Is this a commercial ad? and if so should it be moved?

[Douglas Robinson]

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/vbclassified.php?do=ad&id=756

 

[TracyP]

ptt49er deleted the ad and sent pm's to Chris and Kyle.

 

[Travis Porter]

Looks like it to me. I see that Kyle is suggesting charging for classifieds and Chris is wanting to suggest changes to policies.

Anyone else have any thoughts on their comments?

Are we going to respond to them? Personally, I think we should, but I believe it should be a group decision.

 

[ScottM]

Just thinking out loud. May we charge a fee for commercial classified ads and not for our "normal classified". Of course we will need set ground rules.

We to not want NCWW to turn into a CL

 

[McRabbet]

I posted the following in the Classified Ad thread in the Moderators and Administrators Forum:

About our only other option would be to charge a flat rate for a commercial ad in the classifieds section. In order to be fair, it would need to be comparable to the rate that tombstone ads are charged, but for a shorter period. Tombstone Ads currently cost $50/month with a 3-month minimum ($1.67 per day). Perhaps we could offer a 10-day ad for $25 (with a 10-day minimum) and mark it as a Paid Ad. Just food for thought.

Obviously, we would need to be careful about limiting ad content -- Kyle suggested that we follow Woodweb's method that lets registered members post Lumber ads for as little as $1 per ad ($5 for a single ad), but that is well below what we charge our advertisers. It is clear that some (like Kyle and Chris Brittain and Bluthart) prefer to sell wood in the Classifieds versus our prior requests to use the Wood forum because it gives them better exposure. Two other wood for sale ads by Geege (over-priced Poplar - looks like about 60 BF for $180) and Cltwoodman (Fiddleback Maple) may also be commercial. (Geege has posted two ads for cherry a few months ago and Cltwoodman had an Ad for this same material a month or so ago).

I believe that Bluthart is selling wood as a commercial venture despite past comments -- he has had 11 ads selling different batches of wood. That's not just leftovers, that's a guy trying to make money.

If we allow commercial ads in the classified, they should be wood only, should have a fixed duration for a fee (say $20 for 10 days) and be clearly marked as a Paid Ad. No matter what we decide, I think we should screen all wood ads to determine if they are valid "free" ads or commercial. Also of note when considering the current revised Policy, not one wood seller has offered a discount for our members nor a donation to the website based on his sale.

 

[Travis Porter]

I am thinking out loud, and not hard set on anything.

Maybe we should no longer allow wood sales in the classifieds????? Set up a forum for wood sales since we seem to have so many.

If the wood suppliers want an ad, set up a half size tombstone.

I am with Rob, they want it in the classifieds for the exposure.

 

[scsmith42]

I am thinking out loud, and not hard set on anything.

Maybe we should no longer allow wood sales in the classifieds????? Set up a forum for wood sales since we seem to have so many.

If the wood suppliers want an ad, set up a half size tombstone.

I am with Rob, they want it in the classifieds for the exposure.

Building on this theme... why not a commercial classified forum; it may be a good revenue generating opportunity as well as a service to our individual and business members.

What I'm thinking is that anybody that is paying for a tombstone ad would be allowed X postings per month to the commercial classifieds as part of their ad package, and everybody else has to pay a reasonable fee for posting.

 

[Travis Porter]

Building on the theme.

We have the forum for wood sales so how would the commercial classifieds be different? They aren't posting their wood sales there now so how would this change it?

 

[McRabbet]

If we opt for a Commercial Ad category, it could be set up within the existing Classified software and perhaps our technical staff can give them a separate area for display. The advantage to the seller is they can post pictures which show with the Ad; the advantage to us is additional revenue if they use it. Where it gets difficult is separating out member lumber runs from sales of green or KD lumber or turning blanks by a Sawyer.