So What is the Policy on Postings with Ebay Ads and Why ?

[v10enomous]

I can understand that some people will try to market a car here without membership and that is the good part of the policy. But what about completed listings for reference and listings that do not directly compete with the classifieds here ?

My posting about a Viper based Enzo Kit Car was pulled yesterday because it referenced an ebay ad but I didn't really see the harm.

 

[hdscreens]

Some rules just don't make sense sometimes. I placed an add on the other Viper site without all the rules and 7 days later it was sold. I see that as a good thing for the seller and the new Viper owner. It brings more people into the Viper community. I would suggest the folks that run this site maybe allow full member status without exceptions to non paying members for like a trial week period. Sure membership is only $100 or so but if it really provides value then there shouldn't be a problem with putting up.

 

[RobZilla]

Posting ads in the classifieds are free to members.

Non members need to pay a small fee (similar to AutoTrader etc).

If the VCA allowed everyone to post/link ads for free that would drastically cut into the revenue which they use for the club.

There are common sense exceptions to that rule. For example a specific part (hard to find or obsolete) can be linked however listing a vehicle is another story.

There is always the other site to post whatever your little hearts desire

 

[kcobean]

That's a fair question. There are 2 reasons why your post was pulled:

1. The site is privately owned by the VCA. The money from the classifieds supports the club. There is no logical reason to allow someone to use the forums to drive traffic to their ebay item (i.e. give them free advertising) when we charge a relatively small fee for the use of a classified ads section on a site that gets millions of targeted hits every month.

2. While classifieds are free for VCA Members, we do not allow anyone, VCA member or otherwise, to advertise here unless they place an ad first. You were not "singled out" because you're not a VCA member.

What it boils down to is that if you want the benefit of the massive, targeted exposure this site generates, you need to do it via the classified first, THEN you can start a thread with a link to your item.

We want to help you sell your Viper related items, but we have a valuable product here, we can't just give it away.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[kcobean]

Some rules just don't make sense sometimes. I placed an add on the other Viper site without all the rules and 7 days later it was sold. I see that as a good thing for the seller and the new Viper owner. It brings more people into the Viper community. I would suggest the folks that run this site maybe allow full member status without exceptions to non paying members for like a trial week period. Sure membership is only $100 or so but if it really provides value then there shouldn't be a problem with putting up.

The problem with a "full member status" trial is that this would give them access to areas where internal club business is discussed, etc. You would be AMAZED at how many people register here just to sell something and then never come back. That's $30 we lose by giving them a free 'trial period' that they will use for one purpose...to get a free ad. I'd bet it's at least a thousand dollars a year.

 

[kcobean]

Posting ads in the classifieds are free to members.

Non members need to pay a small fee (similar to AutoTrader etc).

If the VCA allowed everyone to post/link ads for free that would drastically cut into the revenue which they use for the club.

There are common sense exceptions to that rule. For example a specific part (hard to find or obsolete) can be linked however listing a vehicle is another story.

There is always the other site to post whatever your little hearts desire

Actually, we're cheaper than Auto-trader by almost half, and that's IF you only buy the 30 day run on their site. You go longer than that and we blow 'em away. I placed an ad earlier this year for a car for 30 days and if I remember correctly, it was $55.

 

[ViperCollector]

To clarify - are ANY eBay links allowed? I completely agree with not allowing one to advertise their own listing (or that of a friend), but in this case the poster was referencing a car for topic of discussion. I too have had one removed in the past because of a link to a 'bastardized' viper on eBay. The purpose of the link was more to mock the seller, but the entire thread (responses and all, not just the offending link) was removed. Had I been contacted, I could have taken the time to edit my post, add the photos by hosting them elsewhere and let the discussion continue...

 

[kcobean]

To clarify - are ANY eBay links allowed? I completely agree with not allowing one to advertise their own listing (or that of a friend), but in this case the poster was referencing a car for topic of discussion. I too have had one removed in the past because of a link to a 'bastardized' viper on eBay. The purpose of the link was more to mock the seller, but the entire thread (responses and all, not just the offending link) was removed. Had I been contacted, I could have taken the time to edit my post, add the photos by hosting them elsewhere and let the discussion continue...

Yeah, that typically is ok. Just try to realize that as with all things, sometimes it becomes a judgement call on the part of the individual moderator, particularly when some people will go to great lengths of deception to avoid simply paying $30 to put their car up here. We try to make the rules as black and white as possible, but the real world is full of shades of gray, and that's where our discretion comes in. A "lighter hand" is always our goal as long as we're protecting the club's and its member's interests. Please never take it personally if we do something you don't agree with. It's a tough job to do at times.

Thanks.