It seems to me many of us have spares and other parts we'd like to offer up to other members here before posting on eBay etc.

I realize there's a "classifieds" section but it's dominated by the porsche brand and I'm not sure about anyone else, but I never search there looking for things I'm in need of for that reason.

I'm assuming it's against forum rules to post items for sale in this forum? Could we create a thread dedicated to available parts etc members have for sale specific to Aston Martin? I think many members would find this useful as there's not a dedicated Aston Martin classified section on any (American) forum as far as I can tell..?

I think this would be very helpful because in my opinion much of the items some of us have to offer up are very specialized and would only be interesting to the most serious of enthusiasts. There's currently no real good way to get this stuff out in front of other 6speed forum members. Just a thought..

I'd also like to thank everyone responsible for maintaining this incredible resource for all of us. I hope this post doesn't come across as a criticism to the wonderful folks who work hard to keep this forum together.. I can only imagine how much work and dedication is involved with this.

 

I like this idea!

 

No, you can't post classifieds here...it would be difficult to have an Aston specific autos and Aston specific parts section in the marketplace since every other brand on here would want their own section as well....search only doesn't work because most posters don't put Aston in the header...if everyone would preface their thread titles with Aston the search would bring up just Aston classifieds...as it is being done you would have to search DB9, Rapide etc. to get them all...I wouldn't have any objection to it but I believe that part of the forum has been subbed out by IB and we have less control over it now...if the community would cooperate I could do something like I did for the Canadian members community, where there is a sticky thread in open forum where they can post just a link to their classified in the marketplace. The post can't contain any info or say for sale other than a title like "DB9 exhaust" and text of "see my classified here" and the link to the classified in the marketplace. Sound like a reasonable compromise?

 

If people are forum savvy, they can search for the term "Aston" in the Parts FS section. In my experience, most people don't realize that. If there was a way to embed vehicle compatibility in that section of the forums, it'd be much easier for forum members. But it isn't technically easy from a website perspective and would get abused to have he point of being meaningless (look at Instagram hashtags). I can talk about that ad nauseum, but that is only part of it.

The other side is that you have vendors that pay each month to be on these forums. Those payments fund the forums so we have a place to host our conversations. That's what makes it a free platform for users.

It's easy to abuse that system. A business can signup and sell things by pretending to be a normal forum member (non-business). Those companies are then using the paying vendors so they can 'advertise' for free. It drives out the active vendors like VAP, Fabspeed, RSC, HRE and its distributors, Brixton, and others (sorry if I've omitted anyone) because they actually pay money to contribute.

Posting links to eBay opens the way for a myriad of companies that would abuse the system, so eBay links gets restricted.

When I was a moderator, I'd only address blatant advertising and, so long as a post had content from an active member, would allow the occasional eBay link. I used my own judgment to determine how I should handle each situation.

I put a few names forward to take over as the next moderator, and how they handle things is outside my control. My suggestion, however, is if you have something to sell:

-Make an eBay listing if you want.
-Create a FS post with ALL required info and link to the eBay listing, clarifying that the eBay link is there for people that prefer that platform.
-Start a new thread in the Aston section saying that you're selling the part, why you're selling it (dialog goes a long way), and a link to the FS thread.

Just my opinion, of course!

 

Chuck posted while I was working on mine and, as always, he has authority in these things. But hopefully my post clarified why the rules and restrictions are in place. I rarely looked at the FS section so he or another mod/admin may have deleted eBay postings.

 

Generally, I usually de-activate active links to eBay ads...we're not here to make money for them...I leave the link so, as you say, members can choose that direction if they choose by copying and pasting the link...btw....I'm always open to ideas on how to make things better if anyone cares to offer their ideas

 

Thank you for your consideration Chuck. I think this does sound like a reasonable compromise. So just to be clear.. As I'm not the most proficient person regarding forum terminology.. It would be acceptable to post a new thread here with a title stating (for example) "DB9 Exhaust", then in the body of the post there could be a link to the classified ad placed here in the 6speedonline classified forum section.? Again.. Just want to make sure I'm understanding.

Thanks for working with me on this request.

 

SR...that is correct just no use of "for sale"...if you just title the item and post the link with a look here you will be fine...I saw your Ferrari ad and it was fine...btw, you can post an active link when it is to sixspeed....so this would be a sticky you would like to see in this section or do you just want to post them as it is?

 

Forgive my ignorance here but I guess I don't understand what a "sticky" is?

 

If you're OK with the way I posted for the shift **** and in the Ferrari section then I'm absolutely happy with this compromise.. Thank you again for your hard work and help with this!

 

Stickies are the posts that are kept at the very top of the thread list when you go into a section of the forum. Things like forum rules, FAQs, and other important or "high value" threads are often made into stickies so they can be very quickly found.

 

Well said Rich...the only problem with a sticky opposed to the way you are doing it now is you don't have your own thread for any discussion...all the posts are in one thread

 

Understood.. I think doing it the way I've done it this time would be perfect. Thanks Chuck and Rich for the help again.