An idea ... Input needed 3 3

[skypinkblu]

@01TheDude There was a lot of discussion about it years ago, and Arch even posted a rule in the rules thread. There just didn't seem to be much interest I guess, but there are trade threads in the sales forum every once and a while.

 

Here is the rule.

1. If posting a trading thread you must list a dollar value price for the book that you WILL accept in TRADE VALUE, and you MUST put "TRADE ONLY" in the title of your thread if you will not accept money.

[skypinkblu]

One problem with "trading" is "my stuff" is always more valuable than "your stuff".

I think a board swap meet might be fun though...maybe @DeadOne  can incorporate it into the next VCC. That way a LOT of people could trade all at once. It might be more fun tossing books at each other without paying for postage, but it could liven up the VCC.

[paul747]

I have sent many books to people on these boards for free , Some with promises of something cool in return , It does not work people will be taken advantage of.  My It is a nice Idea and thoughtful but people generally are not Honorable.

[FineCollector]

I love the idea, but you'll likely exclude Canadian and foreign boardies, simply due to the cost of shipping.  Sha already brought up grading, which is going to be the main sticking point.  Keeping count is going to kill you: someone having taken 2 books ships one out so they can take another one, but the shipment is lost/damaged/not to spec... what then?

I don't have a better suggestion, I'm just good at poking holes in stuff...

[fmaz]

2 hours ago, FineCollector said:

I love the idea, but you'll likely exclude Canadian and foreign boardies, simply due to the cost of shipping.  Sha already brought up grading, which is going to be the main sticking point.  Keeping count is going to kill you: someone having taken 2 books ships one out so they can take another one, but the shipment is lost/damaged/not to spec... what then?

I don't have a better suggestion, I'm just good at poking holes in stuff...

Poking holes is good.  It's why I asked as opposed to just starting something. 

I wouldn't excluded foreign boardies at all, though... again, someone needs to CHOOSE to send something to someone in particular.  So if someone wants to send something to someone in Canada, they can. I would think that, naturally, boardies from the same country would seek each other out to limit postal costs... but as many have mentioned... some here are generous (maybe to a fault).

 

[vaillant]

For us foreign boardies it would make sense mostly for more expensive books.
The trading concepts are basically good, and I believe they could work even for rare or expensive material.

But they take two things:
1) Their own time (sometimes the "right combination" happens in a long time);
2) Seriousness and correctness from both parties: ideally trading would be the best between renowned boardies used to sell and buy, already known or knowing each other.

Aside from these considerations, I still think it is a good idea but it should "self-regulate" itself, with maybe some "hinting" from the community.
I.e. if there is bad behavior this should be stigmatized with a combined effort… not bashing but people should realize "taking advantage" of others this way is bad.

[vaillant]

P.S. Also: since the boards were reformatted with the new software, we have lost a good deal of old members, IMO.
Many new joined but they lack the experience/scope of the "veterans".

[01TheDude]

My thinking is that simply putting out there what items you have available for trade and what books you want to get (not necessarily a structured deal or one that has costs attached) would help facilitate some trading activity.

I would think that the best type of trading would occur off the boards in PMs. Just letting people know what you have on the trading block is a good start. Letting them know what items you are in need of might also help out. If you want to get more advanced-- with scans and assigned grades-- that is fine. Butsome of us are not after the highest grades in the first place. Some just want a decent book and have some they are willing to let go.

In other words-- your Got It list does not mean you are offering what is on that list directly for what is on your Need It list. It is more or less a way to share our lists. beyond that-- I don't see a need for more board inclusion. Have the list expire in 30 days or however long the term is when someone can edit them.

[DeadOne]

13 hours ago, skypinkblu said:

I think a board swap meet might be fun though...maybe @DeadOne  can incorporate it into the next VCC. That way a LOT of people could trade all at once. It might be more fun tossing books at each other without paying for postage, but it could liven up the VCC.

It would add some legitimacy to the VCC comments saying, "I can't give this stuff away!"   

[skypinkblu]

Has anyone looked at the "I want to get married" list in Gold? Maybe get some ideas from that?

[fmaz]

My fear with the "swap meet" system is that, while I considered it as a part of the original idea, by itself  it would be quite far away from the original intent of this... which was to try to help people out by sending them book we won't miss to fill their needs.

A list-based swap system will invite predators (I know, I know... ANY system based on good will will invite predators)... in that certain people will come ONLY to scour the lists of available books for high value targets and quickly try to arrange trades for those books and maybe even take advantage of people who are unaware of the value of the books they've listed.

It strikes me, and forgive me but without looking back I'm not sure who said this but I know some of you have mentioned that you've also been in the habit of sending along free books to people in the past.  Some of the people who have posted here I know well enough to know I'm certain have done more than their share of like good deeds, others (by reputation) I'm sure are the same.

Where I think I may have walked into a problem was trying to institutionalize a good deed system, instead of just letting people continue to do litle acts of kindness where we find them.  Because despite everyone's best efforts here in the last few days, I don't see a way to put this together that will work that will NOT lead to more issues than it solves.

Now... if we want to fully discuss a swap meet idea on its own merits, which I thinks is gaining some steam... we can conitnue that discussion.  But I think its time to acknowlege that the idea of sending books freely to each other just won't work. 

And the first thing I would add if we are discussion a swap-only idea, sorry to say, is that we would need to adopt a strict policy about how long you need to have been on the boards before you can participate.   I kind of hate presuming that people aren't trustworthy because they're new... but I think its at least something we'd need to seriously discuss.

 

[FineCollector]

6 hours ago, fmaz said:

And the first thing I would add if we are discussion a swap-only idea, sorry to say, is that we would need to adopt a strict policy about how long you need to have been on the boards before you can participate.   I kind of hate presuming that people aren't trustworthy because they're new... but I think its at least something we'd need to seriously discuss.

 

Is there a rule that says such a club needs to be open to the general public?  If you're running it and policing it, invite-only seems fine with me.  If someone you don't know wants in, it takes 3 people in the group to vouch for them, maybe?

I'll be honest, I don't have many extras, so I'd more than likely be making cash offers on anything interesting.  What I hope is for a bunch of people going through their junk boxes and making lists, giving me access to lesser books that don't normally get listed here.

Another thought... it would probably save a ton of time if people posted what they were looking for in exchange for their books.  How specific do you want those lists to be?