Thread: Classifieds System Changes / Overhaul

We are in the process of bringing the community some new features and a new look.

Over the next few weeks, we will be launching a new look and a new Classifieds/Feedback system. Between now and then, you may notice some changes as we prepare and test our new features.

New eBay style Classifeds & Feedback system: A small group of members is currently testing the upcoming classifieds system that will replace the old "thread driven" method of posting ads. We are collecting feedback from the beta testers, and we plan to expand the testing soon.

New Style: We are also working on updating the look, or image, of eLightbars. This change will take effect around the time that we launch the new classifieds system. Between now and then, members that use the "eLightbars Black" style (there are only about 30 of you) will be forced to switch over to the default blue style so we can begin to prepare the upcoming changes.

More information about these changes and features will be posted in this thread in the near future.

-Thank you

I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes, I've been a member since around 2006 and love how the site has gotten so much better.

Will a new black Theme be installed after the revamp or will we all be stuck on blue?

Originally Posted by SireLite

Will a new black Theme be installed after the revamp or will we all be stuck on blue?

Ditto, missing it. While not that much darker, it's easier on the eyes for us vampires not used to bright things.

Unfortunately in order to move forward with new features, multiple styles seriously complicates it. Less than .25% of active members (15 people out of 5500) use a different style than the default, so the serious time investment on Jmans's part to cater to this minority could be much better spent on something else like actually getting the classifieds running. The new style will be somewhere in between the current blue and the dark options, but is a slightly different layout. I'm not saying there won't be a light and a dark option for the new setup (most likely there will be one theme with 2 or 3 color options), but we are going to launch it and test in one style and color to simplify things. So let's not focus on the colors right now while we are trying to test functionality.

The much discussed verified member idea is being combined with a premium membership option and launched with the new classifieds. For a small yearly fee users can both have their ID verified by a secure 3rd party and also get numerous selling perks. We are currently pricing services to provide the billing and verification, but security will be the top priority. Since I have already stopped accepting donations, the current "Contributing Members" will be upgraded to premium for one year from the launch date and that title phased out. The current price we are considering for a premium verified/membership is $10 a year, which will help cover the costs of the new system.

Below are a few (but not all) possible features/perks of premium membership:

ID verified by a professional secure 3rd party
Special seal added to auctions and profile
Longer item durations
More/unlimited total items at once
Larger and more pictures
Higher chance of being front page featured item/seller
Special promos/links to verified members and their items at top/bottom of auction page
Users can search only verified member items, or sort to list them first
Ability to sell multiples of one item (like a store)
Discounts on upcoming eLightbars gear at the eLightbars Member Store (new graphic/logo/items being professionally developed currently)
Access to new/under development site content first
Additional PM space




Of course regular members will still have the ability to use the new classifieds. Being a verified/premium member just adds extras to the experience. There will be no per item fees or any need to pay anything at all to sell on the site. Selling on eLightbars will remain free to all members.

Please standby for more updates and beta testing announcements. Check out these screens from the beta test while you are waiting.

auctionfront.jpg

auctionitem.jpg

If I've looked at this right. Will all for sale items be auction items or will users be able to sell as buy it now. similar to eBay? What do you do if you have a user who wants to sell over 100 different items?

Also what happens to the people who want a item not on ELBay. At current we have the wanted section. Will that stay?

Originally Posted by SireLite

If I've looked at this right. Will all for sale items be auction items or will users be able to sell as buy it now. similar to eBay? What do you do if you have a user who wants to sell over 100 different items?

Also what happens to the people who want a item not on ELBay. At current we have the wanted section. Will that stay?

Items have a fixed buy it price and/or an auction option. If a user wants to sell 100 different items they can feel free to list them one by one or in a lot, just like ebay. There is an option for wanted ads as well. As far as specifics more, once the beta test is open to the public a lot of these specific questions will be answered just by playing with it.

All of this sounds great! Very exciting seeing the changed coming to ELB.

Will there be an alternative to yearly "verified" member charges? On other forums I am apart of, for example, it is $10/yr or $40 for life.

Also, will our current Feedback carry over to the new style?

Can't wait to get the new features in place. Great job John and Jimmy!

Can't wait! I'll definatly spend $10 a year to have the "perks"

Reminds me of radio reference... I like it... The forums of course will stay the same along with chat I assume...

I'm excited about the upcoming changes. Not because it's going to make another avenue for selling items, but because it's going to enhance the overall experience of using the site. I think it's going to make it all the more better and increase our membership. Sure, we'll have some issues to work through, but progress = better site!

Originally Posted by tom

All of this sounds great! Very exciting seeing the changed coming to ELB.

Will there be an alternative to yearly "verified" member charges? On other forums I am apart of, for example, it is $10/yr or $40 for life.

Also, will our current Feedback carry over to the new style?

Can't wait to get the new features in place. Great job John and Jimmy!

I hadn't considered a life membership... it's not a bad idea. The feedback may have to become a linked archive again like we did before... I'm not sure yet... that is one of the things we are working on.

Originally Posted by JohnMarcson

I hadn't considered a life membership... it's not a bad idea. The feedback may have to become a linked archive again like we did before... I'm not sure yet... that is one of the things we are working on.

I like the idea of a "lifetime membership" option. I think a $40-$50 price range is right on point for that. Plus, if you get enough people to do it, there'd be a little extra money up front for other site improvements, server hosting, etc.

I'd sign up, if it was in that price range that Tom also suggested.

Not to spoil the fun, (I actually think it's the next best thing since sliced bread),...

Because of how eBay operates, they can't legally sell certain things because it's prohibited in the state where eBay is in just as if they have a store there. (Regarding lights, that's an entirely different matter because it was voluntarily) Anyway, has anyone looked into what's restricted based on which state ELB's is in? Just speaking up to give you a heads up if it hasn't been thought of.

Beyond that, just what Jman and John is doing is phenomenal and look forward to seeing how this turn out!

Besides yearly membership & lifetime membership, any "corporate" or "business" membership? $50 a year is a drop in the bucket (at least for me)

My only concern about the lifetime membership has nothing to do with money...

That cost helps cover the method that we are looking into that would verify a seller's identity. If we offer a lifetime membership, things can certainly change from year to year (or from month to month). If we are confirming a member's identity once per year, the results would be much more accurate. This is just my thought on the matter, and there might be ways to work around it.

Originally Posted by Jman423

My only concern about the lifetime membership has nothing to do with money...

That cost helps cover the method that we are looking into that would verify a seller's identity. If we offer a lifetime membership, things can certainly change from year to year (or from month to month). If we are confirming a member's identity once per year, the results would be much more accurate. This is just my thought on the matter, and there might be ways to work around it.

Could there possibly be an option of the lifetime membership, but every year when you reach your "premium anniversary," you have to resubmit validated information? Not sure what service you're using to confirm the validity initially, but I'd think it could be done once a year.

Originally Posted by EVModules

Not to spoil the fun, (I actually think it's the next best thing since sliced bread),...

Because of how eBay operates, they can't legally sell certain things because it's prohibited in the state where eBay is in just as if they have a store there. (Regarding lights, that's an entirely different matter because it was voluntarily) Anyway, has anyone looked into what's restricted based on which state ELB's is in? Just speaking up to give you a heads up if it hasn't been thought of.

Beyond that, just what Jman and John is doing is phenomenal and look forward to seeing how this turn out!

Besides yearly membership & lifetime membership, any "corporate" or "business" membership? $50 a year is a drop in the bucket (at least for me)

This classifieds upgrade doesn't change the legality issue or polices of the site. The only change to the rules will be to remove the "one thread per section" line as that makes no sense under the new system. Sellers and buyers are still responsible for knowing their local laws an making sure the transaction is legal. Formatting their for sale listings into an auction or store vs a thread doesn't make a bit of difference. The following still applies:

• All activities on and stemming from eLightbars must not violate Federal, State or local Laws.
• Content posted on elightbars must not detail/describe or advocate violating any local, State, Federal or International laws.
• Users participate at their own risk. eLightbars is not responsible for content posted by any user, whether in the forums, private message, or chat.
• Deals and threads on eLightbars must not violate or advocate violating any Local, State, Federal or International laws.
• Users must not violate any established policies of 3rd parties involved in transactions (ie payment or shipping companies). This includes but is not limited to providing false transaction information in order to avoid fees and duties.
• eLightbars makes no attempt to verify any aspect of transactions. People who buy, sell or trade on eLightbars do so at their own risk.

Originally Posted by MichianaELS

Could there possibly be an option of the lifetime membership, but every year when you reach your "premium anniversary," you have to resubmit validated information? Not sure what service you're using to confirm the validity initially, but I'd think it could be done once a year.

This sounds like a great idea. I think the majotity of the users would like this.

i think it will work, b/c if someone wants to buy it, i assume they click buy it now and its theres.........

meanwhile now , we have to wait, and then some other buyer complains he emailed first........... and then the seller sells it to who he wants......

am i on the right page here?

Originally Posted by 911

i think it will work, b/c if someone wants to buy it, i assume they click buy it now and its theres.........

meanwhile now , we have to wait, and then some other buyer complains he emailed first........... and then the seller sells it to who he wants......

am i on the right page here?

and then theres the whole thing of 2 people clicked buy it now at the same time.

user a has paypal

user b doesnt


so user a gets it cause its "immediate payment" and seller doesnt want to wait up to 5 days for snail mail

What happens when user A bids on an Auction , but User B wants to buy it now..

Originally Posted by WPD8908

What happens when user A bids on an Auction , but User B wants to buy it now..

It is one OR the other, not both.

Either the listing will be an auction, or it will be a "Buy It Now" sale. That is up to the seller.

Originally Posted by Jman423

It is one OR the other, not both.

Either the listing will be an auction, or it will be a "Buy It Now" sale. That is up to the seller.

I like that.

what happends if a buyer --- uses buy it now , and doesnt pay, are you going to kick them off after a few times like ebay???????

just another thing to consider................ b/c i know there are alot of tire kickers on this board that say, i will take it.......... and then you get a pm 5 minutes later........i will paypal next week, or the 3rd week in november ( seriously) ,and then you never hear from them again ....

Originally Posted by 911

what happends if a buyer --- uses buy it now , and doesnt pay, are you going to kick them off after a few times like ebay???????

just another thing to consider................ b/c i know there are alot of tire kickers on this board that say, i will take it.......... and then you get a pm 5 minutes later........ I will paypal next week, or the 3rd week in november ( seriously) ,and then you never hear from them again ....

You are given the right to reject a purchase... and set your own purchase terms, so you can require payment immediately if you want. As far as deadbeats, I plan to handle it the way I do now, which is primarily letting user feedback speak for it's self. If someone is reported as having a serious fraud issue I will investigate like I do now. The advantage to the new system is we can actually match a deal and "purchase agreement" to a time and date, so the feedback will be at least able to be verified. I'm hoping having an actual date and time of purchase on file with the item will make people less likely to cause problems. At this point "back outs" are so hard to verify that I don't count feedback unless money exchanged hands. With the new system we will be able to track buying and not paying, so users will finally be able to leave feedback for buyers that back out of deals. Luckily, since I am not charging a per item fee, the seller is out only time and a small amount of effort if the buyer backs out... vs listing fees etc like on other sites. There will be a lot of process and procedure things that will just need to be figured out after we launch the new section. Over all I think the change will reduce fraud and simplify listings greatly.

Along 911's lines then, will there be a relist feature so it will be simple to relist, vs having to redo the whole listing?

Originally Posted by rwo978

Along 911's lines then, will there be a relist feature so it will be simple to relist, vs having to redo the whole listing?

If not there should be..... I will need to add that to the list of request for the developers.

Originally Posted by JohnMarcson

If not there should be..... I will need to add that to the list of request for the developers.

Yes, you will be able to easily relist the item as if the offer was rejected.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Jman423

Yes, you will be able to easily relist the item as if the offer was rejected.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

But what if you accept the offer and they never pay.....?