New changes to B&S forum - Page 2  

The burning in period has barely begun; I'm just learning the best way to browse the items.

I still go there and look through a page or two. Soon enough I'll have to learn
how to search for familiar names, like riscwart and hiktori- they have uniformly
good stuff to sell and all of it is worth looking at.

I don't think the signal to noise ratio has changed from the old system.
I don't see any conversations about items going on, but they may be
being hidden because they don't bump the threads.

If and when sizes get linked in, it'll be a lot better system
for finding things.

+1

I bought much more stuff just browsing the B&S out of boredom than specifically searching for something. I don't know if that counts or not, but if, hypothetically, I were the only buyer, the old system would be more beneficial to sellers.

The old B&S was like a sprawling bazaar, a place you could 'e-walk' through every now and then, check out all that the peddlers had on offer, shoot the $hit, etc.

Like any good bazaar, it felt like a community.

It had a few non-negotiable rules, but on the whole was a freewheeling enterprise.

Finally, it was simple to understand and easily navigable.

I'm not paying for the revamp so I can't complain too much about it. But I do think that the new B&S 'feels' more impersonal and by the numbers. I wonder what the 'mega sellers' think of only one product per thread. Coming to the OP, I am not sure how pricing, and price drops, will work in this environment with all the rules. I do hope that in time it becomes as good as the old B&S.

 

 

 

This makes me wanna cry... does anyone really think the new B&S will ever feel like the old???

Well....since we're all venting here.

I've also been feeling a total lack of connection with the new B&S format.

And after purchased a thing after the change over.

Not sure yet what the fix would be - but it's definitely less personal/community in feeling so far.

This +infinity.

I think this is something that will take some time getting used to, but I think, on the whole, that it will be an improvement. It seems like the changes were made to make it more like ebay, which isn't entirely a bad thing. It's easier now, I think, to find what you're looking for--no more opening threads only to find out that the shoes won't fit or are six times larger than your budget. I buy a little and sell a little, but I've stopped patronizing ebay entirely--as I think (hope) others might have--last spring, when the policies got overly egregious and they threatened to put a hold on my funds because a few people bitched about shipping charges (advertised upfront, I might add). My sense is, ebay is letting purveyors of clothing, particularly small-timers, go because such sellers don't fit into whatever passes for their business plan, and I think SF sees an opportunity to fill a void. There also seem to be a lot of small-time clothing sale websites springing up. Call it classic American capitalism.

Well said!

new B&S feels like ebay, which is bad.

new B&S there is no discussion, which is bad.

new B&S is one item at a time, which is bad.

new B&S feels too business-esque, which is bad.

new B&S does not have the price dropping thing, which is bad.

Summary of thread.

I agree.

I'm trying it out today for the first time. I don't like the one-item-at-a-time. There was something very appealing about group listings from a seller.

I agree with everything that was said. There were a few sellers whom I know always carried my incredibly tough to find size and I could get great deals from.

I don't think its a matter of a "break in" period or anything for this new format.
I'll second (or 5th or 10th or whatever) whats already been said; its just not as good as the old.

bring back the old B&S format??

How many of those thousand viewers were tire kickers though? I think with the filtering of the classifieds you are going to get much more serious buyers. Maybe that fragmentation is a bad thing if you like browsing the numerous posts in the old style. There's something to be said for that. But when you really just want to buy a pair of shoes in your size I think this format is going to be so much better.

I suspect this will break down along the lines of how long you've been on the forum. Noobs who need to buy stuff now will like the targeted strikes. Old timers who are just browsing for the occasional piece that catches their eye will prefer old style.