One thing I think this forum is really lacking is an active marketplace. On a lot of forums I visit the marketplace is what makes the forums so great. Buying, selling, trading parts from all different members. I understand it is locked for only red stars so you know you are dealing with a more trustworthy member and are less likely to get scammed. The thing is there are for trade and free stuff threads everywhere so non red star members can still buy/sell/trade. So locking the marketplace is pretty useless. I think we should get rid of all the for sale/trade/free stuff threads in all the forums and just open up the market place. There is no traffic in the marketplace because there are so many threads spread out throughout the whole site. I went through the forums and these are the threads we have:

Northeast Forum
Sticky: Northeast For Trade Thread....NO MONEY EXCEPT FOR SHIPPING ( 1 2)

Northern California Forum
Sticky: Local pay it forward ( 1 2 3 4)

Classic and Vintage:
Sticky: Pay it forward... ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... Last Page)
Sticky: eBay / CraigsList finds - "Are you looking for one of these!?" ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... Last Page)
and even a
Classic and Vintage Sales Subforum

Clydesdale & Athena
Sticky: Clydesdale & Athena "For Trade" thread

Commuting
Sticky: Commuting's 'Pay it Forward' Thread ( 1 2)

Folding Bikes
Sticky: The For Trade Thread- Folding Bike Forum ( 1 2 3)

Road Cycling
Sticky: The For Trade Thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... Last Page)

Singlespeed and Fixed Gear
Sticky: Anyone wanna trade ? No cash offers, or "for sale" if you want to keep this thread ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... Last Page)

Touring
Sticky: Touring... For Trade List... ( 1 2 3 4)

This seems a bit excessive to me. The For Sale forum only has 26 threads yet there are 10+ stickies on all the forums.

I really think the marketplace should be opened to all members and all the transactions should be done there. If I want to sell something I feel like I should list it in every forum so people can see it. It is unnecessary to lock the market place too. I bought a fork from a member here about a month ago. He had 2 posts and lived in australia. I sent him over $125 and the transaction went fine. Many memebrs also have dealings with other members so you know you are dealing with trust worthy people. This is one of my biggest complaints here. I hope we can atleast get a discussion going or something other then a No for an answer. Thanks