Vendor "Catalog Posts"?

[jeff]

I am really confused. We just went through all these changes that took place in Oct. These were done to reduce the amount of advertising and get back to what is important, the advancement of the hobby. Now we are again talking about adding another advertising section? Something doesn't sound right to me, what am I missing?

I tried to explain my philosophy about balance in my post above at 12:05. But I honestly don't see how this is in your face advertising. Do you object that it would exist at all or that it would be annoying?

 

[bitshird]

So in essence the opening of this section would begin in a similar fashion as the Oklahoma land rush of 1889. The vendors that wish to participate would be given advance notice of when this option would become open to publish and those of us that wished to participate would have our wagons hitched up and our horses saddled and when the flag drops we all would be burning up keyboards, whipping our bandwidth to make sure we would get top placement and run like hell for the piece of property we wanted. Sounds good to me.

You base this assumption on what? The haphazard way I normally do things? Thanks for the vote of confidence! Note that I have not said a thing about how this would be opened, IF it is.

Jeff, as I remember about advertising, (which apparently I don't), but I always thought that location was the most important thing, hence the reason for allowing the bumping of the premium threads
And in all honesty, I was just kidding about the land rush, besides Roy is already in Oklahoma.
It's your site, we are merely participants, and you are the final say, I certainly don't feel the cost to be prohibitive, and contrary to Smittys thinking I can think of a few vendors that will (pardon the expression) be chomping at the bit, My self included.
I doubt if there will be page after page of vendors, but one never knows, does one!!
I think it's an idea with some merit, I know it would be very helpful to some of the blank vendors and component (kit) suppliers.
I too would probably buy one in addition to running my regular add in Premiums, but that's just me and the world knows I'm a freaking head case.

 

[bitshird]

Ken, what other option would there be? It's a non-showing section of permanent catalog ads, without bumping...

I don't see this as being a distraction from the core of education and advancement, since it is a non-updating section (i.e. not in-your-face) to accomodate those users that want a permanent store-front, without adding to the classified 'scrolling' on the 'new posts'. Massive signatures full of ads taking up half a page scream commerce more than this change does, in my mind.

That being said, I'm writing this as a member - I'm not the architect of the classifieds, and thus it's just my opinion...

Andrew, I tend to agree, for several years I kept my Signature line small and mostly relied on people commenting on my tools to promote keeping my listing on the first page, Occasionally I would "bump" my add with a PM sent or something not very important, BUT not very often, I was proud of the comments from my customers. I like the I idea that Jeff has proposed,
I do foresee problems with the operational side of organizing the list of catalogs, it would seem as though there would need to be a master page, listing the various kinds of good for sale such as blanks, kits, tool, and I'm sure there would have to be subheadings under each of those categories.
I don't see this as a bad thing, quite the contrary I was just jesting about the land rush, but I guess most of the sense of humor has gone on a walkabout, or just crawled up and shriveled away, My apologies.

 

[maxwell_smart007]

Ken, what other option would there be? It's a non-showing section of permanent catalog ads, without bumping...

I don't see this as being a distraction from the core of education and advancement, since it is a non-updating section (i.e. not in-your-face) to accomodate those users that want a permanent store-front, without adding to the classified 'scrolling' on the 'new posts'. Massive signatures full of ads taking up half a page scream commerce more than this change does, in my mind.

That being said, I'm writing this as a member - I'm not the architect of the classifieds, and thus it's just my opinion...

Andrew, I tend to agree, for several years I kept my Signature line small and mostly relied on people commenting on my tools to promote keeping my listing on the first page, Occasionally I would "bump" my add with a PM sent or something not very important, BUT not very often, I was proud of the comments from my customers. I like the I idea that Jeff has proposed,
I do foresee problems with the operational side of organizing the list of catalogs, it would seem as though there would need to be a master page, listing the various kinds of good for sale such as blanks, kits, tool, and I'm sure there would have to be subheadings under each of those categories.
I don't see this as a bad thing, quite the contrary I was just jesting about the land rush, but I guess most of the sense of humor has gone on a walkabout, or just crawled up and shriveled away, My apologies.

No worries, Ken - I was actually responding to a comment from higher up the page as well, so only the first statement was directed solely at you!

 

[alphageek]

<clip> gone on a walkabout <clip>

I didn't know that TN was in Austrailia! I've never heard that phrased used outside references to AU! Ok.. back to your regularly scheduled programming now. :biggrin:

 

[bitshird]

<clip> gone on a walkabout <clip>

I didn't know that TN was in Austrailia! I've never heard that phrased used outside references to AU! Ok.. back to your regularly scheduled programming now. :biggrin:

Dean, I think that's about how far it's gone to get away :biggrin:

 

[Smitty37]

Operative words

So in essence the opening of this section would begin in a similar fashion as the Oklahoma land rush of 1889. The vendors that wish to participate would be given advance notice of when this option would become open to publish and those of us that wished to participate would have our wagons hitched up and our horses saddled and when the flag drops we all would be burning up keyboards, whipping our bandwidth to make sure we would get top placement and run like hell for the piece of property we wanted. Sounds good to me.

You base this assumption on what? The haphazard way I normally do things? Thanks for the vote of confidence! Note that I have not said a thing about how this would be opened, IF it is.

Jeff, as I remember about advertising, (which apparently I don't), but I always thought that location was the most important thing, hence the reason for allowing the bumping of the premium threads
And in all honesty, I was just kidding about the land rush, besides Roy is already in Oklahoma.
It's your site, we are merely participants, and you are the final say, I certainly don't feel the cost to be prohibitive, and contrary to Smittys thinking I can think of a few vendors that will (pardon the expression) be chomping at the bit, My self included.
I doubt if there will be page after page of vendors, but one never knows, does one!!
I think it's an idea with some merit, I know it would be very helpful to some of the blank vendors and component (kit) suppliers.
I too would probably buy one in addition to running my regular add in Premiums, but that's just me and the world knows I'm a freaking head case.

So can I Ken but I think the operative words are "a few" There are currently 7 ads in the classified where one can do almost the same thing for the same cost. I think the catalog would get more than that but I don't see any mad rush to buy slots...particularily if it is priced by the quarter or annually....

 

[KnB Polymers]

I think it would be a good idea to place "vendor catalogs" alphabetically by vendor name ...

#1 ... no fighting to get to the top of the list
#2 ... if buyers are looking for a specific vendor, they won't have to search through threads to find who he is looking for ... easy find

If Jeff doesn't want a drop down list for categories, a simple way would be:
"Vendor name ... brief description of what he sells"
then you could see who has blanks, pen parts, etc

Sorry Jeff! Years of office management creeping out .. it's a bad habit. :biggrin:

 

[IPD_Mr]

I am really confused. We just went through all these changes that took place in Oct. These were done to reduce the amount of advertising and get back to what is important, the advancement of the hobby. Now we are again talking about adding another advertising section? Something doesn't sound right to me, what am I missing?

I tried to explain my philosophy about balance in my post above at 12:05. But I honestly don't see how this is in your face advertising. Do you object that it would exist at all or that it would be annoying?

I am sorry, please show where in my post I said that I object? Did I really say that or are you just reading something that is not there?

Obviously you missed what I was saying. Heck you were even talking about killing signatures a few weeks back and now you throw this out there....

I am trying to get a sense of your direction is all.

 

[jeff]

I am really confused. We just went through all these changes that took place in Oct. These were done to reduce the amount of advertising and get back to what is important, the advancement of the hobby. Now we are again talking about adding another advertising section? Something doesn't sound right to me, what am I missing?

I tried to explain my philosophy about balance in my post above at 12:05. But I honestly don't see how this is in your face advertising. Do you object that it would exist at all or that it would be annoying?

I am sorry, please show where in my post I said that I object? Did I really say that or are you just reading something that is not there?

Obviously you missed what I was saying. Heck you were even talking about killing signatures a few weeks back and now you throw this out there....

I am trying to get a sense of your direction is all.

Sorry, I interpreted your post as critical of the idea of adding the forum. I took your criticism as objection and perhaps I should not have, but that's how it came across.

What exactly does "Something doesn't sound right to me" mean?

My direction? If you'll read the first post in this thread, you'll see that I'm just collecting data.

 

[IPD_Mr]

Sorry, I interpreted your post as critical of the idea of adding the forum. I took your criticism as objection and perhaps I should not have, but that's how it came across.

What exactly does "Something doesn't sound right to me" mean?

My direction? If you'll read the first post in this thread, you'll see that I'm just collecting data.

Well we have the major overhaul of classifieds and the rules in general. Seems to have turned out pretty good, but it has only been six weeks. A couple of week ago you start the thread on signatures. Now today the "New Catalog" idea. It is just all this bouncing around at every turn, one extreme to the other, which doesn't seem right to me. Unless something is majorly wrong, or a rule tweek is needed, let things settle in. Give it a few months and then propose new ideas once the new changes have been in effect and you get an honest feel for how things are.

Take a look at this post and then take a look at TexatDurango's post on sections.

52 replies 1578 views. Thread started Thursday of last week. You started this thread last night and it has 49 replies 786 views. I thought that all of this was to get back to posts and threads like George's.

 

[thewishman]

I like the idea. It would be nice to see items for sale on MY timetable, not just when a new ad is placed. I could search for things in a stable, less-changing format, with a bit of history. "Does Vendor X stock this item or was it a group buy, or a limited-time offer only."

It may make it easier for vendors that offer a range of items, but do not wish the extra work of maintaining a separate website.

 

[jeff]

I like the idea. It would be nice to see items for sale on MY timetable, not just when a new ad is placed. I could search for things in a stable, less-changing format, with a bit of history. "Does Vendor X stock this item or was it a group buy, or a limited-time offer only."

It may make it easier for vendors that offer a range of items, but do not wish the extra work of maintaining a separate website.

Thanks, Chris.

I believe that was the idea, that several of our smaller vendors had a "catalog" of sorts, but did not have independent web sites.

So I believe this idea has some merit -- it helps our members find stuff to buy, and it helps our vendors let us know what they have available.

 

[jeff]

I think it would be a good idea to place "vendor catalogs" alphabetically by vendor name ...

#1 ... no fighting to get to the top of the list
#2 ... if buyers are looking for a specific vendor, they won't have to search through threads to find who he is looking for ... easy find

If Jeff doesn't want a drop down list for categories, a simple way would be:
"Vendor name ... brief description of what he sells"
then you could see who has blanks, pen parts, etc

Sorry Jeff! Years of office management creeping out .. it's a bad habit. :biggrin:

That's probably a very reasonable way to approach it!

 

[Texatdurango]

I think it would be a good idea to place "vendor catalogs" alphabetically by vendor name ...

#1 ... no fighting to get to the top of the list
#2 ... if buyers are looking for a specific vendor, they won't have to search through threads to find who he is looking for ... easy find

If Jeff doesn't want a drop down list for categories, a simple way would be:
"Vendor name ... brief description of what he sells"
then you could see who has blanks, pen parts, etc

Sorry Jeff! Years of office management creeping out .. it's a bad habit. :biggrin:

That's probably a very reasonable way to approach it!

Wait a minute, didn't we learn anything from the good ole days when the yellow pages started coming out and the "A's" out numbered every other letter in the alphabet with all the "New" companies like AAA welding which of course was beat out by AAAA welding which also fell way behind AAAAAA1 welding! Seemed like for several years everything was AAA something or another! I can see it now....... AAAA1 A+ pen supplies :biggrin:

 

[KnB Polymers]

I think it would be a good idea to place "vendor catalogs" alphabetically by vendor name ...

#1 ... no fighting to get to the top of the list
#2 ... if buyers are looking for a specific vendor, they won't have to search through threads to find who he is looking for ... easy find

If Jeff doesn't want a drop down list for categories, a simple way would be:
"Vendor name ... brief description of what he sells"
then you could see who has blanks, pen parts, etc

Sorry Jeff! Years of office management creeping out .. it's a bad habit. :biggrin:

That's probably a very reasonable way to approach it!

Wait a minute, didn't we learn anything from the good ole days when the yellow pages started coming out and the "A's" out numbered every other letter in the alphabet with all the "New" companies like AAA welding which of course was beat out by AAAA welding which also fell way behind AAAAAA1 welding! Seemed like for several years everything was AAA something or another! I can see it now....... AAAA1 A+ pen supplies :biggrin:

Yeah, but everyone already has their vendor names, so there can't be any cheating! LOL!

 

[glycerine]

I like the idea. It would be nice to see items for sale on MY timetable, not just when a new ad is placed. I could search for things in a stable, less-changing format, with a bit of history. "Does Vendor X stock this item or was it a group buy, or a limited-time offer only."

It may make it easier for vendors that offer a range of items, but do not wish the extra work of maintaining a separate website.

I think the "maintaining a separate website" is the point. The IAP has turned into a shopping mall and the vendors need to sell through their own channels... If they don't want the "extra work" of maintaining a website, then they have no business being "in business".

 

[alphageek]

Yeah, but everyone already has their vendor names, so there can't be any cheating! LOL!

Yeah, But I'd gladly sell stuff under "Alphageeks Awesome Stuff" to be at the top of the list (for a fee!) :biggrin::biggrin:

 

[Smitty37]

Maybe this needs to be said

Looking at a particular forum is a deliberate and totally voluntary act taken by the member. Then looking at a particular thread is a second deliberate and totally voluntary act taken by the member.

No member who does not want to read the marketplace forums is going to suffer any penalty for ignoring them. No on is going to get angry with them,or critize them and no one is going to stop them from going to the forums they are interested in.

Members are completely free to use this site as they choose, visit whatever forums floats their boat, read whatever threads churn their butter and post in those where they feel like posting. I can't perceive why anyone would care that forums might exist that they don't want to read.

Nothing I've seen proposed will change any of that...

 

[MesquiteMan]

Yeah, but my new company name is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATurnTex.com, didn't you know that?:biggrin:
Or better yet, !Turntex.com since punctuation marks go to the front!

Yeah, but everyone already has their vendor names, so there can't be any cheating! LOL!

Yeah, But I'd gladly sell stuff under "Alphageeks Awesome Stuff" to be at the top of the list (for a fee!) :biggrin::biggrin:

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Sorry but I think AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAClassicnib was just registered:biggrin:

Yeah, but my new company name is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATurnTex.com, didn't you know that?:biggrin:

Yeah, but everyone already has their vendor names, so there can't be any cheating! LOL!

Yeah, But I'd gladly sell stuff under "Alphageeks Awesome Stuff" to be at the top of the list (for a fee!) :biggrin::biggrin:

 

[NewLondon88]

I think the "maintaining a separate website" is the point. The IAP has turned into a shopping mall and the vendors need to sell through their own channels... If they don't want the "extra work" of maintaining a website, then they have no business being "in business".

.... I read this at least 4 times and I still don't know where to begin.

 

[jeff]

I like the idea. It would be nice to see items for sale on MY timetable, not just when a new ad is placed. I could search for things in a stable, less-changing format, with a bit of history. "Does Vendor X stock this item or was it a group buy, or a limited-time offer only."

It may make it easier for vendors that offer a range of items, but do not wish the extra work of maintaining a separate website.

I think the "maintaining a separate website" is the point. The IAP has turned into a shopping mall and the vendors need to sell through their own channels... If they don't want the "extra work" of maintaining a website, then they have no business being "in business".

Jeremy, that's one way of looking at it, but another is this; a number of our most popular vendors who now have web sites might not exist at all if not for the leg up they got by being able to start small and sell exclusively on the IAP.

I also know that we get first (or only!) crack at some of the awesome things our member vendors make available. A web site does make it easy for them to sell to the world and increase their sales. Just sayin'... :biggrin:

 

[jeff]

Yeah, but everyone already has their vendor names, so there can't be any cheating! LOL!

Yeah, But I'd gladly sell stuff under "Alphageeks Awesome Stuff" to be at the top of the list (for a fee!) :biggrin::biggrin:

I think people are putting way too much emphasis on this. The yellow pages analogy isn't even a good one!

We might have, what, a page or two of catalog threads? I can randomize them once a month or whatever if that's what the vendors want, but I sure do get ticked off when they move things in the grocery store if you catch that analogy :biggrin:

Even if I did set the default sort to alphanumeric in that forum, the viewer can override that. I think it's probably a better approach to realize that there will be few enough to see the whole lot in one glance.

 

[alphageek]

Yeah, but everyone already has their vendor names, so there can't be any cheating! LOL!

Yeah, But I'd gladly sell stuff under "Alphageeks Awesome Stuff" to be at the top of the list (for a fee!) :biggrin::biggrin:

I think people are putting way too much emphasis on this. The yellow pages analogy isn't even a good one!

We might have, what, a page or two of catalog threads? I can randomize them once a month or whatever if that's what the vendors want, but I sure do get ticked off when they move things in the grocery store if you catch that analogy :biggrin:

Even if I did set the default sort to alphanumeric in that forum, the viewer can override that. I think it's probably a better approach to realize that there will be few enough to see the whole lot in one glance.

Just in case those who read this don't realize it - MOST of us are completely kidding (and disrupting Jeffs thread in the progress!). If this were TRUELY an issue, then the vendor list in the Links area would already be a problem!)

 

[Displaced Canadian]

I was going to type a response to the previous posts but the A key on my keyboard begged me not to. :biggrin:

 

[Smitty37]

Amen

Yeah, but everyone already has their vendor names, so there can't be any cheating! LOL!

Yeah, But I'd gladly sell stuff under "Alphageeks Awesome Stuff" to be at the top of the list (for a fee!) :biggrin::biggrin:

I think people are putting way too much emphasis on this. The yellow pages analogy isn't even a good one!

We might have, what, a page or two of catalog threads? I can randomize them once a month or whatever if that's what the vendors want, but I sure do get ticked off when they move things in the grocery store if you catch that analogy :biggrin:

Even if I did set the default sort to alphanumeric in that forum, the viewer can override that. I think it's probably a better approach to realize that there will be few enough to see the whole lot in one glance.

I'll drink to that....I can't say for sure but I'd be surprised if there were as many as 20 different vendors that have used the Classified.

 

[jeff]

If you are a vendor and would be interested in participating in a one-month no-cost test of this concept, please send me a PM.

If you are a buyer (i.e. you don't sell anything at IAP), and would be interested in participating on a "critique team" to provide feedback to me about the catalogs during the test period, please send me a PM.

In your PM, please identify which group you're in, vendor or buyer.

Please DO NOT post here that you want to participate in the testing.

 

[jeff]

Thanks for the volunteers.

After thinking a bit more about it, I don't think we'll need a buyers feedback group. I'm going to go about collecting feedback a bit differently than I had planned.

I'll be in touch with the vendors who volunteered...

 

[nativewooder]

I really think you'uns aught to do this more often! I just got off the floor after laughing so hard! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAindeed!!!!!!!!:biggrin:

 

[dow]

And how would these be listed, alphabetically, or by date and time of insertion?

I'm a member on another forum, not pen-related, which has a vendor's section. The section is organized alphabetically, with each vendor having his own sub-forum, as it were, to post specials, sales, or inventory changes, etc. As I recall, the vendor is the only person allowed to post in his area. It works pretty well, and you can go back and see that what kinds of specials a vendor has had in the past and stuff like that.

HTH,
Dow