At 07:58 PM 4/7/2004 -0400, PBridge130@aol.com ushered forth:
>as Aaron wrote:
>
>"I'd like to make an appeal in general re ebay outings: Please include in the
>
>subject what it is you're outing, e.g., bicycle brand, year, and size? I've
>gotten lots of great and interesting leads from the list, but also lots of
>mystery outings that were jokes, or not something I'm interested in.
>Thanks for the consideration. Aaron Lipstadt"
>
>I couldn't agree more strongly. When I find posts that say "see my new ebay
>listings", but don't list them, I don't bother. When I see post titles that
>say, "Question", or "For Sale", I delete them unread. Aaron's request is
>dead
>on -- if you're offering a 52cm Colnago for sale, please say so in the title
>line, and if I'm looking for a 52, I'll be sure to read the post.
While it is easy enough to see your point, the matter is more complicated than your request might suggest. I believe that strict adherence (which will never happen anyway) would do little more than to produce another condition you might find untenable. For example: what you suggest for people who are offering a half dozen or more things on eBay. Do you want them to list 10 or 20 items in the Subject header?
Bad Subject lines are endemic in email, and as far as I know they always have been. At some point therefore it becomes the responsibility of the _reader_ to take such action as may be necessary to deal with it. In the case of items being offered for sale, it seems to me that one is either shopping for bits or is not -- and so one either reads 'for sale' posts or does not. If reading the messages takes too much of your time I suggest using body filters to search for key words, and marking messages containing them so that they are easy to find. Almost all modern mail clients offer this feature and it is generally quite easy to implement.
Good writing habits dictate good Subject lines, and to be sure I am a huge proponent of clear, succinct Subjects. But I would urge everyone not to confuse that with other desires, nor to sacrifice some of the value of the list just because of it.
Regards,
Dave Baseley in a warming Berks County PA