How can we better accommodate international traders?

How about separate sub-forums within each category?

For example, when you enter the Benelux forum there could then be a board for trades.

 

Having set up an IP trade in Australia, the current prefix system seems to work fine - I had no trouble. Perhaps a few more prefexes if people are requesting them, but I got 3 or 4 offers in 2 days for my Australia trip.

That said, for mail trades, a separate forum would be nice - an ISO international forum or something so you don't have to go through hundreds of posts.

 

I´ve never had a problem trading on the main ISO:FT board. I would actually prefer to continue using it over posting to an Intl. ISO:FT forum. Please leave it optional as to which forum to post on.

I do agree that the IP International is a good idea.

 

Exactly as Sunrider says. I've met many great US traders who were new to international trading on the main board. Many of those trades may never have happened if I was posting on an international specific forum.

 

As an infrequent international trader, I agree with the two posts above. Personally I would leave the main trading forum as it is but add an optional 'International' tag. I currently use the search box to find potential international trades but a tag I could click on would make it a bit easier.

 

Could make things a little messy with all of those prefixes. Another thought is that some traders will also give more than one shipping option. For example if I'm looking for something fairly tough to get I may have the bottle received by one of my regular trading buddies in the US to increase the chances of getting a match. I believe it's also common for Canadians to provide US shipping addresses. So for a system to work it would have to not simply default to displaying your location.

I think in the end the best solution here may be to leave it as is for the moment. I can't really think of any problems with the current system that need solving for international traders other than more local IP trade forums worldwide.

 

I agree with Kermis. Too many tags is off-putting and the current system has worked well up until now.
Sure, your post may get lost sometimes when the boards are busy, but just repost or adjust it 72 hours later.
I find that good offers get responded to quickly anyway.

 

As a Canadian who just had a trade package from California stopped and sent back at the border, I'd love to see a place on BA that could help facilitate Intra-Canadian trades.

I think the new ISO:FT (IP) with prefix tags looks awesome and should serve its purpose very well. The ISO:FT (Beer Only) I think works really well the way it is for US to US trades and for when us international traders do want to venture into trades with Americans.

What I'd love to see added though is a ISO:FT (International) forum with prefix tags at the top, similar to the new IP forum layout just without the blue US regions. Surely that would make it much easier for us Canadians to find other Canadians to trade with when we don't want to deal with border hassles (or for Europeans wanting to trade with other Europeans and avoid the shipping charges of sending across the Atlantic) and likely wouldn't be too much work to implement.

Cheers to you Todd for trying to make the site better for us international traders!

 

Agree 100%. The current setup is fantastic for everything except intra-national trading for BAs in countries other than the States. Beervana's suggestion would be much appreciated by this Canadian trader.

 

+1 I’d love a trade forum for Canadian mail trades just like the prefix in IP.
Would be great to see what’s moving around within our boarder, I’m sure it would get more use than the Canadian IP section.

 

Unless activity really picks up on these two forums, I think that simply Canada will work fine.

Perhaps, with respect to the likely need for clarification with the ISO:FT options you could have ISO:FT (United States), ISO:FT (National) with whatever national/regional prefixes make sense, and ISO:FT (International) for trades that cross international borders.

Of course, depending on how much use the new ISO:FT (International) forum gets, it may be able to easily accommodate both intra-national trading and international trading involving the countries in question.