Thread: Should FFLs have their own category in classifieds?

I don't know if anyone else has noticed that the classifieds section has become a free advertising section for FFLs..or that their ads virtually wipe out the ads of other members..moving them back to page 2 or farther..or if anyone else cares.. Me..personally..I don't like it.. I think if they want the free advertising for their buisness..they should at least become a supporting vendor..and post there..

Another option..and I don't know how difficult it would be..or how much more headache it would be for the site admins...would be to create an FFL section in the classifieds..

No wonder we have some members...looking for ways around the "bumping" rules..when they have to compete for space..with multiple dealer ads..

Just my

"Should FFLs have their own category in classifieds?"

I thought they already did,
"Supporting Vendor Forums"

Originally Posted by rickthecabbie

"Should FFLs have their own category in classifieds?"

I thought they already did,
"Supporting Vendor Forums"

Agreed

I am an FFL, however I don't advertise on this forum, as I am in Arizona... However I have belonged to at least one forum in the past that did as suggested & created an FFL Only ad forum. The results were less than desirable, at least for the FFL's who care, as it seemed that Nobody ever bothered to look there. Actually I agree with the Supporting Vendor Forums, it is too bad that some of the FFL's on here have become greedy enough to ruin the gun marketplace. I know around here free advertising is easy to find at phoenix classifieds for apts, jobs, for sale, personals - backpage.com
in the Sporting Goods section

That is a good point. I do agree to have them post in their own section!

I think they should post individual gun listings in a dedicated section. I would definitely look.

In the past when we were smaller we were able to reach a happy medium, with the few Supporting Vendors we had having permission to post a couple ads in each "regular" section. The reason we allowed this was because the Supporting Vendor section didn't get near the traffic the other sections had. This is a balancing act because FFL's are in the business to make money, so understandably they're not going to keep supporting this community if they're not getting a fair return on their investment. Additionally, while some Supporting Vendors have their own section on the main forum page, these pages are using quite a bit of bandwidth. We're going to have to address this issue in the near future as well.

Without the members the Supporting Vendors wouldn't be here; without the Supporting Vendors this forum wouldn't be here; without the forum, well, we wouldn't be talking about this. We're all in this together folks

With all of this in mind, I'd like to hear feedback from both the members and the Supporting Vendors. I'm not a fan of the way things are right now either, but we need to come up with a fair solution to both parties.

I think that it would be fair to limit the supporting vendors to maybe 5 or so ads in the regular area as well as being able to have a link in each post to their individual supporting vendor area they have now. It would also help if instead of listing each handgun/rifle seperately that they have a combined ad listing several and keep it up to date. It seems to me that the main voices that bring this up are the non supporting members and IMO should not complain about a free lunch. I do not expect everyone to contribute funds but I would also expect less complaints from the ones that dont. The supporting vendors contribute a rather large sum of money to get the extras to help them sell their goods and give good deals to the members, so I cant see penalizing them for wanting to use what they support.

Lol all good points and I can't say much. I troll the site all day so I really don't miss anything or loose any post.

I agree they should have a FFL forum.

I am not much interested in the FFL for sale adds, I like the idea of dealing with a regular schmo. Not completely sure why.

I would be happy if the FFL guy's posted that they were FFL in there adds.

I'm OK with the FFLs being in the regular section. They are usually the first to carry stuff that hasn't appeared on the used market yet. And, their contributions help keep the board available to all. But, perhaps all vendors' avatars should still be marked as such, just so we know who is who. Sometimes I will seek out, or steer others towards, certain people to purchase from, specifically because they are a vendor.

Keith

I am in the "Ads are Ads" camp. It doesn't matter much who's selling what until I see something that interests me. I am usually able to log in at least each day or so, and I go to "New Posts" and rarely, if ever, go to a particular forum section unless I am looking for something. So, the way I use the forum, it really doesn't matter to me how it's decided it should be done. I've bought from folks here and I am just glad to be able to see what is out there and maybe save a few bucks or get something that is no longer available new. The only peeve I have at all about the classifieds are all the threads and replies about the sellers that "must be smoking crack" because they are asking "that much for that piece". It takes more time to whine about it than it does to just decide that your not interested and move on...lol

Originally Posted by deadeye

I think that it would be fair to limit the supporting vendors to maybe 5 or so ads in the regular area as well as being able to have a link in each post to their individual supporting vendor area they have now. It would also help if instead of listing each handgun/rifle seperately that they have a combined ad listing several and keep it up to date. It seems to me that the main voices that bring this up are the non supporting members and IMO should not complain about a free lunch. I do not expect everyone to contribute funds but I would also expect less complaints from the ones that dont. The supporting vendors contribute a rather large sum of money to get the extras to help them sell their goods and give good deals to the members, so I cant see penalizing them for wanting to use what they support.

The main problem I see with this is that if you have 10 active supporting vendors, they'll put/bump their ads and that is 50 per week. OTOH, I agree that since they do contribute a necessary monetary activity that allows us freeloaders (yes, I'm one of them unfortunately) to have access.

I can see both sides of the issue. It will be a difficult balancing act and I can't think of a decent solution, TBH. Off the top of my head, I think the current situation is probably the best compromise.

I know, we can kick all them non-northwesterners off... That'll fix 'em. B-) (j/k... sarcasm for the humor impaired)


elsie

Originally Posted by waterdog1021

Agreed

+1,
We have some great FFL's here and would support them, but in the last month several seem to have put their entire stock on here in individual ads

Originally Posted by deadeye

I think that it would be fair to limit the supporting vendors to maybe 5 or so ads in the regular area as well as being able to have a link in each post to their individual supporting vendor area they have now. It would also help if instead of listing each handgun/rifle seperately that they have a combined ad listing several and keep it up to date. It seems to me that the main voices that bring this up are the non supporting members and IMO should not complain about a free lunch. I do not expect everyone to contribute funds but I would also expect less complaints from the ones that dont. The supporting vendors contribute a rather large sum of money to get the extras to help them sell their goods and give good deals to the members, so I cant see penalizing them for wanting to use what they support.

I agree. One ad with multiple guns listed within the same ad would be a good idea I think.

Would be great for FFLs to have an area to sell guns on clearance/sale.

FFLs should not be allowed to fill the whole first page of a section up, thereby bumping all other ads onto page 2.

I think they should be allowed a few ads, but not all bumped up together.

When I bump my ads, I try to space them out so I don;t hog up all the first page. I don't have a ton of ads though.

I think 1 FFL has ruined it for most people.. last I checked it was a page and a half of guns listed at or very near MSRP.. with regular classifieds bumped back.. It's a simple case of finding a loop hole and exploiting it. Wrong yes against the rules not yet...

Originally Posted by PeterGibbons

Would be great for FFLs to have an area to sell guns on clearance/sale.

+1