It is not good to post prices on forum

richied168 · 06-10-2010, 09:07 PM

every time, when I go to a forum, I never post prices because I know the forum is used to exchange ideas and experience.

If every supplier list prices on forum, that is not good for competition, and this may hurt the distributors as well. This will not help your sales but you may leave a bad impression to others.

What do you think of this, have you ever thought of it?

quasimod · 06-11-2010, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richied168

/.../
If every supplier list prices on forum, that is not good for competition, and this may hurt the distributors as well. This will not help your sales but you may leave a bad impression to others./.../

I think competition is increased when prices are known, because the suppliers must try to compete with each other on price as well as branding and advertising. This may drive some suppliers out of business, but that ultimately helps the consumer as well. Only efficient, well-run companies can succeed in a competitive market.

However, I don't think that suppliers should be allowed to take over a community forum with advertisements. That is bad for a forum, because people do not trust information from advertising. They hope to get honest information when they visit a forum.

richied168 · 06-11-2010, 05:10 AM

hey, dude, i do agree with some of your words. But every field should have some rules, at least some basical cooperation among the sellers. ECF never allow China suppliers on the forum, they want to protect the US dealers. We do feel frustrated, but we have no way to change it. That should be their cooperation with US sellers and a way of earning money.

quasimod · 06-11-2010, 10:53 AM

I'm new to this forum, so I hope I am not breaking any rules by discussing another forum, but it is "on topic".

Many forums think it is rude to discuss another forum, or it may be against the rules, so it might be better if you PM me if you want to ask more questions about ECF. I am not a moderator there, but I have been a member there for 9 months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by richied168

hey, dude, i do agree with some of your words. But every field should have some rules, at least some basical cooperation among the sellers. /.../

I'm not sure what type of cooperation you mean. Some cooperation is good, like standards of business practices. If you mean that they all agree on pricing, then that is not legal in the US: it is called "price fixing". It is considered unfair both to consumers and to the businesses that can produce more efficiently or sell cheaper. That is one of the reasons why so many products from China and around the world are sold in the US.

Quote:

Originally Posted by richied168

/.../ ECF never allow China suppliers on the forum, they want to protect the US dealers. /.../

Maybe you misunderstand some of the rules there, because that is not correct. Health Cabin and East Mall are both on ECF, with their own sub-forums, and both have many loyal and happy customers in the US. Heaven Gifts has no sub-forum, but I see many posts from members who like them very much. There are also suppliers from the UK, Ireland, Canada, France, Greece, and maybe some other countries. All that is needed is to follow the rules at ECF. You can not say certain things in your advertisements or on your web site, even YOUR OWN site, if it's linked from ECF.

Quote:

Originally Posted by richied168

/.../ We do feel frustrated, but we have no way to change it. /.../

Have you tried contacting the forum moderators? They can help you understand the rules, and help you conform to those rules. I'm sure that the moderators on THIS forum will do the same.

Good luck!

richied168 · 06-11-2010, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quasimod

I'm new to this forum, so I hope I am not breaking any rules by discussing another forum, but it is "on topic".

Many forums think it is rude to discuss another forum, or it may be against the rules, so it might be better if you PM me if you want to ask more questions about ECF. I am not a moderator there, but I have been a member there for 9 months.

I'm not sure what type of cooperation you mean. Some cooperation is good, like standards of business practices. If you mean that they all agree on pricing, then that is not legal in the US: it is called "price fixing". It is considered unfair both to consumers and to the businesses that can produce more efficiently or sell cheaper. That is one of the reasons why so many products from China and around the world are sold in the US.

I mean more competition on the products and do not try to tell the customers bottom prices only on the forum, the distributors need to earn profit.

Maybe you misunderstand some of the rules there, because that is not correct. Health Cabin and East Mall are both on ECF, with their own sub-forums, and both have many loyal and happy customers in the US. Heaven Gifts has no sub-forum, but I see many posts from members who like them very much. There are also suppliers from the UK, Ireland, Canada, France, Greece, and maybe some other countries. All that is needed is to follow the rules at ECF. You can not say certain things in your advertisements or on your web site, even YOUR OWN site, if it's linked from ECF.

No, i do not find a China supplier on ECF. We tried to contact them, so far no answer yet.

Have you tried contacting the forum moderators? They can help you understand the rules, and help you conform to those rules. I'm sure that the moderators on THIS forum will do the same.

Good luck!

So far, i did not break any forum rules yet, if the moderator really want to do something, he should kick one man out who is rude to us at:BW-ego.

I have never seen a man that is so bad educated as this one.

quasimod · 06-11-2010, 11:39 AM

I don't think there are a lot of rules on this forum!

firhill · 06-11-2010, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richied168

So far, i did not break any forum rules yet, if the moderator really want to do something, he should kick one man out who is rude to us at:BW-ego.

I have never seen a man that is so bad educated as this one.

Richie (and others) I apologise for that post in the other thread.

I will delete it as it is rude.

Again...sorry.

richied168 · 06-11-2010, 11:46 AM

maybe the moderator is busy, i seldom saw him online.

firhill · 06-11-2010, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richied168

every time, when I go to a forum, I never post prices because I know the forum is used to exchange ideas and experience.

If every supplier list prices on forum, that is not good for competition, and this may hurt the distributors as well. This will not help your sales but you may leave a bad impression to others.

What do you think of this, have you ever thought of it?

Honestly, 95% of the time, if I click on a website that doesn't list prices...it's the last time I will ever visit said website.
My feeling is that if you don't show your prices or post "call for prices", then there is something you don't want the consumer to see and is most likely inflated pricing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by richied168

hey, dude, i do agree with some of your words. But every field should have some rules, at least some basical cooperation among the sellers. ECF never allow China suppliers on the forum, they want to protect the US dealers. We do feel frustrated, but we have no way to change it. That should be their cooperation with US sellers and a way of earning money.

As per quasi's post...you are way off on this. There are Chinese suppliers on the ECF forum and I don't see any bias towards the US suppliers at all.

Could you enlighten us all as to why you believe you are not allowed at the other forum and maybe post some links to examples of favoritism towards US suppliers?

Thanks in advance.

quasimod · 06-11-2010, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firhill

Honestly, 95% of the time, if I click on a website that doesn't list prices...it's the last time I will ever visit said website. /.../

Absolutely. Price is such an important consideration when shopping for anything, I feel that my time is being wasted if they don't list the price right next to the product! I don't like for my time to be wasted, and I don't like companies that carelessly waste it.

Also, a moderator doesn't need to be visibly "online" to keep up with a forum. He probably gets every post delivered to his email, or another type of software, that makes it much easier to read and handle quickly. If they had to use an internet browser to do everything, it would take too much time.

Rocketman · 06-11-2010, 03:19 PM

posting prices in the forum would be up to the seller. But it does need to be easily accessible on the web site. Where dealing with overseas sellers, shipping charges need to be obvious. I do not like having to enter credit card info just to see shipping charges. Some sites force you to almost complete a purchase just to see how much the total is.

And "email for special price just for you" was used by one overseas seller. I did and let's just say I did not buy from that seller.

And then there was the seller that got in a bind with U.S. Customs and tried to go through Europe, and Canada. Some got their stuff (I did) some didn't.

And then someone complained because a U.S. seller posted a discount "coupon" and said it would not expire. About a year later someone complained that the coupon wasn't valid. I guess you have to be careful what price info you post.

Just make it easy to compare prices. We shop.

Rocket,
member of the little forum that could.