So how does everyone feel about the Builder's & Retailer's Emporium being closed

[tradarama]

that one Emporium is the way to go. I'd often see that I had a guitar listed for well under where a similar one was offered in the Emporium....my listing (a) had 25% of the views that the other one had, (b) the Emporium listing sold/traded and mine sat around.

I believe the challenge will be to limit retailers so they don't gum up the system and ruin it.

[Glowing Tubes]

I'll admit, I did like having them separate as well. Almost like having a new vs used section in a lot of ways. It feels almost like I'm finding ads in the emporium now.
Either was works, that's just my thoughts on it.

[burningyen]

Has anyone compared how many hits they're getting on their ads pre- vs. post-changeover? Seems to me that's the key thing to worry about rather than having your ad bumped to page 2. As a buyer, I like the new regime as it cuts down the number of subforums I "need" to visit. As a seller, I'm not sure how I feel about it without seeing the stats, but I would have thought getting thrown in with the general population would only help with exposure.

[Pfeister]

I just went over there to post something for the first time in months. I noticed all of the posts were only minutes apart and decided it's probably not worth my time to post. With the old setup, there were a lot less posts and it was easier to be seen. With the current setup, I'll be on page two in no time and will likely just get lost in the crowd, especially when you have to go from only the post's title.

[otaypanky]

My preference is a separate Builder's and Retailers forum

[beorn]

I'd prefer two forums divided differently -- not a separate Builders & Retailers forum, but a separate New Guitars forum.

This, btw, would solve Tradarama's problem completely. Everything he sells would go in the Used forum, which is higher traffic because of the expected lower cost.

It might also help to encourage users not to manually look over the list of guitars, but rather do a custom search for the guitars/brands that interest them.

If they would, there would be no need for anyone to bump anything... users would miss fewer posts of interest to them, translating into more total sales... and builders/dealers wouldn't have to worry that a post had "moved off the top page" and so was receiving less attention. The only drawback I see is the higher load on TGP servers.

[Non-Digital Tom]

Originally Posted by otaypanky

My preference is a separate Builder's and Retailers forum

There actually IS still a separate Builder's & Retailers Forum - you just posted in it! Which leads to a thought I've had many times, that the Builder's & Retailers Emporium and the Builder's & Retailers Forum had a great deal of overlap with each other, and that having both a Forum and an Emporium for Builder's & Retailers is kind of redundant.

So, in that regard, the new way makes more sense to me. However, I have seen Builder's & Retailers with upwards of 5 self-posted threads simultaneously on the first page in the Emporium since the change, which seems like poor etiquette. It happens a lot in this section too... still bad etiquette, IMO...

At the end of the day, either way is fine. I think TGP is fine the way it is. I would rather have a consistent format and set of rules than to have to constantly adjust to new rules and changes implemented in response to the vocal (i.e. whiny ) minority...

[VacuumVoodoo]

I agree with post above. I'd prefer forum separate from emporium with a bit more discipline regarding "border crossing" i.e. keeping informative non commercial discussions in the forum and all strictly commercial topics in the emporium. (like announcements of stock clearances, sales etc).

[tradarama]

others do...LOL....to get their products in the discussion forums

[V-Picks]

I think it's all good. No problem with it here at all. I just appreciate having this place to showcase our stuff. Most forums don't allow it at all. Brian has given us a great home here.

What ever makes it easier for the mods. That's what I think.

Vinni

[Jim Soloway]

Originally Posted by tradarama

others do...LOL....to get their products in the discussion forums

The very fact that builders are grouped with dealers makes that inevitable. Add to that the rules about what can be listed in the actual emporiums and the restrictions on how it has to be listed, and it would seem that the intent of this forum would, by definition, include discussion of products for sale.

[Jim Soloway]

I'm bringing this back from the dead to report my actual results now that I've actually done some posting under the new system.

About two weeks ago I posted our first new guitar since I returned to running the operation. It got lots of attention and sold in about 24 hours. This past week I posted it's mate. It hasn't sold yet but it's had over 900 views in a week. I don't know how this all adds up in terms of selling power in the long run but it certainly is more views than I ever got in the dealer/builder emporium in a comparable amount of time. In theory, I didn't think this setup was going to work for small builders, but reality probably shows that my initial thinking was wrong. There are still a few small details that I think become awkward under this system, but it's hard to argue with this sort of result.

[burningyen]

As I suspected.

[Rebel-Guitars]

I for one am glad to be back in the mix where the action is. Does your post get moved back quicker in the Guitar Emporium? Sure. Because no one but the same few builders and retailers were going to R&B Emporium. Since I take trade-ins, I like being in the mix of guys wanting to trade. For the builders that have dealers here or if you sale direct, I would think you would feel the same way. Show your stuff where there's the most traffic.

[TubeStack]

Originally Posted by Kenny Blue

FWIW.... doesn't matter to me one way or the other.

Ditto.