Further to some recent conversations (mostly offline), we are now considering adding a Classifieds section to EuroGA. There would be a small charge for posting an item there – something like £10 for private individuals and £50 for companies, for 3 months. It could be used to advertise anything aviation related, including stuff for sale (from kneeboards to aircraft) and aviation related services.
If such a thing existed, would you use it? By which I mean, would you pay to advertise something there?
Any and all thoughts are welcome on this thread, or by private message if you prefer.
Thanks.
I never felt or saw the need. Even if it were for free, I’d be unlikely to ever use such a facility.
Not really! I like the current policy of allowing posts even by commercial companies if they add value and aren’t meant to be purely advertising. Of course, the line is always going to be blurry in some cases, but I really don’t see the need for a Classified section based on this.
If this is a place where pilots congregate (which it is), and if the classified section doesn’t disturb the balance of the site, then I can only see it as a force for good. I’d benefit from seeing what there is for sale by others, and occasionally post “car boot sale” aviation gear such as an old aviation handheld GPS that a student or hobby-flier might want, or some old magazines etc. I’m sure that others would want to post more important stuff for sale.
I think it’s a good idea.
Howard wrote:
if the classified section doesn’t disturb the balance of the site
It certainly wouldn’t – if it happens it would be a separate section, outside of the forums. There might be a listing on the home page of the most recently added 3 items or something, but other than that you’d have to explicitly go to it.
David, this might be a hard nut to crack. I would not go there regularly, unless the sufficient critical mass of offers was there. I would pay a fee for posting, but initially more as a support gesture for this fantastic forum. How about a voluntary contribution instead? We have one bistro in the Czech Republic, where the customer pays what he thinks the food/drinks were worth. It is located on a famous cross country skiing trail and their margins are better than those of “fixed menu price” outlets. Also, there is a difference between posting a used kneepad and a TBM700
I don’t see a ‘classifieds’ section as a bad thing. In fact, I can think of quite a few posters here whom I feel I could trust more than an anonymous ebayer based on several years of varied conversations. And I like the ‘clean’ advert-free look of the website. So if ‘classifieds’ would help pay for the forum and keep it independent then why not?
As above though, I think it might need a little more thought regarding the details (but of course this is a given anyhow).
I support Centurion_Flyer: If you want to make some money and/or pay for the expenses you have for the great forum, a kind of donation seems a better idea to me. Otherwise I would use a classifieds section but I would not pay 10 bucks to offer a book for 15.
Yes,I would.
I should add the primary purpose would not be to make money out of EuroGA.
It is to offer something to the approx 1000 pilots who read EuroGA every day but the vast majority of whom will never fulfil the current requirement of usefully participating in the forum. It often leaves us with having to work out what to do with exactly 1 post immediately followed by the advert, which is not really what we would like to see.
And, in turn, some of these people will participate in the forum, which is great for everybody.
