Ive recently posted an ad on Ozbargain, and I'm disgusted by the response. I can't believe everyone here is so unfriendly. I thought this community was about positive things like sharing and giving input. I gave my input and everyone just attacks me. I think I'm the first to say this but I'm done with this website.
Hate on OzBargain?
Lbadbadhorribel on 21/12/2011 - 11:51
Comments
Welcome to the internet! This is very common in every corner.
I am sorry that you experienced negative responses, and this usually comes in few reasons:1) This is OzBargain not OzRipOff. So we will be extremely harsh if you post something that is the opposite meaning of bargain. Tip: Do your homework before posting.
2) Do not 'market' your products. OzB'ers are knowledgeable people and we know where and how to search for the actual product worth. There are a lot of specialised people here, who knows about computer, home ware, fashions, games, you name it! If they saw something that is of an Anti-bargain they will sure to point them out like good Samaritans. So if a bargain is crap, then crap is what you'll get. Tip: Don't boast about the product, just state the facts and why you think it is a good bargain. Instead of "OMG THIS IS THE BEST BARGAIN EVAAAA" Don't! *smack *
3) Don't take negative comments as an indication of self-worth or personal attack. We are merely commenting on the 'deal it self'. Tip: Treat the comments as constructive feedback on how to post a better deal.
Or maybe OzB'ers is just having a terrible Wednesday so the comments are harsh!
I do agree with this and I admit to be one of those who negatively commented on your post.
While selling things are perfectly fine, I am pretty sure people here do not want to see other people getting ripped off. After all, we are all here for one reason, to nab a good price.
What really got me going was the marketing talk that you were trying to give about your own item when, like CuteChocobo has said, there are people who know when and where that kind of talk is incorrect and unwarranted and point it out for all.
edit: I hope it doesn't turn you off of this site though, there really are very good bargains to be had!
It's also OzCheapSkates at times and sometimes being a cheapskate, especially on the internet, can bring out the worst in someone, e.g. people hoarding freebies when they should only apply for one or don't even need them, etc.
Sometimes the more you try and justify how cool something is, most people on the internet are quite savvy to what's marketing fluff versus real information.
Anyway, in my personal opinion, I don't find OzBargain to be that friendly at all and can be quite aggressive at times. I mainly just use it as a resource to find some bargains and I tend to keep posting comments at a minimum.
I think we need to get some facts straight:
You posted a thread in which you were selling your computer (removed personal information):
Selling high performance gamers/entertainment/video processing PC. This computer is suitable for all users in fact, it is very futureproof as it has plenty of processing power, storage and graphics. Custom built PC put together in early 2010. Build is almost 2 years old.
Up for sale, RRP was $2500, now reduced to a LOW END COMPUTER PRICE OF $1200. Contact xxx on xxxxxx
CPU: Intel i7 860, Quadcore with hyperthreading(4x2=8 threads, 2 per core) "equivalent to 8 cores"
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte P55A-UD4 with USB 3.0 and SATA3 6GB/s enabled
HEATSINK: Coolermaster Hyper 212+ aftermarket CPU cooler
RAM: 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 2000mhz at 9-9-9-27 Latency Timings
GPU: XFX branded ATI HD5770 1GB dedicated graphics card
HARD DISK: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200RPM
DVD: ASUS Dual layer DVD-burner
CASE: Lancool Dragonlord PC-K62 gamers case with blue illuminated LED fans and transparent side window
PSU: Vantec ion2 620W power supply
SCREEN: LG W2354V Flatron 23” 1080p FHD monitor
SPEAKERS: Logitech X230 2.1 system, with two speakers + subwoofer
KEYBOARD: Logitech Wave PRO wireless keyboard
MOUSE: Logitech MX1100 Cordless Laser Mouse, rechargeable with Li-ion battery
Running smoothly, flawlessly on Microsoft Windows 7 Professional.Additional FREE Canon Pixma iP4200 Colour inkjet printer!! RRP $250
and
FREE Razer Goliathus SPEED edition gaming mousepad!! RRP $20This system would be perfect for a Christmas present for a son/daughter, father/mother and friends. It performs incredibly fast and is futureproof for at least another 5 years.
When people questioned the post for it's bold statements, you went off on them and accused them of ruining your ad. While there is some hate on OzBargain at times (religious threads, iPhone vs Android come to mind), this is not one of them. You mistook someone criticism as an attack. This isn't a place to advertise your stuff, it is a discussion forum and community for bargain hunters. Gumtree or eBay would be better suited for this.
On the other hand I saw a post with somebody putting an old game (new not pre-owned) with a 10 AUD (or was it 2 AUD) price and people were picking on him that it is normal for that game to be that inexpensive because it was an old game. Considering preowned games are selling for more in store it seamed like a bargain to me.
Now I guess it depends on everybody's explanation of bargain, but I do think that if you do not find that a bargain just vote it down or something, do not pick on somebody else for it.
On a positive note, overall I really like the ozbargain community. I wish to contribute to it soon with bargains that I might find.
I think using OzBargain's selling/swapping forum to off-load old stuff does have a few problems currently. The forum was initially setup for people to swap entertainment book vouchers (people still using them?) and ended up having lots of people selling their old stuff.
eBay/Gumtree would be a more suitable platform I think.
Anyway. If there's more demand we might develop that part of website further.
reading your ad, i can see why you would've gotten some harsh comments.
"futureproof for at least another 5 years" seriously, how can you say that when some possible new thing could be just around the corner and these spec. would go down in price very fast.
sounds too much like a sells pitch!
While I do not know about the OP's particular case I do agree with him/her about the treatment of posters by some people. Of course not everybody has to agree with someone else's input but it is the tone that makes the music - there are many ways to disagree and the best ones are the constructive ones. I too feel that the only way some people here know how to criticise is to attack people personally and in a constructive manner.
After all, all people posting here have good intentions, namely informing others about what they perceive is a bargain. We then can all make our own informed(!) decisions and there is no need to attack anybody else personally. If I do not perceive it to be a bargain, then I won't use it or buy it but that does not mean that somebody else will not see it as a bargain and make use of the deal.
Please be considerate and watch your tone when making comments. And please, be constructive rather than destructive if you can.
I think the expectations have changed somewhat since I joined some years ago.
Back then, the expectation was that if a bargain was posted, it was a good bargain until proved otherwise ('innocent until proven guilty' scenario).
That seems to have shifted somewhat, and these days is almost the reverse, with people seemingly assuming that all posts are made by unscrupulous businesses, sockpuppets, scammers, etc until proven otherwise. Of course in some instances this is true, but i suspect they are in the minority.
The other thing is that the use of the neg has changed from an informative tool, to basically a smacking device, whereupon people with often little knowledge or interest in a product or business will neg simply because they can, or because others are. It can be used to forcefully draw attention to your opinion, irrespective of the relevance to the deal in question.After all, all people posting here have good intentions, namely informing others about what they perceive is a bargain. We then can all make our own informed(!) decisions and there is no need to attack anybody else personally. If I do not perceive it to be a bargain, then I won't use it or buy it but that does not mean that somebody else will not see it as a bargain and make use of the deal.
Unfortunately, once a deal has been negged to oblivion (which only takes a small number), few people are actually going to see it to be able to make their own minds up
Fully agree. That is the problem.
I think you hit the nail on the head there andy. I guess going forward, possibly a good idea is to report it to mods and we can at least call people out on being rude. With the new private messaging function, perhaps we can just send a reminder to be nice to others. We've been coming down on trolling, personal attacks, and foul language hard lately but maybe we need to take it further?
Yes, please. And please make sure that people discuss the deals, not the comments! Finally, no assumptions either way should be made. Sometimes posters here are made feel as if they are the accused in a court.
In my mind, everybody post a deal because he/she thinks that is a bargain. Maybe not the best.
The bargain exists and works is positive.
The bargain is not working is negative.You disagree with it,you found some good price somewhere else, link it but not neg it.
It is like you go shopping in supermarket, some food discount, you think it worth, you bought it, thumbs up.
You think oh this is expensive, I will go somewhere else or try another supermarket, you just left peacefully. Will you smash the food and call the manager out and call him a scum? No, you don't.Every market/poster has their own source, you don't blame them because you don't buy it, in the other way, they didn't force you buy it, money is in your own pocket.
I used post a adv about lightning cable for my company, and people just angry about how it can be such expensive. Why other brand be so cheap… neg
It is really ridiculous, people just simply neg it even they have no idea about the market.I just think they always want to get some reason to negative your post. Then their job finished.
You still don't get it. Your post was negged because the same product was cheaper elsewhere, not other brands. Maybe you should have a rethink about who has no idea…
As for the rest of your post, I can't decipher anything… calling managers scum?? huh…
For example:
make it simple I just put a simple number , and dont consider about tax,delivery etc.
Same brand milk in Coles and a milk bar at the corner of the street.
Coles cost $0.5/bottle; sell $1/bottle; discount 25% at $0.75/bottle.
milk bar cost $1/bottle; sell $2/bottle; discount 50% at $1/bottle.Both have same margin 100% at original price, coles still have 50% margin after 25% discount, but the milk bar only got cost back after 50% discount.
Maybe you just go to Coles and buy the cheap one, or maybe you are lazy today, and buy the expensive one.
Will you blame the owner of the milk bar just because you only saw the result is the milk have more discount but still higher price?
Will you call him a scum you don't even know how much is the cost for the milk he got?Because the scale of business, every shop gets different price, but that doesn't mean someone is cheaper than you, you will be a spam to all consumers.
That's my personal opinion.
Whatever your margin is and how ever much the item/milk cost you, is not the consumers problem.
I didn't point my finger to customers. It is just an explanation.
There are always some good customer and some badYou still don't get it.
I didn't say you were pointing the finger at anyone, I'm just saying that no one (customers) really give a damn about your problems ie. How much the milk/item cost you and what your margin is.
That's business.
FYI my previous post lightning cable.
They cannot managed to find some other place cheaper than us, then they negged because other brand is cheaper than us.
However they didn't even look into the specification, how long is the cable, what material.
Then they leave some useless comment like MFI cable = made for idiots, MFI is not for ozbargainer.
Bye, dont let the door hit you on the way out
The OP left 4 years ago.
Giving input does not mean everyone needs to agree with your input.
If you are unable to accept the fact that there will be others who will disagree with you, you might consider to not post anything and just read.
Otherwise, you will just be frustrating yourself.