For Sale Trade & Wanted Forum Rules!!! Must Read!!!

[Heath]

For Sale Trade & Wanted Forum Rules!!! Updated 11/25/04.

Okay, first off, all of the rules that you read when you signed up apply... Click here if you don't remember them! Here are a few which are specific to the for sale forums...

1. You must be an Elite Explorer member to sell parts and vehicles on our forum. You must be an EF Vendor to sell commercially.

2. Do not try to sell illegal copies of ANYTHING, don't try to sell burned copies of manuals, music CD's, DVD's or any of that... This includes items that people would need a license to purchase.

3. Do not undermine someone elses sale. If they are selling a widget arm for $22 + shipping and you know where you can get one for $14 shipped, its not up to you to "educate" everyone looking to buy the item, you're just killing his/her sale and its not fair to them. If you do post something to that effect and I see it, you can expect it to disappear. I'm sure you'd be upset if someone did that to you.

4a. If you feel you must 'school' the seller then I would recomend PMing the seller and sharing your information with them, so they can decide if they want to adjust their price acordingly or wait until somone purchases their item.

4b. Do not list your items for sale in someone else's thread.

5. If you are running a business or selling thing for a business that you know, you have to talk to Rick rick@explorerforum.com FIRST!!! If Rick can not confirm with me that you have permission to have your business sales up here, they will disappear.

6. Do not bump your sale more than once a day, its not necessary. When I say bump, that includes ttt or any variation of it (and the original post counts for the first day, so don't bump it 2 hours later). We'll warn you once. If it happens again, the thread will disapear. This forum is way to busy to sift through a bunch of bumps.

7. Do not repost anything that you already have for sale. You can just bump it up to the top, if you have new info on this item(s), like a lower price or anything, just use the initial thread and add to it. If you have mutiple items for sale or wanted, please post them in one thread. This will save you, your buyers, and the moderators time in reading every post as well as saving bandwidth.

8. If you see someone breaking these rules, PLEASE PM Section525 or myself or e-mail me at heath@explorerforum.comwith a link to the thread so that we can take care of it.

9. Any seller that does not follow through on a sale, either by not shipping the item, shipping a bad item that was promised as good, or not returning someones money, will not be allowed to use the FSTW forum anymore until the deal that has gone bad is taken care of!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!! Also we (Section525 or Heath) will post in your transaction feedback thread about the deal gone bad with a link to the thread in question. If you don't have a thread, we will start one for you, we will also edit the title of your thread in the transaction feedback forum with a "Bad News Seller" alert and sticky it to the top of that forum. After the deal has been made good upon to the moderators approval then the sticky, "Bad New Seller" and our post with the link to the thread in question will be removed, but you will still be subject to feedback from your buyer. ALSO, if you edit/delete any of your posts in the thread with all of the description/discussion of items in question you will be subject to a possible public floggin (yes I'll let it go in this instance now) to loss of priveliges (from loss of use of FSTW forum up to potential permanent ban from the board completely and permanently). This rule is from today forward (8/17/04) the deal has to go bad today or at a later date.

10. Any and all posts are subject to be edited, deleted, or closed at anytime by the moderators or administrator at their discretion.

11. If you create a For Sale thread please make sure you check it often. Respond to those who have posted in it. Do not just post and leave!

12. These rules are not up for debate and are subject to be changed by Rick, at anytime, so please check back often!!!

13. You must list your asking price.

14. If you don't have your location listed in your profile (or the item is located somewhere else), then you MUST have the items location in your post as well.

Thanks,

Heath
Section525

Moderators
For Sale Trade & Wanted
Transaction Feedback Forum

 

[Heath]

Folks! It Is Buyer Beware!
Explorerforum does not mediate delivery, payment, or any other details of specific transactions
between vendors and buyers. We simply provide this forum as a communication channel.

As the ForSale moderator Section525 and I occasionally have members emailing us about people who have taken their money and run off with out sending the product or refunding the $$. Unfortunately, not all members can be trusted, it is a shame. My general advice is:

Use a credit card if you can.
Use an escrow service like paypal.com or use Ebay if you are unsure or use a 3rd party person the two of you trust to conduct the transaction if you have ANY doubts.


Good info:



This information is good not just here on Explorerforum, but also on eBay and other auction sites, other forums, and bulletin boards.

Okay, here is what I would do:

First, as a general rule for dealings on the Internet, keep copies of EVERYTHING- emails, PayPal receipts, money order stubs, everything! Second, be aware that steps 1 and 2 can involve a lot of back and forth between them, depending on the method of payment.

STEP 1.
Inform the Financial Institutions and websites involved.

If you paid by money order place a complaint AND a trace on the money order with the company that sold it (western union, USPS, etc.). Make sure it was cashed. Find out WHERE it was cashed. The same goes for a check, whether issued by a bank or a personal check.

If you paid by PayPal, go to the PayPal website at www.paypal.com and look for the complaint process. PayPal Buyer Complaint Info Page.
Next, Review the Buyer Complaint Process and fill out a "Buyer Complaint Form" through the Security Center. If you are logged in on the PayPal site, it may take you to a different site than these links. You must be logged in to fill out the form.

If it was on eBay or another auction site, look for the "Safe Harbor" clause or provisions in the user agreement. Try the "help" icons and search for "fraud" or "safe harbor" in the FAQs or Help sections.
Here is the General Help Page for eBay: General Help- eBay. Here is the Fraud Protection Information: Fraud Protection Information- eBay.

Most other auction sites have similar policies. I use eBay as an example because I, like many of you, use it frequently.

Most forums are like this one: Buyer Beware. While you may get moderator assistance to get IP information, login frequency, and other contact info, in most cases nothing can be done.

One other thing to look into is the fact that eBay and PayPal are now one company. While before they would play one off of the other as to whose responsibility it was, they can no longer do that safely, as statements of one could be used against the other. This should, at least in theory, cut down on passing of the buck between the two, a common thing in the past.

Your bank or credit card can also be a powerful ally. While not necessarily bound to help you if you used PayPal, most of the time the fraud protection issued by your credit card company can help get to the root of a problem. Remember, you credit card can even file a complaint with PayPal if PayPal won't do anything to help you, because, as far as the credit card is concerned, PayPal took your money. THey don't care what PayPal did with it, they just know that it was PayPal that billed you. Your bank can do the same. Your bank will be more likely to give you personal service, but your credit card company has more clout. Use both to your advantage.

If you paid by check, or money order issued by the bank, or by bank card (ATM/Debit Card) directly, the bank should get involved. My PayPal account ACCEPTS Credit/Debit cards. If someone were to pay me that way directly (not through "PayPal" funds), their bank or credit card company could come after me directly (if I tried to shank them). I have helped people get money back through PayPal this way.

STEP 2.
Inform the Authorities.

If you sent payment in any form, whether check, Money Order (Postal or other), cashier’s check, or cash (NEVER SEND CASH!!!) through the mail, file a complaint at your local post office. Here is a link to the mail fraud reporting form:
Mail Fraud Complaint Form

It is a federal crime (mail fraud), so they should know the drill. Get the manager of your local post office to give you the name of the post office that is local to the recipient (where HIS/HER mail gets routed through prior to delivery).

Here is a link to the USPS web site. It has a "finder" feature to locate post offices anywhere, including contact information:
USPS website

Call the endpoint post office and file a claim. Call the local police or sheriffs office and file a criminal complaint using the information from the postal complaint form. Local police numbers can be found through most Internet directories. I have found that www.anywho.com works the best for me. Most of the time, the post office can even give you that information. If not, your local police can do so.

STEP 3.
Involve the BIG DOGS.

Your next step is to go to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center website. The IFCC is located in my old hometown of Morgantown, WV (Go Mountaineers!!!).
IFCC is a joint venture between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center