Classifieds & Feedback Guidelines

This page is here to give you a general idea of how these two site features work so you can get the most use out of them without having to poke around blindly. As ever, if you have questions or feedback feel free to reach out to a member of the staff.

You can access both of these features under the "Buy Sell Trade" section of the site's navigation:

 

Index:

1. Classifieds
   1. Navigating Classifieds
   2. Making your own Listings
   3. Managing an Existing Listing
2. Feedback
   1. When should I leave feedback?
   2. How to leave Feedback for a Classifieds transaction
   3. How to leave Feedback for another type of transaction

 

Classifieds

Classifieds is a system that allows users (yes, you!) to post stuff they have for sale/trade and/or things they're looking to pick up. Logically, it works the same way as the existing Buy/Sell/Trade subforum. Functionally though, this system gives you a bit more focus and depth.

 

Navigating Classifieds

When you land on the Classifieds page you will see a "What's New" section with the latest listings. Under that are all of the categories (very similar to the forum itself), and on the right is a quick navigation menu for these categories. It should be pretty straight forward and familiar at this point.

Note that you can also browse the Classifieds in their dedicated forum, here. Whenever a new Classified Listing is created, a corresponding thread will also appear there for discussion, and to tie with Feedback.

Clicking down and getting into a Classified Listing, you'll see a bunch of info about both the listing itself, and the user who's posted it; this section in particular is very handy for at-a-glance details:

You'll see the username of the lister, as well as their feedback rating for easy reference, and can click on their feedback rating to see more details on their past transactions. There' also a link to their other listings, which is handy to see what else they have on offer.

You can also check out the Discussion Topic by clicking on the button here:

You can ask any questions you have in the given topic, which is automatically created whenever you post a new Listing.

At this time the only way to complete a transaction is to contact the Lister and make a deal. On their end they can mark a listing as "pending" while you talk it out, and this will show up for others to see that someone else is already interested if they do so.

Once you've come to an agreement on your transaction, and once all parties are happy, you can move on to providing feedback from the listing:

Read more about Feedback below! (it's pretty straightforward though)

 

Making your own Listings

If you want to post your own listings, it's also fairly straightforward. So here I will go into needlessly painful detail about how to go about doing so.

Depending on if you want to sell/trade or buy something, go to the appropriate category. Note that the "Garage sale" section is for other non-video-game collectibles, and since we expect to see less traffic there, sale/buy listings will be lumped into the same category (this may change with time).

Click on "Submit a listing" to get started.

This will take you to the Listing form which will step-by-step take you through everything you need to do. I'll only go into the non-obvious things here.

 

Firstly, the "Packages".

These are intended to let us charge money for "premium" benefits, such as pinning your listing to the top of its category, featuring it elsewhere on the site (like an ad), stuff like that. We're not doing any of that stuff and are offering this as a free service, so we just have a few packages for now, based simply and solely on the amount of time the listing will stay up. 

Basically, the way the listings are shown on the site is by the latest posted. So if I post a listing for sale today, it will get pushed down by newer stuff. To avoid flooding the system, we're offering a weekly renewal and a daily renewal. What this means is that if you choose the week-long renewal, it'll get pushed down over the next week and then ask you if you want to "renew" it, at which time it will be "bumped" to the top of the listings again, or otherwise expire and get moved into the Archive section. You could also do the one-day renewal, which will allow you to bump your listing once a day (like posting "bump" on your BST threads); this of course means you'll be getting a reminder each day to bump your thread, so use the one that makes sense for your needs - it could get annoying being alerted every day that your listing is about to expire, or you could see it as a handy reminder that you need to bump your thread. Try to think positive!

We also offer an annual renewal listing type, which you could use as a single hub for all of your sale items, and simply refer to it from elsewhere on the site. Handy as a set it and forget it kind of deal.

 

Next, Images.

This is pretty obvious - adding an image will show what you have for sale when people are browsing around. This much is clear, but just wanted to make a general note - I suggest adding an image even for "Wanted" posts, and even if you are just posting a photo from the internet. This will show people at a glance what you have or are looking for, and is more likely to draw attention and get you that sweet sweet transaction you've been craving all your life.

 

Lastly, Shipment.

This is optional to enable, and is simply extra information for users. It can be handy, for instance, to state using this feature that you are willing to ship internationally at an extra cost. This will actually factor into the "Price" that you posted earlier in the process automatically as well (handy!). 

 

Managing an Existing Listing

Hah, that rhymes.

If you want to edit your listing, you can do so by clicking on "Listing Actions" and selecting "Edit Details":

 

Below this people can ask you questions, and you should answer their questions or else you may be cursed. My sample listing has no questions, so I am safe for now:

 

When someone has expressed interest in your listing, it may be a good idea to click on "Set as Pending Deal". This will let others know that you're currently working something out with another user, and are not taking further offers at this time:

And of course once you have finalized your transaction, click on "Set as Complete" (see above). Doing so will ask for a "reason", and give you a chance to set a user as the other party in the transaction, enabling you both to leave feedback:

 

And that's it for now! Hopefully this helps, and you have a general idea now of how to use the Classifieds system. Thanks for joining my Ted Talk, and don't forget to read about Feedback next, down below!

 

Feedback

So you've completed a transaction with another VGS user... but does it really feel... complete? If you've not left feedback for each other, probably not! So hop to it with this handy dandy guide!

 

When should I leave feedback?

There are a number of ways to and reasons for leaving feedback for a user, but in general follow these rules.

Feedback should only be given in the following cases:

1. Purchases, sales, and trades
   1. When you've purchased or traded/sold something using the Classifieds system (read above!)
   2. When you've purchased or traded/sold something using the BST (Buy/Sell/Trade) subforum
2. Anything "transactional"
   1. If you hire someone to do the music for your homebrew game, you may leave them feedback
      1. Same for art, etc.
   2. If they've provided some service (e.g. modding your console, fixing surface scratches on discs)

Feedback should NOT be given for basically any reason aside from the above, but for clarity's sake, the following are not feedback-worthy:

1. "Likeable" content
   1. If someone makes you laugh in a thread, just "like" the post
2. Helping with info etc.
   1. It's great that so many people are here on VGS answering questions, making guides, etc., but again, just "Like" that stuff, maybe share it

 

Remember that Feedback is intended to say "I have dealt with this person in a transactional way, and would do so again; they are trustworthy". It's not intended to be a way to "thank" a person, rather to tell others that they are a safe person to deal with.

 

How to leave Feedback for a Classifieds transaction

Firstly, make sure you're generally aware of how Classifieds work.

Once you have completed your transaction, there will be a "Leave Feedback" button on the transaction (assuming that the person who listed the Classified has marked it as "Complete"). 

A modal window will appear allowing you to add Feedback to the other user:

When the Listing was created a Discussion Topic was also created, so in this instance when dealing with a Classified Listing you want to make the Topic that topic, which will have the same name as the listing itself:

You should see "in Classifieds", which will be the right thread!

Also oops - did I just let the cat out of the bag with that screenshot? Shameless plug - VGS Subscribers of all levels get early Beta access to cool new features like these!

Make sure to leave a real comment with your feedback, really tell the tale! Give users as much info as you can about the transaction so future folks are as well equipped for their trades as possible.

 

How to leave Feedback for another type of transaction

If you've made a transaction with a user outside of the Classifieds system, you can still leave them feedback. Whether the transaction was made through Private Messages and the BST forum, or otherwise (see rules above). 

If you're within a forum thread, you can hover over a user's avatar, and doing so will give you a Feedback button:

 

 

Alternatively, you can Add Feedback from a user's Profile page:

 

Lastly, you can Add Feedback from the main Feedback page:

 

Doing any of the above will show the Add Feedback window:

 

If it's not already there, add the user to the "Member" field, and fill in the rest of the fields. Make sure to give a nice and detailed reason for the feedback in the "Comment" section, and link to a relevant topic. All of the fields are required!

Any Feedback you give to a user will appear on their profile along with the info you provided, and add to their overall feedback score which appears beside their posts on the forum, and on any Classifieds they list.

If you are having a negative experience with a user, prior to leaving neutral/negative feedback we do encourage trying to come up with a solution to your issue together. In any extreme cases do know that you can reach out to a member of the staff. If you feel that you've been given negative feedback wrongfully, same thing - reach out to the staff.

Thanks for all the continued support on the site, and remember that it's your generous donations and subscriptions that allow us to add new features like these to the site! Subscribing will give you access to new features like these ahead of the rest of the users, or "normies" as we like to call them.