What has been happening in the sales section?

[pascal1976]

This used to be a great forum for sellling, and it still seems to me the ideal spot to do so for people who share this hobby. But when I look at many of the sales threads now, and they are filled with antagonism, mistrust, downright trolling, public discussions of things that should be PMs, general discussions that belong in other threads, and other detritus. It seems to me that forums like this only work when people choose to have a degree of collective trust and civility. I was out of touch for a few months, but it is clear from the tagged warning that we all see on every page that this has become an endemic problem here. Can we all endeavor to be a little more civil? It makes me not want to buy or sell here, and is something of a killjoy. I think we can all agree on this point at least...

[mysterio]

It still is a great forum for selling. It just so happened that the watch you were selling caught some members' eyes because of Tony's recent crazy sale of the same model. Still I do agree with the observation that questions like those could have been better asked in private. Don't worry, our every vigilant staff will have most likely caught wind of the situation.

[crossbones]

If you ever see a post you think staff should look into please flag it.

There is a button in the bottom left corner under every post that reads "Report Post" when you hover your mouse over it.

Staff works incredibly hard to ensure a happy successful forum but we cant catch them all.

[rickdangerous]

I know the thread you're referring to and I honestly think you're overreacting mate.

[daytonadragon]

If you ever see a post you think staff should look into please flag it.

There is a button in the bottom left corner under every post that reads "Report Post" when you hover your mouse over it.

Staff works incredibly hard to ensure a happy successful forum but we cant catch them all.

Well said.

[pascal1976]

It's not just my thread, or I wouldn't have opened a discussion here. There are several threads where this is the case. In my own thread, when I have people coming in saying, in effect, "the seller is engaging in outright fraud" without (1) privately contacting me with their concerns or (2) attempting to offer any constructive proof of their claim, or (3) really contributing anything at all, *and* when such people have less than- what- 30 posts? most of which consist of one-liners designed to drive up their post counts, then I think I have reason for concern. That isn't overreacting, that is simply pointing out that such comments are not helpful, nor in line with the spirit of the board.

This is basically the flip side to the very legitimate concerns expressed in the "what happened to the geek?" post.

[Jeffdodge]

I agree with half of what you say and disagree with half.

On one hand, thread crapping is exactly that...thread crapping.

That said, there used to be a culture of honesty, fairness and a love of the hobby here which has - sadly - taken a hard turn for the worse over the last couple of years.

Sometimes a PM is appropriate, but sometimes a public question is also appropriate. I don't know about you, but I never get belligerent without a reason... but I have no problem calling somebody out if I think something is bullsh*t.

That said, I have flagged many a post to call attention to it by the mods.

[pascal1976]

Oh sure, I agree that public questions aimed at clarification are completely necessary and justified, and there is little doubt that there are plenty of questionable sellers running around. Maybe this is to some extent the price paid for the increasing popularity of the hobby. But if the culture is changing, this does not mean that we as individuals must, or should, change with it! It's pretty clear that the mods do everything possible to make this a great place- I just want to encourage all of us to try to do the same.