Where would I post a group buy?

[ColoradoSkier]

I can get a pretty good deal on something, so I wanted to see if people wanted to do a group buy. What is the right place to do this on here?

[Hippie]

If it is 4x4 relaeted I would say Gen 4x4 if not Gen chit chat :shrug: - or maybe the wanted :shrug:

[Rex Ashton]

I can get a pretty good deal on something, so I wanted to see if people wanted to do a group buy. What is the right place to do this on here? So whadya find fer us?

[Jeffro600]

Id PM Eric...seems the mods like to pull rules out of mid air sometimes and i could see this violating one fairly easily in the right persons eyes.

[Steve]

Advertising "good deals" for commercial establishments that are not registered vendors here is not allowed, nor is advertising non-4x4 related services or goods, even if you're the provider/seller (except for the obvious selling of privately-owned stuff in the Classified forum.) That's not a rule "pulled out of mid air" but a long-established rule here that is enforced. So, to answer your original question Chester, there is nowhere here where you're allowed to advertise that.

[Clod Hopper]

Advertising "good deals" for commercial establishments that are not registered vendors here is not allowed, nor is advertising non-4x4 related services or goods, even if you're the provider/seller (except for the obvious selling of privately-owned stuff in the Classified forum.) That's not a rule "pulled out of mid air" but a long-established rule here that is enforced. So, to answer your original question Chester, there is nowhere here where you're allowed to advertise that.

Unless he bought a star and became a vendor for the product.

[Steve]

Unless he bought a star and became a vendor for the product.
And ONLY if the product was directly 4x4 related. Suppliers of non-4x4 related services or goods cannot become a vendor here; many such requests have been turned down by Eric in the past.

Glad you mentioned it Chip, where's your blue star Chester??? :confused:

[ColoradoSkier]

Not trying to be a vendor, just passing on a deal I can get, so turning it into a group buy. But J:UN says it may not be such a good item, so maybe this is a moot point.

It is kind of troublesome though that we can't do group buys here. That seems odd to me. I am wondering what Eric's thoughts on the general idea (not this specific item) are?

[Steve]

It is kind of troublesome though that we can't do group buys here. That seems odd to me.
Why is it troublesome? That would completely circumvent the vendor registration here, and even worse it would open the board up to all kinds of advertising for everything under the sun under the guise of "group buys." Note that you cannot post group buys on PBB either, for the same reasons.

Edit: figured I might as well move this to the Suggestion Box since that's really where it belongs.

[Mike.Holmes]

tell the vendor you are getting the group buy through, to come here and be a sponsor. then everyone benefits, the board, the members and the vendor. :idea:

[Camp]

tell the vendor you are getting the group buy through, to come here and be a sponsor. then everyone benefits, the board, the members and the vendor. :idea:

The product is not 4x related so, he can't be a vendor here. As for it benefiting the board, I disagree. That will drive to commercialize the board, which Eric doesn't want.

[Mike.Holmes]

oh, didnt catch it wasnt 4x4 related. anyway, as far as being commercialized, that kinda went out the window with vendor sponsorship.

just trying to be helpful, carry on.

[Camp]

oh, didnt catch it wasnt 4x4 related. anyway, as far as being commercialized, that kinda went out the window with vendor sponsorship.

just trying to be helpful, carry on.

I guess I disagree again. Since we have a vendor section and only allow supporting vendors to post in there and nowhere else about their products, I feel the commercialization of the board has been mitigated. Having the vendor section is significantly different than having every other post in the other forums being advertisements for products or group buys for products. Allowing that to take place would stand a large chance of eliminating any useful information from ever being posted on the board. The purpose of the board is to offer an information transfer place between wheelers and a place to chat but, not to offer up a community built around wheeling that can be mass advertised too at any given time by a vendor or about a product development in hopes of attracting new customers. Or at least that is my interprutation of what Eric and I have talked about. He may correct me when he sees this if I am incorrectly stating this.

[ColoradoSkier]

Eric indicated to me that I should put it in For Sale - Misc. I think that a clear policy on this type of thing needs to be established though, since clearly some of the mods see this differently than he does.

[Eric]

The general concensus is correct, we do not allow commercial ads for non-supporting vendors. Group buys are only permitted within the vendor showcase forum.

[Eric]

Eric indicated to me that I should put it in For Sale - Misc. I think that a clear policy on this type of thing needs to be established though, since clearly some of the mods see this differently than he does.
I was wrong and apologize for the confusion. I'm rushing to catch a plane and in my haste I gave you an incorrect reply. For Sale ads are strictly for non-commercial purposes only, and posting there would violate that rule. I'm sorry, but you may not post your ad on CO4x4.

[Jeffro600]

I guess you could always post that you have info on a group buy...but not say what it is, how much, yada yada yada and just have anyone interested PM you?? :P

[longboy]

Or put it in your sig? A lot of folks here have stuff in their sig regarding mortgages, car audio, free iPods, etc.

I would imagine that this could fly, as long as it's not too obtrusive, or too long of a signature.

What say ye, Eric, mods? (yes, i realize Eric is catching a plane now...)

[Rick]

How is it different than when someone is posting about free Chipotle burritos? Are those supposed to be banned?

[Scott@Rockstomper]

How is it different than when someone is posting about free Chipotle burritos? Are those supposed to be banned?

Free has been, historically, generally looked-the-other-way on, within limits. "Free Chipotle Burrito" or the like is ignored in ChitChat, but would be removed from any other forum. If that's unfair, I'll be happy to delete the "Free Chipotle Burrito" threads from ChitChat as well.

Commercial posts outside of the vendor section are simply not allowed--imagine the mess I (alone) could cause by posting up in Gen4x4 with a bunch of "group buys" (I'm not going to, obviously) and started a new thread for every product we currently offer, offering some silly miniscule discount (but in reality, just capitializing on the ad space).

Now compound that by the 30 or so registered vendors that are here.

Now compound it by two forums (Gen4x4 for the 4x4 related stuff, and ChitChat for everything non-4x4 related) and by, oh, let's say, 100 or so users who aren't registered vendors, but who are hawk-eyed for deals.

At that point, the only forum worth visiting if you weren't looking for ads, would be the VIP forum (which may be well worth visiting in its own right) and the board would cease to be useful for anything practical at all, IMHO.

If you put something unobtrusive in your sig about group buys, it will probably be ignored; if you start threads about PM'ing you about group buys, those will probably be removed. Just like if I post about group buys, even if my little vendor wrench thing "buys" me "commercial access", it's limited.