MARKETPLACE Rules

For Boston Whaler boats or related gear
jimh
Posts: 11659
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
Contact:

MARKETPLACE Rules

Postby jimh » Tue Oct 13, 2015 3:23 pm

Articles posted to MARKETPLACE should be in one of these categories

--notice of FOR-SALE for an item

--notice of WANTED-TO-BUY for an item

--request for APPRAISAL for a specific item (not a general category)

The items offered for sale or wanted-to-buy or to be appraised should be principally Boston Whaler boats, or gear that is useful on a Boston Whaler boat, such as outboard engines, trailers, accessories, rigging, clothing, and so on.

Notices of items for sale MUST include a basic description of the item, the asking price, and details on how to contact the seller. Postings that contain ONLY a URL or hyperlink to other websites will not be accepted. For items that cannot be sent via normal small parcel shipping methods--such as a boat--the location of the item for sale must be given.

All articles giving notice of FOR-SALE must be initiated by the actual seller, or in certain instances by a close associate of the actual seller provided the poster is very well acquainted with the actual seller.

MARKETPLACE does not try to collect and organize information about all possible notices of FOR-SALE of Boston Whaler boats that exist elsewhere on the web or other information systems.

Links to web-hosted information which by its very nature will be temporary should not be used, including links to sites like craigslist or ebay which are likely to disappear in a very short time in the future.

Please do not attempt to initiate discussions about Boston Whaler boats. Such discussions should be started in The GAM or other specific topic area. MARKETPLACE is for buying, selling, or help in appraisals of specific items.

Please note that any listing here of an item that is for sale must contain at the very least the following five essential elements:

  1. explicitly state the item is for sale;
  2. in the body of the post there must be a basic description of the item that is for sale;
  3. in the body of the post there must be information about where the item for sale is located if it is not possible to ship the item via standard postal or delivery services; in other words, if the item is big, heavy, and can't be sent in the mail, you must include the location where the item is presently located;
  4. in the body of the post there must be a clear declaration of the asking price in US-dollars;
  5. in the body of the post there must be clear information on how to contact the seller directly, that is, by some private means of communication that does not require posting public messages or rely on both parties being logged into the forum reading their forum private messages.

Lately there are too many posting here of items for sale that do not include these four or five essential and mandatory pieces of information.

Notices of Wanted-To-Buy should similarly indicate clearly in the body of the post what item is wanted, where the prospective buyer is located, and a method to be contacted directly.

The reason that posts to MARKETPLACE must include a means of direct contact to the seller or buyer is to eliminate the forum and the website as an intermediary to the negotiations and agreements of sale or purchase. I do not want to be involved in any transaction between two other parties involving a sale of an item in exchange for money. All such contacts must be done in private, without using the website or the forum as a method of contact. The seller MUST post either a telephone number, a postal address, or an e-mail address through which he can be reached. Buyers MUST use those methods to contact the seller.

A further reason for posting direct contact information is the general trend for website visitors to NOT be logged in as registered users. It is quite common to see that there are 50 users browsing as "visitors" who cannot see the email address of a registered user who posted a notice in MARKETPLACE and cannot send a private message, and maybe five or less registered users browsing. Posts to MARKETPLACE without explicit contact information will have no means to contact an seller or buyer for website visitors who are not registered users.

jimh
Posts: 11659
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
Contact:

Re: MARKETPLACE Rules

Postby jimh » Sat Aug 08, 2020 11:10 am

Effective August 8, 2020, posts to MARKETPLACE offering items for-sale or announcing interest in wanted-to-buy that do not include clear CONTACT INFORMATION will be removed from MARKETPLACE after a grace period of several days.