Tender forum

[Shay]

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere but missed it, but doesn't closing off the Tender forum shoot itself in the foot?

Many other sites where by you pay monthly to get harrassed about stuff where as here it has been the opposite (Certainly in my experience) yet to see the Tenders you have to pay up. Isn't half of this networking lark mean't to be about helping each other including their tender requirements?

I appreciate that most of the forum is free but to start shielding off area's that were previously free but now aren't seems weird. Introduce something new then by all means charge for entrance but not to devalue what was already there.

It may just be me, but its an opinion at the very least.

 

[dave_n]

Good points....but I think £36 for the ability to tender for work is truly cheap

 

[jdpos]

Well I'll be a paid member soon, just getting money into paypal and I'll pay straight away, but I do think it's a bad idea.

 

[jdpos]

Your not allowed links in your signature aswell mate

 

[Shay]

Your not allowed links in your signature aswell mate

Why not? Has that changed too. (Have I gone over my character limit?)

 

[INDIZINE]

Your not allowed links in your signature aswell mate

Yes he is, he was a member pre March 2007, so its ok. This has been discussed and confirmed on the other main sig thread.

 

[LeonReed]

I thought it would of been better to keep two seperate tender sections.

one for fully paid members to stop spamming etc and also not shown on search engines.

The free one for people who dont mind the above and who also want more options with regards who they deal with.

Isnt there only approx 125 businesses on the directory here ? So unless a lot more become full members then people looking for companies arent getting as much choice as they could, ( considering theres over 6000 active members ) so thats not a great incentive for them becomming paid members.

 

[jdpos]

Ok........

Yes he is, he was a member pre March 2007, so its ok. This has been discussed and confirmed on the other main sig thread.

 

[INDIZINE]

For me, issuing a tender on ukbf is to work with longstanding members, not complete strangers who cannot be verified nor recommended by other forum members. I might as well go to any internet directory or thomson local and pull out some numbers lucky dip in that case.

 

[LeonReed]

I understand what you are saying fully. But lets be honest there are probably a lot of non paid members on here who are longstanding, arent strangers and can be verified and provide refs from other forum members.

 

[RayB]

I thought it would of been better to keep two seperate tender sections.

one for fully paid members to stop spamming etc and also not shown on search engines.

The free one for people who dont mind the above and who also want more options with regards who they deal with.

Isnt there only approx 125 businesses on the directory here ? So unless a lot more become full members then people looking for companies arent getting as much choice as they could, ( considering theres over 6000 active members ) so thats not a great incentive for them becomming paid members.

Hi Leon - There are 396 paid members (of which only 125 have taken a directory listing)

The new Tenders rules are the best change on UKBF since I joined AFAIK

 

[Shay]

For me, issuing a tender on ukbf is to work with longstanding members, not complete strangers who cannot be verified nor recommended by other forum members. I might as well go to any internet directory or thomson local and pull out some numbers lucky dip in that case.

Valid point but if that segment is only viewed by a smaller percentage then there must be some tenders that are unfulfilled?

If it were something new and was being charged great no problem but having something for free which was useful to all then being taken away restricts not only those who pay but also those who haven't.

Its not quite as big an issue as when Blackstar was launched on Ecad far from it but all that will happen is that people will then post in the general forum for tenders that are visible. Us non payers still need to source some suppliers/business people. If that is not allowed then how are we to know who can help and who can't?

 

[INDIZINE]

true, but the safer houses are paid up members and wouldnt dream of letting a forum customer down. The others could disappear never to return....and this has happened recently.

BTW I wouldnt post a tender, I do my own searches and contact who I choose. But if I had to, then it would still only be paid longstanding members I would get quotes from. But the forum isnt the be all and end all to quotes. There's millions of places to get quotes and they are not any more good value here than can be negotiated elsewhere.

 

[RayB]

ANY member can post a tender. If you wanna bid for that tender it's £36 per annum for the privilege. That seems to be perfectly reasonable to me.

I think it's brilliant and stops all the cowboy's who only join to quote on stuff, and never add anything to the community

 

[Shay]

True but even those above can let others down.

Its a bit like if you use Yellow pages only using those who have big fancy ads compared to the small ad. Just means that if I need a price/quote it can only go on the general forum.

Yes £36 is not much but I am so many as it is with regards the music and football websites,lol.

 

[LeonReed]

If i was looking for a company to do some work for me the first place i would look is here. I have no problem with paying membership to be able to find the right company. However i do think with using a paid only section i may miss companies who havent become paid members but may be just as good as paid members. Then theres the point that maybe they should become paid members or maybe we should all just become paid members.......maybe there should be a paid members recruitment drive with a discount to encourage more members who knows.

 

[glencooley.com]

duplication of what everyone else said damn browser didnt refresh!!

 

[RayB]

If i was looking for a company to do some work for me the first place i would look is here. I have no problem with paying membership to be able to find the right company.

You don't have to become a paid member to find the right company. Free members can still post a tender

 

[Shay]

ANY member can post a tender. If you wanna bid for that tender it's £36 per annum for the privilege. That seems to be perfectly reasonable to me.

I think it's brilliant and stops all the cowboy's who only join to quote on stuff, and never add anything to the community

So isn't that like saying those who have been here a while but not paid up are cowboys in disguise? I agree there are fly by quote merchants but personally feel its been dealt with the wrong way.

Have to agree to disagree on that one Ray, i'm off to ride my horse.

 

[LeonReed]

Which section do you post the tender in ? Unless its just me i cant view either tender section.

 

[RayB]

So isn't that like saying those who have been here a while but not paid up are cowboys in disguise?

No I'm saying a significant minority of cowboy's have spoilt it for the genuine non-paid members

But if you want to bid for work, £36 per annum is a tiny sum to pay.

 

[INDIZINE]

You would be surprised what £36 could bring you. I have well beaten the 150% betting thread!

There always was a down side to changing it to the private forum, everyone agreed this so it hasnt been overlooked, however this was the decision taken that would make things better than worse, for the regular forum members who use this forum mainly to give, receive and discuss business advice and issues.

 

[freelancer]

ANY member can post a tender. If you wanna bid for that tender it's £36 per annum for the privilege. That seems to be perfectly reasonable to me.

I think it's brilliant and stops all the cowboy's who only join to quote on stuff, and never add anything to the community

£36 is a bargain like Ray said. I've made probably 70 times that from the section.

I think the main reason for doing this is to stop the users who just use this site for jobs. You see them go straight from registeration into the tenders section, and then post and bring up threads were posted well over a year ago.....

 

[Trulli]

I agree it's a good idea. But does make me feel even more of an outsider.
I know it's not like I tender for anything anyway or ever will but it was helpful to me to get a rough idea of the cost of things I might need in the future.

Sarah

 

[glencooley.com]

I agree it's a good idea. But does make me feel even more of an outsider.
I know it's not like I tender for anything anyway or ever will but it was helpful to me to get a rough idea of the cost of things I might need in the future.

Sarah

So join us and feel all warm and cuddly and you get to slag Earl off in the private area

 

[Fill-Your-World]

I agree it's a good idea. But does make me feel even more of an outsider.
I know it's not like I tender for anything anyway or ever will but it was helpful to me to get a rough idea of the cost of things I might need in the future.

Sarah

Im pretty sure non-paid members can still start threads, they just cant post to other peoples tender requests :| Am I wrong?

 

[INDIZINE]

I agree it's a good idea. But does make me feel even more of an outsider.
I know it's not like I tender for anything anyway or ever will but it was helpful to me to get a rough idea of the cost of things I might need in the future.

Sarah

Sarah, you can still ask quotes for and see the results when you ask for quotes, though people rarely post their rates on the tender posts except the fixed cheap stuff.

 

[Trulli]

Yes Laura I can still post if I need a quote but can't see other people threads that's what I meant.

 

[Alice3537]

To a non-payer, the Tenders forum is listed as 'private' - they can neither view nor post there.

 

[alex4orne]

It doesn't particularly bother me either way as most tenders seem to be for something outside of my field (accountantcy and internet related) BUT I am dissapointed I wont be able to follow the Polish guys thread anymore. I was rather enjoying that one.

And yes £36 to be able to tender over a year isn't to bad at all. Wont be paying though, at least untill I know what direction I want to go in.

 

[INDIZINE]

• both free and full members can post tender requests
• only full members can see tender requests made in the forum
• free members who post a request will be able to view, edit and reply to their own requests
• tender requests will expire automatically 2 weeks after the last post is made
• tender requests will always display by thread start date - no bumping allowed!

 

[Alice3537]

• both free and full members can post tender requests
• only full members can see tender requests made in the forum
• free members who post a request will be able to view, edit and reply to their own requests
• tender requests will expire automatically 2 weeks after the last post is made
• tender requests will always display by thread start date - no bumping allowed!

Either I'm looking at a different forum, or I am a special case!!

Tenders shows as 'private' when I view the index page!

 

[jamie1183]

ANY member can post a tender. If you wanna bid for that tender it's £36 per annum for the privilege. That seems to be perfectly reasonable to me.

I think it's brilliant and stops all the cowboy's who only join to quote on stuff, and never add anything to the community

I totally agree with Ray, I use Approved Index that send me leads and charge me £25 for each lead then have to pitch against other companies similar to what you do here i suppose but that is per lead and here you get a years worth for £36 I don't see why anyone would complain.

I have only been here a few weeks and am very pleased with everything I have seen and comments and help people give each other. I have made back my £36 back 30 times from jobs I have got from UKBFM but also have given alot of free advice and help to people.

But £36 to be allowed to quote on jobs is not a big issue in my eyes, sorry if this offends anyone.

 

[RayB]

Anyone still in doubt?

Will you spend an hour or so fretting and posting about this injustice?

Do you charge less than £30 per hour?

Well - pay the £36 and save us ALL some time

 

[INDIZINE]

what were you hoping to view, alice?

 

[jamie1183]

ANY member can post a tender. If you wanna bid for that tender it's £36 per annum for the privilege. That seems to be perfectly reasonable to me.

I think it's brilliant and stops all the cowboy's who only join to quote on stuff, and never add anything to the community

Well Said Ray

 

[jamie1183]

Either I'm looking at a different forum, or I am a special case!!

Tenders shows as 'private' when I view the index page!

Yes she is right, if you are not a paid member the forum shows up as private I think you can post tenders but not see them

Edit: if you are a paid member you must have not been logged in

 

[RayB]

To a non-payer, the Tenders forum is listed as 'private' - they can neither view nor post there.

Exactly - but any member can post a new tender (if it's working properly!!)

 

[jdpos]

Yes she is right, if you are not a paid member the forum shows up as private, someone told me that earlier

Nope, it's a private forum, non paying members can only see and reply to their own threads.

 

[Alice3537]

what were you hoping to view, alice?

Er, the tenders??

I must be getting confused because people are saying things about who can post tenders, who can reply and who can do whatever. On the index, tenders (to me at least) is a 'private' and inaccessible area.

I am logged in (to Jamie1183, sorry I haven't replied directly!).

To be fair, I don't really 'use' that section of the forum as such and so have no reason to complain - merely commenting on what, to me, is confusing, given the comments of other members!