I can't imagine that there is even one single regular forum member who doesn't know that members are supposed to stay out of ads in Classifieds unless they have a question directly related to transacting business with the poster, or unless they are stating that they wish to buy from or trade with the ad poster.

The only members exempt from this rule are staff members and the small number of members designated to police Classifieds. Right now, the number of these members can be counted on one hand.

Countless times, I have repeated this rule, both to the membership at large and to individual members who have broken this rule, and yet, the problem persists.

I have given leeway on this rule, because not infrequently, members will appear in an ad to try to be helpful. Since the idea behind the rule is to prohibit interference, such as criticism of pricing or to comment on what is perceived to be inaccurate or intentionally misleading descriptions of items.

That I allow these posts, which are intended only to be helpful, seems to have lead some members to believe that this rule is not strictly enforced.

From time to time, there are certainly problematic ads which appear- outrageous pricing, scalping, blatantly false statements, and ads which are obviously scams placed by thieves.

For any such concerns a member may have about these things, a tool is provided in the lower right hand corner of each and every post in this forum- the report-this-post tool. All a member has to do is click the tiny yellow triangle, state their concerns and click 'Continue'. At that point, I am sent an email immediately, with a link to the thread or post in question, and with the text of the reporting member's concerns. You have my word that I read each and every one of these reports and examine the thread or post in question.

This is all you have to do when you see something in Classifieds which you think is suspicious or just plain wrong. This is all you should do when it comes to Classifieds.

Once again, I am telling all members except for the small number of exempt members to refrain from posting in a member's ad in Classifieds, unless you have a legitimate question related to transacting business with the poster, or telling the poster you wish to buy or trade with the member, or if you have the item they are looking for, or if you wish to make an offer in their ad, or tell them you are emailing an offer to them.

Unfortunately, since my allowance of helpful remarks in ads (or compliments such as "That's a great looking pistol") seems to have been taken as an indication that it's OK to ignore this rule altogether,even the helpful and benign remarks are now disallowed.

I am patient with a thing until I am patient no more. Given that I have allowed the bending of this rule, I am going to be patient a bit longer, now that I have clarified matters. I'll give it a chance to soak in, and then my patience will be at an end.

All members of this forum are adults. None of you like being admonished. I do not like admonishing you.

Lastly, I will point out one thing, since it seems to be lost upon some of you: This rule about leaving ads alone and directing your concerns towards me, is intended to protect any member who places an ad in this forum, and that includes you. Many of you have never placed an ad in this forum, but if you do, you should know that I will not allow others to make a nuisance of themselves in your ad. Apply the Golden Rule- do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.

Bump.

TTT