REP ads pushing real Bargains off the page...

LRideCurbs on 25/05/2011 - 12:43

Hi Guys,

Just logged on during my lunch break,
I began to peruse the side column for 'new deals' when I noticed that the top 5 deals all had 0 votes (meaning they were created by a rep)

Now I have no problem with a rep advertising a huge sale or heavily discounted item,
But these are all online shops selling phone cases for more than you can buy them from ebay/dealextreme and this really angered me as that meant that potentially 5 very legitimate deals could have been pushed off the bottom of the 'new deals' list before they got enough views and votes to make it to the main 'popular deals' list.

I think maybe the REP ads need to be in their own list, maybe below user posted bargains so that the real deals get some actual air time and this site can remain awesome at what it is intended for, making others aware of awesome bargains, and not just some website where online shops can advertise very regular products at regular prices for free…

Justin.

Mod — Moved to Announcement/Feedback forum.

Site Discussion

Comments

  • andy19363 on 25/05/2011 - 13:17

    new deals will always get replaced by 'newer' deals…. irrespective of their popularity….

    just bookmark here instead…. http://www.ozbargain.com.au/deals
    shows all the new deals…. good or bad

  • scrimshaw on 25/05/2011 - 13:34
    +1

    Just go to your account settings => Preferences

    You should see a section:

    Minimum Votes:

    Change the setting to Customized

    Minimum Votes for Deals: Change this value to 3 or 4

    Now you shouldn't see any rep deals UNLESS it has garnered an x number positive votes from Ozbargain.

    • issh on 25/05/2011 - 16:13

      Now you shouldn't see any rep deals UNLESS it has garnered an x number positive votes from Ozbargain.

      not necessarily 'rep' deals but all deas that don'y real the 3-4 + vote criteria

  • ESEMCE on 25/05/2011 - 14:03

    I don't mind the suggestion to have a separate section for Rep deals.
    I'm here most of the day so I don't miss much, but I do get annoyed when I've been out of the office for an hour or two and come back to see a bunch of crappy Rep deals in the New Deals sidebar meaning I have to check the new deals page.

  • neil on 25/05/2011 - 15:19
    +1

    Please note this from guidelines:

    Notes to merchants:

    As OzBargain is a community website, deals that you have posted will be judged and voted by our community members. Post when you have a bargain and not for plain advertising. Plain adverts may be removed or may make it difficult for you to post, when you have something that really should be popular. Reps posting deals which are constantly attracting excessive negative votes may also see the account and/or domain banned by the mods.

    We have banned a number of reps lately for posting subpar deals including big names like EBGames. If you see a merchant with a number of deals (e.g. 2 or 3) with little or negative votes, report it to the mods.

    • TheBooleanOne on 14/07/2011 - 15:26

      Does ones with little or no votes count?
      Here's one rep as an example of mediocre deals attracting little or no votes:
      http://www.ozbargain.com.au/user/52819/nodes

      • neil on 14/07/2011 - 15:40

        Yes, thanks e-sassin (living up to your name). That's a great example of what this ban is all about. The Westfield domain has popular posts but when it comes to rep posted deals they fail for the most part. A temporary ban is not to punish the rep or the business but to provoke them into posting good deals which Westfield's certainly has the ability to due to the amount of shops that are within it's properties.

  • c64 on 25/05/2011 - 18:23

    my suggestion is separate sections for group buy deals & rep deals and let them have a free for all. popular deals can get elevated to the front page. i think most of the angst comes from people who do not want to see those types of deals in the first place.

    • [Deactivated] on 27/05/2011 - 08:32

      That has some merit and maybe worth looking into.

      • samfisher5986 on 28/05/2011 - 00:55

        I agree.

        It will encourage reps to get to the front page, unlike now where simply being in new deals seems to generate some sales..

        • andy19363 on 28/05/2011 - 06:43
          +1

          Will also encourage sockpuppeting I would imagine….

    • gstfree on 30/05/2011 - 16:52

      I have to agree. Most of reps deals are subpar bargains and purely advertisement.
      After ozbargain website was listed on the latest Readers Digest article, more and more reps started to use ozbargain website as a free advertisement platform.

      A separate sections for reps & group buys will definitely help.

      • [Deactivated] on 04/06/2011 - 15:46

        any chance of a link etc to the article. We have made some changes to posting requirements especially from those OS, but info like this would help as of late we have seen a larger than normal number of these OS postings

        Cheers

  • [Deactivated] on 28/05/2011 - 20:17

    This may see more sockpuppeting, but may also flush this out. Also mods are already banning reps and deals when they consistently rate low.

  • Purt on 23/06/2011 - 15:33

    Why not have the rep posts just forwarded to a mod to confirm whether they should be posted or not. The rep can work out if the deal is good enough to list.

    these reps are getting a little out of control…

    or is there a way to hide rep posts?

    • moocher on 28/06/2011 - 11:03

      is there a way to hide rep posts?

      You can hide rep posts on the new deals page.

      Go to "New Deals", then click on "Preferences", and click on the checkbox for

      "Do not show deals posted by Store Representatives on New Deals listing"

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join