Add-on New Classifieds Add-on - (Draft)

I'd be a potential buyer once it is developed and I can see it and determine if it meets the needs of my forum which currently uses threads but uses prefixes to indicate if it is a wanted / sell / trade and then found / sold / traded and require the members to use them.

I don't think auctions is a realistic feature as they are pretty complicated to code. If it were to get added it certainly shouldn't be a v1.0 feature and I personally would prefer to see it as an additional addon that requires the classifieds as a dependency.

Someone described providing escrow (acting as a money middleman to confirm receipt of item prior to releasing funds to the seller) and that gets into dangerous territory because it actually has legal fiduciary implications in the US that has federal banking requirements so while it is desirable there isn't any way I'd ever consider using a feature like that. This of course makes charging a percentage of the final selling price difficult so it might be nice to have an option to charge a percentage of the listing price upfront and/or a listing fee.

I'd like to see a feature that provides different fees for different time periods as well as different quantities of products available for sale. I have small vendors using my classifieds section who basically just update or bump their current listings because it keeps any questions people have in the original listing.

Seller and buyer feedback scores would be a requirement and an option to only display these in the classifieds section would be good so that someone doesn't get a bad feedback score and have that follow them around as they use the rest of the forum...

A permission to ban a member for the classifieds section would be desirable.

The ability for the seller or buyer to respond to a feedback comment would also be good similar to what ebay has.
 
@BentDreams, I got all this covered. In my spec, admin can decide whether the thread prefixes are the ad type (For Sale / Exchange / Wanted), Condition (Used / New) or Advertiser Type (Private / Dealer).
Bumping would be limited to once every admin-set number of hours e.g. once every 24 hours.
We could also charge for an auto bumping service.
We'd have to incorporate the trader rating functionality of (and an importer for) the Xencentral trader rating system. That includes showing the trading scores only in the postbit for forums associated with classifieds. But also in all private conversations (in case someone tries to deal by PM, we can see their trading feedback right there in the conversation postbit).
I was thinking that replicating the 'standard' comments system as used in XMG (but with permissions restricting the participants to the people leaving and receiving feedback) might be a quick way to accomplish the text element of feedback and rebuttals.
Permissions to use classifieds will, of course be needed and an accumulation of warnings could lead to the addition of the EFT (excluded from trading) usergroup which revokes permission to post adverts or reply to classified threads. This is what we currently do on AVForums.

The first draft of my spec is nearly ready.
 
@BentDreams How about Auctions that uses to current Forum Points that users earn by using forums instead of real money . They can certainly use those points to bid on items posted in classified . They will have to work hard to earn those points which will def engage users more in forums as well . It's pretty much give and take with certain rules .
 
We could also charge for an auto bumping service.
Interesting idea... would need to make sure that doesn't supercede a featured listing unless it as an alternative to them.

I was thinking that replicating the 'standard' comments system as used in XMG (but with permissions restricting the participants to the people leaving and receiving feedback
Not familiar with XMG but that actually brings up a nice method of keeping people honest on what they have sold for forums that want to charge a percentage of the sale because it would probably rely on the seller marking a user as the buyer in order for either of them to get the feedback that would be desirable to both in most instances.

Like the rest of what you mentioned also ;)
 
@BentDreams How about Auctions that uses to current Forum Points that users earn by using forums instead of real money . They can certainly use those points to bid on items posted in classified . They will have to work hard to earn those points which will def engage users more in forums as well . It's pretty much give and take with certain rules .
Honestly not certain that I would see a use case for a points based system unless you are selling points to users but that most likely would put US sites back into the escrow service business since they would be responsible for disbursing funds to the seller unless the seller wanted points. Keep in mind that beyond the simple exchange of funds is the accounting headache that would result from this also...

BTW @Stuart Wright this reminds me that it would good if there was a way to require users to acknowledge a disclaimer the first time they entered the classifieds section clearly stating that the owner/operator(s) of the forum take no responsibility for transactions that occur between a buyer/seller/trader. I'd really like that vs the sub-forum description that I'm using right now.
 
Having custom form fields for the classifieds means that you could create an 'I agree' tickbox like we have on AVForums.

Featured ads would always be at the top of the ad list.
 
@Stuart Wright I know I bought this up already, but I just wanted to ask specifically if it's in your spec that you could have different fields within a category for buy/sell/trade? Or would it be one set of fields per category only?
 
@Stuart Wright Basically we'd need three different sets of fields for buy/sell/trade for each category, rather than just one set of fields per category. Let's say the category is motorcycles. A sales form might include fields like:
Year
Mileage
Colour​

The forum owner may even want to make the fields required so that everyone fills them out, and require a photo as well.

But if you are posting a 'want to buy' ad, then you don't have that information. Form fields set up for sales won't work, even if you are able to choose a 'wanted' prefix.

It's the issue @erich37 explained here:
https://xenforo.com/community/threads/goodfornothing-classifieds-paid.102085/page-8#post-969077

(Although personally I don't think it matters whether the type or category is chosen first.)
 
I disagree with everyone here. I find it utterly despicable that Chris D is still out on the loose. I did not expect such an outrage. I mean, updates to XenProductManager for paid customers? Horrible... We should put him away!

Just kidding, if Chris bails, I need to make a product manager. I don't want to make a product manager :(

My serious reply can be found here: https://theadminzone.com/threads/should-xf-developers-release-paid-addons.138188/page-2#post-1032265

Let's give it a rest on new year's lol... He's a developer, and for most his time here he was a 3rd party developer, just like us. If any of you [disagreers] got invited to XenForo as development tomorrow, are you going to shut out all your paid customers with access to updates and stop what you do in (whatever remains) [of] your personal time?
 
@Stuart Wright Basically we'd need three different sets of fields for buy/sell/trade for each category, rather than just one set of fields per category. Let's say the category is motorcycles. A sales form might include fields like:
Year
Mileage
Colour​

The forum owner may even want to make the fields required so that everyone fills them out, and require a photo as well.

But if you are posting a 'want to buy' ad, then you don't have that information. Form fields set up for sales won't work, even if you are able to choose a 'wanted' prefix.

It's the issue @erich37 explained here:
https://xenforo.com/community/threads/goodfornothing-classifieds-paid.102085/page-8#post-969077

(Although personally I don't think it matters whether the type or category is chosen first.)
My specification already include this and it's how it already works on AVForums. Chris D already made a custom field addon for threads which has dependencies on the prefix. Go to AVForums, register, whitelist AVForums for Adblock and then go to create an advert. Swap between For Sale and Wanted. You will see that the custom elements of the form change.
It's beautiful and it's how customs fields need to work in the new addon.
Some are required, some are dependent on the value of the key filter fields (category, ad type, condition and advertiser type) or other custom fields. So what you're asking for will not only doable but easy.
 
Descending price? Why?

Example:
I'm searching an item. I set a maximum price I would like to pay.
People could make descending offers. The lower wins.

It's beautiful and it's how customs fields need to work in the new addon.
Some are required, some are dependent on the value of the key filter fields (category, ad type, condition and advertiser type) or other custom fields. So what you're asking for will not only doable but easy.

Wow!! I want it now!!!! Is it not on the RM, right? :-(
 
Wow!! I want it now!!!! Is it not on the RM, right? :-(
No. What I describe above is partially available on AVForums (not released on the RM) plus new functionality to make custom fields available dependent upon the value of other custom fields.
 
I'm interested in sponsoring/purchasing multiple licenses when this is completed. I need 4-licenses at this point.

Subscribed to this thread.
 
The Classifieds forums on my site are quite busy, and a good Classifieds system has been requested by the members many times.

One license for sure, likely two.
 
Me very like ya, i am making a buy and sell forum so this would be the thing i need, i am currently configurating xenaddons showcase to my need but a buy and sell addon is perfect so count me inn 1 license!
 
I'm watching the thread as well. I'll have to see if the developer will be willing to do some custom development on top. I'm working on an escort advertising site for a client in the UK. The visual requirements will be much higher than some selling BBQ and video games.
 
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