Ad bumping up - standard practice now?

[Nick Gellie]

I have been following the mandolin ads for a little while. I have noticed that a practice of ad bumping is occurring. I thought that this practice was frowned upon in the cafe.

Sellers should realise that prospective buyers use search queries to bring up ads down the list. It does not matter where your ad is on the list as far as I am concerned.

With the number of ads now exceeding 600 (it used to be 300-400 a few years ago) I also suggest that some price relalignment may be in order in some instances. The used mandolin market may have reached a new equilibrium because of saturation of product and buyers being a bit more reluctant to buy at the advertised prices. Buyer and seller expectations may have also realigned.

[jdchapman]

Please don't bump up, guys. The MC classifieds--like the rest of the site--are uniquely usable and attractive visually among the instrument forums (fora?); bumping up won't help here. It will just make the listings worse.

[Mandolin Cafe]

I have been following the mandolin ads for a little while. I have noticed that a practice of ad bumping is occurring. I thought that this practice was frowned upon in the cafe.

Sellers should realise that prospective buyers use search queries to bring up ads down the list. It does not matter where your ad is on the list as far as I am concerned.

With the number of ads now exceeding 600 (it used to be 300-400 a few years ago) I also suggest that some price relalignment may be in order in some instances. The used mandolin market may have reached a new equilibrium because of saturation of product and buyers being a bit more reluctant to buy at the advertised prices. Buyer and seller expectations may have also realigned.

No, everyone is not engaging in this. Some do, most don't. But you make it sound like it.

Being online at any place where instruments are bought and sold takes a bit of patience. It's not there as an entertainment factor. No resource provides everything everyone desires and is there to make everyone happy. Not everyone on eBay, Reverb and Craig's List is 100% happy with the way things are run. The bar is not always as high as you think and people make mistakes, don't know how to edit or delete ads, etc. We tighten things up and sellers cry foul, say we're too strict. We relax a bit and some feel like they have to make a beef about it.

Using the Forum as a means of generating complaints again this site is not particularly welcome. If you have a personal complaint and feel like Classifieds are being repeatedly violated by an individual it should be directed to my inbox with written specifics about who you are complaining about, not aired as public dirty laundry.