Role of SRP BST discussion thread cont.

[Churchill]

Hi guys,
I am relatively new here so I may be out of line posting concerning the rules of the forum.The only thing I found ironic in this situation is that not long ago a member of several of the shaving forums listed items on 3 different forums.More than 95% of his posts had been in the B/S/T's on the 3 forums.
I brought this to the attention of the mods on one forum and was chastised because the quality of the member's goods was very high.
I dropped the issue and didn't even mention it on this forum.
There was no complaining here about the fact that almost all of his posts were in the B/S/T.This was due to the fact that everyone was jumping on his high quality items.
I realize that everyone was just trying to protect the uninformed buyers that some newbies can be. But it should be a fair judgment on the member no matter what the quality is.
I think a minimum post count and minimum membership time is a great idea.
I've seen this actually work on the other forums because some of the sellers that were prevented from selling their goods never showed their face again.
That to me was a good indication that they were only there to sell.
Sorry if I've been long winded about this.
Thanks for your time,
Bob

[jscott]

I think that both a time limit ans post count limit should be required.

time limit because some people post 100 posts + a month. but 1 month into this you just aren't knowledgable enough.

post limit because someone can join and never paarticipate then start selling a few months later wiyh that I'd.

I agree that the benefit of our BST forum is that a new person can feel safe buying here and know what they are buying is as described. without the knowledge to state those about your item its just like an buy it now on ebay.

I think a minimum of 2months and 50 posts is not asking a lot.

lastly, I think good bad ugly razors can all be sold here. just take good pictures and state the facts. I've pm'd sellers calling things mint that had obvious rust all over it plus hone marks. shiney does not mean mint!

-J

ps. I don't think I sold a razor on the BST forum till I was a member for over a year

[Utopian]

I think a minimum post count would be a waste of effort. If I really wanted to jack my post count, all I would have to do is just briefly reply to every single post. In other words, if I am hell bent on selling my crap here, I will spend a few days piling on inane comments into the threads until I reach the limit, then I will be considered vetted and proceed to BST. I don't think a post count would be of any use but to dilute the forums.

If you review the posts of someone who sells a lot of razors here, you will see that his first post was, "What does it take to qualify to sell here?" There was nothing wrong with the question but a look at all of his posts makes his intentions clear. He never contributes to the content of this forum. He doesn't help anyone.

I think the only solution is to monitor the participation of people who appear to be selling a number of razors in BST. The "fee" for selling should be their participation, or contribution, within the entirety of the forum. If they are participating, then they are in essence paying their dues. If they are only selling razors, they are not contributing and should be asked to either join the club or move on.

[azjoe]

The guidance statement about selling on the BST forum has been stated a number of times and was made a sticky not long ago...

The BST forum is not a substitute for ebay... it's a place members can use to buy/sell/trade an occasional razor, etc... i.e., don't plan on running a "razors-for-sale" business on the SRP BST forum.

"Occasional" means just that... once in a while, not one every day or even a week.

"Don't plan on running a business on SRP... " has pretty clear intent.

Honestly, what more needs to be said.

Rules don't make things work... people make them work... you and me managing and conducting ourselves in concert with the SRP community.

We should all cherish members here who are honest and giving of their time and talents to foster the art of str8 shaving. But I don't know that you measure that by post count. Take John West as an example... hardly ever visits SRP but is a true str8 aficionado and a prominent member of the str8 community at large. Anyone would be foolish to discount information in any post he might make... and would you really want to deny him the ability of selling something in the BST (if he ever chose to do so) before he made a dozen posts?

The majority of the members of this community who sell razors do it because they like restoring them as a hobby, they enjoy the challenge of getting a good deal on eBay, etc. They like helping a newbie get started in str8 shaving with a decent sharp razor. They do their best to describe their items completely and honestly because that's the way we do things here... not because there's a rule.

SRP provides the BST forum as a place for a community for buyers and sellers to interact... SRP is not the guarantor, the merchant, or the broker. Things will work best if you police yourselves in the BST... but do it with the utmost respect and civility. Rely on the moderators to take care of those who refuse to act in a civil manner. Rely on yourself to know what you're buying and from whom.

There are 100-200 people joining our community each week... many are just lurkers/newbies, but those that decide to take up str8 shaving all need a razor. So demand is high... that implies to me prices will be also.

[They Call Me Blockhead]

I'd like to come out against basing the posting rights on post count. Having been a moderator on another board, it leads to lots of pointless posting to jack up post counts.

I've been here for a few months, but don't have a lot of posts. Why? Because I'm still learning. I could start posting all over the place, but most of the threads I read often are ones where I have no useful information to add. Most of my posts are questions or off-topic. That said, I just posted a WTB in BST and maybe I'll get better at restoring and want to put up a razor even if I spend more time here lurking and learning than posting.

I could start posting all over the place. Lots of "lol" and "I agree" posts, but if lots of people are doing that you end up with a discussion board without much discussion.

[Utopian]

I respectfully, and only slightly, disagree.

I'm not sure exactly where the line should be drawn regarding frequency of sales. Case in point, Gary, aka Traveller, sells amazing razors and certainly has been selling more than one per week lately. I don't think anyone minds that he does so because he is clearly putting a lot of effort into the razors and they are amazing. Many others also consistently sell quality razors and by doing so provide a safe reliable resource for forum members, especially newer people who would likely be screwed over by an ebay purchase. I'm not sure such sellers should be so restricted.

I sell razors locally. I have never sold a razor on ebay nor have I sold any in BST. I usually go through spurts of prepping razors when I have some downtime in my lab. If sometime later I start selling some here, I don't see the harm in selling more than one per week if there is demand for them. The sheer number of new members indicates a continual demand for quality razors. I believe the quality of the seller should determine the acceptable number of razors to be sold. In other words, you should have to earn your right to continue to sell here and a friendly notice from a moderator can be used to ask someone to slow down or stop selling.

I'm not to thrilled with the new "thank you" addition and I have not yet seen any explanation for them (I haven't looked for it), but it smacks a bit of a popularity contest to me. I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of seller rating system is to follow. I would prefer for the forum to continue to self-monitor, pro and con, as much as possible. I think it has been working and that is what started this recent round of discussion. Who knew that a Boker King Cutter could stir up so much?

On the other hand, maybe we should just all set up our own selling sites.

[Baloosh]

P.S. I'd hate to see use go the way of B&B or SMF as they often seem to overreact to little things making them less friendly and less gentlemanly places to hang out.

Ironic you should say that, as this forum is regarded by more than a few people I've talked to as the least friendly of all the forums. It's probably somewhat due to the nature of this forum itself (dedicated to straight razor shaving exclusively), but I've found all the wetshaving forums to be VERY gentlemenly and respectful, by and large.

It's all about perception.

[syslight]

Ironic you should say that, as this forum is regarded by more than a few people I've talked to as the least friendly of all the forums. It's probably somewhat due to the nature of this forum itself (dedicated to straight razor shaving exclusively), but I've found all the wetshaving forums to be VERY gentlemenly and respectful, by and large.

It's all about perception.

i have noticed that as this site has grown a lot in the past year, around 1500 new members since i joined, there have been "hiccups" in the gentlemanly conduct from time to time. but there is still a core of old hands around that make every attempt to help people on the path to a great shave. in any group of people there are the inevitable small cliques of people who from time to time believe the group exists for their benefit... sadly around here that usually means they splinter off and form a new shaving website.

this current discussion is really just part of our growing pains.

[OLD_SCHOOL]

Ironic you should say that, as this forum is regarded by more than a few people I've talked to as the least friendly of all the forums. It's probably somewhat due to the nature of this forum itself (dedicated to straight razor shaving exclusively), but I've found all the wetshaving forums to be VERY gentlemenly and respectful, by and large.

It's all about perception.

Please lets keep this thread on track so as to avoid turning it into a pissing competition between other forums.

[OLD_SCHOOL]

After taking some time to sleep on it, I now also have come to the conclusion that post count and length of time as a member won't be so helpful.
As said people may post junk or one sentence crap to up their post count. Members who have been here for a year with not a very high post count can still have the exact same effect as a person who just joined up now and starts selling stuff.

I think Azjoe really hit the nail on the head when he said we need to police this site ourselves but...... I have been online a few times where there are a dozen or so members online with one small problem, they're all newbies that joined up that same month. In that case, self policing is a little awkward because how do these newbies know enough to tell another newbie something is over priced or not a good deal?

Just my unwanted 0.02 again.