New Idea for "Vendors" Subforum

[the joint]

Hi,  I'd like to humbly propose an idea for a new 'vendors' subforum.  I know that vendors announce new sites in other subforums like the marketplace and project development subforums, but we've reached what I believe is a critical point where, in addition to the brilliant idea to add a security subforum, we need a subforum that focuses explicitly on established vendors by category.  Why?  Because Bitcoin DESPERATELY needs infrastructure growth.  I know the Bitcoin Wiki has something similar, but I think we need something like that on this forum.  For example, click on 'Vendors' subforum, and you can then click on specific item threads such as "food," "clothing," "technology," "precious metals," etc. which would then include all vendors selling products pertaining to that category.  


The idea is basically to create a subforum that acts as a virtual mall, where you can stroll from store to store and gaze at the myriad items you can buy with your BTC.  The inclusion of polls relating to each vendor may also help as to allow customers to rate their experience of shopping as it relates to their perceived level of security, site layout, product selection, etc.  These polls could help to establish a general ranking system for each vendor in each product category.  Then, a forum member may glance at these rankings, see that so-and-so's site is ranked the highest in that category, and be encouraged to shop there.  


This would help promote competition in the marketplace which is a VERY good thing.  Competition will lead vendors to strive for maximum security and, in general, maximum utility for their customers.  This subforum would therefore require a lot of maintenance and upkeep by admins, but I think in general it would be a wonderful step for the growth of Bitcoin infrastructure.  As it stands, I think the marketplace subforum is frankly too large to sift through to find any one site in particular and know how that site stacks up against others.  


Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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[tysat]

I'd suggest spacing out your proposal into paragraphs.... I'm interested in the idea (from what I read in the title), but can't bring myself to try and read that wall of text.  A little bit of formatting goes a long way.

[the joint]

I'd suggest spacing out your proposal into paragraphs.... I'm interested in the idea (from what I read in the title), but can't bring myself to try and read that wall of text.  A little bit of formatting goes a long way.

Haha, one paragraph = a wall of text?  It was like 9 sentences lol.   If you say so    Fixed it for you.

[tysat]

I'd suggest spacing out your proposal into paragraphs.... I'm interested in the idea (from what I read in the title), but can't bring myself to try and read that wall of text.  A little bit of formatting goes a long way.

Haha, one paragraph = a wall of text?  It was like 9 sentences lol.   If you say so    Fixed it for you.

It was like 15 lines of text all in a row, makes it a little tricky to read through.

Though it is a good idea, it would need to be heavily moderated to have it done how you said.  Keeping things on track would be crucial for it to work properly.  If that can be done, then I think it's a great idea.

[the joint]

I'd suggest spacing out your proposal into paragraphs.... I'm interested in the idea (from what I read in the title), but can't bring myself to try and read that wall of text.  A little bit of formatting goes a long way.

Haha, one paragraph = a wall of text?  It was like 9 sentences lol.   If you say so    Fixed it for you.

It was like 15 lines of text all in a row, makes it a little tricky to read through.

Though it is a good idea, it would need to be heavily moderated to have it done how you said.  Keeping things on track would be crucial for it to work properly.  If that can be done, then I think it's a great idea.

Agreed.  There would need to be constant updates on the polls and rankings so that those vendors with the highest rankings would be given greatest visibility (e.g. placement at the top of their thread category).  As an incentive, perhaps each vendor could donate a small amount of BTC each month to the admins to be included in this subforum (can you say exclusivity?  ).  This would give the admins an incentive to consistently update the thread (say, once a day per admin).  Or, the community could pitch in.  I would gladly donate a small portion of BTC along with other community members if it meant significant growth in infrastructure.

[wumpus]

You mean an overview of vendors? Lorna Morgan is working on a site for this,  http://payco.in/

It's still a bit in its early stages but it also allows ranking and posting reviews, which can be very important as trust is still an issue, and it's better structured than another forum subforum.

[Lorna Morgan]

You mean an overview of vendors? Lorna Morgan is working on a site for this,  http://payco.in/

It's still a bit in its early stages but it also allows ranking and posting reviews, which can be very important as trust is still an issue, and it's better structured than another forum subforum.

Thanks for mentioning it here John 

My http://payco.in site allows users to set up their own group of sites that they keep up to date, plus as John said users can rate and review the sites.

I can also add new administrators as the site gets "heavier" to help out. At the moment it's just me. [and I've got 2 day jobs too  ]

I can offer anyone that can add 20 or more new links to the site the opportunity to help administer the site if that's incentive enough ...

http://payco.in/account.php?r=register

Any other comments, issues, ideas, etc?

[joulesbeef]

sounds like a good idea too me.. it is hard for people to find a good list of where to spend, and where to avoid.

[edd]

There's also The Bitcoin List, which provides visitors the opportunity to rate and review.

I admit, it needs some work and I've fallen behind in adding site links but new vendors and merchants can always submit their info via the contact page.

[the joint]

You mean an overview of vendors? Lorna Morgan is working on a site for this,  http://payco.in/

It's still a bit in its early stages but it also allows ranking and posting reviews, which can be very important as trust is still an issue, and it's better structured than another forum subforum.

Thanks for mentioning it here John  

My http://payco.in site allows users to set up their own group of sites that they keep up to date, plus as John said users can rate and review the sites.

I can also add new administrators as the site gets "heavier" to help out. At the moment it's just me. [and I've got 2 day jobs too  ]

I can offer anyone that can add 20 or more new links to the site the opportunity to help administer the site if that's incentive enough ...

http://payco.in/account.php?r=register

Any other comments, issues, ideas, etc?

This looks great.  I think that when completed, you site should be given a primary focus on this forum.  However, my concern is still that there are still too many broad categories to really catch a customer's attention.  

When you walk into a mall, you want to buy products.  If you don't know your way around the mall, you stop at one of those mall directories and see the shops listed under each product category.  Your site, while also needed, is still a bit more in depth, and I think that maybe some of the categories overlap.  For example "health products," " gadgets," and "adults" could all be included under the "retail and shops (web)" category.  

When I want to spend my BTC, I want to window shop from store to store as if I were strolling along, walking past each one.  When I'm in the mall, I also know which stores are the most exclusive and which ones offer the bargains.  What I am saying is, while your site's overall depth of coverage is needed and that everyone on this forum should be directed to it upon its completion, I think that a subforum focusing specifically on products and products only would gather immediate attention.  Maybe there is a way where the coding on this subforum only could be written such that poll results automatically rank and reorganize vendor threads?  I'm not sure.  I just know this forum seems like the main hub for Bitcoin users, and having a 'virtual mall' as close to the hub (e.g. a metropolitan city) as possible seems like it would get the most attention.  

Edit:  Think of the "goods" section in marketplace but filtered so that individual offers are filtered out and the remaining businesses are ranked under specific product categories.

[laydum]

Support. Or well I support what I read, I'm not gonna lie i didnt read the entire wall