Blister has a few questions , and something to ask

[Blister]

Hi all you forum users ,

I would like to say / ask / be enlightened on some forum points

The forum consist of 10 different sections as we all know

Each has a different use / benefit to forum members

If I am stuck and ask for advice , I am inviting comments to be made and am greatfull when I get a answer to a question or pointed in the correct direction for a item I am looking for , Its a two way thing , I am helped or I help others , all great everyone is happy .

I have been a member since 2006 , so not as long as other members , I realize I don't know it all and only comment on the turning section as I do know a little about this.

I have over the years invited people to spend the day in my workshop , the members who attended include , DaveL , Wizer , and John B , I know 2 of them have now obtained lathes of there own and JohnB was already a competent turner capable of high quality items , So hopefully I have contributed to the forum

I was absent from the forum for about a year , due to the failing health and the eventual passing of my father , who I was very close with , and member for 2 years ago will recall I was involved in a motorcycle accident 10 day before my father passed away ( the accident happened when I was on my way to visit dad ) I ended up admitted into the same hospital , was unable to work for 10 weeks , and It took 15 months for me to recover

I started out with what I thought was a good lathe , Draper :roll: and was nearly put off completely , I then saw a add in the Woodturner mag for a complete workshop , went to see it in Norwich made a offer and purchased everything , so I ended up with a better lathe / tools / wood / extractor etc etc etc , and I have done it a further 4 times working my way up to a VB , I enjoy doing it , to me its fun , an interest related to my hobby

Did I need everything ? No , so what do you do ? keep it all ? or offer the items you don't need to other forum users , thinking you are helping out by offering items at what I consider to be fair prices ?

So for sale items are put in the relevant sections on the forum and most items are purchased by forum users and they are ALL happy . I have not had one complaint in 4 years , and if I was ever to have a complaint I would refund the full amount back to the person who was not happy

I don't like being ripped off or told something is spot on only to find its rubbish . And I would never put anything up for sale knowing it was sub standard or faulty , so I would never rip anyone off !

Since the latest complaints regarding me on the forum have come to light , as they do often I cant understand what I am doing wrong ?

In my last 2 for sale listing , I started by saying ( This is a for sale thread / not a general conversation post

any questions please PM or ring me on 07968 109261 Thanks )

The reason is as follows

1, It is a item for sale ( not a request for help or advice )
2, it is a used item
3, It is offered for sale at a price I am prepared to let it go for
4, I always post a good selection of photos showing as much detail as possible
5, and I always give a honest description of the item

6, I am willing to show the item if anyone wants to see it ,
7, I will offer to pack it and post it if needed

Have I done anything wrong yet ?

So the item is posted on the forum , take for example the kerrys cast iron drill with a new motor £200

Then along come a forum member who post a comment ( if you hang around on ebay long enough you can get one for £30 )

Does this show any interest in the item for sale ?
Is it a question regarding the condition or operation of the drill ?
Is it a comment saying " cracking drill that I have one "
Is it a comment saying " Is this the drill that suffers from X Y Z , you may want to check to see if it has XYZ ?
Has this comment helped anyone ?
I fail to see how the comment does anything other that derail the thread
An I wrong in thinking this ? or is it a constructive comment ?
As other forum users have already said " I would do my homework first to check out the prices " I assume we are all adults on here or are children on the forum who need advising ?

Other forum members have had problems also and one has removed the item from sale on the forum due to comments not related to the item for sale

So is it " OPEN SEASON " on all for sale posts , can anyone jump in head first and say anything they like regardless of whether it relevant or not ?
If it is open season on all posts please let me know

I HAVE A FULL TIME JOB like most of you . I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL DEALER but do offer items to other members , Is that profiteering ? Is it taking advantage of other forum users ?

No one HAS to buy anything , and will only do so if they WANT to
I don't force anyone !

I have had numerous PMs sent to me regarding this saying take no notice , but I do take notice

I am not out to offend anyone

I have asked last time this reared up , " Do you want me to stop selling " and put up a post so members could vote , result was a whopping NO , Don't stop , 186 - 2 .

Again I will ask if any forum moderators read this

Please let me know if I am doing wrong ?

I have interests outside of wood turning and do go on other forums . one I go on ( nothing to do with wood ) has a for sale section . a wanted section and some rules regarding the use , one rule is this :-

Not involved? DO NOT POST : You may only reply to a thread if you wish to buy, sell, or trade. If you are not involved then DO NOT POST.



I do however think a For sale / Wanted section would be a benefit to the forum , As we are allowed to post items for sale , so for the members who DON'T want to see For Sale listing in all the different section of the forum like Stevsbuk ( please forgive me here but, i for one am sick of seeing adverts all over this forum , and now we have links from one section to another section and this is blatant spamming and i think it should be stopped )

If the forum did have a For Sale section , Steve would have the option NOT to see any For Sale listings

Any forum member can list items for sale not only me ! , so why not join in , I may even need what you are selling !


If you are still awake and have read to the end then well done

Thanks for reading

Blister

 

[Lons]

I don't see anything wrong with what you're doing Blister. :duno:

You can't please evrybody etc etc

Bob

 

[TheTiddles]

I don't need a new lathe or any other turning stuff particularly so please alter the entire content of a public access website to suit me please :roll:

Actually don't, I love looking at what you have for sale as it's always so variable and interesting. Even thought I don't need anything, see above.

I hate Coronation street, East neighbours and all that dung that fills my television, I don't watch it and therefore skilfully avoid it, obviously my fantastic level of intelligence and skill is beyond some people. Perhaps the same people who can't tell the REAL content of a "FOR SALE" advert also read the entire content of their post each day and eagerly await the "limited special edition prize" or "fantastic offer" till they've read right to the end and found it's not very fatastic at all, every day must be a let-down for them, no wonder they're so grumpy.

Please keep putting things for sale, preferably more ornamental attachments or copying devices.

Aidan

 

[miles_hot]

Blister

I personally don't think that we need a for sale section as I don't see that would change anything about behaviours etc - if people don't want to read For sale posts they should refrain from opening for sale posts - pretty simple really.

I see nothing wrong in what you're doing in offering things for sale, be they from a single massive buy you did some time ago, from passing on things which are no longer of use to you or even selling on behalf of other people. You are manifestly not a full time dealer.

I do think, however, that the recent practice, from you and others, of attempting to discourage discussion about the item - it's merits, peoples experience of it, or even (more contentiously) it's price is rather like King Canute (spelling?!) asking the tide to pipper off and seems to get up people's noses. As I posted elsewhere I find people expressing positive or negative views to be very very useful and one of the massive pluses of this place. It becomes pretty obvious if these are being done either maliciously or to make mischief in which case it tends to build your standing (assuming of course you are the OP!). If on the other hand more reasoned or justified postings are made it allows an inexperienced person a more level playing field when talking about costs or understanding if this is the bit of kit for them. I would make the observation that it is for each individual to decide how much of a premium (if there is one at all) it is worth paying to deal with you with your excellent track record over the "wait for 2 months on ebay and grab a bargain" approach.

All in all I would continue as you are but dropping the request not to discuss stuff on the for sale thread - any poorly justified or targeted posts will only serve to enhance your original posts and justified ones are useful and provide you with an opportunity to either answer queries / concerns in public or modify your offering.

Just my thoughts

Miles

 

[Mike.C]

Blister as I have continually stated in the other two links I do not think you are a trader. I take the same view as Martin (Headclansman) in that you sell on items that are of no use to you. But being perfectly honest I did until today have a problem with no one being allowed to comment on your thread.

I say did because I now no longer have any objections to you running the thread as you see fit. Why have I changed my mind well first of all I have been told about a previous problem you had with a for sale thread, secondly there may always be trouble makers who want to derail the for sale thread, and finally because NO MATTER what is said there is permentaly a group of other members that purposefully twist the words of others to start trouble.

IMHO life is to short to worry about these things, and after what has gone on today I certainly am not going worry about a bunch of words appearing on the screen in front of me.
Get on with you life mate, sell what you want to, and stick to your guns.

Be lucky

Mike

 

[dannykaye]

I have been very tempted by stuff you sell, the only reason I have not yet bought from you is I am not quick enough

I don't mind people commenting, great something can be had on ebay for less if you wait, good for you I am an impatient s*d. I would hate to see you stop selling because of comments.

I do think a for sale/wanted section would be good

 

[Chems]

It would be sad to stop the for sales. I've got a fair few bargains on here, got a RSDE2 cheap, and a Record Shoulder Plane, a Compass Plane, a leigh D4 for £70 rather than £400 that was a major bargain from Waka, biscuit jointer, a flexiable drive shaft tool that I gave as a present and got for a steal, and nearly got a triton for £99 but did get on on forum intel from BQ for 99 in the end. And most recently got a replacement for my dremel for £25 from none other than Blister.

The forum has got very itchy and scratchy at the mo and I normal avoid all of it, but I'd hate to see FOR SALE suffer as I've really profited over the 2 years or so I've been here from them, and have also sold on a few of the tools I've outgrown in the time.

 

[Jake]

So the item is posted on the forum , take for example the kerrys cast iron drill with a new motor £200

Then along come a forum member who post a comment ( if you hang around on ebay long enough you can get one for £30 )

Does this show any interest in the item for sale ?
Is it a question regarding the condition or operation of the drill ?
Is it a comment saying " cracking drill that I have one "
Is it a comment saying " Is this the drill that suffers from X Y Z , you may want to check to see if it has XYZ ?
Has this comment helped anyone ?
I fail to see how the comment does anything other that derail the thread
An I wrong in thinking this ? or is it a constructive comment ?
As other forum users have already said " I would do my homework first to check out the prices " I assume we are all adults on here or are children on the forum who need advising ?

That was me. But you have mischaracterised what I said. I said (quite truthfully) in response to a post from someone who gushed something like 'what a bargain' that it wasn't really that kind of a bargain - which it wasn't. You can get a drill like that for £50 with a bit of patience, so I don't think £200 - nice as that drill looks - is a bargain. It's around about the ballpark you'd pay to a machinery dealer for the same thing - so a fair price would've been maybe accurate. I realise it wasn't you who said it, but that's not a reason not to respond when someone else says something which is basically untrue.

 

[Boz62]

I've bought via the forum - it's what got me to finally start posting after a year or so of lurking . I think I got a bargain. Others may think it would have been cheaper from Ebay. But I despise Ebay and Paypal, wouldn't touch them with a pointy stick. I'd rather buy from people I "know". The price we are prepared to pay is up to the individual, and we all factor in different things. So a bargain to one person is expensive to another, and we all have (different) preferred ways of buying.

Keep posting the For Sales please Blister. They are always interesting, even for items I'm not looking for myself .

And yes, the forum is getting a bit too "edgy" of late. I seem to be avoiding far more threads than I ever used to.

Boz

 

[paulm]

I would agree with your post Blister, very sensible, balanced and transparent as always.

As you say, and I'm sure others see also, other forums operate for sale sections with strict rules on no comments, precisely because they are aware of problems like these that come up otherwise, and I have to say it works, pretty much perfectly, so I don't see any reason not to do it here.

Even if a separate section isn't practicable for some reason, the no comment approach could be introduced easily enough........

Keep going I would say, the majority of people as per your poll before have absolutely no problem, quite the opposite, and the mods don't appear to have a problem either and why would they.

Cheers, Paul

 

[jimi43]

It this thread for sale?

I have a feeling that it won't pass H&S

:wink:

I had a cheaper thread over in the "Hand Tools" section but it didn't have a motor....

.....................

J

 

[woodbloke]

I don't have a problem with Blister's stuff going up for sale. I do sometimes wonder if a dedicated 'For Sale' forum might not be such a bad thing? - Rob

 

[jimi43]

I don't have a problem with Blister's stuff going up for sale. I do sometimes wonder if a dedicated 'For Sale' forum might not be such a bad thing? - Rob

I think you will find Rob, that the FOR SALE threads actually bring more audience to the main forum...keep them there and encourage them to browse the interesting threads contained therein.

This generates a healthy and active area...I think moving it will lose some of this energy...it has on other sites I frequent when they have separated the two...

Just my 2p worth.

Jim

 

[paulm]

Hadn't thought of it that way Jim, good point.

Prohibiting comments would be the main problem solver imho.

Cheers, Paul

 

[matt]

I think it would be better is there was a rule of NO comments whatsoever as that is where the problem lies - with both positive and negative (one being the reaction to the other in most cases).

 

[ByronBlack]

It can be solved easily:

Ignore the for sale threads if you aren't interested in the item and respect the seller.

If you feel the price is too high, then don't buy it. It is up to the buyer whether he feels the item is worth the price. We can all point to examples where we have got something really cheap from somewhere else, that isn't the point.

If someone wants £200 for their drill, and someone else is happy to pay that, then that is no business of anyone elses.

If the price is too high, then no one will buy. It's pretty simple really, and blister isn't asking/doing anything out of the ordinary.

 

[paulm]

That's pretty much it in a nutshell BB !

Cheers, Paul

 

[devonwoody]

I would prefer a For Sale forum, the Australian forum one works quite smoothly. (members with 50 posts only) Comments re the item for sale should be restricted to PMs. Otherwise it is a form of bumping.

 

[Argee]

Since the latest complaints regarding me on the forum have come to light, as they do often I cant understand what I am doing wrong?

That's easy - you're expecting everyone else to comply with your wishes. That's never going to happen - accept it - EOS.

RG

 

[woodbloke]

Hadn't thought of it that way Jim, good point.

Prohibiting comments would be the main problem solver imho.

Cheers, Paul

Agree with Paul and Jim...I hadn't considered that one. Could be up to the Mods to delete any comments and any communications through PM's only? - Rob