Buy and Sell Section - Everybody Please Read

[Scream And Fly]

Hi All,

I wanted to ask you all to read my thoughts on some changes that I have made and future updates. Since the very beginning of starting Scream And Fly, I have always been guided by your feedback.

For the time being, the Team Membership requirement to post in the Buy and Sell section has been suspended. I did this for several reasons.

Up until now, a new registration on Scream And Fly permitted full access to all parts of the site except to start new posts on the Buy and Sell section. Those users could of course reply to any post there and contact any member they wanted if they wanted to buy something from another member. Once the post count reached 50 (originally 150) the account was automatically upgraded to allow full access to the Buy and Sell section. My initial thoughts into this was that first and foremost, Scream And Fly is a community of people helping people. I did not want Scream And Fly to become the 'Cragistlist of performance boaters'. Of course the Buy and Sell section is extremely important as a resource on its own, but I've always felt that should work as a part of Scream And Fly's community.

Here are some of my current thoughts on temporarily suspending the Team Membership requirement for using the Buy and Sell section:

• We are frequently having to remove posts being placed in the General Discussion areas that are couched as classified ads. For example, posts asking 'how much is my boat/item worth' that handily show photos and read like a full classified ad. Everyone knows that is an effort to circumvent the rules and it has been adding more and more workload to myself and moderators to manage this type of issue.

• Users replying to ads placed by other members with items of their own to sell. Since new user accounts permitted replies in the Buy and Sell section posts (so that they may ask questions if they were interested in an item being sold), on some occasions people would circumvent the Team Membership requirement by replying to an existing ad with their own ad in the reply. This is not only disrespectful to the member selling the their item in the Buy and Sell section, but it also reduces the effectiveness of their ad. Moderating for this activity is also very time consuming.

• Many people still do not use PayPal, or they simply do not want to - and I respect that. And although PayPal does accept credit card ad debit card payments, some people remain uncomfortable using PayPal. PayPal has actually made changes for businesses to make it easier for their customers to use, which I am working on implementing.

• And the most annoying of all issues: Charge-backs. Yes, it's true - I've had it happen many times now: A user will register to S&F, upgrade their membership to use the Buy and Sell section and list their boat/item. Once their boat or item sells, they institute a charge-back on PayPal to get their money back. As slimy as it sounds, this has happened enough times to contribute to my making this post. PayPal has made it easier in recent years to protect businesses against this sort of scam, however that involves lengthy back-and-forth emails with PayPal and that ends up consuming a lot of time in the long run. In the past, PayPal had a shocking policy of siding with the payer by default. Thankfully they have corrected many of the issues that were in place that allowed that to happen, however it's a time consuming process to protect.

• I want our members here to have access to as many items as possible, and this is especially important to collectors and people that have a strong need for a particular part. The process of using PayPal as outlined above may prevent some items from reaching the Buy and Sell section. I am working to make this process easier, though. The goal of this site is, first and foremost, to help our members in every way possible. I want to make this site's navigation as easy as possible no matter what it is used for. If anything gets in the way of people fully enjoying the site, I will work to remedy that.

While this is happening, I will be working on the site to increase the ease of use and accessibility of the Buy and Sell section (and the forums as a whole), while always retaining its basic function.

I will also be adding more features to greatly expand the Buy and Sell section. It will always retain the forums-based environment that many people prefer, however I will add additional options to allow members and vendors to better manage their items for sale to reach more people, and to list their items quicker and easier as well.

We depend a great deal on Supporting Vendors and all levels of Team Membership. Without it, Scream And Fly would not exist. It is really that simple. I am very thankful to those of you that signed on as Team Members, and most especially to our loyal members that continue to renew their Team Membership, year after year. I cannot express in words how grateful I am to you. Thank you so much.

Thank you all for reading and I welcome your feedback as always,
Greg

[Greg G]

Which issue is bigger in your opinion, the $25 cost to be a Team Member or the 50 post count threshold? Just having the site here is worth $25 all day long.

[vnemous]

I gotta agree. An add in the Boat Shopper or the local classifieds is probably way more than $25. A small price to pay to reach the right forum for your sale item. Also the odds of meeting a Craigslist Killer are probably a lot slimmer while not totally out of the realm

[Baja170]

I have learned so much from this site and even found my dream boat here. What you are doing is amazing Greg and as the former owner of HeliFreak.com a similar site running the same software I know how much work it really is to Admin the site as well as the hardware and software it runs on.

I sold HF in June of 2015 after starting it and running it for 12.5+ years and leading it with a hand picked team of enthusiasts volunteers who love to help people to be the #1 Radio Controlled Helicopter information site in the world, similar to what you have done here at S&F but you have been at it even longer.

It is no easy task. Pleasing people is a very stressful thing to do. You do an amazing job. What do you do to keep your sanity and how do you still even like boats after all these years? R/C Helis was my passion for years and not anymore.

I do not think the vast majority of people here know the stress, dedication and sacrifice it takes to run a large community like this one. Thank you!

I am not only going to be a Team Member I am going to upgrade my membership level right now.

[Frank Molé]

give it a try,well all see what happends,got to watch out for bogis sellers..............
thanks for everything you do here greg....

[Tom Foley]

Thanks Greg for keeping the site running smoothly !

[olboatman]

I have to agree with Baja170 and Tom as this is by far my favorite site and the information I have gained and the friends met are priceless! Thanks Greg for keeping on top of the issues and I have faith in your decisions. Gary

[Superbender]

Thanks Greg for all you do for us.

[Mr. Demeanor]

Thanks Greg.

[Scream And Fly]

Thank so much everybody. I am continuing to think about this issue as I also continue to read your input on it. Perhaps a modified version of what we had in place previously might be the answer?

I really am very thankful for all that you have done for me and Scream And Fly. I have received a number of emails and private messages from members expressing their thoughts on this issue and I can say that really makes me happy, because everything I have always done here since the beginning, has been driven by your feedback. If you look at my earliest posts here, I state that many times, and that will never change. I realize that regrettably, I could not make everybody happy in every situation, but I always try to get as close as I can to achieving that.

I want to fine tune the Buy and Sell section in a manner that will best serve all of you, while also maintaining the core purpose of this site. And I can never overstate my gratitude for our Team Members and Supporting Vendors, because without you, there would be no way to continuously update and improve the site. There will be a lot of upgrades and additions to S&F during the winter and spring, so that by the time the boating season kicks off this year we will have many features in place that will make sharing photos, videos, buying, and selling much easier. A S&F mobile application is another project that I will be starting preliminary groundwork on very soon. And again, I want to thank all of you for the feedback that guides my visions here. When we begin work on the mobile application, I will also seek your feedback for guidance.

Thank you so much everybody, for all you have done to support Scream And Fly over the years! There will be so many cool things coming very soon, and it makes me excited. I will definitely keep my thoughts open on the issue of the Buy and Sell section. It might be best to revert it back to the previous system or perhaps a modified version of it.

Thank you everybody,
Greg

[Scream And Fly]

Thank you so very much for your kind words and support. I really am so thankful. And thank you everybody for your very thoughtful words. It really makes me feel good to read posts like these.

And I am not sure if you knew, but I've been reading HeliFreak very often for years! I had no idea we had the owner of that incredible site here on Scream And Fly! That's amazing, and you created what is definitely the very best RC helicopter site in existence. That is just so cool. And I'm also happy to read that you found your boat here!

Thank you so very much for your support and very kind words,
Greg

I have learned so much from this site and even found my dream boat here. What you are doing is amazing Greg and as the former owner of HeliFreak.com a similar site running the same software I know how much work it really is to Admin the site as well as the hardware and software it runs on.

I sold HF in June of 2015 after starting it and running it for 12.5+ years and leading it with a hand picked team of enthusiasts volunteers who love to help people to be the #1 Radio Controlled Helicopter information site in the world, similar to what you have done here at S&F but you have been at it even longer.

It is no easy task. Pleasing people is a very stressful thing to do. You do an amazing job. What do you do to keep your sanity and how do you still even like boats after all these years? R/C Helis was my passion for years and not anymore.

I do not think the vast majority of people here know the stress, dedication and sacrifice it takes to run a large community like this one. Thank you!

I am not only going to be a Team Member I am going to upgrade my membership level right now.

[Baja170]

Small world. Glad we can enjoy each other's hard work and sacrifice. I am glad I sold HF when I did, my life is so much more simple now and I get to boat a lot more often. Thanks again for S&F and for perusing HF while I owned it. I did the best I could to give back just like you and guess what, it obviously works! Congrats!

[Pogo]

Try to sell a boat on Offshore Only for free!!!

[Tango]

Greg, THANKS for all your work on these updates!!

Last year I bought an outboard from a long standing member here. On its first outing, it came apart... the seller stood behind the labor to rebuild it and I aware of it being used, agreed to pay for the parts. The block turned out needing re-sleeving so I opted to buy a used block from another member here known to sell a bunch of parts but the item turned out to be a completely misrepresented saltwater block. It ended up needing a ton of cleaning and machine work with one sleeve. The seller rebuilt the PH with new pistons and shipped it back to me. Upon running it on the hose I heard a knock so once again I pulled the PH and pulled the front to find a rod bolt FELL OUT and dropped into the port without any damage. After adding Loc-Tite and re-torque of all bolts I ran it again for my break-in which I have still yet to complete due to buying another boat to play with with a 300X that let go after 8-hours of run time.

I am THANKFUL to S&F Marketplace because the seller of the outboard wanting to maintain his reputation here as an upstanding marine mechanic, offered & paid immediately an 65% refund of my purchase with great communication.

The seller I bought the Eliminator with the 300X on Craigslist claims full ignorance, with no responsibility and pretty much told me to @^$#-off!

My only suggestion for permissions to post items for sale would be a sliding scale on post count/and/or $$$ per item listed for sale amount. This way some n00b doesn't just buy a $25 membership to post a $10,000.00 boat that is really worth $2500. I know I am dreaming... but I feel such would protect the integrity of the Marketplace.