New forum needed ?

Is there a need for another forum to be added?

There is currently the "Classified Ads" forum where we can advertise items for sale and wanted.

However, there are more and more posts which say "Have you seen this lens on flea-bay, it's a bargain" or "XYZ photographic have this accessory at a good price" &c

The posts mainly appear in the classified forum but are also placed elsewhere.

So, is there a need for a new forum "Good Deals I have found"?

I'd certainly second this idea, as you may have noticed finding/chasing bargains and clearance items is sort of my raison d'etre.

There have been occasions recently whereby people have come late to a thread describing an offer somewhere (the Samsung Sef36 flashguns at JohnLewis for example), and posted have i missed this ?, damn i wish i had seen it earlier etc. Having a seperate section so the posts are not scattered around and hidden within various areas would help alleviate this I believe.

I've been thinking about this, and unfortunately there could be a major snag.

It's fine when existing members find something good and want to share it, but I think we would get more of the new registrations that are really commercial enterprises who want to advertise for free. PU does not allow commercial advertising in Classified Adverts and this would cause a blurring of that.

Already there have been a few very dubious posts of this nature, but you may not have seen them as they don't survive very long!

John,

I understand the comment about commercial enterprises and a fine line but you tend to know who is who and have a good eye for the wrong posts. If they were all in one place it would make it easier for you and maybe an extra mod or two with access to just that and the classified forum would share the load.

I don't really see a problem with it.

Is it worth a trial period perhaps?

If John starts having a hard time with commercial adverts, and then at least we gave it a go, and we know it did'nt work out.

just a thought...

I think it's a great idea, especially with all the recent price rises, and lesser well known suppliers still having old stock prices around for a while, it would make it easier to hunt down those bargains.

As an example SRS still has some DA* 300mm stock @ £899 when everyone else seems to be around £1100 - £1200! Would be great to put these all in one place, because at the moment they are going in classifieds as it seems the logical place to put them.

You could have threads for specific items, as an example, the 10-17mm fisheye is £339 @ SRS, £499 @ Park, but Park do have some Samsung stock listed @ £259.

Maybe you could call it 'Bargain Corner'!

I also like the idea. Any chance of limiting new posts to people with at least (say) 50 previous posts? This would stop rogue advertisers.

I know this sounds perhaps too restrictive for some, but an idea could be that only members of the forum with at least 50 posts could contribute to the thread - could serve as a deterrent for potential commercial posters

lol! great minds think alike!

The minimum post level would make the idea worth looking at.

I worry that when I post such listing I'm not in the right section.

If a rogue post went up I'm sure you'd be told fast enough by us out here John.

what if someone with only 48 posts finds k-7's for £500 ha ha.
Seriously though, i appreciate members passing on bargains they have found. Grips at je%^&ps £45,and flash at John Lewis £89 etc.

Excellent idea.

I too think it would be an excellent idea and very useful

Roy

Great idea could be useful.

Another possibility maybe: On another forum where I mod, not all the boards are visible to guests.

If the chancers were unaware of this board, then they could not abuse it.