Flea Market Rules & Guidelines

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  • February 28, 2012 at 3:05 am #505025
    Shihiv

      Windstone Flea Market Rules & Guidelines

      Notice: Any and all transactions and communications with other Forum members are entered into “at your own risk” and are between you and that individual. If you believe a law has been broken or fraud has occurred, please contact the appropriate enforcement agency

      Violation of these rules may result in the removal or modification of your thread or an official warning. Repeated violations may result in a temporary suspension or permanent ban from the Forum. In certain cases, if a moderator or administrator determines the action is severe enough, user rights will be terminated without warning. Appeals to disciplinary action may be sent to John Alberti. All general rules also apply to any communications taking place in the Flea Market.

      OFFICIAL WINDSTONE FLEA MARKET RULES

      1. This area is for buying/selling Windstone items only (posting Windstones for sale or posting Windstones that you are looking for). A separate subforum exists for buying/selling non-Windstone-related items. Please don’t post non-Windstone items here. If you have Windstone and non-Windstone items listed together in a single thread, a moderator may ask you to move the non-Windstone items to the Non-Windstone Flea Market.
        • If you are selling an item but are also willing to accept trade offers, that is ok (i.e., “I would really prefer to sell this unicorn, but I might consider trading him for a griffin”). If you are primarily looking to trade your items, please post in the Trade & Swap subforum.
        • If you are looking for a particular Windstone, please read the Looking for a Windstone thread before posting.
        • If you are trying to find out what your Windstone is worth, please post in the Windstone Appraisals thread.
      2. Don’t create multiple active threads. If you are selling or looking to buy multiple items at the same time, please put them all in one thread and update/edit that thread accordingly. (i.e., please don’t make a separate thread for your male peacock and female peacock dragons if you are selling both–put them both in the same post). If you are an artist of PYO Windstones, you are allowed to have one exclusive thread for PYOs and one exclusive thread for regular Windstones. However, try to include your PYO sales in the same thread as your regular Windstone sales if you do not regularly sell PYOs.
      3. “Bumping”. Bumping is the act of posting a reply to an older thread and moving it to the top position in the thread list, usually as a way of drawing attention to that thread. Bumping is allowed, but with restrictions:
        • Wait at least 10 days before bumping your thread. This will keep everyone from jostling for the front page. If you create a thread, you should wait at least 10 days before bumping it. After the first bump, wait at least 10 more days to bump it again. An exception is if you make a significant revision to the original thread sooner than 10 days. A significant revision would include: additional items for sale, updated bids on items, price changes, etc. (Please note: a minor price change just to enable you to bump your thread is not acceptable, nor is adding/removing the same couple of items just to bump the thread–please use common sense!).
        • Only bump your own threads. There is little reason to deliberately bump someone else’s thread, and it can muddy up the Forums. If you do this to help a friend, you could jeopardize their member status as well as your own.
        • If you are not the original author, don’t reply to a thread that gone more than 10 days without a new reply or update. If you need to contact the original author, PM them instead. An exception is if the thread has been permanently “stickied” or “pinned” to the top of the thread list (these threads will have a thumbtack icon next to them).
        • Don’t reply to Flea Market threads with unrelated comments or questions. This practice will bump threads, sometimes unfairly, and may cause other members to have a harder time finding legitimate posts. Comments or questions that ARE considered relevant in the Flea Market would include: anything specifically related to your interest in buying from, selling to, or trading with another member. Note: Do not reply to Flea Market threads with general advice on how to find Windstones (please post your advice in the Looking for a Windstone thread or just PM the person who you are helping).
      4. You may not post material with intent to discourage, intimidate, hinder, divert, or otherwise afflict any transactions (buying, selling, trading, etc) taking place on this Forum or elsewhere.
      5. You may not offer (for sale, trade, etc.) anything that is illegal in the USA or the state of Oregon, or infringing upon Windstone’s or anyone else’s work.
      6. Windstone dealers should not use the Windstone Forum to market or advertise their stock, or to post items that are “on sale”, “clearance”, or “reduced price”. An exception is if a dealer is offering an item that has been retired for more than 1 full year.
      7. We do not permit businesses to market their products or services here on the Forum. A business is described as an organization designed to provide goods, services, or both to consumers. A single person can be a business! An exception is if you offer Windstone-related services (such as the services of an artist commissioned to paint a PYO). The occasional sale of individual, one-of-a-kind-items is also permitted (these items should be posted to the Non-Windstone Flea Market). If you are unclear on if you might be breaking Forum rules, please contact a moderator before posting.
      8. You may not offer (for sale, trade, etc.) repaints of non-PYO Windstones, nor may you offer to repaint a non-PYO Windstone. Repainting a non-PYO Windstone is not illegal, but Windstone Editions strongly discourages it and does not support repaints in any way. Any sales of repaints should be done privately OUTSIDE of the Forum. Note: Repairing and restoring damaged Windstones to near factory condition and color is not considered “repainting”, but we encourage you to disclose any repairs/restoration that has been done to an item before selling it.

      GUIDELINES, SUGGESTIONS, AND OTHER INFORMATION

      Guidelines for Thread Titles:

      Giving your thread a proper title will help make the Windstone Flea Market easier to browse through, and may increase your chances of selling or finding an item. Here are some suggested guidelines for improving your thread title:

      • Start your thread title with the text “SELLING” if you are selling something. i.e., “SELLING Black male unicorn”. Members looking to buy items will be able to quickly spot threads that are selling items.
      • Start your thread title with the text “WTB” if you are looking to buy something. i.e., “WTB Autumn Leaf curled dragon”. Members looking to sell items will be able to quickly spot threads that are seeking items.
      • Say what item you are selling or looking for in your thread title. If the list is more than one or two items, try to categorize them. i.e., “SELLING White dragons”. Don’t just say you are selling Windstones. That is redundant!
      • Edit the title of your thread to show updates. ou can easily edit the title of your thread by editing the FIRST post of your thread. Preferably, include the date of your last edit in the thread title. i.e., “SELLING White dragons, more added Feb 15”. This way, other members will know at a glance if you have updated your thread since the last time they saw it. If your thread is no longer active because all your items have been sold or found, edit your thread title to reflect that. i.e., “All items are SOLD” (if all your items are sold/found, please do not also reply to the thread and bump it back to the top of the Forum; editing only the subject line is sufficient).

      General Seller/Buyer Guidelines

      • As a seller
      • Don’t send items that are not paid for yet!
      • Be honest about the condition of your item, to the best of your ability. The Forum members know their Windstones!
      • Be clear, before the sale, if “all sales are final” or if you will accept returns or offer refunds if the buyer doesn’t want the item after they get it. If you are clear before the sale, then it can’t come back to “bite you”.
      • Pack the item well enough that it can survive being dropped, kicked, tossed, punched, etc. All of these things can and have happened to packages before. Click here for information on properly packing a Windstone.
      • Require some sort of delivery confirmation and insurance. This will protect you as the seller if an item arrives damaged or gets lost.
      • If you are selling to someone who you don’t know very well, consider placing additional protection on a package (such as signature required). This will protect you against the buyer claiming not to have gotten the package. The few dollars it costs can possibly save you a world of problems!
      • Keep all postage records and emails/PMs about the transaction for at least 90 days afterwards. That way if someone later tries to file a claim against you, you will have proof that you sent the item and it arrived properly! Additionally, you may need the postal receipts if insurance must be claimed.
    • As a buyer
      • Pay using a method that lets you open a dispute if the seller “takes your money and runs”. PayPal is one method that lets you open a dispute if you did not receive an item as described. Nearly all credit card companies do this as well, if the seller accepts credit cards. Postal Money Orders carry no protection, cash carries no protection, and the only way to protect yourself if you send a personal check is if the seller hasn’t cashed it yet (and even then, the stop payment fees are expensive!).
      • Ask for some method of delivery confirmation and insurance. This protects you as the buyer if an item arrives damaged or gets lost.
      • Keep all postage records and emails/PMs about the transaction for at least 90 days afterwards, and ask the seller to do the same. You may need the postal receipts if insurance must be claimed.
      • If an item arrives broken, try to reasonably determine if the seller packed it incorrectly, or if the fault is with the shipping company. If it’s the latter, keep all packaging since you will need it to file a claim. Photos of how the item was packed could also help in damage disputes with the seller.

      Other Selling/buying methods:

      Craigslist/Classifieds/Private sellers – Sometimes Windstones turn up in the craziest places, such as in classifieds or in a yard sale. Since these tend to be location-specific and are not common knowledge it is perfectly acceptable (and appreciated by many) if you want to post links/information to these ads.

      Independent stores – In the spirit of trying to support “brick and mortar’ dealers and help keep them in business, collectors are welcome to post if they come across an unusual find in their local store such as retired or special Windstones. Please be respectful of store owners and ask if it’s okay to post their information on this Forum though–some prefer not to ship and may not appreciate rabid collectors asking them to do so.

      eBay – Users can post links to their own personal eBay auctions, or to those where they know the seller personally (i.e., “My Uncle is selling his collection, I’m going to help him pack them, check it out on eBay!”) Keep posts about eBay items that are NOT your own personal listings to a minimum. If you know someone who is looking for a specific piece and it shows up on eBay, it’s best to just PM or email them the link. Posts inviting general discussion of an eBay item should be kept to the General Windstone section (i.e., “I saw this dragon on eBay, what color is it?”).

    March 14, 2012 at 10:09 pm #876679
    Shihiv

      I have updated the Flea Market rules to address some issues I had overlooked before.

      – Rule #1 has been given come clarification regarding the topics that should be posted here.
      – Rule #3 has been given some clarification regarding what types of replies are allowed. Additionally, I have added the following sub-rule: If you are not the original author, don’t reply to a thread that gone more than 10 days without a new reply or update. If you need to contact the original author, PM them instead. An exception is if the thread has been permanently “stickied” or “pinned” to the top of the thread list (these threads will have a thumbtack icon next to them).

      Please take a moment to re-read rules #1 and #3, and PM me if you have any questions.

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