Parts Classifieds beginning to look like Craigslist

[doigthom]

Could be dwindling supply of good parts? We are limited in the years we buy/sell.

[Frank Beck]

Nothing wrong with people selling parts that we need.
(I purchased a part this morning from the seller who motivated me to post this thread. Priceless! Thank you sir.)

Maybe I've got it all wrong? Perhaps members and ESR freeloaders want thousands of trinkets listed weekly?

[raspritz]

The problem is more one of archaic site organization that functions less well given increasing traffic. This is a good problem to have; the site has become victim to its own success. This site overall operates in a classic bulletin board format, with only 5 sections, very few subsections, and a search function that is global to the entire site. The For Sale section here has no subsections, and all threads are listed sequentially with no overarching organization. The Bird has better organization overall, with the For Sale section having 7 parts subsections and (most important) a search function that is specific to the subsection one is viewing. TheSamba is similar. The 356 Registry For Sale section has no subsections, but that site sees much less traffic and again, the Search function is specific to the For Sale section rather than global for the site. This is not a complaint, but given current organization the For Sale section here has become fairly useless given its high traffic.

[Frank Beck]

The problem is more one of archaic site organization that functions less well given increasing traffic. This is a good problem to have; the site has become victim to its own success. This site overall operates in a classic bulletin board format, with only 5 sections, very few subsections, and a search function that is global to the entire site. The For Sale section here has no subsections, and all threads are listed sequentially with no overarching organization. The Bird has better organization overall, with the For Sale section having 7 parts subsections and (most important) a search function that is specific to the subsection one is viewing. TheSamba is similar. The 356 Registry For Sale section has no subsections, but that site sees much less traffic and again, the Search function is specific to the For Sale section rather than global for the site. This is not a complaint, but given current organization the For Sale section here has become fairly useless given its high traffic.

That's very good info. Thanks.

So is it time to start a new site or can this one be fixed?

[raspritz]

That's very good info. Thanks.

So is it time to start a new site or can this one be fixed?

I suspect easily fixed. I think the only current problem is the For Sale category. A few well thought-out subcategories, maybe even some hierarchical sub-sub-categories (though that seems like overkill), and most important make the search function category-specific. I think that would be enough. I don't know the technical details, but it can't be too difficult since many other Bulletin Board-style sites are set up that way.

[72targa]

So....

What new sub-sections are of interest?

I have to laugh. Got all sorts of complaints when we split out WTB from FS in early parts.

Looking forward to your suggestions.

[LiveFromNY]

I have to laugh. Got all sorts of complaints when we split out WTB from FS in early parts.

Separate issue (and still a bad decision). It reduced the visibility of WTB ads by at lest tenfold. Probably a hundredfold. To make matters worse, posters were advised to no longer begin their titles with "WTB" making their ads confusing to the huge percentage of us that use the "new posts" functionality.

As long as were on the subject of improvements, why don't we do something really useful and get some mobile functionality going on around here before it's too late and some enterprising individual decides to create a competing forum that actually works for the 50% of Internet users who are on a mobile device. Hell, I'd even pay for it.

[72targa]

The problem is more one of archaic site organization that functions less well given increasing traffic. This is a good problem to have; the site has become victim to its own success. This site overall operates in a classic bulletin board format, with only 5 sections, very few subsections, and a search function that is global to the entire site. The For Sale section here has no subsections, and all threads are listed sequentially with no overarching organization. The Bird has better organization overall, with the For Sale section having 7 parts subsections and (most important) a search function that is specific to the subsection one is viewing. TheSamba is similar. The 356 Registry For Sale section has no subsections, but that site sees much less traffic and again, the Search function is specific to the For Sale section rather than global for the site. This is not a complaint, but given current organization the For Sale section here has become fairly useless given its high traffic.

This is my favorite post in this thread thus far. What would be some preferred sub-sections for pre-74 911 parts? I enjoy managing thread placement and want to stay as current as possible with what discussion board members are looking for in their search for parts. As a for instance, I've been thinking an eBay-only thread would be good.

[rower]

Interesting. I buy fairly often on the 356registry and always check the classifieds and rarely do so on early911s. Maybe because I have more 356’s but it’s not proportional still. Basically 356’s are more homogeneous and there are fewer ads to go through, and the quality filter seems higher. Maybe if there were subsections on the 911s.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Interesting. I buy fairly often on the 356registry and always check the classifieds and rarely do so on early911s. Maybe because I have more 356’s but it’s not proportional still. Basically 356’s are more homogeneous and there are fewer ads to go through, and the quality filter seems higher. Maybe if there were subsections on the 911s.

I rarely buy anything on the 356 Registry classifieds, but I always check, because some real gems come up sometimes, like this one I bought a few weeks ago. The hood off of 550A-0114, my guess is probably the last loose 550 hood on the planet.

---Adam