What would you like to see in an improved Trading System?

[sweetmomma]

Can someone please tell me more about auctions? How do they usually work?

Usually someone offers the winner of the auction a GC of a certain amount for the highest bid(sometimes widest variety)of their WL coupons. Some offer a minimum bid and others no bid. Often times there is also a bid raise(of added FPC's, GC, etc) if bids surpass a certain amount(usually 50-100pts).

I hope this helps.

[bargain_hunter_lola]

What do you mean by "one specific for people looking for certain coupons that dont have trade lists"

What do "bundles" mean in this context?

What do you mean by "flyer inserts"?

I think what she means is that people are looking or trading different things and that she'd like everything seperated.

Some peoples are looking/trading "bundles" which is basically an assortment of random coupons to get you started or re-stocked.

"Flyer inserts" are the coupon flyers that come in papers. Some people get extra's, some people get none.

And then "one specific for people looking for certain coupons that dont have trade lists" would refer to people like me. lol. Sometimes I'm looking for certain coupons but I dont have a tradelist. I simply dont have enough time to post all the coupons I have and keep it updated constantly. So, I choose to work off wishlists. If you have things off my wishlist, then I'll check your wishlist and offer you what I have.

Honestly I dont like the idea of seperating everything. Seems very complicated. People wont know where to post or where to check for items. And what about the threads where people are looking for or trading things that fall under more than 1 category? Seems confusing and time consuming.

I do like the colour coding idea though, everything stays together but you can skim through threads quicker.

HTH

[Cocottee00]

I do like the colour coding idea though, everything stays together but you can skim through threads quicker.

+1

I REALLY like that idea !! I think it should be seperate like that :

Tradelist
Wishlist
Auction
Bundle (person who trade bundle)
Coupons inserts (person who trade inserts)
ROAK (for example if a person would like to ROAK the first person who PM her.. ect)

[kellyschool1]

The Coupon List takes way too long to load. Would love to see it work better.

I couldnt agree more. i never go there since its just always 100% frustrating

[PinkLincoln]

I like the colour coding idea too. It would make it alot faster to skim through everything

I think a completely separate area for trade/wishlists would be confusing though. For me, my "trade list" is normally common recent tearpads people are looking for, or FPCs/HVs and then my wishlist following. I don't have the time or energy to list every single coupon I have in my possession, but I know what I have if I see someone else is looking for it.

[Jeniana]

Wow, you guys have some great ideas! I am loving the spreadsheet idea.

If a spreadsheet style trade list is made, would it be possible to build a database so we all aren't retyping the same coupons? For example, if I added this coupon:
$5 Pampers Cruisers AND Swaddlers, Swaddlers Sensitive, or Baby-Dry diapers brandsaver.ca 63945759 Oct 26, 2011
and another trader comes along and wants to put the same coupon on their trade list, they could just type the UPC and the rest of the info would pop up for them in the relevant boxes. Of course you would still be able to edit the info - this is a brandsaver.ca coupon, for example, so the next person's coupon might have a different expiry date, or maybe the first person to type it up may have included a typo or wrong information. Maybe if you start typing in one of the boxes it could offer suggestions on what the coupon could be - like when you start a new thread, it shows similar threads? UPCs are almost always unique so that would be simplest way to search, but maybe if you type Pampers it would show all listed Pampers coupons and you could click which one you want to add, or type it yourself if it's not listed.

I love the idea of check boxes on someone's trade list and being able to generate a PM to them with those coupons, and even marking the coupons as pending trade - that is an awesome idea. I don't think copying and pasting is particularly difficult but a lot of users just PM me with "I want your brand x and brand y coupons" without being specific and I have to go back and ask "did you mean brand x product a coupon, or product b or c, or all of them?" A generated list would be very useful, and I would never miss removing a traded coupon from my trade list.

For organizing the coupons on a spreadsheet style list - how would this work? I like having big categories (food, cleaning) that are broken into smaller categories (beverages, laundry) but others can't stand that and prefer one big alphabetical list. Would we be able to decide how our trade list is organized, and then users could also view it how they want? For example, someone viewing my list could choose to ignore categories and have my list sorted alphabetically or by expiry date. It would be more difficult to go the other way - if some has an alphabetical list, it would be difficult to make it into a category-type list unless the coupon listing contains category info - but it would still be better than what we have now. Category info would be hard to standardize - I can't stand the term "smellies" for example, haha, and some items might be in different categories depending on who you ask (Condensed milk - is it baking, dairy, canned good, etc). But maybe the database could have broad category info (like - Food&Drink, Baby, Pet, Cleaning&Household, Health&Beauty) which is attached to each coupon listing, but you could choose to ignore it if you want your own list sorted alphabetically, or make it more specific for your own trade list.

These spreadsheet style lists could be used to power a great trade list search to search for multiple wish list items. You could type say 5 UPCs or brand names and the search would pop up the users with the most matches on their list. What would be really amazing is a search that would compare your trade and wish list to other trade and wish lists and give you the best match ups - ie you want Whiskas coupons and have Pampers and it will find someone who wants Pampers and has Whiskas - but I think that might be very resource intensive, to search and compare all those lists and rank them. But hey, just throwing that out there

If this spreadsheet is done I would like to be able to sort the headings how I want when I am viewing trade lists. For example, I like to see it in this order: # of coupons, value, brand, restrictions, upc, then expiry date but others like to see it in a different order. I would like to be able to see everyone's lists in my preferred heading order. With a spreadsheet style list this shouldn't be too difficult.

For the Coupon Trading page problem (if spreadsheets aren't implemented) - maybe there could be a cut off date for the Coupon Trading page instead of it showing trade lists that haven't been updated in years. Chances are if someone hasn't updated their "About Me" coupon list in the last month (for example) the coupons have probably been traded or the person is no longer trading. Perhaps the page would load faster if only loaded trade lists updated in the past month (or 3 months, or whatever)? Maybe there could be a drop down box so you can choose to show all lists, or only those edited recently? Just a thought Also, would it be possible to have clickable links on that page? Many people include links to their trade or wish lists and it would be nice to be able to click them instead of copying and pasting.

I agree that being able to search PMs would be a great feature

I like the idea of colour coding trade threads depending on type. It would be great if you could also filter them - for example, show only trade lists, and then you could just search the trade lists for something specific. Or for example, I have no interest in auctions so it would be great if I could just hide those when I am looking at the trading section.

[Boo Radley]

Wow Jeniana you're awesome!!
I'll take your ideas into consideration.

Great ideas so far everyone! Keep them coming!

[cliptastic]

I agree with adding space in the wishlist (about me) tab. I hardly have any specifics but am maxed out on my characters allowed. I've seen lots of people add their wishlist to the trade list and this causes confusion. I put my coupons in excel and the tradelist adds them fine but it seems a thread causes just a huge tiny font jumble.

[Cia]

bumping for more input from others, like seeing all the great ideas people have

[ashokia]

I love the idea of having some Trade Facillitators. If someone wanted to trade with a newbie but were a little hesitant they could ask a Trade Facillitator to oversee the trade for them. Both parties would mail their coupons to the Facillitator rather than each other. That way if the newbie didn't actually send the coupons, the other person wouldn't be losing out.

I also would like to see a percentage like you would on eBay. So Trade Rating: 84 (100% Positive).

I'd like to see more subcategories in the trade section as well. Right now it is hard for me to find what I'm looking for. For example: For Trade, Looking For, Auction, Traditional Train, VWT Train, Train Station (This could be a thread for people who are starting up trains. I am always on the lookout for new trains to join and it is so frustrating to have to go through fifty million trains already underway to find one that is still boarding. Once a train has filled up in the 'Train Station' the thread could be expired and a new thread started in the proper category of Traditional and VWT. The conductor would simply PM those involved with a link to their train.)

Some of us simply don't have the time to input a trade list so the database idea would be fantastic. If I could just put in a UPC and have all the info pop up automatically I could actually keep my list updated.

I'm sure people will be against this one, but I'd rather see trains be rated solely by the conductor of the train. You get a newbie who does one or two trains, looks solid and someone sends them a bunch of stuff and they are never seen or heard from again. Right now it's much too easy to get a trade rating up. This would be where Trade Facillitators would come in handy. (And yes, having to send extra postage would be a pain, but think of it as insurance!)

I also think we could use a few more moderators. Amber and Sally do a fantastic job (and I think there may be others, but not sure?) but the more SC keeps growing, the more SPAM, in-fighting, etc. Definitely something that we want to keep on top of.

Hope that helps Boo!

[RyRy's Grasshopper]

I would like to see other choices added to: Trade/Train Passenger/Train Conductor
Examples: RAOK/Traditional Train Passenger/VWT Passenger/VWT Points Passenger

I also think a spot to comment on Train Conductors would be helpful. Ideas:
Communication-- excellent/fair/poor
Coupons-- excellent/fair/poor

[SusieQ1982]

I'd like to see the trade section in the About Me get bigger. My trade list is very long and since I include UPCs, it takes up more space than we are allowed. I'd like a longer wish list as well.

[Boo Radley]

I love the idea of having some Trade Facillitators. If someone wanted to trade with a newbie but were a little hesitant they could ask a Trade Facillitator to oversee the trade for them. Both parties would mail their coupons to the Facillitator rather than each other. That way if the newbie didn't actually send the coupons, the other person wouldn't be losing out.

I also would like to see a percentage like you would on eBay. So Trade Rating: 84 (100% Positive).

I'd like to see more subcategories in the trade section as well. Right now it is hard for me to find what I'm looking for. For example: For Trade, Looking For, Auction, Traditional Train, VWT Train, Train Station (This could be a thread for people who are starting up trains. I am always on the lookout for new trains to join and it is so frustrating to have to go through fifty million trains already underway to find one that is still boarding. Once a train has filled up in the 'Train Station' the thread could be expired and a new thread started in the proper category of Traditional and VWT. The conductor would simply PM those involved with a link to their train.)

Some of us simply don't have the time to input a trade list so the database idea would be fantastic. If I could just put in a UPC and have all the info pop up automatically I could actually keep my list updated.

I'm sure people will be against this one, but I'd rather see trains be rated solely by the conductor of the train. You get a newbie who does one or two trains, looks solid and someone sends them a bunch of stuff and they are never seen or heard from again. Right now it's much too easy to get a trade rating up. This would be where Trade Facillitators would come in handy. (And yes, having to send extra postage would be a pain, but think of it as insurance!)

I also think we could use a few more moderators. Amber and Sally do a fantastic job (and I think there may be others, but not sure?) but the more SC keeps growing, the more SPAM, in-fighting, etc. Definitely something that we want to keep on top of.

Hope that helps Boo!

Great ideas! All noted thank you very much!


Doesn't the trading system here already have a percentage like on ebay?

[Boo Radley]

What's this thing about some coupons being only French? Would this something that would need to be considered in the enhanced trading system? If so how can I incorporate it?

[Cia]

I love the idea of having some Trade Facillitators. If someone wanted to trade with a newbie but were a little hesitant they could ask a Trade Facillitator to oversee the trade for them. Both parties would mail their coupons to the Facillitator rather than each other. That way if the newbie didn't actually send the coupons, the other person wouldn't be losing out.

I see the reasoning behind a trade Facilitator, but not too sure about how practical it would be. Would this Facilitator be expected to open both envies to ensure that the exact coupons were sent, if so, how would they be compensated for the cost of the envie, and also for the cost of the stamps to mail to the traders. Also, the opportunity is there for CP to loose the envies twice, then what type of rating should be left?