though. . . no spam, pop-ups or other internet decaying.

S.

[Philo]

If someone want to mention a solution or part they sell to somebody in a thread they can post the link to the DIYMart (like that name BTW) without elaborating to much.

[alvaius]

I would be fine with a new forum area under DIY, just like for Loudspeakers, solid-state, etc. However, I would not want posts to show up on the main page as there would be the tendency to overpost so that your post is always in the 20 newest. It should be "invisible" so to speak unless someone specifically goes to that part of the DIY Forums. I would not limit the number of posts by anyone.

I would not charge. If you don't charge, then you can keep a lot better control. When you combine site moderation and charging, you are looking at a potential law suit at some point.

Alvaius

[grataku]

PM what about bulk purchases? Are they considered commercial?It would be nice to have a section for that. It would give more exposure to threads and make them more effective. Maybe combine that with some type of wiki section built in so that people could sign up on the spot.

As far as trading post advertisements I don't know set it up and see how it works out. Vendors and manifacturers get already exposure by posting here and having a link to their website in the signature and elsewhere. If people are interested in their products they can check out the website out.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

It may even be a way to eventually finance to forum, but that’s another issue.

Good idea Rodd.

Let's just hope they play it fair...maybe they could be prevented from posting outside their own commercial area in order not to influence others?

Cheers,