Non-Windstone Flea Market Rules & Guidelines

[Shihiv]

Non-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.

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OFFICIAL NON-WINDSTONE FLEA MARKET RULES

1. This area is for buying/selling non-Windstone-related items. However, try and keep things somewhat on topic.
• Items that are on topic may include: Collectibles, fantasy related items, animal related items, small shinies (jewelry, stones), art related items, etc.
• This is not a good place to sell things such as: Furniture, vehicles, computers, clothes, appliances, your house, etc (there are lots of other places online to do that!). This is also NEVER the place to go if you are looking to sell or rehome an animal! If you post items that are completely off topic, the thread might be removed at the discretion of the staff.
• Users can post links to their own personal eBay auctions, or to those where they know the seller personally, as long as the item is on topic (i.e., “My Uncle is selling his Vincent van Gogh collection, I’m going to help him pack them, check it out on eBay!”)
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 do not make a separate thread for your china doll and needle-felted guinea pig if you are selling both–put them both in the same post).
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 Non-Windstone 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 Non-Windstone Flea Market would include: anything specifically related to your interest in buying from, selling to, or trading with another member.
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. 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! The occasional sale of individual, one-of-a-kind-items is permitted. Windstone-related services are also permitted (such as the services of an artist commissioned to paint a PYO), but these services should be posted in one of the other Buy/Sell/Trade/Repair subforums or in the Paint-Your-Own subforum (whichever area is more appropriate for the service being offered). If you are unclear on if you might be breaking Forum rules, please contact a moderator before posting.

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GUIDELINES, SUGGESTIONS, AND OTHER INFORMATION

Guidelines for Thread Titles:

Giving your thread a proper title will help make the Non-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 Hand-made scarf”. 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 Cat figurines”. 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 gemstone jewelry”.
• Edit the title of your thread to show updates. You 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 gemstone jewelry, 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.
• 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.
• 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.

[Shihiv]

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

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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