Cleanup group buys?

[JimB..]

I'm new here, and not generally OCD about tidiness, but the active buy forum is littered with threads that simply don't belong here. Some belong in discussions, some belong in closed, but however you cut it there aren't more than a couple dozen real active group buys at any time.

If a new thread is created in active, should the related thread in discussion be archived in a subforum much like a sold thread? Same for when active goes to closed? They'd be there for reference, and it'd make the current activity a lot easier to keep up with.

Call me captain obvious.
JimB..

[Fishman]

Since NOE kicked production into high gear and moved their communication over to their own forum, there's not a lot of activity here. Mihec, who makes awesome molds, is decidedly less awesome when it come to communication. The group buy approach to molds is no longer needed imho.

Group buys for other items, such as the Buchanan Hand Press are a decidedly different and welcome thing though.

[runfiverun]

and every time someone responds to a thread it jumps up the line.
you'd have to be here 24/7 just moving everything back where you put it.

[dragon813gt]

Report the threads to a moderator and let them determine if it should be moved.

[dromia]

All the group buys on the first page seem to be active.

At the end of the day it is up to the honcho/op to notify when the thread is redundant or needs moving.

The links to other GB sites like NOE are just that links and remain as the GBs are on another site and we don't know when they close, unless the OP notifies us that the link is now redundant.

As has already been said the GB function here has largely been superseded by bespoke makers like NOE and Accurate. So this section pretty dead in comparison to how it used to be.

We probably have too many GB forums now, the discussion, live and complete forums were useful in the days when there was a lot of activity here in separating the posts and helping make sense, but with the paucity of activity here probably one forum would do the job now.

Considering how little activity there is on this forum I don't see any difficulty at all in keeping up with what is going on here.

Mihec is about the only mould maker who has GBs on this forum now and his communication along with his scheduling is atrocious, many of his GBs here are now years old and there is no indication if he will ever make the moulds but people still keep adding to the list in vain hoe that some day he will deliver.

Buys like Buchanans press and Pat Marlins lubers start as GBs and then usually become stock items so are still live in that they are available after the initial run.

[JimB..]

All the group buys on the first page seem to be active.

At the end of the day it is up to the honcho/op to notify when the thread is redundant or needs moving.

The links to other GB sites like NOE are just that links and remain as the GBs are on another site and we don't know when they close, unless the OP notifies us that the link is now redundant.

As has already been said the GB function here has largely been superseded by bespoke makers like NOE and Accurate. So this section pretty dead in comparison to how it used to be.

We probably have too many GB forums now, the discussion, live and complete forums were useful in the days when there was a lot of activity here in separating the posts and helping make sense, but with the paucity of activity here probably one forum would do the job now.

Considering how little activity there is on this forum I don't see any difficulty at all in keeping up with what is going on here.

Mihec is about the only mould maker who has GBs on this forum now and his communication along with his scheduling is atrocious, many of his GBs here are now years old and there is no indication if he will ever make the moulds but people still keep adding to the list in vain hoe that some day he will deliver.

Buys like Buchanans press and Pat Marlins lubers start as GBs and then usually become stock items so are still live in that they are available after the initial run.

The first page is current now because Bulletrife bumped all 10 of the MP threads, and this may be all the cleanup that is useful. It does look like the structure was built for much more robust discussions than it currently hosts, thanks for the explanation.

[dromia]

The first page is current now because Bulletrife bumped all 10 of the MP threads.

And someone could come along and bump up all the NOE threads and they would still be active, bumping a clutch of threads at once isn't really a good idea as such practices could lead to the bump wars that you see on so many for sale forums.

As far as I know all the threads on the page are currently active. If you are unsure about the currency of a thread then it is best to PM the honcho or OP to see if the buy or link is still live.

[StuBach]

Given the discussion in this thread wouldn't it be easiest if someone just posted a message in all "Legacy" threads saying something like:

"This thread has been marked as inactive and will be removed as of unless the honcho and mold maker respond with status and commitment on timeframe to close. No new order posts should be submitted until then."

That way it alerts all of the unknown status of that post but gives it time to be kept open. If not we all know where that thread stands. This is very similar to BattleRifle's approach to the legacy Mihec molds. Another idea would be to move all threads started more than a year ago to inactive forum and let the Honcho/op make a case to moderator for bringing it back to active.

I am very fond of Miha's molds and don't really mind the process of group buys since I understand this isn't his full time job and patience can be a virtue. I would also assume he has to sell existing inventory in order to be able to buy additional tooling and components. I have recently talked via email with him about his inventory for a friends purchase but am curious if anyone has reached out to him asking about his legacy projects and what his opinion of them is?

As for NOE and Accurate molds. Maybe have a standing ad for them in the Stickies and leave the rest of their discussions to their own web sites as others have mentioned.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JimB..]

I suspect that having some discussions about NOE and Accurate molds here is helpful for both the companies and this community, so wouldn't suggest eliminating them.

I didn't mean to stir the pot on Miha's slow process, I've bought a few of his molds from inventory and am on a couple of the legacy lists. The wait doesn't matter to me, and if I do get into a hurry for a 300BO mold I know that there are options. Having read the above explanations I'd leave it to the honchos to manage their GBs.

Finally, apologies for starting this discussion here, there is probably a better place for it on the forum and I wouldn't be at all offended if a mod relocated it.

[dromia]

Given the discussion in this thread wouldn't it be easiest if someone just posted a message in all "Legacy" threads saying something like:

"This thread has been marked as inactive and will be removed as of unless the honcho and mold maker respond with status and commitment on timeframe to close. No new order posts should be submitted until then."

That way it alerts all of the unknown status of that post but gives it time to be kept open. If not we all know where that thread stands. This is very similar to BattleRifle's approach to the legacy Mihec molds. Another idea would be to move all threads started more than a year ago to inactive forum and let the Honcho/op make a case to moderator for bringing it back to active.

I am very fond of Miha's molds and don't really mind the process of group buys since I understand this isn't his full time job and patience can be a virtue. I would also assume he has to sell existing inventory in order to be able to buy additional tooling and components. I have recently talked via email with him about his inventory for a friends purchase but am curious if anyone has reached out to him asking about his legacy projects and what his opinion of them is?

As for NOE and Accurate molds. Maybe have a standing ad for them in the Stickies and leave the rest of their discussions to their own web sites as others have mentioned.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I suspect that the condition of asking the honcho/maker to say if the thread is moribund would negate the majority of Mihecs current "buys".

If a vendor has VS status then according to the current rules they are able to post their wares anywhere on the forums so restricting VS's is not an option.

People should just realise that the GB forum as an in house GB mechanism is all but dead.

The need for GBs has been met by the market place and most people get their moulds from the bespoke makers regimes, the GB forum here just serves as a sign post to them.

Mihecs GB's linger giving the impression that there is more GB activity here than there is. Going by Mihecs poor attitude towards the current GB's here I suspect that he is indifferent as to whether the GBs threads he has of great longevity are here or not as he seem to be indifferent at best about delivering on them and is positively silent on whether he will deliver or not on them.

A little bit of honesty on Mihecs part about his intentions regarding the outstanding group buys would go a long way to sorting out and rationalising the current GB threads.

[W.R.Buchanan]

My personal opinion on this subject is that a Group Buy should have some kind of a delivery time frame on it as a condition of posting it to the site. And that time frame shouldn't be ,,,"when we get 100 orders we will start production." Which could literally take years.

Realistically with a Machine Shop 8-12 weeks is a long time, and in my business if a guy tells me that long I'm looking around for another shop.

I can see taking a little longer to deliver to all of the buyers, but you really need to deliver some of your product in the time frame you stated in the original post.

Not acknowledging customers is a good way to lose them. Most people will wait if told that they will be serviced, however most people will not wait if they are being ignored. I'll walk out of a store in a heart beat if this happens and my wife has way less patience than I do..

This thread seems to be mostly about Mihec, and that's a shame because he does nice work. But if you can't get that work? What difference does it make?

There is obviously a language barrier at work here but maybe if someone talked to him and explained that he needs to either produce or withdraw, but at least communicate his intentions, and set delivery dates, maybe he would respond.

If he is not interested in doing this work any longer then if he simply stated that,,, I'm sure everyone would understand.

I'm sure Al and Tom would like the business.

My .02

Randy