eBay opinion

[Kevin]

That's put very well, Kevin. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

:hatsoff:

 

[Mike1950]

I sell quite a bit here but not with the idea I am going to make a bunch of money-mostly to share what wood I have available because of my location.
I have been an advocate of a fee to support site but a certain Irishman has been against that from the beginning-I respect and understand his reasons.
there are some folks here that sell quite a bit at very good prices- I do not think we want to penalize them. We also have some???? -personally I think they will come and go- the power of the finest folks here will dominate the site if we make it so...............

 

[barry richardson]

This idea was abandoned long ago. I'm not sure it did much good to avoid it though because we have a core of ebay types here that are here only for, and do nothing but, sell sell sell. We also have a core who do nothing but buy buy buy so both groups are happy. Then you have those of us who are not happy to see the way WB is going, and we are committed to preventing WB completely becoming a place for the profit-only types from becoming the majority.

The concept for this forum was not to merely become a FreeBay, or a place where the greed of men clouds their ability to even read and abide by a simple set of rules, and more importantly take the time to become part of a community, but it is in danger of becoming that if the current trend continues. To those in my group that do not want that don't worry, policy refinements are underway.

+1 on all above! Well said...

 

[sprucegum]

This idea was abandoned long ago. I'm not sure it did much good to avoid it though because we have a core of ebay types here that are here only for, and do nothing but, sell sell sell. We also have a core who do nothing but buy buy buy so both groups are happy. Then you have those of us who are not happy to see the way WB is going, and we are committed to preventing WB completely becoming a place for the profit-only types from becoming the majority.

The concept for this forum was not to merely become a FreeBay, or a place where the greed of men clouds their ability to even read and abide by a simple set of rules, and more importantly take the time to become part of a community, but it is in danger of becoming that if the current trend continues. To those in my group that do not want that don't worry, policy refinements are underway.

+1 on all above! Well said...

My first inclination when I joined WB was what a great place to sell and it is that. I have sold wood that I would never move on the local market. I buy a little on ebay and sell almost non their fees are getting out of hand.
If as a WB member all you do is sell and never trade you are missing about 75% of the benefit. I have traded wood I would likely never use for things I do not know how to make or have no interest in making. My personal goal is to sell enough to keep a small balance on my paypal acc. to buy incidental small tools and woodworking supplies, trade for cool things I want or can give as gifts, and make new friends.
I don't think the sell only crowd will make it here as long as some of us are willing to trade and sell for reasonable prices. By the way I voted let them find us on their own.

 

[Treecycle Hardwoods]

While I do have a good share of "for sale" threads going I try to introduce myself to all new members and to pass along knowledge I have to share along with seeking knowledge at the same time. I have found it extremely rewarding to come up with projects in the shop from wood I have bought/traded for on WB. I think that growing the WB community is a great idea but growing to fast comes with a lot of pain. The current pace of growth seems good but only the mods know for sure what exact stats are for growth. It seems like just a short time ago we had less than a 1000 members and now we are pushing 2000. I personally would like to see more users from around the world to broaden our network for exotic wood, culture and woodworking knowledge from across the globe. It has been awesome to chat with our woodworking friends from other countries and to see the wood they have and work with. I have been chatting on and off with a wood turner from Peru on FB and trying to tell him about woodbarter and get him to join. (the language barrier can be a bear sometimes) I tell people in my various clubs about WB also. I think that the WB facebook page would be a good way to get the word out internationally. The down side is that a good chunk of facebook users are here in north America and that would also direct them to the forum as well. Maybe a policy where 1 in every 10 posts made to woodbarters FB page has a link referring people to join might be something to experiment with ??? :i_dunno::i_dunno:

The Irony of my situation is that I bought my sawmill so I could build more projects on the cheap. I started selling wood locally 4-5 years ago because I ran out of storage space. Since then word has got out locally and my hobby has grown into a small back yard business. I am first a wood worker I want to be clear on that. I would not have a problem paying to sell here. Buyers and sellers alike have come to woodbarter in the past 2 years. It is hard to curb the consumer mentality of the US citizen. As consumers (saying this as a whole) we completely disrespect one another. Need proof just watch the news after black Friday this fall you will likely see stories of tramplings when the consumers try to get that dang deal!! With that you will have sellers who will oblige them. It has played out here on WB also. My vote would be to come up with a solution that involves members being able to sell a set number of items (threads) per XX period of time. EX: 1 item per week, month, etc... Any sellers wanting to do more should be charged a modest fee to sell if they have an acceptable ratio of participation on other areas of the forum and increasing the fees as the ratio becomes more in favor of a sell only member. My hope from a system like this is that the people who buy/trade wood here would stay here to show their work and add to the community. Buyers I think for the most part are woodworkers not wood hoarders so we could come up with a good equation of content/selling if the selling aspect is set up well.

I forgot where kevin said it but from what I gathered the people donating to the site are by and large non sellers. Going to a system where sellers are regulated and charged WB could easily be a self sufficient from a money standpoint where we never need to have advertisers like some other WW forums have. (as we get bigger as a community the cost of running the site will also increase)

Hope I haven't ruffeled any feathers with my post. I apologize if I have.

 

[jmurray]

my vote is no to ebay, no to facebook. i know im new here and my opinion means squat, but i like to give it anyhow.

upon finding this site i fell in love. a place where like minded people of all skill sets and levels, sharing with and helping one another. felt like home

i dont comment to often, just read, admire, daydream. i buy occasionally from the for sale section (Mike and his irresistable maple). that section strikes me as cold and impersonal for the most part. Most sellers in my opinion are kinda abusing a good thing. i think donations are in order from those making money using a free forum. i think this site would be as awesome without the for sale section. my 2 cents. take it or leave it

 

[Mike1950]

my vote is no to ebay, no to facebook. i know im new here and my opinion means squat, but i like to give it anyhow.

upon finding this site i fell in love. a place where like minded people of all skill sets and levels, sharing with and helping one another. felt like home

i dont comment to often, just read, admire, daydream. i buy occasionally from the for sale section (Mike and his irresistable maple). that section strikes me as cold and impersonal for the most part. Most sellers in my opinion are kinda abusing a good thing. i think donations are in order from those making money using a free forum. i think this site would be as awesome without the for sale section. my 2 cents. take it or leave it

Some of us might have been here longer but in my opinion your opinion counts as much as mine or any others opinion. I do not think it is the for sale sections fault that it gets abused- it is the abusers fault. I will be bold and put a couple names out there that use it a lot but never abuse- Daveduckman- everyone gets a bargain kevin the Irishman and his to die for FBE- always a bargain. There are many more -too many to remember. We just need to keep the folks that abuse at bay. We surely do not want to lose the winners.

 

[Kevin]

.... I do not think it is the for sale sections fault that it gets abused- it is the abusers fault. ....

Damn Mike, you're starting to sound like one of those radicals who thinks that common sense and personal responsibility actually have a place in society. I'm thinking maybe you're hitting that dark ale a little early today.

 

[jmurray]

Duckmans maple looks amazing

my vote is no to ebay, no to facebook. i know im new here and my opinion means squat, but i like to give it anyhow.

upon finding this site i fell in love. a place where like minded people of all skill sets and levels, sharing with and helping one another. felt like home

i dont comment to often, just read, admire, daydream. i buy occasionally from the for sale section (Mike and his irresistable maple). that section strikes me as cold and impersonal for the most part. Most sellers in my opinion are kinda abusing a good thing. i think donations are in order from those making money using a free forum. i think this site would be as awesome without the for sale section. my 2 cents. take it or leave it

Some of us might have been here longer but in my opinion your opinion counts as much as mine or any others opinion. I do not think it is the for sale sections fault that it gets abused- it is the abusers fault. I will be bold and put a couple names out there that use it a lot but never abuse- Daveduckman- everyone gets a bargain kevin the Irishman and his to die for FBE- always a bargain. There are many more -too many to remember. We just need to keep the folks that abuse at bay. We surely do not want to lose the winners.

 

[Mike1950]

.... I do not think it is the for sale sections fault that it gets abused- it is the abusers fault. ....

Damn Mike, you're starting to sound like one of those radicals who thinks that common sense and personal responsibility actually have a place in society. I'm thinking maybe you're hitting that dark ale a little early today.

hey I am old fashioned- sorry. If I hit the ale this early I would hit my limit of 2 or 3 and be asleep before dinner- sorta old and whimpy when it comes to the drinks......... You are right though- trying to breed good sense out of society and are succeeding......................

 

[woodtickgreg]

Kinda strange how after so long this thread has come back alive again. As far as how often a person post a for sale thread.....does it matter? If you don't like seeing the for sale stuff don't look, not everyone has wood and some people have to buy it, I think it's ok to post for sale often. Doe's everyone contribute in other ways or in positive ways?.........not everyone all the time, but many do many times. The riff raff has a way of getting weeded out and it kinda self regulates to an extent it seems, I've seen em come and go, some people come just to buy and not sell. Myself, I sell very little, my contributions are sharing knowledge and participating as an active member. I guess my point is that maybe we loose sight of who the sales are really about....the end user and craftsman that use the wood, it's not just about a seller abusing the privilege of selling on the site, and there are those. I don't think any seller has annoyed me with excessive post for sale, if I don't want to look I don't, but others may want to look. Sellers have a place here to imo, as long as they follow the rules. No one is going to get rich here selling wood, we are a small market, the greedy people will dissapeer. Maybe we should have a header at the top of the for sale section and mention that sellers should offer a donation from time to time for the privilege of selling wood here instead of making it a mandatory fee like feebay. This site can't be all things to all people all the time, but it is a great site with great members helping each other all the time. I am proud to be a member of this forum and it's family. Think about this.....most family's have family members that are not liked by the entire family.......you can pick your friends but not your family.

 

[jmurray]

Well put

Kinda strange how after so long this thread has come back alive again. As far as how often a person post a for sale thread.....does it matter? If you don't like seeing the for sale stuff don't look, not everyone has wood and some people have to buy it, I think it's ok to post for sale often. Doe's everyone contribute in other ways or in positive ways?.........not everyone all the time, but many do many times. The riff raff has a way of getting weeded out and it kinda self regulates to an extent it seems, I've seen em come and go, some people come just to buy and not sell. Myself, I sell very little, my contributions are sharing knowledge and participating as an active member. I guess my point is that maybe we loose sight of who the sales are really about....the end user and craftsman that use the wood, it's not just about a seller abusing the privilege of selling on the site, and there are those. I don't think any seller has annoyed me with excessive post for sale, if I don't want to look I don't, but others may want to look. Sellers have a place here to imo, as long as they follow the rules. No one is going to get rich here selling wood, we are a small market, the greedy people will dissapeer. Maybe we should have a header at the top of the for sale section and mention that sellers should offer a donation from time to time for the privilege of selling wood here instead of making it a mandatory fee like feebay. This site can't be all things to all people all the time, but it is a great site with great members helping each other all the time. I am proud to be a member of this forum and it's family. Think about this.....most family's have family members that are not liked by the entire family.......you can pick your friends but not your family.

 

[manbuckwal]

I'm sure Kevin and the others have considered every possible angle.........
I am one of the fortunate ones ( well I consider it fortunate ) to be out in the woods most of my work week and come across interesting wood and burls .
When I first joined this site, it was to sell wood bcuz I had a growing pile of it and it continues to grow and to learn terminology and techniques of ways to cut wood for the best figure etc. By selling wood here I have been able to buy some tools and reduce some of those chainsaw scars (character) most of my wood
had on em One of my goals has always been to never send "junk" wood to anyone! (Unless it goes to Jussturnin so he can make it beautiful) And note any flaws when I post em . I hope I have been successful in this regard. And like most, send a lil extra if there's room . The majority here are great people and I can say I've never personally had a bad experience with anyone yet It's truly been a great experience for me I've met and discussed wood with many nice accommodating ppl ! Thanks to all of you who have taken the time !!!!
( I have never received extra wood on EBay!!!!!!! )
My wood gathering has been with the goal in mind to have a "hobby" when I retire in a couple of years. Then my Bro-in-Law goes and buys me a lil lathe for an anniversary and now it's harder to part with my pretty wood But I will
I'm sure this has been said somewhere here before " if you build it, they will come" and they do continue to do so. Kevin and the others get to decide how fast to some extent and I don't envy that task . It seems there are tracking measures in place that would allow for a solution. I for one, would not like a fee program for every sale if it can be avoided. I would however, favor an annual fee based on the number of people that sell, that correlates with what i$ needed for the site to run. Of course I say this in ignorance of how many people actually sell and it may not be feasible? A annual fee tier program based on sales would also be a possibility, but certainly more labor intensive for the Mods to track.

I truly enjoy this site as it is !!!! I do recognize though, it takes money to operate and am willing to help out in that regard ( I loved the auction format )
Thank You for allowing me the pleasure of being here!

 

[Kevin]

I'm glad there's input from you members keep it coming. No need to address any of it specifically yet but I did want to make a post to say none of these changes are going to happen within the next week and probably not the next month. Scott and I have had a few conversations but nothing in depth yet. I've been crafting several new trade rule and funding models and will put them in front of Scott when I get them done. He will then edit them and add and delete and send them back to me. They'll go back and forth as long as it takes until he and I are in 100% agreement then we'll put them in front of the rest of the staff and hammer on them some more if need be. A list will have been made in the beginning with all the ideas from you members to kick things off. It will be on the very front burner in the staff section after the transition but before the money runs out.

Don't worry about the money we still have enough to get us where we need to be through the transition. After that I plan to sell videos of Doc modeling in his tight mini skirts in front of his hidden full body length mirror behind the secret panel in his shop, and video of the coger in his pink tutu hand sanding box tops. :scare:



:bye2:

(I have just officially grossed myself out)

 

[ripjack13]

My Reply in red

And like most, send a lil extra if there's room . ( I have never received extra wood on EBay!!!!!!! )

I have bought quite a bit from EB as well, and never ever received any extras. It is not something I was expecting to have, but the people here who I have purchased wood and finished items from have always sent extra stuff. (apparently shipping air is a pet peave of theirs. ) So, I have also come to hate shipping air.

I can say I've never personally had a bad experience with anyone yet It's truly been a great experience for me I've met and discussed wood with many nice accommodating ppl ! Thanks to all of you who have taken the time !!!!

I may not post in every topic, but I do try to read as many as I can. Post quality not quanity. :cool2: I do "like" as much as possible though. Just so you know "I was there" and enjoy reading what you have posted including pictures. It really is a great lil group here and I'm so glad to be a small part of it.

My wood gathering has been with the goal in mind to have a "hobby" when I retire in a couple of years.
Retire? is that when you put new rubber on a rim for your bandsaw? :wacko1:

I think EB is good for some but do not them infesting here. Glad it's not going to happen too.

:thanx: