East Carolinian

Issue date: 7/1/09 Section: News

OneStop provides users the chance to openly buy and sell items as well as post ads through the Trading Post. The service is open to any person with an active ECU username and password. Students, faculty and staff alike use the trading post to get rid of items, earn extra money and to buy goods. The Trading Post is also a place where users can find jobs and post advertisements, services, announcements and want ads. The Trading Post is in the community tab located in the upper left-hand corner between the tools and profile tabs on www.onestop.ecu.edu/onestop. The description for the Trading Post is "The on-line classifieds, whether you've got an item to sell or looking for something to buy, this is where you can find it."

The Trading Post is not much different than other classified Web sites. The site is updated daily. The site is moderately monitored and, according to the ECU terms-of-use Web page, posts are only deleted if "they are out of date or if the content is in violation of the law or University policy, IT Resource Use Concerns or IT Security Concerns." The site has a search feature that gives users an easier way to find what they are looking for. What makes the Trading Post different is that it is completely free. Unlike more mainstream Web sites, such as eBay, Craigslist and Amazon, the school does not charge posting fees or take a percentage of the proceeds made by users. The Trading Post community also allows users an unlimited number of posts. Items commonly sold on the site are furniture, apartments or other housing, books and electronics from TVs to gaming systems.

The community nature makes users feel more safe and comfortable with buying and selling goods. "Knowing that it's mostly open to ECU students or faculty makes me feel safer when meeting these people to trade off the items. I'm not just selling items to random, shady people. Also, eBay likes to nickel-and-dime you. 50 cents for an extra picture of the items, 10 cents for bold lettering. Trading Post is completely free, that's why I use it," said Alex Freedman. Freedman is a senior communication and Spanish double major.

Despite the convenience of the Trading Post, it does have its flaws for those who are unfamiliar with forums. Rachael Bryant is a senior sociology major and business minor. She admits that the Trading Post is not the easiest to use. "It is hard to read and figure out how to post. It has a small learning curve." The forum is similar to e-mail and the discussion board feature of Blackboard. Users click on "New Topic" to post a title of the item(s) to be sold, along with a description, prices and contact information. Users may choose to upload pictures as attachments to their post. The amount of information disclosed is up to the discretion of the user. Interested buyers may reply to a post with questions or concerns by clicking on the post reply button listed under the original post. For more private and direct communication, users can e-mail the poster directly.

Leslie Spain is a staff member with Student Accounting (third party billing) at ECU. She has used the trading post for about six months and advises future users to be smart when considering a purchase. "Don't take everything at face value. Make sure you speak to the person and take the same precautions that you would use if this were any other Web site. Also, if you are a faculty or staff, make sure to check it on your own time and not while you are at work."

Freedman adds, "If you plan to sell something on the Trading Post, it's important to check on the post frequently. It can easily get buried on the forums, so make sure to bump it up frequently so people see your post."



This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.

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