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XenForo Classifieds Plugin by Panjo 1.0.1

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XenForo Classifieds Plugin by Panjo - Add security, search, sort, filter, payments, shipping, reporting and revenue to your classifieds.

After five years of working with over 100 communities running on the vBulletin forum software platform, Panjo introduces the latest version of our marketplace plugin for XenForo communities.
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A community of community marketplaces
When you install the Panjo marketplace plugin for XenForo, you gain a customized community marketplace with categories and...
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Read more about this resource...
 
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I recall looking into this when we were on VB. One of the reasons we didn't use it is that our classifieds section is for members only, and the Panjo listings would not follow the forum's permission set. It meant that an ad could be viewed by anyone, whether or not they were logged in, as long as they had a link to the URL. Is that still the case with the XenForo version?
 
empire said:
I recall looking into this when we were on VB. One of the reasons we didn't use it is that our classifieds section is for members only, and the Panjo listings would not follow the forum's permission set. It meant that an ad could be viewed by anyone, whether or not they were logged in, as long as they had a link to the URL. Is that still the case with the XenForo version?
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Great question. It is still the case with the XenForo version of Panjo that a seller's listing could be viewed by anyone (on Panjo.com), whether or not they were logged into your forum. It is possible to hide the listing on your forum, however the purpose is a bit defeated given that the listing would display in your community marketplace on Panjo.com. If you have private classifieds, then Panjo is not a good option for you. Strategically, Panjo wants to help a seller get a sale as fast as possible. We fully understand that in an enthusiast community, a seller might have a lot of reasons to reject a buyer. When a seller gets a sale, the seller gets an option to accept or reject the sale.
 
panjo said:
Strategically, Panjo wants to help a seller get a sale as fast as possible.
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So, the concept is to aggregate forum content, make it accessible/searchable outside the community, and cream off the top for transaction processing?
 
Mouth said:
So, the concept is to aggregate forum content, make it accessible/searchable outside the community, and cream off the top for transaction processing?
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The concept is to improve discovery and security for buyers and liquidity (sell-through rate) for sellers. In the same way some forums have a Facebook page and a Twitter account, they might also have a community marketplace powered by Panjo. Ultimately, the concept is to reduce transaction costs for buyers and sellers. Getting slightly academic about it (since you asked) buyers and sellers in forum-based buy/sell/trade subforums incur a number of costs today:

1. Search and information costs - in other words: knowing that potential matches exist
2. Bargaining and negotiation costs - in other words: how do buyers and sellers agree on what is being sold, and for how much?
3. Policing and enforcement costs - in other words: the difficulty of ensuring good outcomes

The onus is on Panjo to reduce the costs enumerated above. Here are examples of how we do that today:

1. Search and information costs
  • Panjo adds powerful keyword search, category filter, and sorting to listings.
  • Panjo adds keyword alerts.
  • Panjo adds new listing email digests.
  • Panjo improves the SEO of listings.
  • Panjo adds seller ratings, proxies of reputation, and layers of identity verification.
  • Panjo adds XML, JSON, and RSS data feeds that allow for automated social media and other forms of distribution.
2. Bargaining and negotiation costs
  • Panjo studies the workflows of offers and price negotiations to reduce back-and-forth, accelerate the path to a sale, and maintain deal momentum.
3. Policing and enforcement costs
  • Panjo has detailed buyer and seller histories at its disposal to aid in dispute resolution.
  • Panjo runs a machine learning fraud prevention and detection service to stop fraud before it happens.
  • Panjo provides phone, text, and email-based customer support to quickly assist buyers and sellers alike.
In terms of the way you described the concept, yes, Panjo does have the effect of aggregating "for-sale" listings. Yes, Panjo can have the effect of making the content more accessible to a lurker or non member. (A buyer does not have to be logged in to pay a deposit for an item. But a seller can still reject that sale if so desired.) Yes, for communities that choose to do so, the classifieds content can be more accessible outside the forum by leveraging Panjo's data feeds. As you know, these transactions can have thin margins, so if Panjo isn't reducing costs for buyers and sellers alike, there isn't any cream to be had. Thank you for your question.
 
I guess my concern is, after a 5 min look at your service, that it's an almost entirely one way feed.
All the content and traffic is being driven to your site, with peanuts for the site owner.
On an item listing page (eg. https://www.panjo.com/buy/used-glestain-indented-blade-gyutou-315295 ) there's a single, almost hidden, (optional?) link back to the forum. Discussion on the item is on Panjo, not on or back to the forum. All profile information displayed etc. is panjo data, and doesn't appear to link back to the forum.
On the marketplace page (all forum site's listings) it's likewise. A small forum site logo and single link back to the forum, with limited linking/data back to the forum.

Would be good to see a 5 or so min video demo of how it all works with XF.
 
Mouth said:
All the content and traffic is being driven to your site, with peanuts for the site owner....
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I just noticed that you are in Australia. At this time (August 2016), Panjo doesn't support the AUS dollar. We just support USD. We have support for more currencies coming in a few months.

On the topic of traffic... Panjo's email digests of new listings, improved SEO of 'for sale' thread posts, transactional emails, and SMS integrations among other drip communication serve to increase forum engagement. Panjo tends not to cannibalize. Overall, Panjo drives more page views.

On the topic of forum owner benefits... The two primary benefits are fee-based revenue and a significant reduction in the time you need to spend on support/dispute resolution.
 
Working on answering your last question @Mouth . In the meantime, I could quickly get data from the Panjo side that shows listing and transaction growth for a partner over the last year and a half as Panjo has made 100s of improvements to its systems and architecture. The listing scale is in the thousands. The transactions scale is in the hundreds. I removed the scale to preserve the confidentiality of this partner's data.

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@JamesBrown This doesn't just place a link on your forum to Panjo this...
a) Links your 'post new thread' button to a listing creation form powered by Panjo.
b) Gives sellers a dashboard to manage their listings and transactions.
c) Gives buyers a dashboard to manage their offers and purchases.
d) Runs transaction activity (listings, sales) through a machine learning fraud prevention and detection service.
e) Turns static 'for sale' thread posts in legacy subforums into transactional, secure thread posts in legacy subforums.
f) Gives your members a searchable, sortable, filterable gallery to browse listings.
g) Adds a layer of buy/sell/trade engagement emails to boost engagement.
h) and much more. Feel free to give us a call to see if it is a fit for you: 1-424-272-0291, 9AM-6PM pacific time (California, USA)

@Macsch15 call the number above or email us at support@panjo.com and we'll get you hooked into a demo environment.
 
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I notice on the About page, at the Panjo website it states:
Rare or hard to find
Because Panjo items are unusual and rare, you won't waste any time sifting through common items.
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However, I didn't see anything on the Overview page of this add-on that declares such. So can forum members sell anything, or just 'Rare or hard to find' items?

Forgive my ignorance, but for instance in looking at this item I don't see a small forum site logo or link back to a forum like Mouth mentioned above. Does that mean that the item was posted for sale directly on Panjo, and thus the absence of such?

Is there a way to Search the ads on Panjo, that are only created from various forum threads?
 
adwade said:
So can forum members sell anything, or just 'Rare or hard to find' items? Forgive my ignorance, but for instance in looking at this item I don't see a small forum site logo or link back to a forum like Mouth mentioned above. Does that mean that the item was posted for sale directly on Panjo, and thus the absence of such? Is there a way to Search the ads on Panjo, that are only created from various forum threads?
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Awesome questions. Here are the answers.

1) In theory, forum members can sell anything. What is the focus of your forum? It is not uncommon for a forum to have an 'other' category in their buy/sell/trade subforums. Nevertheless, one thing that differentiates Panjo from other classifieds or marketplaces is that there is a high concentration of quality items. And, often the same moderators who historically moderated the subforums use Panjo's moderation tools to help maintain the quality of the items in the marketplace.
2) In the example link you give the seller seems to be a member of a partner forum and he listed an item that has nothing to do with the forum in a different community marketplace on Panjo. Anyone can come to Panjo.com and request their own community marketplace. You don't HAVE to own a forum to have a community marketplace on Panjo. Beyond forums, publishers, local clubs, and YouTube content creators are examples of individuals or groups that have community marketplaces on Panjo.
3) There is a way to restrict your view of Panjo and limit your search results to a single forum. Each forum's community marketplace has its own URL. For example:
This forum: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/
Has this community marketplace: https://www.panjo.com/p/bimmerforums
And when you click in the search bar, you get the option to limit your search to just THAT community marketplace:

Screen Shot 2016-09-13 at 10.50.31 AM.webp
 
Thanxx for the answers, I'm now better understanding how it works.

Here's a situation and it may have already happened...

Let's say the Seller of a car posts a new For Sale thread on Car-Forum-A, which is part of the Panjo network. His username=BobB on Car-Forum-A.

Then, the same Seller also posts another For Sale thread on Car-Forum-B (i.e. a completely different forum/website) a week later for the same car, because he's seen several cars like his sell on that particular forum lately. His username=BBixby on Car-Forum-B. The hitch is, Car-Forum-B is also a member of the Panjo network as well. :confused:

Now, sometime during week number 3 he agrees to the sale of his car and finalizes such through the Panjo website.

Q)Does Panjo detect that the second car For Sale ad is actually a duplicate?

Q)What Forum(s) get paid for that sale?
 
adwade said:
Let's say the Seller of a car posts a new For Sale thread on Car-Forum-A, which is part of the Panjo network. His username=BobB on Car-Forum-A. Then, the same Seller also posts another For Sale thread on Car-Forum-B (i.e. a completely different forum/website) a week later for the same car, because he's seen several cars like his sell on that particular forum lately. His username=BBixby on Car-Forum-B. The hitch is, Car-Forum-B is also a member of the Panjo network as well. :confused: Now, sometime during week number 3 he agrees to the sale of his car and finalizes such through the Panjo website.
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Q)Does Panjo detect that the second car For Sale ad is actually a duplicate?
Panjo's community management team and volunteer moderators invest some energy into moderating duplicate listings within a single community marketplace. (Duplicate listings tend to occur when someone is trying to list a part that fits into multiple categories and those categories map to different subforums in the forum and it is the culture of the forum to list the same item in multiple subforums because it fits that subforum. But I digress.) It is a RARE edge case that the scenario your described occurs. Though, it can happen. (Panjo has five decently sized BMW community partners.)
Q)What Forum(s) get paid for that sale?
The forum to which the purchased listing belongs gets paid.
Of all the edge cases, the above scenario really hasn't been an issue. On the macro scale, due to our growing partnerships with BMW communities, we have been able to observe that "a rising tide lifts all boats." As a marketplace, Panjo's buyers and sellers benefit from positive network effects. Which, as wikipedia would have you know, a network effect (also called network externality or demand-side economies of scale) is the effect that one user of a good or service has on the value of that product to other people. As Panjo gets bigger, it gets more valuable to all members and partners.
 
So how exactly is this different from me setting up my own WooCommerce or any eCommerce page and having my members list their items there (then placing a link of their item in a thread)?
The way i understand it (please correct me if im wrong), Panjo is just a third party listing site (SELLER>PANJO> BUYER or BUYER>PANJO>SELLER) that allows people to list items, once these items are sold Panjo collects a fee and thats that. How exactly is this different from my members listing their items on ebay, or anywhere else; even me setting up a eCommerce page and allowing them to do this?

This would also save my members money buy them not having to pay the Panjo fee.
I understand Panjo is a business and needs to generate some revenue.

"Once your item sells, Panjo collects 6.9% of the sale price (up to $99 in fees) to help support the community. Standard payment processing fees may apply."
 
Goodfella said:
So how exactly is this different from me setting up my own WooCommerce or any eCommerce page and having my members list their items there (then placing a link of their item in a thread)?
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This is like asking, "so how exactly is an airplane different from a submarine." I'm kidding. I appreciate your question. I understand how an ecommerce tool LOOKS like a marketplace, but rest assured, they are very different. Here are some example of how ecommerce and marketplaces are different:
  • Accounts - ecommerce tools tend to be set up with a world view that there is ONE vendor who sells lots of different items to many individual buyers. Panjo, a marketplace, is aware that there are lots of account holders who may be buyers, sellers, or both. Further, Panjo links XenForo accounts to Panjo accounts to power a variety of synchronized activities between the two.
  • Payments - ecommerce tools tend to be set up to support a single payment flow into the vendor's account. Panjo, a marketplace, is aware that payments to sellers need to be sent to those individual seller's accounts.
  • Fraud detection and prevention - ecommerce tools rarely include any kind of fraud detection and prevention. It is assumed that you, the vendor, are selling valid goods. As a vendor, the risk you take on is the risk a buyer pays with a stolen credit card and then you face a charge back situation when the valid card holder disputes the charge. Panjo, a marketplace, is scanning sellers and buyers for signs of fraudulent activity.
  • Forum integration - an ecommerce tool would yield a somewhat isolated 'store.' Panjo, a marketplace, is designed to integrate with your legacy (or new) buy/sell/trade subforums, and synchronize thread post versions of listings to marketplace activity (sold? edited? price change?).
Hopefully the list above helps you begin to understand some of the differences. Feel free to give us a call at Panjo if you want to talk about it in the context of your community and the items your members would sell to one another. 1-424-272-0291 ~9-6 pacific
 
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