Strongly considering removing the eBay section on home page

[Luna Pick]

Scott- I think you kind of answered your own question in your second paragraph. My take is it's an unnecessary distraction and doesn't further the Cafe's cause. Folks who want to go to eBay can do so. I appreciate your adding it to the home page, but wouldn't miss it if you removed it.

[Cary Fagan]

I do check ebay but I don't need the cafe to do it for me and vote for removing it.

[Charles E.]

I enjoy the Mandolin Cafe classifieds a whole lot more then eBay. I will not miss it.

[Eddie Sheehy]

I didn't even know it was there. I use a fav link to Ebay to check on my Watch List. I'm still finding little gems there - a recent L&H B for a steal, Vega CB's, teens Gibson's etc.

[MikeEdgerton]

... On many forums around the internet, it's considered bad form to post threads about active auctions, because it sabotages bidders.....

It might be elsewhere but I don't agree with that at all. That assumes everyone or at least someone from the forum is aware of it. With that said, if it's something I'm watching to bid on I don't post it (for obvious reasons) but if I think it might be interesting to others, I do. If someone posts something I'm watching that's the luck of the draw. I particularly love posting good Buy It Now's and seeing a Cafe member grab it.

I don't want anyone to feel like they are somehow bound to some sort of rule that they can't post what they see on eBay or Craigslist or whatever here. There's a real educational component to eBay, even in this day and age of inflated prices.

[Eddie Sheehy]

I've picked up a few gems on Ebay that I saw being discussed on the forum, actually being dissed on the forum... one man's junk is another's treasure...

[jaycat]

I too can somehow muddle along without it.

[mrmando]

Yeah, doesn't need to be on the home page, if it makes you tear your hair out looking for 5 listings that are interesting enough to feature.

You can still put the occasional listing into content stream in the main window of the home page, as you've done from time to time.

I'll continue to post selections from the weird and wonderful world of eBay mandolins in the forum, though I shouldn't like to feel pressured to have four or five active listings posted all the time.

[Russ Donahue]

What's an EBay? (Wink wink, nudge nudge).
Go ahead and put something else there.
Russ

[Dave Kirkpatrick]

I wouldn't miss it.

[JeffD]

Well I am a contrarian. I kind of like it. I don't click at it much at all, but I do scan it on the home page and like that its there. I kind of feel like if there is nothing there I'm interested in, I just saved an hour finding out the same thing searching through ebay.

Not super important, and if you have something more useful to replace it with then go for it, but I do kind like knowing ebay is "being watched".

[Denman John]

I've never bought an instrument on eBay, so it is of little interest to me. Good luck on what ever you decide.

[colorado_al]

Ditch it. Ebay section of the forum is good enough. Let interested forum members list what they find interesting.
I frequently post there to share a deal that I'd like to pickup, but can't. Hopefully some member will get it.
While ebay is not the great deal that it used to be, deals can be found. I bought my Eastman MD-805D for $800 from ebay. Seemed like a pretty good deal to me.

[Jess L.]

I didn't even know it was there. ...

Me neither. It's not a feature I need, even now that I know about it.

[mandobassman]

As a few others have already mentioned, I didn't even know that section was there. I have my own bookmark for eBay and only go there every couple of weeks. Obviously, I won't miss that section.

[John Kelly]

Had not been aware of it, Scott, and being over in Scotland I'd not really be thinking of using it. I have my own eBay shortcuts outside the Cafe site, for fiddle and acoustic instruments and I limit my searches to the UK, generally. If it is giving you a lot of labour for not much return/satisfaction, then I'd say ditch it!

[Tobin]

It might be elsewhere but I don't agree with that at all. That assumes everyone or at least someone from the forum is aware of it. With that said, if it's something I'm watching to bid on I don't post it (for obvious reasons) but if I think it might be interesting to others, I do. If someone posts something I'm watching that's the luck of the draw. I particularly love posting good Buy It Now's and seeing a Cafe member grab it.

I don't want anyone to feel like they are somehow bound to some sort of rule that they can't post what they see on eBay or Craigslist or whatever here. There's a real educational component to eBay, even in this day and age of inflated prices.

Yeah, I understand. It is interesting to see some of the eBay listings that people post about, and I agree it's educational. I can see how posting about a Buy It Now auction would be rather harmless too, as a service to fellow mandolin enthusiasts. At least a BIN listing isn't a competitive auction.

And of course I agree that there should be no rule on such things. But still, I would hope that members would at least think about how it can be very frustrating for people who are actively bidding on an auction to have it posted here on the Cafe just for someone's entertainment. We may all be friends and enjoy discussing mandolin stuff, but some folks who can't afford to buy new instruments do rely on eBay to find something affordable. Posting about live auctions has an effect on the price and can cause some bidders to lose out on what they otherwise might have won if the auction hadn't gotten all the attention.

While I wouldn't presume to tell anyone what to do, I would at least hope that folks would think about this before posting eBay auctions: am I about to ruin someone's dream? Would I want it done to me if I were the one bidding on this?

Just food for thought...

[pops1]

I do enjoy the humor of the ebay listing that won't sell, and also because of the knowledge here and conversation of a certain instrument that a false seller has taken the listing down thus saving some less informed person from purchasing something fake or damaged.

Just looked on the home page, never noticed it there either.

[MikeEdgerton]

...But still, I would hope that members would at least think about how it can be very frustrating for people who are actively bidding on an auction to have it posted here on the Cafe just for someone's entertainment...

And again, I never want anyone to feel that they can't or shouldn't post a link to an auction they find interesting, entertaining, or have a question about. I'm really not all that worried about frustrating anyone or hurting their feelings in this situation. You bid what you can afford when you can and if you lose that's life.

[JEStanek]

My vote is for removal.

Jamie

[Ray(T)]

Seen it but never used it, you can ditch it as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure you can think of something more worthwhile to do with the space.

[FLATROCK HILL]

I like the eBay, Craig's List, etc section (where we are right now) on the main Forum page.
Never noticed the eBay button on the Cafe Home page and could not care less if it disappeared.

[Jeff Hildreth]

E-Bay is a cesspool that needs to be filled, it needs no sign nor advertising.

I am strongly for removal of the button.

[Steve-o]

Scapel please.

[terzinator]

WARNING! CONTRARIAN VIEWPOINT #2! AVERT YOUR EYES!

if it's a widget (a block of code that you install on the page) that simply filters for mandolin listings (or certain parameters), and doesn't require extra time or maintenance on your part, I don't think you should get rid of it. It doesn't take up much real estate, and if I see a listing for a snakehead or something, I'm always curious. I don't have to buy it or bid on it or anything.

But if it requires you to actually spend time on eBay to manually put certain items in a list, then off with its head.

OK, EBAY HATERS CAN RETURN TO THIS PAGE.