Pinkbike Update: BuySell Listings, Smart Search, & Bookmarks, Oh My!

 I would think that the Buy/Sell page also brings a ton of traffic to the website which helps other revenue streams.

 @freestyIAM: what you’re recommending is implementing a paywall to list on BuySell, affecting all users, because scrolling is hard. Bold strategy.

 @jake28: let's see how it plays out Cotton

JK - let’s not!

 @jake28: You forgot to mention the emoji functionality update in BuySell listings? ✅✅✅✅✅✅✅

 I think the buy/sell was driving alot of site traffic, so it was helping them to get paid via their normal avenue (advertising) already.

 @dgwww: Your intuition is correct. The buysell drives near half the PB overall site views, per source (google).

 @funkendrenchman: this will def thicken that stream!

 I am okay with the pay feature if it results in official efforts to reduce scammers in the classifieds. Currently it is self-policing which is not really that effective. I was actually ok with the self policing since the classifieds were a free feature, Community enforced for a community feature. Now I feel justified in asking for more effective measures.

 Can we get rid of the scammers please!

 uhhh

 @finblarr gotta love sponsored replies

 The bookmarks feature is cool though a little clunky on the mobile, really should have the same symbol appear on the homepage for anyone logged in, that functions like a quick drop down to select the bookmarked article you want to read.

 @jake28: while I disagree with him, I do hope the sort by price ascending function still works, just placing the booster adds at the front and also in price ascending order.

I hate it in other websites where boosted adds appear at the front but don't appear in logical order even when you set to price ascending.

 @bunjiman82: Dashboard > My Profile > Bookmarks
We'll make it better.

 @gclarida: nah I'm just a simp

 @cpobanz: the scam accounts have gotten completely out of control here. There's absolutely no excuse that any account should INSTANTLY be allowed to make listings the moment their account is created. None.
I've reported dozens and dozens of accounts, and literally every single account is the exact same thing -- selling a product significantly below market value, account created within the last few days, and absolutely ZEROOOOOOO other activity on the site other than classified listings. So obvious and pathetic.

 @cmi85: this already happens, new accounts cannot post for a day. There are 30+ checks on posting to the BuySell. What we are not to allow any new user to post? And a lot of the scammers are using compromised existing accounts that are 10+ years old. But there are lots of checks on this, like last login time, last login country. But the scammers are smart and high enough volume a certain % gets through. or they just sit dormant on accounts for months. We cannot list all the checks we do, cause would make it easier to get around, but there are many, and 4+ external services we check against as well and pay for.

 @jake28: hey Jake, not sure what's going on but since these changes have been made searching through buysell on a mobile has become utterly impossible. Even if you switch to desktop version on a mobile phone it doesn't work properly. There are endless pages of boosted adds as well as wanted adds that have been included when searching for sale items. The option to search for a specific word no longer appears and items from all categories appear together all mixed up.

 I don't quite follow your logic. Because something is (made) profitable for a company doesn't mean it's good/better for us the customers. Quite often is just the opposite. The fact it will "stay around" is hardly an incentive for the customers if they start charging 15% commission (a matter of time). If anything I would like Pinkbike and its investors to stay away from Buy&Sell because a) it works b) it's free and c) it requires very little maintenance & development if any on their side. They just try to figure out how to make Buy&Sell their cash cow. First "Boost" then "Super Boost" then 15% commission and what nots.

 @cpobanz:
i think PB is not interested in getting RID of them

Tried Scammer is still THERE AFTER 3 MONTHS

Lost my trust
Shame

 Holding out for Super Boost

 Especially with the way it's been implemented. I was looking at enduro bikes the other day and the first 20 something pages were exclusively boosted listings. It's not even really boosted at that point, but also good luck selling your bike without the boost.

 Every change that an Outside owned company makes has to have a monetary attachment, unfortunately. I guess so long as scammers don't abuse the feature it'll be ok, but without better moderation of the buy/sell page, I'm skeptical.

 Now images of bicycles can be boosted as well as stolen

 Which is better? Having sex or boosting ads?

 @noapathy: If you answer the latter, you are doing something wrong.

 @ceecee: If it is a boosted add for a stolen bike is it then considered Super boosted?

 Puts the "Boo!" in Boosted

 @Phillyenduro: super boost is just $50/ad.....never mind the item is only $45, youll make it up in volume!!!!!

 The fact that I get to share this is the highlight of my day: youtu.be/ay6GjmiJTPM

 @Phillyenduro: Comment of the month!

 @Phillyenduro: lol

 @ranchitup: if you know what you want, it’s easy to search the listings … maybe you need pick something and be a dick about it

 @ReformedRoadie: You need to watch "Gone in 60 Seconds". (or re-watch if you already have)

 @ranchitup: it would be great if you could search specifically for non boosted as a function.

 I'm with you man!!

 Sure, wanna become a mod?

 @jake28: Nope, I was a moderator for this site for years, and parted ways in an incredibly non-amicable way. If there's a paycheck, we can talk, otherwise, stop putting this issue on your users.

People reading this, if you think you can step up to the plate to make the site better, this is your chance.

 @jake28: What's it pay? This ain't Reddit.

 Lol, PB gets aquired by Outside but still wants its users to do free labor as mods. Sorry, you only get free labor from passionate users when you are a cool up and coming media site. Not when you are the corporate behemoth. No one is passionate about padding share values for the man. But hey, you guys got better job benefits and Radek got a huge buy out, so I guess turning PB into a soulless shell of itself was worth it.

 @jake28: This problem doesn't need more mods to play whack a mole with an endless stream of spam account creation. It needs better gatekeeping and automation

 @hughbm: There is been a TON of new programic solutions added over the past few months. The issue is the volume of scams and spam has increased so much. We are blocking more than ever and have alerts for more than ever, but we need more human intervention still, which is being worked on adding. We also for the first time really have good analytics and reporting of all of this and can see the trends over time and what checks, blocks and alerts are working or not.

 ..

 @canadaka: I’ve been assuming this has become problematic. It’s incredibly difficult to implement controls for scammers and ‘bot’ traffic. Hopefully analytics assist in being able to use controls effectively and efficiently.
However given this is a ‘Outside’ product now from what I understand certainly they can use invest in HIRING additional help. Not exactly a mom and pop operation anymore.

 @canadaka: if human power is needed at proportionate scale as the growth of scammers increases, you have an arms race you cannot win.

 we have been.

 Why is this so hard. Just block all new members from posting. Then vet them to make sure they’re real before you let them post. Problem solved.

 @txcx166: The frauds are taking over old abandoned real accounts too.

 What does a moderator do on PB and how to become one (not that I necessarily want to)?

 @wslee: look for scams, forum spam, and such.

 @jake28: I feel like a mod already. I've reported like 50 of these accounts

 @jake28: @jake28: I'm a frequent user of B&S and also constantly browsing and reporting obvious scam accounts. I'd consider becoming a Mod. Feel free to DM me.

 @canadaka: IT professional here to fund my MTB addiction, here’s my simple technical suggestion for your site admin/IT team(I’m not free, so they can figure out how to implement something like this).

Automate periodic checks on known breach/password leak services like haveibeenpwned.com(I believe they support API calls). Check all usernames, associated emails, and hashed password information from those breaches and also block passwords from being used contained in those breaches. Set a period of inactivity for an account to go into an archived state that requires recovery to make it more difficult for scammers to hijack those “safe” looking accounts for Buy/Sell.

Also, it’s been said several times before in here, take a page out of Meta’s book and crowdsource your buyer/seller verification system so it doesn’t overwhelm mods. Require a public tag who the buyer is on an item for 3rd party verification along with a rating system.

 @Phillyenduro: that’s an idea I can get behind

 It's kinda already here, but hidden for bike shops under the "places" tab. BuySell Rating System/ . Could youse some TLC and integration into the main buysell page linked to seller accounts.

 It will only bias large corporate vendors over the individuals. Will swamp out good deals and only bias visibility towards high margin bad deals. Worse for the user 100%

 @rbarbier12: interesting take. If only there were industry-leading filtering tools that an informed user could put to use to seek out desired deals. And those “large corporate vendors” are nearly universally local bike shops.

 @jake28: Fair point. I would prefer to use the industry-leading filtering tools without a bias towards those who have the means and margins to elevate their posts to the top. Is it possible to filter out boosted listings?

 @jake28: Also, greatly appreciate the overhaul of the search feature! This was one of the weakest aspects of the site for as long as I can remember

 @rbarbier12: thank you!

 Yeah, hopefully they don't end up getting too spammy. Worried it turns into shopping for cars on craigslist (literally hundreds of ads by dealers with zillions of keywords so when I'm looking for a manual sports car I get new minivans).

 Thanks for the good wishes.

 I heard a rumour levy left to work at Donut Media to officially be a car guy?

 @progressioncycles: Levy and anything "donut" seems like a match

 SuperBoosted listings coming soon for $157, x 12 months.

 Do you, when you search, get to flip the display order so that the boosted ones go at the bottom?

 @vinay: Sure, for a small fee.

 Edit: Oops, I thought you responded to a different comment .

 The Chevy grill would be sick apartment art.

 @jake28: something similar I have been thinking about a lot would be the ability to hid specific ads. When looking for a bike I am just scrolling through the same bikes day after day that I’m not interested in. Saving the filters was a great addition that speeds up daily searches, but the ability to hide specific ads would continue to speed up the process.

 @tjbiker38: This 100%. A 'never show me this ad again' button would be awesome to have

 @blazekelly: yeah or even just filter out specific manufactures. Every day I have to look at these trek bikes for sale that I will never buy.

 @artistformlyknowasdan: you can do this today on desktop and mobile; no quotes needed. Next to the search bar, you have the option to search titles only or titles and description.

 @jake28: Could we increase the listing title character limit from 56 to around 80?

 @nowthatsdoomage , @jake28 replied
“you can do this today on desktop and mobile; no quotes needed. Next to the search bar, you have the option to search titles only or titles and description.”

 Glad I'm not the only one

 I'm guessing in a few weeks once everyone's free boost is used up there will be a lot less boosted ads

 @matt-15: the F? I was charged for my first boost..

 @pargolf8: people with Outside+ get 2 free boosts

 Absolutely. Wheel size matters!

 We fixed it

 @jake28:
sold listings is extremely useful when trying to price your item if you aren't sure what the market will pay for it. please give us an optional way to see them.

 There is not many boosted ads as a % of active listings. And many people are using their 2 free boosts with an Outside+ subscription, so probably higher atm than when it levels out. And you can boost ads on Facebook as well.

 Is awesome the amount of response(defence?) All the mods are paying into the boost thang.

 I've added it to the desktop site!

 someone buy Nick's bike.

 @jake28: Thanks Jake

 I got a GTI brother!

 @Mtbdialed: Oh really?