sanibel686
Well-Known Member
Guys I had a shotgun for sale in the classifieds but due to persistent distracting posts about how you can get them cheaper at auction, have poor wood to metal fit, have poor actions, dealers can’t give them away etc etc I’ve felt compelled to withdraw it.
Let me be clear; I’m writing this because of my recent experience but this post isn’t about my sale it’s to precipitate a debate on how we should all act responsibly in the classifieds.
The rule about not posting unhelpful/heckling comments in sales threads is there for good reason and it isn't just an SD rule it's pretty much standard across internet forums these days. Quoting the broadband advert off the tele you must be a "monobrowed spoon whittler" for this piece of basic etiquette to have passed you by in this present day and age so;
I can conceive of only three reasons why people still do it.
1, They just might be (!?!?) well meaning but, intellectually incapable of understanding the impact that their posts have on the OP or, how clumsy rhetoric can be interpreted by other readers and how this influences a sale. Even a ferret can be trained however!! so this type of person can be saved but if they need putting right more than once then I would conclude that they fall into the next category.
2, People who are selfish and arrogant with no thought for others. Typically they try to make a little knowledge stretch too far, grandstand with no thought or care for the damage they do or just upload a post to enjoy the carnage like a little boy pulling the legs off a crane fly (for a more in depth understanding of this type of personality look up Psychopathy on Wikipedia).
3, Last we have the type of person who is trying to deliberately derail a sale with the intention of disheartening the seller and/or dissuading other prospective purchasers possibly to clear a path for an accomplice to offer a lower price or to preserve this pool of prospective buyers as they intend to sell a similar item?
The fallout can include: needless anguish & argument, loss of trust, reputational damage, wasted admin/moderator resource for intervention/arbitration, loss of privileges, loss of membership and ultimately even real world consequences.
This has been debated in many different forums where different ways of handling Classifieds have naturally developed as a result of the fallout of particular sales on that forum. Some forums for example have given up trying to influence the good behaviour of members and only allow sellers to post once and then automatically lock the thread or sellers may amend their post but buyers can only PM and not post on open forum.
I think on SD we probably take the most liberal approach as we have a relatively high quality of membership but this can come unstuck as my experience shows.
What are your thoughts/experiences guys??
Let me be clear; I’m writing this because of my recent experience but this post isn’t about my sale it’s to precipitate a debate on how we should all act responsibly in the classifieds.
The rule about not posting unhelpful/heckling comments in sales threads is there for good reason and it isn't just an SD rule it's pretty much standard across internet forums these days. Quoting the broadband advert off the tele you must be a "monobrowed spoon whittler" for this piece of basic etiquette to have passed you by in this present day and age so;
I can conceive of only three reasons why people still do it.
1, They just might be (!?!?) well meaning but, intellectually incapable of understanding the impact that their posts have on the OP or, how clumsy rhetoric can be interpreted by other readers and how this influences a sale. Even a ferret can be trained however!! so this type of person can be saved but if they need putting right more than once then I would conclude that they fall into the next category.
2, People who are selfish and arrogant with no thought for others. Typically they try to make a little knowledge stretch too far, grandstand with no thought or care for the damage they do or just upload a post to enjoy the carnage like a little boy pulling the legs off a crane fly (for a more in depth understanding of this type of personality look up Psychopathy on Wikipedia).
3, Last we have the type of person who is trying to deliberately derail a sale with the intention of disheartening the seller and/or dissuading other prospective purchasers possibly to clear a path for an accomplice to offer a lower price or to preserve this pool of prospective buyers as they intend to sell a similar item?
The fallout can include: needless anguish & argument, loss of trust, reputational damage, wasted admin/moderator resource for intervention/arbitration, loss of privileges, loss of membership and ultimately even real world consequences.
This has been debated in many different forums where different ways of handling Classifieds have naturally developed as a result of the fallout of particular sales on that forum. Some forums for example have given up trying to influence the good behaviour of members and only allow sellers to post once and then automatically lock the thread or sellers may amend their post but buyers can only PM and not post on open forum.
I think on SD we probably take the most liberal approach as we have a relatively high quality of membership but this can come unstuck as my experience shows.
What are your thoughts/experiences guys??