Editing an existing posts

[mpollack 4]

Hi All,

 

Is it possible to edit an existing post? Say I start a new topic with 5 items for sale. If 3 items sell, can I update the original post to indicate the fact that only two are left? And when all of the items have sold, can I update the post's tile from "FS:..." to "SOLD:..."?

 

If there is a way to do this, I overlooked it. If not, I think allowing such a thing would make the Classified forums much more useful/efficient.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Michael

PS See what I mean? I have a typo in the title and now I can't find a way to fix it. :-(

Edited August 15, 2015 by mpollack

[Steve Williams 0]

Hi Michael,

Just add a reply that notes items sold and if you'd like, what's still available. This way folks don't delete the trail or whole posts when items are sold and our members and readers can see what's happened. Our experience has told us that is more efficient if the objective is to provide information.

 

Thanks,

Steve

[mpollack 4]

Steve,

 

I understand where you are coming from, but having to click into a "For Sale" thread, scroll through and read all the related posts, only to find that this items are no longer for sale can be time consuming -- especially if one is browsing many For Sale listings.

 

At a minimum, I would love to see a way to update the post title to indicate that referenced items are no longer for sale. Fred Miranda (fredmiranda.com) handles this functionality very elegantly in their Buy & Sell forum.

 

Thanks for listening,

 

Michael

[adamhanlon 0]

Hi Michael,

 

I will investigate this functionality, but am wary of extensive post editing. Too often this results in the thread losing coherence, as replies are deleted or edited. This can be true of topic headers too. A simple "SOLD" at the end of a thread seems to be sufficient, and given that most for sale posts do not run to more than a page, not too irksome?

 

All the best

 

Adam

[mpollack 4]

Hi Adam,

 

I can see your point about thread coherence. But I *do* think it is irksome to have to click into a whole bunch of threads, and perhaps scroll through a bunch of posts only to find out the item of interest (or perhaps all the items) have been sold. Furthermore, I would be willing to wager that many prospective buyers tend to ignore older posts, assuming that FS means that items *were* for sale at some point in the past, but probably aren't any longer.

 

Come to think of it, I guess I don't quite see the value of keeping old Classified posts visible at all once the items have been sold. If they are preserved, one can get an idea of the historical price trends of U/W photo gear, but it comes that the expense of a more streamlined marketplace for equipment currently being offered.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

Michael

[adamhanlon 0]

Hi Michael,

 

I guess the value lies if there are issues with a classifieds sale as it preserves the details of the advertised goods etc.

 

People are welcome to bump their threads up the forum by adding posts detailing price reductions etc.

 

Wetpixel's search functions are really good, and if you are looking for a specific item I would suggest that this is the most efficient workflow! Scrolling through any thread will result in a vast amount of info that is not relevant to your particular interest. The searchable forum is what makes accessing info here on Wetpixel so easy!

 

I will look into Fred Miranda's forums too.

 

All the best

 

Adam

[mpollack 4]

Just to clarify: perhaps I should not have written "thread" (above) as the term is somewhat ambiguous. When I wrote "thread" what I meant was "topic". That is: one must scroll through a given topic to suss out the status of items included in the topic's original post.

 

I definitely agree that Wetpixel's search function is valuable, if not essential. Yet, it is not without its limitations. The following search returns over 200 results most of which are not germane:

 

"Canon 5D", "housing"

match ALL words, in Titles only

in Classifieds forum only

[reedpi 0]

I want to change the price Im selling my gear for. I do not see an edit tab. From reading this thread, is it possible to change the price? If not why? It is crazy to have to add a line to a post several that a person may not see if they do not scroll down to see it. Please help! Thanks - John

[TimG 62]

I want to change the price Im selling my gear for. I do not see an edit tab. From reading this thread, is it possible to change the price? If not why? It is crazy to have to add a line to a post several that a person may not see if they do not scroll down to see it. Please help! Thanks - John

 

 

 

Hi John

 

The Edit function would appear - if available - towards the bottom right hand side of the original post. But depending on the age of the original post, it might not be available.

 

Folks often (usually!) have to change the price they are seeking for equipment sales. I doubt a revised price further down is going to cause anyone much of a problem. You'll find that on very many of the Classified Sales posts.

[reedpi 0]

Tim, if someone sees the original post, doesn't like the price, what makes you think they will take the time to scroll down? This is crazy that you can not edit a post. I haven't used very many sites to sell scuba equipment but all allow you to edit a post. I sell a lot of still and video equipment and have never had an issue of doing a very simple edit. It appears I am not the only person who disagrees with not being able to edit.

 

Also if an item sells why do you think someone is interested in looking/taking the time to see if it has sold or is still for sale. I do not understand or agree with what has been posted above on the issue.

 

Why is there a 24 hour limit on editing? Who came up with that?

 

I doubt a revised price further down is going to cause anyone much of a problem - this is your response --- how do you know how many people have not looked further down the add? The only way people know they have to scroll down the list to see a revised price is if they have tried to sell some thing and have tried to edit the add. Im new to this site and I wasted a lot of time figuring out that you can not edit.

 

My point is why do you and Steve and Adam care what the history of an item is? This is stated above in the posts? Who cares if I sold a housing 6 months or a year ago?

 

This is so amazing to me that Im actually taking the time to make an issue of it.

I feel that if I have to change the price in a post that has to be scrolled down to see - I will miss some one who may by the item.

 

Can you tell me if you know of any other sites that operate like this?

 

John

[TimG 62]

Hi John

 

Apologies if you've spent a lot of time trying to find out how you might be able to edit your post. There are one or two elements that are not totally straightforward or obvious - but, from my experience, that is true of almost any bit of software or technology. When people get stuck on a feature of the site one of us will do our best to explain - hence my response to you. I do appreciate that not everyone is going to welcome every answer.

 

I can't tell you how other sites operate. I just use Wetpixel - and this is the policy that has been adopted. Similarly on not removing Classfied posts. In practice it is not often that Classified posts become very long so scrolling down to check availability or revised pricing isn't usually much of an issue; and I get the sense that people quite like being able to look back at how much things sold for or how long a sale took (a bit like house listings!)

 

My own experience, having sold 2-3 housings, cameras and lots of bits and pieces over the years, is that the system works pretty well and the vast majority of buyers and sellers are helpful and friendly and very good people to deal with. For me that speaks volumes about the value of Wetpixel.

 

 

 

 

[mpollack 4]

To me it comes down to a question of usability and efficiency. Allowing sellers to edit their active posts and to delete inactive posts (or at least mark them as SOLD) would greatly improve the buyers' ability to find items they might want to purchase. To me, having streamlined topics/posts far outweighs any value in maintaining an unedited history of all buy/sell posts. (Especially with U/W photo gear which tends to depreciate rather rapidly.)

 

However, I don't control WetPixel and those that do get to make the rules. The administrators of the site have been quite adamant and unequivocal that they are against editing of existing posts in the WetPixel forums.