I know that things are sometimes going to end up in strange places so I do my searching a bit differently, but this will only work if you have time to go into SOR once or twice a day. When I check out the auctions I check new items and when I check approvals I check new books and then order them by time. I realize not everyone has the time to do this but it works for me. I you only check every few days I can see how a lot could easily be missed. I'm on my own with lots of time to play on the computer. My favorite antique site is Ruby Lane and I check their new items every evening before bed.
" I do not look for New Zealand under commonwealth"
Ian, actually it was not your book that I missed but this one which I had looked 3 times for on Thursday. https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=24817#175787
I eventually went to the link in the post, which is not how I usually go and lo and behold there it was.
Normally I just go to the Auctions/approval link under "HOME", click on GB or NZ or wherever.
While it is nice to have stamps properly labelled, I know my Geography and am a keen student of current affairs. New Zealand is a member of the Commonwealth and hopefully will be for many years to come. So how come that is worthy of comment? Who else cares?
What I cannot get my head around though is why pages of stamps keep showing up labelled "ENGLAND". In total, only 49 stamps have ever been issued from ENGLAND and the current approvals book from there does not contain any of those 49. Being a Scot, it's hard enough putting up with control from our neighbour, but like my brother's and sisters in Wales and Northern Ireland it's galling seeing stamps showing The Declaration of Arbroath labelled as English.
Seems to me a pattern is forming though. Sheepshanks and some others continually come on to Stamporama forums complaining about this or that. No doubt it will soon be for spelling or grammar and they will chase people away from this site. Get a life you lot. Go easy on other people. The person who never made a mistake never made anything.
Every day I see 5 or 6 new members join, but apart from Johnny Rockets I never see anyone putting their heads above the parapet to air opinions, I think because these old busybodies keep trying to shoot them down. Try encouragement rather than moaning. I bet you will feel better if you are supportive too.
Sorry Gudgie, I thought I was being supportive by letting sellers know that if they put items in the wrong categories they are likely to get less sales.
Yes New Zealand is part of the Commonwealth but there is a specific section for it outside the broader section.
I certainly do not constantly complain, many times I try to answer queries where my limited knowledge can help.
For Gudgie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIvRkjOd1f8
For everyone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M
I just put up a New Zealand approval book and I always have chosen British Commonwealth for a country if the majority of the book are the older stamps that were issued when the country was a colony. If the stamps are newer and issued by the country itself - then I choose the other category. I have problems like this with many colonies (not just British) when deciding what is the best category to choose. (eg. Take Angola - I Select Portugal and Colonies but should I be selecting Africa ?) It would be nice to be able to select 2 categories from the list for examples like this. Steve
Would it be possible for someone to make a list and post it on our main menu listing
that has a list of all our country Categories that, when clicking on a category heading,
would show a drop-down list of all countries under that category heading?
Sellers who are unsure of where to post their item(s) could access it to verify the proper placement of said items.
...just a thought.
Sellers must do this,
Sellers must do that,
Sellers must do the next thing.
Sellers are human.
Sellers make mistakes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSSxnv1_J2g
Buyers are perfect.
Buyers never make mistakes.
Buyers are always right.
Yawn!...Yawn!...Yawn!
We have a system here, it is not perfect, it is run by volunteers, so can we have some tolerance PLEASE!
People, don't try to overthink this.
Designating categories are different between Auctions and Approvals. However, in both platforms, the idea is to select the category that best relates to the stamps.
For auctions, you choose from two categories: There's the main category, which should be the closest related to the auction lot, AND you can select several from the list to help people find the auction lot in their searches. Then there is the specific country from where the stamp is from, but you can only select one. All of the country names are available. For an auction lot, it would be best to select: "AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND & OCEANIA", "BRITISH COMMONWEALTH & COLONIES" (also select the type if you want, such as topical, covers, packet, etc.), and then the country "New Zealand".
For approvals, you can only select one category from the list. The Approval Category List is almost identical to the Auction Category List. The intent is again, to select the category to which the approval book fits the best. Use the more generic categories if there isn't a specific category. This, again, helps buyer easily find what they are looking for. Do not rely on people to know when a country was a colony or post-colony. For New Zealand, the appropriate category to select would be "AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND & OCEANIA", since "New Zealand is included in the category name.
Use the KISS method. Your objective is to help people find your stamps so that they can buy them. remember, you do not want to provide history/geography lessons. You want to sell your stamps.
Not to be pedantic but when listing an Approval Book New Zealand is not mentioned.
The category only says AUSTRALIA+
Not Australia, New Zealand and Oceania as in the Auction Category.
So it is quite easy to list New Zealand as British Commonwealth if one is half asleep, not concentrating or thinking about something else.
Of course potential buyers should learn to use the various search functions that stamporama provides whether it is in the Approval Books or the Auctions rather than expecting sellers to "Lay everything on a plate".
Sellers can and do make mistakes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tryBwAN0r8M
Ian,
You raise a good point. I have changed the field that is being displayed on the Add a Book screen so that rather than "Australia+" it now displays "AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND & OCEANIA". All the categories on the Add a Book screen now display the full category description.
Regards ... Tim.
Tim got here just before me.
Thanks, Tim.
Jings!...Crivvens!...Help Ma Boab!
That was quick.
Thanks Tim.
Could I please ask that when putting items up for sale that sellers select the right category for the stamps.
I do not go looking for books in anything other than the appropriate place. I do not look for New Zealand under commonwealth or BIOT under Great Britain, come on folks it is not hard to select the right place. At the end of the day you are missing sales.
re: Auction and approval country categories
I know that things are sometimes going to end up in strange places so I do my searching a bit differently, but this will only work if you have time to go into SOR once or twice a day. When I check out the auctions I check new items and when I check approvals I check new books and then order them by time. I realize not everyone has the time to do this but it works for me. I you only check every few days I can see how a lot could easily be missed. I'm on my own with lots of time to play on the computer. My favorite antique site is Ruby Lane and I check their new items every evening before bed.
re: Auction and approval country categories
" I do not look for New Zealand under commonwealth"
re: Auction and approval country categories
Ian, actually it was not your book that I missed but this one which I had looked 3 times for on Thursday. https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=24817#175787
I eventually went to the link in the post, which is not how I usually go and lo and behold there it was.
Normally I just go to the Auctions/approval link under "HOME", click on GB or NZ or wherever.
re: Auction and approval country categories
While it is nice to have stamps properly labelled, I know my Geography and am a keen student of current affairs. New Zealand is a member of the Commonwealth and hopefully will be for many years to come. So how come that is worthy of comment? Who else cares?
What I cannot get my head around though is why pages of stamps keep showing up labelled "ENGLAND". In total, only 49 stamps have ever been issued from ENGLAND and the current approvals book from there does not contain any of those 49. Being a Scot, it's hard enough putting up with control from our neighbour, but like my brother's and sisters in Wales and Northern Ireland it's galling seeing stamps showing The Declaration of Arbroath labelled as English.
Seems to me a pattern is forming though. Sheepshanks and some others continually come on to Stamporama forums complaining about this or that. No doubt it will soon be for spelling or grammar and they will chase people away from this site. Get a life you lot. Go easy on other people. The person who never made a mistake never made anything.
Every day I see 5 or 6 new members join, but apart from Johnny Rockets I never see anyone putting their heads above the parapet to air opinions, I think because these old busybodies keep trying to shoot them down. Try encouragement rather than moaning. I bet you will feel better if you are supportive too.
re: Auction and approval country categories
Sorry Gudgie, I thought I was being supportive by letting sellers know that if they put items in the wrong categories they are likely to get less sales.
Yes New Zealand is part of the Commonwealth but there is a specific section for it outside the broader section.
I certainly do not constantly complain, many times I try to answer queries where my limited knowledge can help.
re: Auction and approval country categories
For Gudgie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIvRkjOd1f8
For everyone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M
re: Auction and approval country categories
I just put up a New Zealand approval book and I always have chosen British Commonwealth for a country if the majority of the book are the older stamps that were issued when the country was a colony. If the stamps are newer and issued by the country itself - then I choose the other category. I have problems like this with many colonies (not just British) when deciding what is the best category to choose. (eg. Take Angola - I Select Portugal and Colonies but should I be selecting Africa ?) It would be nice to be able to select 2 categories from the list for examples like this. Steve
re: Auction and approval country categories
Would it be possible for someone to make a list and post it on our main menu listing
that has a list of all our country Categories that, when clicking on a category heading,
would show a drop-down list of all countries under that category heading?
Sellers who are unsure of where to post their item(s) could access it to verify the proper placement of said items.
...just a thought.
re: Auction and approval country categories
Sellers must do this,
Sellers must do that,
Sellers must do the next thing.
Sellers are human.
Sellers make mistakes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSSxnv1_J2g
Buyers are perfect.
Buyers never make mistakes.
Buyers are always right.
Yawn!...Yawn!...Yawn!
We have a system here, it is not perfect, it is run by volunteers, so can we have some tolerance PLEASE!
re: Auction and approval country categories
People, don't try to overthink this.
Designating categories are different between Auctions and Approvals. However, in both platforms, the idea is to select the category that best relates to the stamps.
For auctions, you choose from two categories: There's the main category, which should be the closest related to the auction lot, AND you can select several from the list to help people find the auction lot in their searches. Then there is the specific country from where the stamp is from, but you can only select one. All of the country names are available. For an auction lot, it would be best to select: "AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND & OCEANIA", "BRITISH COMMONWEALTH & COLONIES" (also select the type if you want, such as topical, covers, packet, etc.), and then the country "New Zealand".
For approvals, you can only select one category from the list. The Approval Category List is almost identical to the Auction Category List. The intent is again, to select the category to which the approval book fits the best. Use the more generic categories if there isn't a specific category. This, again, helps buyer easily find what they are looking for. Do not rely on people to know when a country was a colony or post-colony. For New Zealand, the appropriate category to select would be "AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND & OCEANIA", since "New Zealand is included in the category name.
Use the KISS method. Your objective is to help people find your stamps so that they can buy them. remember, you do not want to provide history/geography lessons. You want to sell your stamps.
re: Auction and approval country categories
Not to be pedantic but when listing an Approval Book New Zealand is not mentioned.
The category only says AUSTRALIA+
Not Australia, New Zealand and Oceania as in the Auction Category.
So it is quite easy to list New Zealand as British Commonwealth if one is half asleep, not concentrating or thinking about something else.
Of course potential buyers should learn to use the various search functions that stamporama provides whether it is in the Approval Books or the Auctions rather than expecting sellers to "Lay everything on a plate".
Sellers can and do make mistakes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tryBwAN0r8M
re: Auction and approval country categories
Ian,
You raise a good point. I have changed the field that is being displayed on the Add a Book screen so that rather than "Australia+" it now displays "AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND & OCEANIA". All the categories on the Add a Book screen now display the full category description.
Regards ... Tim.
re: Auction and approval country categories
Tim got here just before me.
Thanks, Tim.
re: Auction and approval country categories
Jings!...Crivvens!...Help Ma Boab!
That was quick.
Thanks Tim.