How the Classifieds section works (Read This First)

[koraks]

The Classifieds section is one of the most used parts of the forum, and many find it a very useful feature. However, we also frequently receive questions about the how and what of this part of the forum. In this post, I'll try to summarize the FAQs from a couple of viewpoints. Specifically, I'll cover the following use cases in separate sections:

• You're a buyer looking to respond to existing ads
• You're a seller looking to advertise your stuff for sale here
• You want to give some stuff away for free

A few remarks that apply regardless of your role/intention:

• never post contact information (your own, or other people's) on the forum for security reasons. This includes email addresses, private phone numbers, domestic street/mail addresses etc.
• Only comment on an ad/thread if you have something constructive and useful to contribute in the context of an offering. The Classifieds are not the right place to discuss technical matters or for generic banter.
• After a transaction, please consider leaving feedback. You can do this by navigating to the other party's profile page (just click their name next to a post or message) and then click the 'trader history' button:
  
  . You'll be taken to a page where you can leave feedback for them as a seller or a buyer. See also here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/new-classifieds-feedback-system.134433/

You're a buyer
1: The first possibility is that you have found an ad that offers an item you'd like to purchase, and you would like to contact the seller. What to do? The best approach is to directly contact the seller by starting a private conversation with them. Just click their username, and hit the option "Start conversation":

Alternatively, you can post a reply to the For Sale ad, requesting the seller to contact you. Generally, this works as well, but sellers are a little more likely to respond quickly if you open a Private Conversation with them directly.

When trying to open a private conversation with another member or trying to respond to an ad, you may receive an error, especially if you've very recently registered on the forum and/or have only few posts on the forum. Please do not start posting elsewhere on the forum just to increase your post count. Instead, contact the moderators by reporting a post (for instance the ad you want to respond to) and indicate that you'd like to be able to start a private conversation with the seller and/or want to be able to respond to classifieds. In most cases we will directly grant you the permissions needed to do so, or otherwise we will offer another solution/workaround.

2: The second possibility is that you want to place a 'Want to buy' ad on the forum so that people may contact you if they have the item you are looking for. In this case, the same applies to you as to sellers, so please see the section below "You're a seller".

Transactions conducted are always between you and the seller. Photrio is no part in the transaction and bears no liability whatsoever. The correctness of listings and information is the responsibility of the seller, not Photrio.

You're a seller (or a buyer and want to post a 'Want to buy' ad)
In case you have one or more items you'd like to offer to a worldwide audience, please feel free to use the Photrio classifieds system. The main condition for use is that you need a paid Subscriber account to do so. It takes only a few steps and very little investment to become a Subscriber. The instructions are covered here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/pages/supportus/ As soon as your account has transitioned to Subscriber status, you will be able to post new threads in the Classifieds section.

When posting ads, please observe the following:

• Clearly tag your ad so it's clear what the conditions are:
  
• When updating your ad, for instance because you've sold the item or someone has made you an offer, please do not forget to update the tag! Read here how to do this.
• Upon selling your item or retracting it from the marketplace, you can close the thread in which you offer the item yourself. This prevents replies from being posted. Don't forget to update the tag on your ad (see above), and consider posting a note that the item has sold to prevent any confusion.

Please also adhere strictly to the rules as put forth here: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/classified-ad-rules.66487

It helps if you include the following information in your ad:

• Clear description of the item
• An asking price and payment methods and terms
• Any defects, concerns or information about the item's state; please be specific and avoid vacuous/subjective terms like 'Mint' etc.
• Clear photos of the item
• The item's location (approximately), and the places you're prepared to ship it to
• Information about shipping cost, and also who will pay for shipping

If your item doesn't sell within a few days, we understand that you might want to periodically bring back the public's attention by posting a reply and thereby 'bumping' it to the top of the list. We kindly ask you to do this at most every 5 days or so.

You want to give some stuff away for free
Sometimes, you just have some leftover stuff and instead of (or before) carting it away to the junkyard, you consider offering it to anyone who might have a good use for it. We consider this a service to the community and as such, we would like to facilitate this within reasonable limits. To make this possible, we suggest you do the following:

• Navigate to the Lounge subforum
• Post a thread the same way you would post a regular ad, i.e. describe the item, provide information about pickup/shipping etc. See the hints above about what to include in an ad.
• Now use the 'Report' function on the thread you've just made. The 'Report' link appears at the bottom left of your post. In the text box that appears ('Report reason'), indicate that you want your post to be treated as an ad for a free item.
• We evaluate your request and if we feel it's appropriate, we will then move your post to the Classifieds and tag it as 'Free'. From here, it will function the same as any other ad.

In case your question/concern wasn't addressed above, please navigate to the Classifieds Rules, Feedback, News & Discussion subforum to see if you can find information there. If not, feel free to open a new thread in that place and ask your question.

 

[koraks]

FYI: The post above has been in preparation since January, but was only published yesterday after a review (and ultimately an Official Photrio Seal of Approval or OPSA) by the team of moderators and @Sean. The post is intended to help sellers and buyers in getting started with the Classifieds section. If you have any questions, concerns or additions to this post, please use the Report function to bring this to our attention. Thank you!