Lots of people are selling!

[dicker]

One of the moderators sold their collection or a large part of it, in a beautifully organised way that didn’t disrupt the main sales thread.  

That person is @morezone who listed their large inventory for sale on their sub forum and referenced it in the main for sale area.  There were not lots of bumps and I bought coins from his inventory perhaps 6 months after he listed them.

Listing coins in one “stream” does drown out the private seller just selling a single Panda or similar, and leads to more people bumping.

I buy from the same people repeatedly because they often specialise in Sovs and would visit their for sales Subs if they organised as per @morezone

Best

Dicker

[Fishy321]

2 hours ago, dicker said:

One of the moderators sold their collection or a large part of it, in a beautifully organised way that didn’t disrupt the main sales thread.  

That person is @morezone who listed their large inventory for sale on their sub forum and referenced it in the main for sale area.  There were not lots of bumps and I bought coins from his inventory perhaps 6 months after he listed them.

Listing coins in one “stream” does drown out the private seller just selling a single Panda or similar, and leads to more people bumping.

I buy from the same people repeatedly because they often specialise in Sovs and would visit their for sales Subs if they organised as per @morezone

Best

Dicker

I definitely second that, morezone listed in a way I thought was patient and well thought out, I've lost count of the times I've drooled over that Pf70 platinum elephant - quickly and easily.

Not being particularly techy I'm not sure how hard it would be to promote a front page, as it pretty much is, with the sales being a list of members with a greater filter so you can search for say 

Member

Location

Newest listing 

Metal

Price Range

Date of coin

 

The auctions I think are great on here, and deserve there own dedicated, live, section without doubt🙂 

 

[Gypsy]

I have had to block some sellers who are posting to much,to soon. I also miss sales because I can’t keep up with what is happening. 
I think business sellers should have a completely separate section. 
glad someone brought this up. 
 

[sovereignsteve]

10 hours ago, arphethean said:

Dealer sub forums I don't agree with, as they tend to be mostly ignored and under-utilised with a couple of notable exceptions

The ones that do use it correctly and with proportion are the ones I subscribe to and get a notification whenever a new sale is posted.

If a dealer is worth buying from, people who are interested in the type of things they sell will do this.

You can still field through the general list to pick up the stuff as and when you have time to do so,

[ChrisSilver]

Thank you for the suggestions, though we usually ask members to put forward any suggestions privately to myself. This topic has however given some useful information, and has been useful to read the posts in. I will therefore keep it open for the moment, though please forgive me if I do not reply publicly to any questions directed at me.

Quote

6.3.2. TSF is not a place to discuss TSF itself. Any issues or problems that members have about TSF, or improvements or suggestions they wish to submit, can be sent in a private message directly to @ChrisSilver. 

 

In general the trade section is working well, with over 7927 trade topics in 2021, and as previously stated in a post above I would eventually like to add gold/silver etc filters and a filter search to the trade section. I do agree though that we can improve the TSF trade section even further than simply doing this though.

TSF uses forum based software, it isn't designed as a marketplace and there are therefore a lot of limitations to the system. For example a usual 'shop' running on e-commerce software (I have had multiple online shops in various countries) is more geared up for selling items, even in the basic sense of categories and filters which are native features to most if not all e-commerce software. There is also already several custom plugins/applications related to the tag system / auto locking after 30 days (still needs to be updated by the developer) as well as other plugins/applications that also would need to not conflict with the code of any new plugin/application.

I do feel however that a forum style listing for precious metals does work well, and it has worked well for many years, as it is simple for members to list multiple items for sale in a list style in a single listing. With some extensive custom work, but just some simple changes to the front end, we can likely improve the trade section further. Any custom work requires a lot of resources to maintain (costs of going through the code and 'upgrading' each time there is a major software update which is regular on the platform we use, and the limited pool of developers to choose from who work with this software, and the initial developer needing to be the same developer to maintain) and even a simple change at a user end point's view may in practice not be simple.

I can start looking into this, in this coming week to find the associated costs and limitations. I do feel it is better to add a more extensive filter system rather than simple splitting into gold/silver, as was mentioned in some posts the ability to filter between private/commercial sales would also be useful. My initial thoughts are either a filter system or a tab style system to split the forum's trade section, or implementing both. And also being able to easily filter between auction / for sale listings. 

After we have a clearer idea as to what we can do, I will likely post in the Platinum Lounge section, or Premium Members Lounge, and members there will have a chance to comment. As the forum has a lot of members and even if I do read a lot of posts, it isn't possible to respond to each point raised unfortunately, especially publicly as there is a lot of work that goes into other aspects of running the forum also and I unfortunately do not have as much free time to post or to engage into debate/discussions, unlike many members. 

Unfortunately even after we have invested into improving the trade section, there will likely be a many members who disagree with any change. It isn't possible to please everyone unfortunately, especially with a forum of this size. Though I will try my best to make the trade section easier to use and to find what specifically you are looking for, as this is what ultimately is the issue with the growing trade section, it is harder to filter through listings. And hopefully this will positively affective the majority of members who use the trade section. 

Please also note that TSF does not charge any % fees to list on the forum, and even taking into account the low cost of optional Premium Membership the actual cost to buy & sell items on the forum is extremely low for members. Offering members a very low cost / free way to sell their precious metals items direct to other precious metals enthusiasts. I am dedicated to improving and growing the forum and will try my best to improve it for everyone  

Many thanks for those members who choose to buy and sell on the forum, as it is a key part of TSF. And thank you to those who support TSF with Premium Membership, as this helps a long way, especially into the costs of hiring developers for projects and maintenance which can in some cases be extensive. 

 

[scotwasp]

6 hours ago, ChrisSilver said:

Thank you for the suggestions, though we usually ask members to put forward any suggestions privately to myself. This topic has however given some useful information, and has been useful to read the posts in. I will therefore keep it open for the moment, though please forgive me if I do not reply publicly to any questions directed at me.

 

In general the trade section is working well, with over 7927 trade topics in 2021, and as previously stated in a post above I would eventually like to add gold/silver etc filters and a filter search to the trade section. I do agree though that we can improve the TSF trade section even further than simply doing this though.

TSF uses forum based software, it isn't designed as a marketplace and there are therefore a lot of limitations to the system. For example a usual 'shop' running on e-commerce software (I have had multiple online shops in various countries) is more geared up for selling items, even in the basic sense of categories and filters which are native features to most if not all e-commerce software. There is also already several custom plugins/applications related to the tag system / auto locking after 30 days (still needs to be updated by the developer) as well as other plugins/applications that also would need to not conflict with the code of any new plugin/application.

I do feel however that a forum style listing for precious metals does work well, and it has worked well for many years, as it is simple for members to list multiple items for sale in a list style in a single listing. With some extensive custom work, but just some simple changes to the front end, we can likely improve the trade section further. Any custom work requires a lot of resources to maintain (costs of going through the code and 'upgrading' each time there is a major software update which is regular on the platform we use, and the limited pool of developers to choose from who work with this software, and the initial developer needing to be the same developer to maintain) and even a simple change at a user end point's view may in practice not be simple.

I can start looking into this, in this coming week to find the associated costs and limitations. I do feel it is better to add a more extensive filter system rather than simple splitting into gold/silver, as was mentioned in some posts the ability to filter between private/commercial sales would also be useful. My initial thoughts are either a filter system or a tab style system to split the forum's trade section, or implementing both. And also being able to easily filter between auction / for sale listings. 

After we have a clearer idea as to what we can do, I will likely post in the Platinum Lounge section, or Premium Members Lounge, and members there will have a chance to comment. As the forum has a lot of members and even if I do read a lot of posts, it isn't possible to respond to each point raised unfortunately, especially publicly as there is a lot of work that goes into other aspects of running the forum also and I unfortunately do not have as much free time to post or to engage into debate/discussions, unlike many members. 

Unfortunately even after we have invested into improving the trade section, there will likely be a many members who disagree with any change. It isn't possible to please everyone unfortunately, especially with a forum of this size. Though I will try my best to make the trade section easier to use and to find what specifically you are looking for, as this is what ultimately is the issue with the growing trade section, it is harder to filter through listings. And hopefully this will positively affective the majority of members who use the trade section. 

Please also note that TSF does not charge any % fees to list on the forum, and even taking into account the low cost of optional Premium Membership the actual cost to buy & sell items on the forum is extremely low for members. Offering members a very low cost / free way to sell their precious metals items direct to other precious metals enthusiasts. I am dedicated to improving and growing the forum and will try my best to improve it for everyone  

Many thanks for those members who choose to buy and sell on the forum, as it is a key part of TSF. And thank you to those who support TSF with Premium Membership, as this helps a long way, especially into the costs of hiring developers for projects and maintenance which can in some cases be extensive. 

 

 

I am sure it could be improved (what couldn’t) but compared to other sites and other non PM site trying to do similar, I really think this site/forum is excellent. It allows everyone to build confidence in the site and systems as they get more involved and as far as I can see, those who put the most effort in are getting most out. 
I already like looking out for several members posts and others sales listings. 
Great site for educating us newbies and enjoy some of the banter between those with 1000’s of posts many who have posted on this thread! 

[StackemHigh]

IMHO the way that @morezone went about selling a vast array of items was just about perfect. The sponsor/ Dealer sub-forum was put to the most effective use possible. The sponsor sub-forum that @arshimo2012 is another that has been used to great effect too, items can sell in a matter of mins if not secs, unfortunately there are hidden posts there too.

I have a standard membership as i can be lost at sea (Note. no boating accidents) without internet data so most of the benefits i would use would be lost. 

Having members that do post large amounts of sales could be more effective / successful following one of the above methods.

I wonder how many visit the forum and go to @arshimo2012 automatically looking for a great deal as a first port of call? I know i do!

I only buy now. I sold a batch of coins about 7 or 8 years ago and regretted it but it did get my gold stack/collection going.

Just my viewpoint.

[StackemHigh]

On 06/02/2022 at 04:47, Fishy321 said:

The auctions I think are great on here, and deserve there own dedicated, live, section without doubt🙂 

 

Maybe an auction could be pinned to the top of the section that they are in until the auction closes?

[ArgentSmith]

Rather than Gold, Silver, PGMs sections, maybe Bullion and Collectables ie graded and raw proofs?

Agree with @ChrisSilver improved filters is the way to go, I have tried to block out a couple of sellers who I personally have no interest in, but still see their threads,  just the posts filtered out. Being able to "hide" users threads would be a great start and allow those who enjoy certain sellers threads to keep seeing them and those who cant see the wood for the trees to be able to tidy the sales section up.

Also I believe it would encourage people to behave responsibly rather than have to impose new rules which means more work for the mods.

[Silverman2U]

On 04/02/2022 at 10:54, Bigmarc said:

I did this last year and kind of regret it as there is not much to look at. It's probably best to have a second fund. 

Agreed! Risky business dumping all your “tried and tested” funds for speculation funds. I have both, but I also maysure I have both for a reason  … unstable crypto isn’t going to guarantee the lights stay on… gold will!

[Silverman2U]

17 minutes ago, ArgentSmith said:

Rather than Gold, Silver, PGMs sections, maybe Bullion and Collectables ie graded and raw proofs?

Agree with @ChrisSilver improved filters is the way to go, I have tried to block out a couple of sellers who I personally have no interest in, but still see their threads,  just the posts filtered out. Being able to "hide" users threads would be a great start and allow those who enjoy certain sellers threads to keep seeing them and those who cant see the wood for the trees to be able to tidy the sales section up.

Also I believe it would encourage people to behave responsibly rather than have to impose new rules which means more work for the mods.

I think if your posting shed loads of coins it’s always nice to post a number of coins in one thread rather than 1 coin per thread. Of course you can always block those from your feed that do one post for one coin. Gotta’ start doing this more often.  

[Silverman2U]

1 hour ago, StackemHigh said:

IMHO the way that @morezone went about selling a vast array of items was just about perfect. The sponsor/ Dealer sub-forum was put to the most effective use possible. The sponsor sub-forum that @arshimo2012 is another that has been used to great effect too, items can sell in a matter of mins if not secs, unfortunately there are hidden posts there too.

I have a standard membership as i can be lost at sea (Note. no boating accidents) without internet data so most of the benefits i would use would be lost. 

Having members that do post large amounts of sales could be more effective / successful following one of the above methods.

I wonder how many visit the forum and go to @arshimo2012 automatically looking for a great deal as a first port of call? I know i do!

I only buy now. I sold a batch of coins about 7 or 8 years ago and regretted it but it did get my gold stack/collection going.

Just my viewpoint.

Yes, I check out @arshimo2012 on a regular basis for a good deal too.  … sometimes quicker than getting lost in the main feed. 

[Paul]

On 06/02/2022 at 19:47, scotwasp said:

build confidence in the site and systems as they get more involved and as far as I can see,

those who put the most effort in are getting most out. 

I already like looking out for several members posts and others sales listings. 
 

100% this ^^^^^^ exactly what I've always done tried to do, here since year dot

 ive got a nice 'little black book' now of loyal stackers and collectors who are happy to deal with me on back of previous forum deals and consistent 'not greedy' pricing

 

 

[morezone]

I've not read this thread but have received a few mention notifications and I think I know what it's all about.

Last year I sold a shed load of stuff.  I listed over 900 different items.

As someone who has my own sub forum I made use of both that and the general sale forum.  Sub forums don't get the exposure like the normal sales forum does so to help highlight items listed in there I added a footnote to any sales threads I created in the normal sales forum.  That included a brief description and some hyperlinks to threads.  Each time I created a new listing I copied and pasted the old footnote and added the new link and removed any completed threads.  It only took a minute at most.   I also had a list, and still do, of all the items I have for sale along with pricing and links to their individual threads.  Although the original threads are now locked, people can still view them and I update the lists as and when items sell.  It's been 5+ months and even to this day I sometimes get the odd enquiry and sale to someone who's just come across the list and found something they're after.  Or someone who wanted something at the time but didn't have funds or someone deciding that they do want/need item x after all.

Not only did I utilise my sub forum to prevent cluttering and spamming the main sales forum, I also grouped together items into single threads as much as I could.  Every item I sold was different but I did not want to flood the forum.  I didn't need a separate thread for each individual item.  I just grouped similar items together, unloaded pics, listed what they were along with prices.  I also kept the number of new listings a day to a reasonable level.

If I didn't have a sub forum I would have still done it the same way.  A handful of listings a day with items grouped in lots.  Footer with links to my other threads.  The only thing missing would be a comprehensive list.

As for bumping.  I only bumped a few threads a day whenever I remembered.  If I'd bumped every thread then everyone else's threads would be pushed down and that wouldn't have been nice.

There was nothing stopping me from flooding the forum and bumping within guidelines but the sales forum would have been dominated by my threads and it wouldn't have been fair on others.

I tried to be as considerate as possible.

[Paul]

42 minutes ago, morezone said:

I've not read this thread but have received a few mention notifications and I think I know what it's all about.

Last year I sold a shed load of stuff.  I listed over 900 different items.

As someone who has my own sub forum I made use of both that and the general sale forum.  Sub forums don't get the exposure like the normal sales forum does so to help highlight items listed in there I added a footnote to any sales threads I created in the normal sales forum.  That included a brief description and some hyperlinks to threads.  Each time I created a new listing I copied and pasted the old footnote and added the new link and removed any completed threads.  It only took a minute at most.   I also had a list, and still do, of all the items I have for sale along with pricing and links to their individual threads.  Although the original threads are now locked, people can still view them and I update the lists as and when items sell.  It's been 5+ months and even to this day I sometimes get the odd enquiry and sale to someone who's just come across the list and found something they're after.  Or someone who wanted something at the time but didn't have funds or someone deciding that they do want/need item x after all.

Not only did I utilise my sub forum to prevent cluttering and spamming the main sales forum, I also grouped together items into single threads as much as I could.  Every item I sold was different but I did not want to flood the forum.  I didn't need a separate thread for each individual item.  I just grouped similar items together, unloaded pics, listed what they were along with prices.  I also kept the number of new listings a day to a reasonable level.

If I didn't have a sub forum I would have still done it the same way.  A handful of listings a day with items grouped in lots.  Footer with links to my other threads.  The only thing missing would be a comprehensive list.

As for bumping.  I only bumped a few threads a day whenever I remembered.  If I'd bumped every thread then everyone else's threads would be pushed down and that wouldn't have been nice.

There was nothing stopping me from flooding the forum and bumping within guidelines but the sales forum would have been dominated by my threads and it wouldn't have been fair on others.

I tried to be as considerate as possible.

It was a great selection your offered. And all at priced to sell / realistic prices. This is what has slowly drifted away here over the years.  Was more than happy with my seldom seen here overseas pf70 pieces I got 

The sweet spot for every deal is between spot/melt and what a dealer/feebay/RRP is.

Price in this zone and anything normally sells well, quickly

 

[Fishface220]

I keep forgetting about the sub dealers bit I just go to uk ungraded and look there

Edited February 8, 2022 by Fishface220

[Tn21]

The cream always rises to the top