How To Gain Trading Access

[Scott]

*Please read the whole damn thing before you ask for help...

With the expansion of the Farkin.net online community, we (the admins) have decided clamp down and improve the Trading Area of the forums. Currently the trading ethic has been very good, with very few cases of dispute and many happy traders. However, recently we have seen a slight deviation from high standards experienced previously due to the lack of ethic and experience that some of the newer members have. To counter this, we will be enforcing a new system of access to the trading forums.

The New Application System

Signing up to the forums will no longer get you direct access to the Trading forums. Members will have to apply to become part of the “Trading Area Access” group in order to gain access. To be a successful applicant, you need to fill either of the following requirements:

Requirements:

1) have at least 5 decent posts to your name with quality content (no one liners). Before granting you access, the admin will check your post history and may or may not grant you access based on your performance.

OR

2) In the group application reason field write a properly structured paragraph making it clear that you have read our rules, that you will abide by our rules, (use the templates and play nice etc). SMS language and slang are likely to get your application denied. We want to at least see that you have put a little effort in. Actually citing the rules expressed on this page is the surest way to convince us that you have read them and acknowledge the requirements of using the trading section. Simply saying that you have read the rules is far from satisfactory. For further information regarding applications and examples of what to do and what not to do, please refer to this thread: http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=76964

*ANY APPLICATION WITH A POORLY WRITTEN REQUEST IN THE TEXT FIELD WILL BE DENIED.

Successful Applicants

Once you have been successfully accepted into the Trading group, you will now be expected to adhere to the Trading Area netiquette. Each new thread MUST be in the correct format (see below), and must be consistent with the rules stated in this thread. Correct formats are as follows:


For Sale Format

Subject:

The subject title must be clear and to the point, browsers must know exactly what they opening if they are deciding to view the post. Posting subject titles in capitals will result in a warning and/or thread deletion.

Body:

• Item full name and model etc. (include things like colour, size, year etc).
• Location (where you live, and whether or not you will see interstate etc)
• Item condition description (provide as much details as possible, try to give the buyers a visual description of what to expect from your words. What the bike/part was used for.etc.)
• Reason for selling (A lot of buyers will ask this so please provide a reason, even if its only to say that you need the money).
• Price and price conditions (such as negotiable, non-negotiable, will or will not consider selling parts separately).
• Extra Info: (If there is any other info that you'd like to add put it here)
• Pictures (if you don’t have pictures and cannot get any please state as such. If you think you can get pictures soon, please hold off posting the thread until you get the pictures, we want to avoid the posts where the first 5 replies are people asking about pictures). Please use the info in this thread to post your pictures.

Example:

Item: 2003 Boxxer Race

Location: Brisbane, will send interstate at buyers expense

Item Condition: Excellent working order, replaced seals recently, all internals excellent condition, a couple scratches on the lowers from shuttles, but overall vgc.

Reason for selling: I need the money to buy some 888s cause I just have to have the latest thing!

Price and price conditions: $800 negotiable, but will not go below $700.

Extra Info: None.

Pictures: (no pictures for this example, but I would stick them here).

Updated For Sale Posts

If you have updated the post with information such as an updated price or something, edit the post with a red *Updated* next to it. You may edit the subject title and add an *Updated with the updated date behind it after the current title.

Example: 2003 Boxxer Race *Updated 14-01-03

Sold For Sale Posts

When you item/s have been sold please update the thread title with a SOLD: in front of it and (optional) pm an mod/admin so that it can be moved into the sold forum.

Example: SOLD: 2003 Boxxer Race

Important note, every hour a script is run that automatically moves all posts from the For Sale forums with "SOLD" in the thread title, into the Sold forum.

Thread Bumping

As there is quite a post traffic in the for sale forums, new posts can move down and off the page quite quickly. This is why we allow thread bumping (in moderation). Thread bumping is the process whereby the buyer replies to the thread with the word *BUMP* in it to get their post back to the top of the For Sale threads list. However, there are limitations:

- You may only bump a thread once every three days, with a maximum for 3 bumps unless the price is lowered. Excessive bumping will result in a warning or thread locking. This includes all your little friends who want to tell us how well you look after your gear every 5 minutes. No dice.

Replying to For Sale Threads

One of the biggest problems we have had thus far is the way people are replying to sale threads. Using common sense will avoid most of these problems.

• Read ALL replies prior to posting your own. There is no point 1500 people asking the same question over and over with multiple replies of the same answer.
• If you query doesn't need to be in the publics eye, pm the seller.
• Do NOT slant the user or item that is being posted. Eg. Someone selling boxxers, and someone replies with "Boxxers suck". Any replies like this WILL be deleted and the person responsible will receive a warning or something along those lines.
• Respect the buyers wishes and stay on topic. Admin expect to only see replies that are about the item to be sold.
• Do not reply in SMS/MSN abbreviations or post ads that use it either.
• Replies to confirm the item's condition and/or buyers credibility are acceptable, but please keep them to a minimum. Example: person A says that they have seen person B's for sale item and verify its condition.

Trading History

We no longer use the trading history thread, its old and never worked very well. We now use the iTrader plugin. The iTrader plugin allows you to view a traders history, rating and other people's comments about their dealings. You can also leave comments about your dealings in their iTrader profile as well, be it positive or negative. Be aware that people are free to post comments about your conduct as a trader as well, so be on your best behaviour as future trading will be affected by your iTrader profile.

A persons iTrader link can be found in two locations, either in their profile or under their name on the left hand side in threads (under post count and location etc). If a person does not have this link under their name in a thread post, they do not have Trading Access or a trading history.

What you may sell

For Various reasons we have made it a rule that you can only sell bicycles, parts and mtb accessories on this website. If you want to sell something that is not MTB related, use ebay.

Who may sell

This is for private sales and trading only. Shops and commercial entities must be a current paying advertiser to have any type of advertisement post in these forums, and even those are restricted to the 'Sponsor Specials' forum and press releases. Please email advertising@farkin.net for more details.

Tips and Important Notes

• Before engaging in a transaction request the other parties (buyer or seller) name, email address and phone number. Sometimes communication breakdowns occur for various reasons so it is important to have alternative forms of contact.
• If you find yourself the victim of fraud or some other unlawful happening contact your local police. Beyond removing trading access and banning them from the website there is little we can do to pursue wrong doers. And no, we cannot give out email addresses/IP addresses unless they are already publicly available so do not ask.
• Send your items via registered post. If using Aus post bags use express (with delivery tracking). Many problems of never received goods can be avoided by simply sending registered post, pay a little extra and get insurance too. Trust me, that extra couple dollars is very worth it in the end.

In Conclusion

Please feel free to voice your concerns about the terms and conditions stated here. The purpose of this is to improve the quality of the content of the website and we feel that this is a step forward in doing so.

By signing up to the trading section, you are agreeing that you have read ALL of the above. It's obvious if you have not read the rules, and if you haven't and you still sign up anyway, Josh gets frustrated and may not add you in the future!

Yes I have read ALL of the above, I have been a respectable member AND think that I can give the admins the impression (in writing in the text box) that I will use the trading area properly. I also understand that I trade at my own risk and that Farkin.net takes no part in disputes between buyers and sellers...., THIS IS THE LINK THAT LEADS TO THE APPLICATION FORM, CLICK ME!!!!

*Please don't write your life story in the application... a simple indication that you've read this and will abide by the rules will suffice.
*Do NOT PM or Email Scott or any other admin asking for access, your messages will be ignored.

* If you do not fit the requirements stated earlier, your application will be denied.