One would think that with current supply of firearms being better than over the last five years that it would be more of a “buyer’s market”. As S4F said firearm sales are slow and there are several factors driving that ... there is competition from other sites, the economy being what it (still) is (thanks Obama) and people needing the most for their firearms. Also could be that people who view the OSA classifieds simply do not have the need much less want for what is being sold.
Years ago when I joined OSA I did so only to sell guns that I was not shooting (so I could buy more guns that I will not shoot). Over the last few years I have sold a Browning B80 shotgun, a S&W 2206, S&W41, an insanely accurate S&W 629DX (kind of wish I had that one back), a Ruger English stock 12 ga R/L (kind of wish I had that one back too) a beautiful Win 9422 (and this one) and a couple of really nice Sakos off the OSA board. Just sold a Rem 700VS 22-250 and I didn’t notice that selling it took any longer of time being posted than any of the others.
Years ago when I joined OSA I did so only to sell guns that I was not shooting (so I could buy more guns that I will not shoot). Over the last few years I have sold a Browning B80 shotgun, a S&W 2206, S&W41, an insanely accurate S&W 629DX (kind of wish I had that one back), a Ruger English stock 12 ga R/L (kind of wish I had that one back too) a beautiful Win 9422 (and this one) and a couple of really nice Sakos off the OSA board. Just sold a Rem 700VS 22-250 and I didn’t notice that selling it took any longer of time being posted than any of the others.
Years ago? Your join date is March 2016.
The other thing is that forum activity in general is down over the past few years as well, not just OSA. Some larger national boards such as Arfcom do a much better job of hiding it because they have so many members. I go to several college sports message boards and they all just a shell of what they used to be. It's the evolution of social media. There will always be a place for forums but there will always be something shiny and new to grab our attention. Trolls annoy some people that do not know how to handle them and turn them off to the board.
I check the classified section every day. I put a "wtb" on since the new ownership/layout and it was a snap. We're bitching about a change, or extra clicks? We have had posts about someone didn't treat me nice at a store. We are sounding like the students crying about a safe space. If we can't click a mouse, maybe we shouldn't even be around firearms.
I'm saving my money for vacation fixing up the house and I'm not selling any of my guns cause I need all of them. So I don't even visit the gun classifieds, haven't been on armslist in a long time either.
Some good points. But in OSA's case it has more to do with it no longer being a locally owned/run forum (yeah, they let a few inmates stick around as "mods" but it's not the same thing).
It's been acquired by out of state interests and turned into a data farm...I'm sure pay-to-play content will follow soon.
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For me personally, the new website designed sort of soured me on the site. That and the frequent moderating.
I agree. I liked how I could see state wide rather than clicking through so many categories. I like the option to do so but so many people on here usually are moving around the state that where two people live isnt as big of a deal and if you want a gun really bad youll drive to go get it or sell it.
As for others saying its a lot of work to post. Well armslist is just as much work but I did like how easy it was to post before. I like the new options as well but I'd like the choice of both. Either a simple picture and brief description or a detailed ad.
How do you access them now? Have you tried the classifieds tab at the top? It shows every category on one page.
