Sales Forum use...

[Wes]

i took a chance on some of that tying material that joe cool mentions. got the stuff and it's worth the price asked. i figure if somebody is a bamboozler they're the one that has to pay in the end and if nobody takes chance how is anyone gonna know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. it would have hurt if i'd lost the 28 bux but taking the chance found what seems to me to be an honest man.

[Buddy Sanders]

My issue isn't whether the seller is honest or not.

I don't look at the sales board as a benefit to the buyers, but as a nice perk for members here to sell stuff they don't need.

I'm not especially interested in whether or not the deals are good or the products are of a certain quality, etc.. In places like this, it's let the buyer beware.

What I think is happening, and from the posting history I can see on several of the more recent 'sellers' I'm pretty sure I'm correct, is that there are folks that come here only to 'sell' stuff. When I check thier forum history and see that all of their posts since the change have been to offer stuff for sale, I wonder if they are running a business here. It's pretty clear once you look at what is being sold that we're not talking about someone's personal 'excess to needs' property, but a pattern of reselling either new or used merchandise. From what I can tell from the posted rules, that's not allowed.

Here's how I see it.

This isn't a marketplace. Those exist for folks that need them. They all have certain fees and regulations in place to protect both the buyers and the sellers. That's not what happens here.

There are folks that pay to advertise and offer thier porducts here via sponsorships. They pay for 'our' board, basically. I'm not saying that anyone has to support the sponsors, that's up to each of us. But, when the only purpose a 'member' has is to sell stuff, lots of different stuff, over an extended period of time, then it's obvious to me that what they are doing is running a business and using this site to advertise their goods for sale to a targeted audience.

If that was within the rules, and it was stated so, then I'd have no problem with it at all. But it's not. If I asked to post my own products that I bought to resell, I'd be told that it was against the rules. If I added a small 'advertisement' as my signature, I'd be asked to remove it. Justifiably so.

Those that are using this site to sell their merchandise, as opposed to excess personal gear, are not only breaking the rules as stated on the board, they are cheating everyone involved here. It cheats the sponsors, who have to pay for the same priveledge. It cheats the rest of us, because they are gaining the benefits of our memberships without paying to help support the site. They are cheating other sellers that obey the rules and have to include the fees and expenses of ethical business practices in their pricing.

I think the only way to stop this, if that is desired, is to limit the amount of items sold per year by any one member. One or two 'sales posts' per year would probably work.

Buddy

[MontanaMoose]

Because of the prices i see great gear offered for, i tend to think of otherwise 'non-posters' as some poor, desparate SOB trying to get money for food for his starving family. The ones that are obvioiusly trying to sell for close to list and that don't usually get bites just seem to disappear.

That said, i think the for sale board and the members that have posted beyond selling, takes care of 'sell only' poster/members that are trying to sell for larger gains than a member/poster that is just trying to get rid of excess gear or sell something to upgrade. I like how the sell board is right now and i wouldn't change or limit anything about it.

MontanaMoose

[jeffnles1]

The way I look at is is that FAOL is a commercial "for-profit" business venture than happens to be a website. Even though we have a community and have friends here and many of us have made "real" friends (i.e. people we actually meet face-to-face and then have a friendship relationship with as time goes on), the end of the day, FAOL is a business venture.

With that as a preamble, I do not see it as my place to say who can and who cannot be a member, who can or cannot post, and who can or cannot sell things here. The website owners are the only ones who can and should make that call.

If I'm buying something sight unseen from someone across the country, I will do my best to check them out only if I'm interested in buying what they are selling.

I've bought and sold a few things on FAOL and in nearly every case, it's been from someone who has an established record here and with whom I feel a good level of comfort. Likewise, the folks who have bought the few odds and ends I've sold probably felt they could trust me as I've posted on here for a couple years, I've shared stories about my home, my family, photos of myself and my son fishing, discussion about where we've gone on fishing vacations, etc. Essentially, folks here have had a chance to get to know who Jeff is. You've seen me on good days, and you've seen me react in ugly ways when I was having a real bad day. You've seen me apologize.

The same holds true with the folks I've purchased stuff from here. I feel as if I know them and can trust them.

I've never been stiffed from a fisherperson nor have I ever been stiffed from a fellow target shooter.

I would, however, be a bit uneasy buying from someone who's first post was the item I'm looking to buy.

However, like Denny said, most of them are just normal guys and gals and stumbled upon this website like all of us did on our first visit.

Jeff

[maodiver]

A few people have said "buyer beware" on this post, while others say there should be regulation. Some have said both in the same post. I thnk the system works as is. "Buyer Beware" means just that. If you don't feel comfortable, as some here state, then don't buy. If you wanna take a chance then buyer beware. I think limiting the number of sales per member is not all that fair or workable. I can't remember right now but someone just got a deal (gemrod??) on a buncha books. What if he had already hit his limit of sales before he hit this windfall? The people who have already bought from him would have been outa luck. I haven't sold a lot here, have done some trades, and in 90% have been completely satisfied. That being said, I have given some materials to the same person twice on here (he had at least 50 posts), with the promise of a couple of flies tied from the materials. both times got nothing in return. I am now bewared.

Buyer Beware