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[Poll] Should Provider Offers Sink?
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Comments
Lol says the inbox spammer
Of course you can.. if you have the right frame of mind entering the primarily-marketplace environment that LET is. You know you don't have to click into a thread?
Besides, this is let and enjoyment is your responsibility also
I mean what would end up being "fair" (if that's the goal) would be equal exposure for all offers, if that's possible. This might not end up being interesting to the users though as I assume they would have to end up seeing more of the less exciting offer threads. One way this could potentially be set up is shuffling first page positions (in the offer category) every set amount of time to include absolutely random threads from the last 10 days. If a provider wants to end their sale sooner than that period, they'd get the thread locked and it would stop being included on the first page.
The threads would still auto-sink but on the offers category they would be shuffled as per above, and that means on "Home" they'd just sink.
To solve the problem of uninteresting offers being featured/shown just the same amount (since it's 100% fair exposure) the "thank" system could be used to boost the chance it will be shown at a prominent position. This way users can essentially "upvote" the good offers, but at this point maybe it would get too complicated.
Anyway, some issues with the options presented so far:
So a more simple solution that doesn't involve showcasing threads differently could be that threads do not sink, but "thanks" could count as a bump. This way people can vote for the offers they like without having to make a reply. Secondly, if the provider replies, the thread does not bump. And finally, if customers reply it will bump but have an option where users get to decide if their post will count as a bump (some messageboard have this feature) and they could use this feature should they be mass replying as a result of the provider requesting replies for whatever reason other than a real discussion.
Or, if strapped on development time, just that last option should end up working out the best: let users decide if their reply bumps the thread or not with a simple checkbox for not bumping (and the checkbox is forced for the original poster in the offer category.) After all, this is a message board and offers are in that format so it would make the most sense to give users the power to avoid bumping.
One or two-day limited offers should sink after 3 days.
But offers that are live for a week (like BF offers) should not sink for a week.
The reason is not every LET user checks this site other day and so we may miss some on-going deals if they get buried on page 2 or 3!
How will the- "Hey I just got this email offer" threads be managed? You know the friendly affiliate spammer who just has to tell the LET world about an offer from one of the favored providers? And oh by the way, click the affiliate link please please please. How are those going to be set to sink- as they do happen frequently
@VirMach have a offer thread who is still active after two years.
TL;DR of this thread.
I don't think Vanilla supports that. I could be wrong as I haven't specifically looked but we're limited by Vanilla's functionality.
Yes - they did/do. If anyone wants to do a giveaway, PM me and I'll be happy to do it. There is another vendor I'm chatting with on this right now.
I'd say 3 days or a week. Or alternatively close threads after a period of time though I guess practically that's the same thing.
Keep in mind that readers can browse by categories. It's not as sophisticated as I'd like (I wish there was a Vanilla plugin or preference to set one's home page to filter/include categories) but if someone is shopping, it's not like offers scroll off into oblivion - they can always go to offers and see them.
Hence why whatever we do it has to be even and fairly applied across the board.
1 week is suitable for a post in offers section that can come to top after new comments. After 1 week the post should not come to top even after placing new comments and should have to give place to new offers.
I think 1-week sounds good.
@jbiloh Once this is done it would be interesting to see the metrics on if providers & members were leaning different directions with this.
Just so everyone is aware it used to be immediate sink until a couple of years ago where I broke the plugin doing some customisations for a black Friday event and I didn't have the access to fix it.
Once, twice, or at most three times a year? On the first time when it has novelty value and legs?
I wasn't aware there were so many wet blankets aboard this ship. If the members enjoy the diversions and they are so infrequent, I really can't see them as a major distraction from the main business of the site. More, in fact, as an occasional letting down of hair and a possible attraction to new members. THE place to visit for the BF and other special occasion deals, which will convert some into regular visitors.
Borrow Dustin's marketing hat for a few days and think it through a bit more.
this was part from LET with bumping , imagine a "drama" after 3 days all will forget about it ... etc etc. Remember when facebook was do the same , start from that day facebook was go down and continue to go down ... just my 2 cents.
Wow, just wow....
I see people talk about a problem. Consider what the worst case outcome is.
Then i voice my concern about that. (Including suggesting a solution.)
I have even expressed i am genuinely happy for his success....
...
I get the feeling that you are trying to imply i am salty or negative about the whole thing (=> i am not)? - But why? ¯_(ツ)_/¯
3 days is about right. Anything over 3 days - I personally see as spam.
Specially the "comment after you purchase and I will double your X Y Z" - that's basically "paying" users to bump a thread into oblivion and playing the system.
My 2.5c
More light heated banter than accusation, @SGraf. Please don't take it too seriously.
I'm not very good at deadpan discussions.
Yes I agree it would be interesting to see the data and be able to compare. Something I can work on in a few days or weeks time.
We need more votes. Everyone please share your opinion.
Usually drama posts are opened not in offers section.
Offer may sink after 3 days. After that period offer starts to stink. Either sold out or no one buy. Probably it is worth to think about decreasing posting time, maybe 10 instead of 14?
What's the current "post a new offer" time? 1 week? 2 weeks? That'd likely help people make a more informed decision.
I think that should be in the primary post but you can't edit it without it eating the poll?
*Edited per user's request: ""You are allowed post an offer every 10 days (posts in the "offers" category and the "shared hosting offers" category are on separate timers)""
Francisco
Thank you for the poll.
2 weeks.
Thank you for your comment.
As per the LowEndTalk rules:
"You are allowed post an offer every 10 days (posts in the "offers" category and the "shared hosting offers" category are on separate timers)"
By content, you mean promotions and giveaways? Then you're in the minority, dude. It's a few days of the year. The content is the deals, not the everyday drama.
We plan to leave this thread open for 7 days from it's opening. So votes will be tallied on December 1st and a decision will be made by the moderation and administration team based on the feedback from the community at that time.
Can you maybe edit my very first reply and tag that in there? It'll at least get the info early into the post without buggering up the poll.
If it's 10 days then no more than 5 days is fair. At 7 days you're able to almost have a post always bumping.
Francisco
Certainly, will do that right now.
Assuming 10 days between offer posts is the rule, I would say 5 days is pretty fair, but definitely not more than 10 days. If you don't have a limit, you could end up with someone who has the whole front page with multiple offer threads being bumped.
So you like the simple approach vs. something else as suggested by some other users?
All,
@raindog308 is on vacation through the end of the year, but upon his return we are going to make a community driven decision on a universal policy related to offering sinking.
Just wanted to update everyone.