• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

KS does it AGAIN

Ritchie,

Yes it's automated. One of Adam's pet peeves while he was working on getting Rich banned was that everyone isn't treated exactly the same over there. With the internet which is a 24 hour system the only cost effective manner to police a board so everyone is treated the same is through an automated script like that. As with any automated script it is only as good as the programmer and/or the environment that it runs in. Computers (at least those used by the masses) do not have the ability to make leaps in logic like the human mind (these leaps allow us to adjust for things such as "intent").
 
I have one big problem with the 3 post per day limit. They STILL do not have a preview option, and apparently have no intention of implementing one.
So if you're including some HTML in your ad, you better damn well hope it renders properly in their format, because you don't have room for error any longer.
Dozens of times I have posted an ad only to delete it within 10 seconds because I had a typo, or forgot an important piece of information or accidentally linked to jcp02.jpg instead of jcp03.jpg. The latter pretty much requires that I delete the ad, because it's a form of misrepresentation, albeit unintentional.
The other option is to append a note to the bottom of the ad which basically announces "hey I'm a dumbass that can't post an ad right".

When they first switched to that format, there was a little note just above or below the submit button that said the ability to preview your ads was coming soon.
It never came, and now that statement is gone entirely, so I assume they either can't make it work, or don't want to.
If one could preview an ad before posting it, there would be no argument against the policy really. But denying the ability to check it out before submitting it means if your accidentally linked to the wrong picture, you've blown an ad for the day.
I realize it's just a day, but I've always disliked not being able to preview an ad. In reality I post so few ads it makes little difference to me personally, but it's a matter of ease of use and allowing someone to correct an error without having to broadcast it to the world.
 
but If I remember correctly.

back way way back when I had an account.
I thought I was able to preview my ads?

or maybe I was just submitting it then erasing it if there was a typo. Can't remember really.

If I was able to preview......couldn't they just get those codes from the old system and put it on the new one?

But then again I am not good with computers.....so maybe I should not really be talking.
 
Ritchie Luna said:
but If I remember correctly.
back way way back when I had an account.
I thought I was able to preview my ads?
or maybe I was just submitting it then erasing it if there was a typo. Can't remember really.
Click to expand...

I honestly can't remember for sure either, but I do think you could preview the ad on the old system.
That ability no longer exists though, whether it did on the old system or not.
Evidentally somewhere in there the programmers can't figure out how to make the preview ability work with the new format, or they just don't want to go to the trouble.
 
James,

Didn't think you were a smart ass. They used to have someone going through their classifieds on a periodic basis but that had slowed down considerably.

Not so much as saved them a buck but up until now it wasn't a vital function.

On a side note, I don't know why they don't use some of the out-of-the-box solutions (like this site has with some minor modifications) that seem to work smoother. Their scripts seem to be archaic (sp?) in functionality and ease of use.
 
Thanks Clay

You understand my gripe/ complaint i dont post everyday but when i do post its usally for a good reason for me and any potential customers that may see the adds i post.Also this however much i wouldlike it to be is NOT my full time buisness. So therefore i feel that if as Neil stated im "only paying $150" a yr its well worth it to me its worth alot more to be able to use my 3 ads aday WHEN i need them.i to wish they could implement a preview option.It shouldnt be hard to do as i beleive the forums have that option ?
 
Neil Gubitz said:

On the Classifieds section, you can post....

3 Boa ads per day
3 Python ads per day
3 Colubrid ads per day
3 Lizard ads per day
3 Monitor ads per day
etc.
etc.
etc.


3 ads.... per category.... per day.... there are about 20 categories, which means you can post about 60 ads per day....

That's not bad for $150 per year....

Neil
Click to expand...


If I am not mistaken in reading the terms, registering for a classified account entitles you the ability to post 3 advertisements per day per catagory on ALL of their communities not just their kingsnake.com/kingsnake.ca/kingsnake.co.uk communities.


Some of the other communities overlap with the herps (such as the insects, exotics, aquarium and pond) mostly in regards to supplies/food, but I think people may get the drift - it is additional exposure available to someone if put it to good use.

For the cost of that one classified account that is a hell of a lot of advertising power available at your fingertips especially to businesses that are smart and try to work the varied spectrum of pets and not just restrict themselves soley to reptiles and amphibians.

Adrian
 
ok to get something straight

i dont think i said that there price was outrageous/ to much etc etc i said that within there TOS and not being able to post or have posted 3 ads in 24 hrs really ticks me off . Simple review option would solve that or to set up there system so that a mod could have the system set to identify to them any person/s that have posted over three adds in 24 hrs which IMO should be that hard to create due to theres not 100 + posting in any classifieds per day i would think that with a system setup like that it shouldnt take more then 20 mins per classified for a moderator to do a query and the the number of Actual posts running
 
Neil Gubitz said:
Yes, Adam.... I do....

On the Classifieds section, you can post....

3 Boa ads per day
3 Python ads per day
3 Colubrid ads per day
3 Lizard ads per day
3 Monitor ads per day
etc.
etc.
etc.


3 ads.... per category.... per day.... there are about 20 categories, which means you can post about 60 ads per day....

That's not bad for $150 per year....

I would give them $500 a year to have the privilege of posting on that site....
Click to expand...

I've heard this argument over and over, however it's also a completely useless point to ALOT of the classified users. I would go so far as to say virtually all classified users for that matter. I don't know of any one person or buisness that sells something in every classified available.
Take me for instance, the average hobbyist. I hatch some pythons and colubrids every year. I also sell feeder roaches regularly. Very rarely I might sell a boa, so rarely that it doesn't even count. I post in the trade section at times too. This means that I have use of 4 of the classified sections. What do I care how many ads I COULD post, when I have nothing, nor will have anything, to put in those ads.

I'm not a dealer, nor will I ever be one. I will never post the same number of ads you do so your opinion of what is a good advertising value will be very different from mine. Having the ability to post 60 ads per day means absolutely nothing to someone who only posts 10 ads per month, and adds nothing at all to the value of the service they are getting, yet we pay the same for that service as someone who posts dozens of ads daily.
I believe that the small time breeders still out number the dealers, and always will. You can't place the majority of people under the perspective of the minority of the users.
 
Alan,

Granted a review function would solve the complete issue.

20 mins per section X 36 areas on KS alone is approximatelly 6 hours of a shift. Have you done a review of labor costs (especially ones that are trained in HTML or programing)? Once you add the taxes and workman's comp it really starts eating into your cash flow. Oh, then employees will want things like benefits (health care, christmas day off, etc). All that comes out of the owner's pocket.

I completely sympathize with you concerning your costs but considering the exposure, plus the relative ease which you can post an add, KS.com is very competitive advertising. I know, I've spent a small fortune in advertising this year.

A small business person such as yourself (or I for that matter) must watch every dime but you can overstress yourself worrying about things you can't control.
 
Clay,

Everyday I review every bill that comes in, every check that goes out. The one question.... "Does this make me money?". Your situation is not different than every single small business out there whether it's one snake or a dozen leaving your door.

If you are advertising in a venue that doesn't work for you (money wise) then use a different one. If your situation is the majority then the place you advertise will adjust to win your business back.

I am a strong believer in the free market place. Demand will drive supply.
 
dwedeking said:
Clay,

Everyday I review every bill that comes in, every check that goes out. The one question.... "Does this make me money?". Your situation is not different than every single small business out there whether it's one snake or a dozen leaving your door.

If you are advertising in a venue that doesn't work for you (money wise) then use a different one. If your situation is the majority then the place you advertise will adjust to win your business back.

I am a strong believer in the free market place. Demand will drive supply.
Click to expand...

I understand that, and agree completely. If I didn't sell enough on that site to at least pay for the account I wouldn't bother. I didn't mean my comments in a complaining manner, although it did sound like that, I'm just saying you can't include that which you don't need when determining value.
Just because a dealer that moves alot of animals thinks it's cheap at 10 times the price, doesn't make it so for the majority of people out there.
I've just seen that reasoning so often and have always seen it to be irrelevant I decided to speak my thoughts.
It's like if you wanted to buy a toaster and all they made was a 25 slice model for $100. You were hoping for a 2 slice model for $20, and it means nothing that the per slice price is much lower, you will never want that much toast anyway.

One of our differences in perception is you look at everything from a buisness standpoint and I do not. There's nothing wrong with that view, you do run a buisness after all, but I don't. Making me money is not a final determining factor in most of the decisions I make concerning this hobby. At the same time I still don't just throw it away for nothing either.
As for using another venue to force adjustment, it's just not going to happen until there is a truly viable alternative in place. The latest change in the rate structure at k.com even allows for 50% of the customer base to leave without dropping revenue below the pre-change level anyway. This removes most of the ability of the users to effect change, it requires too many to join in the exodus.
 
I wasn't going to say anything here because I had nothing useful to add but did any of you get this email that I just got?

To all PetHobbyist classified account holders:

As everyone with a classified account knows
we have an extensive Terms of Service that all
account holders are required to comply with.
Rules are added, deleted, adjusted, or modified
as the site grows and as new users and new features
are added, and new problems and issues are brought
to our intention.

For over 5 years we have had a 3 posts per section
per day rule in our classifieds. Recently we have added
the ability to delete your advertisements. Our
intent was to allow account holders to delete
their ads once an item had been sold.

Unfortunately we have begun receiving complaints from
account holders that users have been taking
advantage of this feature to post ads and remove
them several times a day in order to "jockey"
their ads for position and make them appear at
the top of a section several times throughout the day.

This was not the intent when we added the delete
feature, nor is it fair to the other classified account
holders on our systems when a feature is used abusively
or inappropriately.

Rather than add to our already extensive Terms of Service,
and create or adjust a rule which had to be explained and enforced,
it was decided to implement a software filter which automatically prevents users from posting more than 3 times per day in any one section, enforcing the already exitsing rule automatically. In order to
prevent "ad jockeying" this filter counts all ads posted to a section, including advertisements that have been deleted. We will be
introducing an ad preview feature, as soon as it is ready, that will allow you to preview an ad before it is posted.

Please be aware that if you delete an advertisment on the
same day that you have posted it, the deleted ad will count
toward your 3 ad section limit for that day.

We are aware that there are many legitimate reasons
for needing to delete an advertisement, and it is not our
intention to hamper our users ability to post their ads, but unfortunately misuse of the delete feature by a number of users
has prompted us to implent this filter.

Thank you for your patience and your patronage.

The PetHobbyist Team


Looks like the squeaky wheel got the grease to me :)
 
just got it ( you beat me to the post Heather lol )

well while i can say its nice they sent this message out i think they should have sent it BEFORE implicating the new format.Well atleast there are going to make it easy to preview your add w/o being penalized for making a mistake and finding out to late .
so i guess with that i will say maybe just maybe a complaint filed was worth the chance taking in doing lol i can say i am happy with there intent
 
I have to agree with those that have said you did agree to the tos. And it says 3 ads a day, not 3 ads that you can delete and repost...That is the way it is. If you don't like it, you can do other things to allow more posting, like open a second account so you can post 6. lol

And to say you didn't get what you paid for is crap..You were given exactly what you paid for. If fauna was able to provide the coverage and exposure that KS did then I would imagine that the classifieds here would be going like crazy, but quite frequently it goes 2 or 3 days without seeing more then a dozen new posts.

Do you post 3 times or more a day on fauna? And when was the last time you posted on fauna?


Later
 
Randy T. said:
Do you post 3 times or more a day on fauna? And when was the last time you posted on fauna?
Click to expand...

Excellent point! The only way ther will ever be a truly viable alternative is to start supporting it.
If everyone insists on relying on a singe outlet for advertising, that's all there will ever be.
Response may not be much, and it may seem to be a waste of time at first, but if there starts to be 100 new ads per day posted, the traffic will follow.
 
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