Should adverts be allowed on APF?

[stewart boyle]

APF is a great place for sellers to advertise for pretty much free.
Many bulk sellers/auction houses, are regularly posting on APF at zero cost.
Not many hosts offer this opportunity nowadays.
T&H...Have you ever thought about accepting adverts?


Stew

[CSM]

That's a slippery slope - if you allow advertising how do you keep the forum uncensored?

Case study - MPF.  Advertising + Censoring owner = DEATH

[stewart boyle]

That's a slippery slope - if you allow advertising how do you keep the forum uncensored?

Case study - MPF.  Advertising + Censoring owner = DEATH

That`s one model...
But I don`t get the censorship problem here.
I would n`t mind a skip ad click when i log in.I do that when I`m on you tube.

Stew

[eatbrie]

No, we like it the way it is.  Personally, I already think that people advertize too much.  You're trying to sell something?  Fine, open a thread about it, but don't open 3 different threads to advertize the same shit.  Holiday and I might end up making it a rule if people keep doing it.  This is a forum for people to chat about posters, share their knowledge, learn from each other.  Obviously, we won't stop people from trying to sell their gear, but there is a limit. 

And what you're talking about, Stew, is a definite no.  Someone even asked if we'd be interested in selling the forum to make it more of a commercial entity, and we declined. 

It is what it is.

T

[Bruce]

You're trying to sell something?  Fine, open a thread about it, but don't open 3 different threads to advertize the same shit.  Holiday and I might end up making it a rule if people keep doing it. T

PLEASE MAKE THIS A RULE ASAP. (I currently open two threads on each sale because others do so too, but I would love to stop).

 If people then open two or more threads on the same items, then delete ALL of those threads.

Keep all for sales threads in one forum (for sale, or dealer's forum) and delete the other.

Then if you could add a "ignore this member" button, that would be wonderful (even if lots of you started ignoring me).

Or, leave it as it is!

Great forum, by the way.

[eatbrie]

I don't want to delete posts, Bruce.  We've shown over and over that this is not what we're about here at APF.  Trust me, I would love to do it more often than not, especially when a sale I've been following is advertized on the forum.  Deleting posts from the member (can't remember his name now) who was constantly posting Mexican lobbies was not easy, but he was upsetting everyone.  Obviously, you're not.  People seem to like you.  I don't know why, but so be it.  I think people have a tendency to overpost their sales because they see you doing it, not the other way around.  You're the elephant in the room, hard to avoid.  Your Emovie thread has had more hits than any other threads on the forum, so people are obviously interested.  But I don't think it's necessary to overdo it.  Why do you need two threads on each sale?  It's six a week.  Wouldn't three be enough?

T

[TheAnswerMVP2001]

A one thread limit for dealers would sure make that section of the forum easier to browse through it's starting to get crowded over there, even with Mexican Lobby Guy self-deporting.  Or if they could at least delete their threads after whatever they're advertising is over, that would at least keep only fresh items in there.

[Zorba]

And what you're talking about, Stew, is a definite no.  Someone even asked if we'd be interested in selling the forum to make it more of a commercial entity, and we declined. 

It is what it is.

Thanks! for declining and I like what it is. 

[Bruce]

I don't want to delete posts, Bruce.  We've shown over and over that this is not what we're about here at APF.  Trust me, I would love to do it more often than not, especially when a sale I've been following is advertized on the forum.  Deleting posts from the member (can't remember his name now) who was constantly posting Mexican lobbies was not easy, but he was upsetting everyone.  Obviously, you're not.  People seem to like you.  I don't know why, but so be it.  I think people have a tendency to overpost their sales because they see you doing it, not the other way around.  You're the elephant in the room, hard to avoid.  Your Emovie thread has had more hits than any other threads on the forum, so people are obviously interested.  But I don't think it's necessary to overdo it.  Why do you need two threads on each sale?  It's six a week.  Wouldn't three be enough?

T

OK. From now on I PROMISE that I will limit my "for sale" posts to my ONE "For Sale" thread, and will make NO other posts hawking items for sale anywhere else.

Let's see if ANYONE follows me! But whether or not they do, I will stick to that one thread.

Bruce

P.S. My three cats like me very much, even if no one else does!

[eatbrie]

P.S. My three cats like me very much, even if no one else does!

What about your 27 kids?

[Bruce]

What about your 27 kids?

It is only five!

[Zorba]

 

Nicely played T.

Bruce knows we all love emovie. I know I do and if anyone doubts it they can just Just look at the prices he gets for 21st century posters.

[50s]

I applaud Bruce for not mentioning emovieposter by name in his sig / ad. That is subtle advertising, a bit wordy of course, but subtle.

[110x75]

What about your 27 kids?

That would make emovie staff obsolete

[Silhouette]

Let's see if ANYONE follows me! But whether or not they do, I will stick to that one thread.

Soooo you have spruiked us to death these last few years and now you've built up your audience quite nicely you are going to go all quiet and challenge the rest to do the same...? ha! "I fart in your general direction!  Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries"

As I own the world's smallest vintage movie poster auction site (which is here and this link is NOT a spruik just a reinforcement of the point I am making) and because it is also the hardest working, smallest vintage movie poster auction site, with the smallest turnover, the smallest number of movie posters auctioned AND the smallest number of staff (in the world!) - as you can see here (again NOT a spruik) then I feel the adverts should be self governed (unless you are selling Mexican LCs and don't care what other people think) then most people will try to be reasonable with the number of adverts they post. Failing that, a quiet word in their shell like would surely bring them into line?

That said I do feel that there should be a size restriction on the size of the banners and advertising people are using as part of their sigs, in recent times they have been a little on big side. Personally banners no bigger than 150px (H) x 900px (W) would do the job just fine. So despite the fact that not all banner ads are bad specially if they are educational and informative like this next banner which due to the size of them it would be a FAIL (as I am sure you all agree) and would be asked to be removed...wouldn't you all want it removed?




Now I am just using the above to make a point, it is NOT an advert for that website (wherever it links to when you click it AND I was NOT I encouraging you to click on her it because again, it was simply helping to reinforce my point, which was....ummmmmmmmm, ok ok...all of you have stopped reading what I am saying right?

Guys...down here... 


That said the following IS an advert...dammit! It shouldn't be allowed...should it?




Despite the fact I have no idea what it was I believe she I have made my point, I hope you were all paying attention...there will be a test at the end of day before you go home.

[Bruce]

Soooo you have spruiked us to death these last few years and now you've built up your audience quite nicely you are going to go all quiet and challenge the rest to do the same...?

I am not "challenging" anyone. I was doubting T's characterization of others following my lead, in this, or anything.

BTW, do you think what "built up [my] audience quite nicely" is "spruiking [you] to death", OR is what built up my audience that I have the widest selection, no buyers premiums, combined shipping, and the best customer service of any auction?

I could quit posting altogether, and would it really make much of a difference? You notice I do almost no paid advertising of any kind (just with two old friends), while my competitors advertise like crazy. I spend that same money giving my bidders and consignors better deals on all levels so that they will want to come back, and I consider that a far better investment of those dollars.

I know you are joking around, but I wish everybody focused less on getting customers and more on retaining the ones they do have!

[Harry Caul]

Hey T, you should start an APF paypal account so we can donate to keep this forum ad free.  Don't tie it to any sort of implied "ownership" -- donating wouldn't give people any additional say than they have now, that would still rest solely with you and Holiday. 

Or better yet, we should have an annual charity auction where people can donate posters!  We should easily raise enough to cover annual operating costs and the rest can go towards an actual charity

[eatbrie]

Matt, if you want to start a charity, you're more than welcome to do so, but as far as this forum goes, Holiday and I do not want anything.

T

[Bruce]

It is also interesting to note that there are many dealers who SOLELY post their sales and nothing else, and others who vanish in-between their sales and then post up a flurry when they have a sale going on (with banner ads on every post).

No big deal, but kind of like commercials on TV.

[CSM]

Or better yet, we should have an annual charity auction where people can donate posters!  We should easily raise enough to cover annual operating costs and the rest can go towards an actual charity

Yeah this would be great for those that find amazing posters for pennies

[stewart boyle]

And what you're talking about, Stew, is a definite no.  
It is what it is.
T

And it great to be a part of it,
Both You and Holiday have stated many times before that one of your goals is to keep APF ad free,there does,however
seem to be an increasing amount of it (indirectly).
I think Bruce`s idea is a good one,One auction,One post.


Bruce,would your idea include restrictions on "closing soon" type of posts too?

Stew

[Bruce]

I think Bruce`s idea is a good one,One auction,One post.
Bruce,would your idea include restrictions on "closing soon" type of posts too?
Stew

Personally, I think the way I do it, once at the start, and once at the end, makes the most sense (recently I added a third one at the very end, but I would love to drop that one).

I would say one at the start and one at the end should be the limit, but I will gladly abide by any rules that are set.

[AdamCarterJones]

We all know this forum could get a lot more members if it was promoted properly and used banner advertising from those in the industry and those related to it.
I just don't get why certain people don't want to push this forum??? I've said it time and time again, and others have too.

Chris cited MPF as an example of how allowing advertising means you cannot keep a forum uncensored:
Advertising + Censoring owner = DEATH

This is misleading.
Advertising was not a part of the "death" of MPF.
It was the over censoring.

Just because you have advertising on a website does not mean you have to censor any part of the website.
What you would have to censor is the advertising itself, for instance, in the UK you cannot advertise tobacco products.

The problem with this forum is that there is too little censorship where and when it matters. And then there is favouritism from the owners to certain members concerning certain issues; whichever way you look at it, this is wrong and goes against forum etiquette.

Anyway, what's the point?
Anything said that would genuinely help this forum is rarely acted upon so why do we even post in this section lol. #JustTellingTheTruth

[skyjackers]

I have to say if it ain't broke don't fix it. This isn't a commercial enterprise as has been explained many times before. If you're interested in posters this site can't be that hard to find can it? Does it really need advertising to draw people in?

[paul waines]

I have to say, I do like it as is. It's great it's not huge, makes it more ...elite, just like the collectors on here..