Why can't I post to a classified thread?

I was able to post the other day to buy a Perrin shift stop, but when I went to post on(some guy in socal who's access port I'm interested in) a different thread it said

 

Brett_dub, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

 

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?

If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

 

I pm'ed the guy about it but haven't heard back. I got dibs lol

 

I'm sure this is not posted in the right sub forum, but I couldn't find a general forum discussion.

I think the rules were changed recently to require a minimum post count. It's because of a lot of spammers getting on the forum and cluttering things up.

well, there are no "dibs" per se - on this forum per the rules, anyway. When I have sold things, I go by the pm's - first one in gets first crack at it. Folks don't generally log in and check their pm's - particularly if something has been on sale for a bit. If they haven't responded, you can always post a "check your pm's" message in the for-sale thread, and send them a pm, then you wait.

 

most forums have a waiting period before you can post new for-sale threads - I have seen everything from 10 posts to 50 - no idea what this site uses, and couldn't find it in the sticky threads.

As of a few months ago, new users are required to "contribute" in general forum threads by posting a certain number of posts prior to getting access to the marketplace.

 

As with all good things, the few with ill intentions have ruined it for the rest of us with good intentions. Within the last year, the forum has seen an influx of new users coming here only to hawk their substandard goods to members, not to contribute to this community. And they were not following the forum rules which made excessive work for the mods and admin, as well as leading to many "issues" with the sales. It was a bad situation for our valued members, so unfortunately now, new users must be patient to get access to all areas of the forum.