Posted by:
Rextiles
at Fri Aug 28 19:19:36 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Rextiles ]
We "split" classified sections once an animal group reaches a certain percentage in it's existing section, and reaches a certain "mass" in their number.
What type of percentage are we talking about here? Out of the 245 listings as of today, 44 of those are for Hognose snakes which is a percentage of about 18% of the listings under Other Snakes. Being that there's a large assortment of species falling in the Other Snakes category, I'd say that's a pretty respectable percentage.
If you add up the amount of listings for New World Ratsnakes and Old World Ratsnakes together, it only amounts to 201 listings, of those only 53 belong to the Old World Rats which is not that far off from the amount of Hognose ads. The percentage for Old World Rats would be at 26% under that collective. Of course if we put together all the Rat Snake sections, New World, Old World and Corns, the amount of ads would be 416 ads which would then put the Old World Rats at a percentage of only 12.7%.
Of course it's already been mentioned about the Gray-Bandeds which only has 24 ads yet has it's own section regardless of history. The Other Kingsnakes category has a whopping 356 ads alone and if you combine both the Gray-Banded ads along with the Other Kingsnakes ads, you would get 380 ads which would give the Gray-Bandeds a percentage of only 6%. Personally, I believe that the Other Kingsnakes should be divvied up much the same way all the Ratsnakes have been considering there's almost as many ads which could be broken down into just Kingsnakes and Milksnakes respectively.
However, their are a number of factors that we have to take into account as well such as sponsorship contracts, section staffing, and things of that nature.
Would it really be that difficult and costly to just add another category? I think it would benefit, not only the sellers, but this site as it would better clarify the market for hognose snakes which seems to be growing in popularity.
I would think that there would also be the opportunity to score more revenue from a hognose category banner section considering the amount of banner ads present in the hognose forum here. If I were to want to spend money on a banner as it is now, I'd rather have it here in the forum than the Other Snakes category. But if there was a Hognose category, I would rather have a banner ad there instead.
To be honest, I oftentimes miss hognose ads in the Other Snakes category because there is so much unrelated stuff to sift through. I'd be willing to bet that many others feel this way too.
Also, some sellers don't always have the best descriptions which might exclude the exact type of species of snake they are trying to sell. Having a hognose category would rectify that problem immediately.
According to our classifieds dept as of today in that section there are 228 ads and of those 38 ads are hognoses. While the number is creeping up, it would probably need to be close to double that before we would split it off.
I don't understand the need for the hognose ads to have to be double in numbers since the percentages are not that far off nor are the ad amounts considering some of the other categories I've already mentioned. While I still don't understand the logistics of costs and time to add a new category for hognose snakes, I can't help but feel that this isn't being looked at from a purely objective standpoint considering all the other data to be considered.
And when we did half of you would love it, the other half would hate it
Why would anybody hate having a new classifieds category which would only bring forth clarity? I would make the assumption that even the sellers in the Other Snakes category would perhaps welcome the change as it would make it less cluttered and easier to view their other snake ads without having to sift through the hognose ads. Also, hognose sellers would love the idea as it makes it much easier for buyers to solely focus on exactly what they want to look for. I'd be interested in hearing what others would have to say, but the general consensus so far seems pretty positive towards having a new category.
I'm sure there might be a very few people who might object to the idea of a hognose only section, but I'd be willing to bet that they would be a very small minority out of the many that could only benefit from such an addition.
Just my 3 cents, what with the economy and all. :P
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles
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RE: Hognose Classifieds - Rextiles, Fri Aug 28 19:19:36 2009