I think its time the for sale charter was changed

The Troll

As i see it, the for sale charter really favours the seller and is not consumer nor board member friendly. It prohibits other members of pointing out better deals on better products to other board members. As much as i undertstand the need for some kind of constraint, I still feel that it condones the selling of items at extornionate and unfair prices(which contradicts the rest of the charter). The majority of sellers are providing bargains to other board members, but there are still numerous incidents where this is not the case. I think it goes against the boards.ie ethos to say that potential buyers are responsible for finding better deals themselves. We are all here to share our knowledge with everyone else that uses the forums. If that includes saving somebody €100 then so be it. I think that is only right. If i was buying an item that could be purchassed cheaper elsewhere, i'd hope that somebody would be good enough to PM me or post in the thread i was involved in.

I know a lot of other people feel the same way on this issue, so I think perhaps it's time for a review.

Opinions?

mike65

If you don't like the price don't buy. People have to use some native cunning when thinking of buying goods...

Mike.

stevenmu

I think people have a right to sell their property for whatever price they feel like, no matter how extortionate it is. The exception to this is ticket touts, who prevent people buying tickets at a reasonable price by buying them all up in advance and gaining a monopoly. If people are stupid enough to buy something at a price without checking themselves what a reasonable price is, it's their own fault. Everyone with access to boards has access to google. If people aren't willing to pay the price a seller is asking for, than they just don't buy it, I don't think there's any rules against making offers well below what the seller wants. If someone makes a low offer and posts a link to justify it I think that's ok, but there seems to be groups of armchair eddie hobbes's out there who relish in trawling through FS prices pointing out that prices are too high.

amp

Didn't we just do this?

Newshound

i believe this is a community and as such should not discourage people helping each other out.
I think the OP is right. The charter should not discourage posts in for sale which help a fellow boardster out by telling them that they can buy a particular item for less elsewhere. Otherwise your only helping out someone who is intentionally or not ripping off a member of the boards community

CuLT

The rules are not changing in that direction anytime soon.

It's not about "helping each other out", it's about common sense. If you don't have enough sense to find out the best price for what you're buying, then you shouldn't be shopping anywhere, let alone For Sales.

If you notice an extortionist, use the "Report Post" button.

feylya

What's stopping a user pming someone who is selling or buying for that matter and directing them to a cheaper price? If the buyer is still interested, they can offer to pay the price that was suggested to them less however much the item would have depreciated. That way it keeps the threads themselves clean and doesn't break any rules in the Charter.

ferdi

i've seen users getting plent of grief for pointing out that a price is too high on a FS item. they call it thread spoiling.

CuLT

ferdi wrote:

i've seen users getting plent of grief for pointing out that a price is too high on a FS item. they call it thread spoiling.

And that's what it is, because more often than not the quoted "proof" (if any) that the item is priced too high is:

a) an ebay item (hint: this is not ebay)

or,

b) from an American retailer (hint: this isn't America)

The General

Boards is getting ridiculous, you can get mobile phones for so cheap, see sig )

Canis Lupus

Isn't the OPs point more to do with the fact that as a "community" we should be allowed to help one another out and point out an overpriced item? Wouldn't it be nice to know that if you buy from a boards member you are paying a competitive price?

Of course a person can always be warned through PM so it's a pointless argument but I agree with the OPs sentiment. Not that I'd ever buy second hand anyway.

ozt9vdujny3srf

The for sale board is as much for the seller as it is for the buyer.

There is absolutely nothing forcing anyone to pay the asking price of the seller.

Generally speaking its all part of the haggling process anyway.

Gordon

Canis Lupus wrote:

Isn't the OPs point more to do with the fact that as a "community" we should be allowed to help one another out and point out an overpriced item? Wouldn't it be nice to know that if you buy from a boards member you are paying a competitive price?

Of course a person can always be warned through PM so it's a pointless argument but I agree with the OPs sentiment. Not that I'd ever buy second hand anyway.

I would agree with the community bit. I think the reason that FS has turned out this way is due to the fact that community spirit was diluted into thread spoiling via invalid and unnecessary 'help'. Abused may have been the correct term. Unfortunately for such a perfect solution to exist would be very tricky to pull off so I think the best thing is to offer ideas to solve these perceived problems. I can't say I know much about FS though as I've never used it much and always been baffled by the rules!