• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

Trader Ratings/Good Guy Thread

Pink Lady Exotics

Pink Lady Exotics

"Queen Quarantine"
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I feel like the trader rating and Good Guy thread priveleges are really not fair to contributing members. As a long-time paid member, I can use the rating system and vote in GG threads, but 99.9% of the people I have sold to are not, thus they can't leave feedback for me or vote on my thread. So the few trader ratings I have make it look like I've hardly got any, when I've completed dozens of transactions -- thus it's a disproportionately low number and misleading to potential customers. It's like I'm not benefitting at all from being a paid member. Having 16 positive feedbacks from the very few paid members I've done business with, most having been years ago, does not at all reflect the amount of actual positive transactions I've conducted as a result of Fauna nor the amount of positive transactions I've completed recently in the last year, and misleads potential buyers to think I've only sold to that many people or only made that many people happy.

I feel that unpaid members should be able to LEAVE feedback for PAID members and vote on GG threads, but they shouldn't be able to receive feedback or GG threads themselves -- thus not being allowed to benefit from the system being that they are unpaid, but still allowing paid members to benefit from their membership privileges and build ratings/reputations based on all transactions they are completing, and allow paid members to display proportionate and accurate feedback levels.
 
OK. Suppose you piss someone off and they create 20 false registrations here in order to put 20 negatives on your Trader's Ratings and trash your GGC rating. How are you going to feel about that? And who are you going to come to asking to have this fixed?
 
WebSlave said:
OK. Suppose you piss someone off and they create 20 false registrations here in order to put 20 negatives on your Trader's Ratings and trash your GGC rating. How are you going to feel about that? And who are you going to come to asking to have this fixed?
Click to expand...

Jennifer, the trolls that follow the BOI can do so much damage to your reputation. You don't even have to have done anything wrong. It can be as simple as not giving them a price reduction, or having one of your animals die due to their poor husbandry. My trader rating is pretty low because 99% of my business is done at shows. I hate shipping. I think the current system is the only way to keep things as honest as possible.

Noelle
 
Pink Lady Exotics said:
I feel like the trader rating and Good Guy thread priveleges are really not fair to contributing members. As a long-time paid member, I can use the rating system and vote in GG threads, but 99.9% of the people I have sold to are not, thus they can't leave feedback for me or vote on my thread. So the few trader ratings I have make it look like I've hardly got any, when I've completed dozens of transactions -- thus it's a disproportionately low number and misleading to potential customers. It's like I'm not benefitting at all from being a paid member. Having 16 positive feedbacks from the very few paid members I've done business with, most having been years ago, does not at all reflect the amount of actual positive transactions I've conducted as a result of Fauna nor the amount of positive transactions I've completed recently in the last year, and misleads potential buyers to think I've only sold to that many people or only made that many people happy.

I feel that unpaid members should be able to LEAVE feedback for PAID members and vote on GG threads, but they shouldn't be able to receive feedback or GG threads themselves -- thus not being allowed to benefit from the system being that they are unpaid, but still allowing paid members to benefit from their membership privileges and build ratings/reputations based on all transactions they are completing, and allow paid members to display proportionate and accurate feedback levels.
Click to expand...

Jen, if you read the previous threads on this (which there are very many including one stickied at the top of this forum) your solution doesn't address one of the main problem as why the trader rating is limited to contributing members. Before it was limited to verified members abuse took place. People made bogus accounts to leave themselves ratings. This way if someone wanted to leave themselves a bogus rating it is going to cost them at least 25 dollars per account to setup per rating. People aren't going to do that to leave themselves bogus ratings.

As to your other points, anyone can leave a positive thread on the BOI a "good guy thread" which is also linked up to each of your classified posts. One simply has to click the "check the BOI button" and all your good guy threads will come pouring into their view.

Next point, there are many other abilities that come with the contributing membership. Sorry you don't think it is worth it to support this site if non members can't leave a trader rating. After all, there is no other reason to support the site that allows you to place all those ads for free to make those "many, many sales you say you have made here.

You are also allowed many other privileges in the classifieds that non-members aren't. Like replying to ads, bumping etc..
 
Cant code be put so that people with however many posts, or, say, 1 feedback or something, can leave feedback? I dunno. I get it, it makes sense, But the other side of the coin does too, but it would not be that insanely crazy to make it so only people with however many posts, or feedback, can leave a rating, either. That would cull the bogus registration deal.
 
One problem I can see with that, if it were allowed, is that people aren't necessarily going to be any more inclined to leave feedback those ways than they are to start or contribute to a BOI thread. I think anyone who has been around and sold more than a couple animals catches on really quick that the numbers and posts you see are only about ten to twenty percent (if that) of a person's true dealings. I've never been able to bring myself to ask customers to go post their experiences with me. I figure if they want to, they will. And if they don't, they won't.

FWIW, I do love the BOI link in the ads. That's a great feature I use a lot.
 
Shadera said:
I've never been able to bring myself to ask customers to go post their experiences with me. I figure if they want to, they will. And if they don't, they won't.

FWIW, I do love the BOI link in the ads. That's a great feature I use a lot.
Click to expand...

Agreed and same here. If you have a good reputation your name will be out there. If not, the same applies.
 
I personally keep a list of people I've done business with, and proffer up a "referral if needed" sentence. If people feel they need it, then they can have my list and contact the people I've done business with and find out for themselves. I have yet to receive a traders rating, or a GG thread, but I've made several trades.
 
I didn't see a sticky at the top of this forum regarding my question, so I apologize. I can't see much in the forums as I can only access Fauna from my phone these days. So I'm limited to just posting and being able to read what I can see. I've been at the receiving end of the BOI trolls, so I prefer staying out of it. I didn't actually know non-paid members couldn't leave trader ratings until several of my past buyers went to leave feedback and then contacted me asking why they couldn't do so. I guess the referral list is the only way to go. Thanks for the replies all.
 
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