For Sale/Trade Etiquette?

[PMolan]

Just wondering if there was an etiquette to follow as far as pm's for an item go.

 

[mikem]

Yes there is. If you PM someone that you want something, you should post that you PMed that person so everyone else see's that your first in line. Did that help any?

 

[PMolan]

Yah.. Its that first in line thing that kills me, then a day later then there is a new post with XXXXX - SOLD!
I guess there is no obligation to sell to anyone, but I always practice the PM'd order etiquette even though sometimes its a little inconvenient. Just wanted to make sure it wasnt just me.

 

[mikem]

Nope, not just you. I see it all the time.

 

[Hawkeye]

one thing that is tough to know is whether an individual has posted the same item on another forum. This happens a lot with non-members posting over here...

 

[PMolan]

The most agrivating part is that I was having a dialogue with the seller then BAM sold. Oh well. Gotta move quicker next time.

Is there a trick to the "Notify" on the selling forum? I notice it will send me 2 new posts then stop until I go in there and read some. Any way to customize that?

 

[Phyl]

I think too often someone will say "I'm interested" in an item and then not act on it. The seller shouldn't have to wait while someone makes up their mind on an item, just because that person posted "I'm interested" before anyone else. I think the bottom line is that the first person to go beond interest and move to here's the money will get the item. It is unfair to ask anything more of the seller.

Not saying that was your case, I just know that things get put aside for people who never follow through and that too frustrates folks.

 

[Carlo]

To follow up on Phyl's post I'd think it OK to ask if the item could be held (for x time) but until such time as the seller agrees the item is still up for sale. If by chance the person asking for the item to be held doesn't follow through then the seller could/should sell to the backup purchase person. If the seller just wants to make the sale and doesn't want to hold it then the first person who offered the seller what they were asking for should get it.

Where it can get confusing is in a case where someone is selling an item for $100 plus shipping and another person asks if they could do $100 with shipping (counter offer) and then another person says they'll buy it for $100 plus shipping. In this case I'd think the seller should offer the first responder the change to get it for $100 plus shipping or else loose it to the person who did offer exactly what they were asking. This is where etiquette is always blurry to me and different people handle it differently.

Carlo

 

[PMolan]

Yah, I guess when someone shows up at your door with cash in hand, its hard to resist :-\
Can anyone tell me what happened to this policy that is posted at the top of the forum?

Please note; a 25 post minimum is now required to post in the For Sale Forum.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.


Normally I dont care, but so happens that this is the second time this weekend that a deal "fell through"

Joe Blow
Posts:1

FS - Some kind of fish - $40
----------------------------
Reply: I am interested, PM'd

Phone: They will be happier if you get this for the fish, Ill catch them today and call you....

Ok, I'm an idiot, Ill go buy it.

PM - I cant catch them from my tank, I dont want to rip it apart.

 

[Phyl]

Good question. I think this is something we should talk about at this month's meeting. We hit some initial resistance from the membership over this issue when it came up and so we took a step back. It seems to me that suddenly our FS/FT forum has a lot of traffic in it. While that can be a good thing if you're looking to move something, sometimes too much of a "good thing" is just too much. There are way too many people who post in that forum that aren't community participants. That devalues the use of our forums and causes the FS/FT forums not to be about members sharing deals, but rather situation where in many cases we don't know the sellers nor the buyers. To me, that takes a lot of the trust factor out of our FS/FT forum.

My opinion on that is that there are enough places on the net that you can buy/sell without being part of the community, that this isn't really necessary for us to use as a draw factor.

I think that Anemone said it best when he posted the following quote over on RC...

Repeated selling is one of the easiest ways to come to our attention as a potential "commercial" hobbyist (although not the only way). When someone comes to our attention, we examine the entire situation and enforce our rules impartially. We have a long history of enforcing the rules the same way. We don't make exceptions for "good guys" (or gals), or even members we like. It wouldn't be fair to the folks we've tagged as commercial in the past to suddenly decide we are going to make exceptions.

It also makes no difference if a member is a sponsor or not - sponsors are not allowed to sell (or advertise themselves) anywhere but in their paid forum.

As far as others who sell more, or more often than some who have been identified as commercial, RC gets thousands of posts every day. We don't see them all. If you think someone is violating RC's commercial posting policy, report the post and we'll look into it. If you don't report the post, then don't complain about what you believe is RC's "selective" enforcement.

Finally, RC's mission is the exchange of information, not commerce. Don't think for a minute that selling frags and equipment is what RC is all about. Selling/trading on RC is a privilege allowed to members who contribute to the mission of the site, and there is a fine line between between hobbyist and "commercial hobbyist." Keeping RC "commercial free" (as much as we can) has helped make RC one of the largest bulletin boards out there (not just in the hobby). So, if we feel you have crossed the line, then we take action. I emphasize "we." The Moderators on RC make decisions as a group. It's not one Moderator making all these decisions. Each and every situation is reviewed and agreed upon as a group. It's nothing personal (quite the opposite). It's just the way we run our site.

That last paragraph there is how I feel about NJRC. I'm hoping that our membership agrees.