What are the general rules on when this is okay? Does it change if you're doing different types of trades, i.e. r-4-r KH-types, versus $-4-$ locals?
It's technically not ok, ever. Straight from the rules - "No bumping": http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beer-trading-rules-faqs.229/ But people do it frequently anyway.
You can recreate your thread but as cbeer88 said self bumping is specifically mentioned as being a violation of the rules.
They do, and it generally gets reported and taken care of with warnings issued to users so they know not to do it again.
If a user wants to redo a trade request after 24 hours would you prefer that a user bump the old thread or start a new one?
That brings up another question: should users be allowed to repost a trade in such a short period of time? But we're talking bumping for attention here, not replying with a legit update or to a question.
Yeah, I had actually seen that rule, but I also saw a bunch of people bump their own threads. And I figured since creating a new thread would have essentially the same effect, I just wanted to get an idea of what the proper considerations are.
Of course, like most other things, the last sentence is a matter of degree. If I bump my thread to say "I'll accept $-4-$," is that a legit update, or is it just for attention? Tough to say, sometimes.
Does a "legit update" include changing the offer (i.e. "Willing to also put in these bottles:...")? I assume that the bumping that isn't allowed is just something like "Still nobody. Waiting for a hit..."
So if they want to repost 5 days later, what would you prefer? Just wondering if i have a trade that doesnt get done and I want to try it again how to go about that best.
Yeah. I think updates to a trade are fine, but if someone is just trying to get your trade seen ... report it.
Realistically speaking though, a healthy percentage of "adding something to the trade" updates are just bumps in disguise. i.e. if you're "ISO: one beer, FT: a big list", and you add 2 beers to said list with an update, you are probably going to benefit more from the bump than from the 2 beers you actually added to your list. This is very commonly done, but not so blatant that it's reportable... Personally I think bumps are better than just reposting the same trade 24 hours later, as it keeps the forum more tidy. Either way it's tough though - with the speed the front page moves these days you sometimes need to get your ISO/FT seen by both the "day shift" and the "night shift". It would be great if people looked past the front page of the forum, but that's just tried and true human Internet behavior to only look at the first page. I would propose one bump is allowed after 24 hours. This could coincide nicely with mods/educating people, where if a noob bumps a frivolous offer, somebody could step in and explain why they're not getting any bites.
People looking for a particular, popular/rare beer might be willing to Ctrl+F and search for it. But for people looking for regular issue beers and/or locals, those deals have almost no chance once they get pushed off the first page.
I would let people bump once every 48 hrs, otherwise they will just stealth bump ("Oh..I found this other bottle I'd be willing to trade also") or they'd create a whole new thread, which is a waste of time and adds clutter to the forum.
