Sales Forum use...

FAOL Community Sound Off
1

Does anyone but me ‘check’ the posters that list things for sale on the ‘sales board’?

I know that the rules say ‘no comercial use’, but I get a lot of red flags waving when I check the poster’s history and find that they have a limited number of posts and almost all of them are on the sales board.

Lots of folks running ‘cottage’ businesses selling on the 'net. Not surprising that they would find a site like this appealing.

I’m not even sure why it bothers me, but it does. Maybe it’s kind of like how I feel about door to door sales. Seems like an intrusion.

Don’t know if anything can be done, or even should be done. Just saying…

Buddy

2

Buddy;

When it comes to new posters, I usually do a little research on the individuals. BUYER BEWARE

3

Buddy, for any situation there will be people who attempt to take advantage of the situation. I agree with your assessment of these people. My solution is I won’t buy from them. if you feel that someone is really blatant you can flag the post and note why in your letter to the moderators. I have done this in the past.

Eric

4

Hi Buddy,

I have to agree with you on this one. I’m always a bit bothered by people who want to sell stuff on FAOL and have never sought our friendship before that time. It does seem like we have a door to door salesman barging into our Sunday dinner. Let me just demonstrate this new SuckerDeal Vacuum Cleaner while you and your family eat dinner. Actually I think of them more as telemarketers calling during my favorite TV show. My reaction is very much like yours. I find myself becoming mildly peeved but I’m not sure that we need to do anything about it. Anyone who sends either money or goods to an untested source gambles at their own risk. I would never buy or sell to anyone I didn’t recognize as a genuine regular. I’m sure that others will disagree but remember it’s your money. 8T :slight_smile:

5

We Admins do check all of the “New Members” that appear to only join FAOL so they can sell items from ‘cottage’ businesses, or where ever.
Some that I have checked (and do try to communicate with them) are for real guys like all of us. I have found some that respond with words that I will not put here on this thread. Needless to say they go quickly. I do not like the idea that anyone can hide behind a handle and verbally abuse anyone else.
I for one really appreciate a heads up from our members. If I get 3 of these from members on one poster I really place the poster on my “Close Watch list”
Please do contact us, it really helps.
Thanks all Rest assured we are constantly trying to keep your site as we all want it. Friends & Family.
If you buy anything from an unknown source, your problem. Sponsors are not accepted by FAOL by only paying. Many are refused by LF. They must prove to her their customer service is tops before actually becoming a Sponsor.
Non Commercial is just what it says.

Denny

6

Agreed Buddy.

It’s not cool to continually seek out potluck’s and always show up empty handed.

With so many forums it’s hard to believe that someone who’s been registered for any length of time, couldn’t find a topic to chime in on, at least once in a while.
The only times I’ve ever had a problem with deals going bad, were with members who have far more post’s to the classifieds than to the discussion forums. No personal investment, nothing to loose.

That’s the way I see it.
Best, Dave

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7

maybe a pre requirement before anybody is allowed to post for sale items is that you have xx amount of posts. other boards that i frequent have this requirement so why not try it here.

8

Normand, I agree completely. Most forums I’m on have an at least 1 post minimum and probably 5 or so would be best. That keeps folks from just joinining so they can post in the 4 Sale forum, but not contribute.

Brian

9

Some of the people who post in the for sale area are not fly fishers but they find themselves for some reason with fly fishing related items to sell. If they offer fair prices and deliver the goods promised I don’t see where this is a problem. I have not noticed any complaints about these people not delivering and we all benefit from the availability of these items.

10

I do the same thing Buddy. There was one I came across a while back. Someone was selling bags of random fly tying materials he had picked up at a shop closing sale and picked through for what he wanted or some similar story. Price seemed good, but with only 5 posts it made me wonder A. where the materials really came from, and B. if they even existed in the first place. He/She could have been the nicest person in the world, but I just won’t trust anyone like that with my hard earned money. I’d rather miss out on the occasional good deal from an unknown seller than go through the hassle of filing a fraud claim or lose some cash for nothing. It makes me feel a lot better to know the moderators are checking into it though. Just another reason this place s great.

11

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.

12

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

13

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

14

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

15

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