How to access your old B&S thread - and posting into the new B&S system

[alexSF]

We don't know it this is possible, but we've asked the developers of the system.

However, please note that you can also browse the discussions for B&S separately, here: https://www.styleforum.net/forums/#buying-and-selling.6654

And that those associated discussion threads bump in the same was as in any other forum. You can access these discussions directly, or through the "Discuss" button on a classified.

Cheers,

Fok.

So, to bump a listing, we now need to "post an update" right?
Is there actually a time frame like the old platform (1week)?

Thanks in advance

PS just posted my first listing on the new platform, and it went perfectly smoothly

 

[dalevy]

Yeah it seems like without a time frame, people would just constantly post "updates."

 

[aussiejake]

I'm going to put it out there - I'm confused by the new B&S system and my initial interactions with submitting an item has likely turned me off the process for the near future. That might just be me; it's a pretty unpleasant experience all round.

I'll bullet point a few notes (which doesn't capture it all), and I likely don't have the time to detail each much further:

- The 'buy now' system is confusing and I'm not sure how that would work as a seller (shipping, payment etc.).
- Overview and discussion being separated is inefficient.
- It's not clear what 'terms and conditions' are for. I had to muck around attempting to purchase other sellers items to figure it out.
- I'm confused by the attached photos thumbnail/full size system. Not very intuitive.
- The 'resource item' photo... I have no idea how that works and I gave up after assuming it needs a specific sized photo to take effect.

 

[tweedydon]

I'm going to put it out there - I'm confused by the new B&S system and my initial interactions with submitting an item has likely turned me off the process for the near future. That might just be me; it's a pretty unpleasant experience all round.

I'll bullet point a few notes (which doesn't capture it all), and I likely don't have the time to detail each much further:

- The 'buy now' system is confusing and I'm not sure how that would work as a seller (shipping, payment etc.).
- Overview and discussion being separated is inefficient.
- It's not clear what 'terms and conditions' are for. I had to muck around attempting to purchase other sellers items to figure it out.
- I'm confused by the attached photos thumbnail/full size system. Not very intuitive.
- The 'resource item' photo... I have no idea how that works and I gave up after assuming it needs a specific sized photo to take effect.

I actually rather like the new system!

--I've just sold my first item through "buy now". It works well; you receive a notification that an item has been purchased in the lightening bolt icon (of new notifications, or something) in the top right of the screen. Then, the address is included on the buyer's PayPal payment. You can email/ PM the buyer to let them know when it ships.
--Just like eBay terms and conditions set by sellers, this would be whether you take returns, restocking fees, and the like.
--I find this easy now; click "Upload pictures" and then either hit "all thumbnails" or "all full size", or else hit the respective buttons by each picture.
--When listing, check the "upload resource icon" box at the bottom of your new listing. Whee you hit "Save" and the listing is live a box will pop up for you to upload the pic you want on the front page. There is a pixel size it wants, but I just upload a pic without worrying about this and nothing's gone wrong--so for me at least no resizing of pics has ever been needed.

I hope this helps!

 

[alexSF]

I actually rather like the new system!

--I've just sold my first item through "buy now". It works well; you receive a notification that an item has been purchased in the lightening bolt icon (of new notifications, or something) in the top right of the screen. Then, the address is included on the buyer's PayPal payment. You can email/ PM the buyer to let them know when it ships.
--Just like eBay terms and conditions set by sellers, this would be whether you take returns, restocking fees, and the like.
--I find this easy now; click "Upload pictures" and then either hit "all thumbnails" or "all full size", or else hit the respective buttons by each picture.
--When listing, check the "upload resource icon" box at the bottom of your new listing. Whee you hit "Save" and the listing is live a box will pop up for you to upload the pic you want on the front page. There is a pixel size it wants, but I just upload a pic without worrying about this and nothing's gone wrong--so for me at least no resizing of pics has ever been needed.

I hope this helps!

Agree,
I did not see any difference/difficult compared to the older platform, using photobucket to host the pictures like before.
I only had to resize the icon to 96x96 but good to know it isn't required by the system.

The Buy it now is an interesting feature, but a seller is forced to set a price inclusive of shipping cost and with the same amount for every country, sometimes this could work but others times not.
I hope different shipping costs can be implemented.

 

[robxznyc]

@tweedydon @alexSF thanks for sharing and I'm glad you enjoy the new B&S. After anticipating a new experience and having listed a few items, my first impression is the new platform is amusingly retro, painfully archaic, and absurdly unintuitive starting from calling everthing resource!

Attach Images: Does the difference between thumbnails and full size refer to the ability to enlarge the photos? Would any potential buyers rather see thumbnails? Where is the ability to change the order of the photos?

Terms and Conditions: Where does it get displayed once published? Because I can't locate mine I assume it gets prompted after you hit the buy button? But who likes surprises?

B&S features:

• In a world images increasingly replacing texts, B&S gets its disapproval of this trend across LOUD AND CLEAR through keeping its large all cap, bold headlines, tiny image icons and even tinier price tags.
• Where is the page view count?
• Updates and Discussions => bump => visibility => sales. B&S is not an appreciation board encouraging public discussions, but more often private questions and answers not to be shared. I guess either empty "update" or skyrocketing price will become the new anytime bump button?
• Powerful and smart search and filter should be a priority for a forum based marketplace as an alternative solution to visibility.

 

[LA Guy]

Hi Rob,

I just created a new test listing ($1MM for an imaginary coat, if anyone is in the market), to refresh myself with the system, and give you a few answers inline. Hopefully, they will help:

@tweedydon @alexSF
Attach Images: Does the difference between thumbnails and full size refer to the ability to enlarge the photos? Would any potential buyers rather see thumbnails? Where is the ability to change the order of the photos?

Full sized vs. Thumbnails: We just give options. The default is full sized, but yes, I imagine that if someone is messing around and has a ton of items that are of the same price, but very much separated. that they might want one large image for each item, and the rest as thumbnails.

As for changing the order of the photos, once you hit "insert", you can copy and paste or drag and drop in the rich text editor to change their order.

Terms and Conditions: Where does it get displayed once published? Because I can't locate mine I assume it gets prompted after you hit the buy button? But who likes surprises?

B&S features:

• In a world images increasingly replacing texts, B&S gets its disapproval of this trend across LOUD AND CLEAR through keeping its large all cap, bold headlines, tiny image icons and even tinier price tags.
• Where is the page view count?
• Updates and Discussions => bump => visibility => sales. B&S is not an appreciation board encouraging public discussions, but more often private questions and answers not to be shared. I guess either empty "update" or skyrocketing price will become the new anytime bump button?

lol. I hear you about the display options. I think that many of those are in the stylesheet, and so can be changed without any code being added. After working people like dogs for nearly 2 weeks now, though, we do have to give the designer some time to recuperate over the weekend before we get him working on things again.

Powerful and smart search and filter should be a priority for a forum based marketplace as an alternative solution to visibility.

Filters are a top priority on our agenda. As for searching the resources, please note that the regular search bar is more more responsive than our previous search, and the options for search change as you navigate to any place in the forum. So, within the B&S section, the search bar as options that will allow you to search just the B&S, and fairly granularly:

Hope that all of that helps.

Note that I took the above using "copy, paste", and that it automatically created an attachment for me. So creating images for not just B&S, but across the forum, is easier and easier.

We have been spending a lot of time in the last week making this forum as good and intuitive of a UX as we can, and we'll keep on doing that.

In terms of changes to B&S, we will work at full speed. That said, we have 1/10000000 times the budget of Ebay, charge no fees for use, and are completely self funded (so no VC led BoD will ever shut us down) so please bear with us as we work.

Cheers,

Fok.

 

[Wesley Crusher]

Sorry in advance, but I cannot seem to find any info about the fees for selling items. Can somebody let me know?

Thanks,

 

[tweedydon]

Sorry in advance, but I cannot seem to find any info about the fees for selling items. Can somebody let me know?

Thanks,

No fees, except those charged by PayPal if you use it!

Which is why items on B&S are, in my experience, better deals that elsewhere!

 

[Wesley Crusher]

No fees, except those charged by PayPal if you use it!

Which is why items on B&S are, in my experience, better deals that elsewhere!

Thanks! I was a bit confused because within the statistics section in the seller dashboard, I see something about fees.

 

[LA Guy]

Thanks! I was a bit confused because within the statistics section in the seller dashboard, I see something about fees.

We set our fees to zero, though, if you want to pay us, I'll happily change your account for you!

 

[Wesley Crusher]

We set our fees to zero, though, if you want to pay us, I'll happily change your account for you!

Let me think it over.

 

[robxznyc]

@LA Guy Thanks for your answer. I absolutely appreciate sf team's commitment in improving the platform and I'm glad if you had read my previous message with a sense humor.

Two more questions:
I read that the listing price include shipping, so what's your recommendation for us to indicate different pricing for local and overseas buyers? And how does it work when buyer pays?

And is the page view count of listings still available?
Thanks

 

[LA Guy]

@LA Guy Thanks for your answer. I absolutely appreciate sf team's commitment in improving the platform and I'm glad if you had read my previous message with a sense humor.

Two more questions:
I read that the listing price include shipping, so what's your recommendation for us to indicate different pricing for local and overseas buyers? And how does it work when buyer pays?

And is the page view count of listings still available?
Thanks

Hi,

If the page view count is "exposed", then it is easy enough to display, and we'll do that nearly immediately (@admin - let
s bring this up with the designer). If it is not, then displaying it would require a custom add-on, and would not be happening for a while. Yes, it would be a cool feature, as would something like "X number of people are watching this item", but not a top priority for B&S (filters are more important, I feel, though those other things are useful for both sellers, buyers, and driving sales.)

Unfortunately there is no field for shipping charges, and drop down menus for different shipping options, which you would specify, could be a pretty daunting task. Yes, Ebay can do this, but not even specialized platforms like Grailed have this, because it turns out to be a fairly difficult little programming problem, from what I've been told.

For the time being, I would add information like "shipping to the CONUS included - an additional $25 for shipping internationally" within the description. It's hardly a perfect solution, I understand.

Cheers,

Fok.

 

[LA Guy]

I just featured two items - a Prince of Wales Norwegian Rain coat, and a Sartoria Partenopea suit - in the theme - Spring Rains.

I will be doing this regularly, In order to be featured, the listings must not only be attractively presented, but have a cover photo (for obvious reasons), be either one item per listing or multiple items of the same price that can be purchased through the forum, and the seller must obviously be a member in good standing.

I'll change them out regularly.

Cheers,

Fok.