Soon - All sales will have to be in Commerce

[Ryno]

 

[Mr. EcKo]

Thanks Ryno, yes my product is the shiznit. Lol.

 

[chubbyman]

Don't feel bad Badmoon...I haven't seen a single episode either...and don't care to.

prepare to have a village of people pull a clockwork orange on you.

 

[Niltusk]

Yeah, folks are always going to resist change that seems to affect their own pocketbooks, but this is the truth. The forum provides a great opportunity for members to promote and sell their stuff to like-minded collectors. It only seems fair to me that they give something back financially for that privilege. To Badmoon's post, that is probably the case when you're talking typical mass produced stuff from Hot Toys and Sideshow. But with customs particularly, the audience you have access to here, the detailed discussions and promotion/marketing you can provide, and ability to easily communicate/transact across countries really provides sellers with an advantage you aren't going to get in many other places. There are other outlets that can provide some of this, but I don't think anything matches what this forum provides for certain types of custom work focused on geek franchises.

I have been a member on about half a dozen fan forums for about the same amount of time, I don't have the combined posts in every other forum added together as I do in this forum alone, and for good reason.

 

[SwedishHeat]

There has to be some time regulation for customizers putting out their work. I can think of three projects I bought into myself that are going almost a year and still not received anything.

I understand that this is not the best location for this debate, but take some personal responsibility. If you're disappointed with the wait, tell the seller to return your money.

 

[ifrack]

Some great questions brought up..... Dave has his work cut out

As far as a fee, how much... I will continue to purchase customs off this forum even if it means having to get a Gold Membership

 

[karamazov80]

I understand that this is not the best location for this debate, but take some personal responsibility. If you're disappointed with the wait, tell the seller to return your money.

That's pretty much the board policy on the issue at the moment. If a seller is unwilling or unable to provide the refund, then there may be a problem. But until then, sellers can make customers wait 6 months, a year, whatever, communicate or not communicate as they see fit. Until a seller seems to have completely given up on providing their product this is allowed. But is it in the best interest of the collecting community when there is no time limit or communication requirement in place? As I said before, this board provides a great space for product promotion and sales. Considering that, I think Dave has an opportunity to help dictate the rules of the game here. If such a rule were created, I think many would feel compelled to follow it, at the risk of feeling a serious financial hit. And if that were the case, customers would benefit, and I think the sellers would as well, by not getting in over their heads and thus being less likely to get burned out, end up with responsibilities they can't meet, becoming pariahs to the community, etc.

 

[Punishment1218]

I understand that this is not the best location for this debate, but take some personal responsibility. If you're disappointed with the wait, tell the seller to return your money.

Obviously you havent been involved in a project thats either taken this long or dealt with the sellers I have. Oh....and they're some "reputable" sellers also. And dont think for one minute I haven't asked for a refund. All I got was bs excuses and the usual....it's coming, be patient. So please, dont use the personal responsibility thing with me.

 

[BadMoon]

Obviously you havent been involved in a project thats either taken this long or dealt with the sellers I have. Oh....and they're some "reputable" sellers also. And dont think for one minute I haven't asked for a refund. All I got was bs excuses and the usual....it's coming, be patient. So please, dont use the personal responsibility thing with me.

This board has always been an "at your own risk" type of board. I never felt bad for mishaps because that's what you get if you choose to do business at your own risk. However, should Dave decide to charge for a "service" which I believe that's what he's doing that will change things entirely. Dave I think that's a big mistake. I would happily pay for a "premium" membership. You got it. I will support the boards. I really do think your strategy sucks though as intended. You are setting yourself up for more BS. If you are going to charge you need to provide a protected environment for people. If you aren't willing to do that you have no right to charge for that.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Obviously you havent been involved in a project thats either taken this long or dealt with the sellers I have. Oh....and they're some "reputable" sellers also. And dont think for one minute I haven't asked for a refund. All I got was bs excuses and the usual....it's coming, be patient. So please, dont use the personal responsibility thing with me.

You misread what I said. I didn't say "ask the seller for a refund", I said "tell the seller to return your money", there is a distinct difference. If you tell the seller to return your money and he refuses, then express your dissatisfaction on the board, and I'm pretty sure the seller will send you your money back once the mob livens up.

 

[5x10]

This is a great establishment for the hobby
I don't think it's out of line for the owner to profit
Assuming he is the owner

 

[annihilate22]

Just thinking out loud here, so don't crucify me.

If charging a nominal fee for board maintenance is the goal, why not promote the SSF Affiliate links ? I'm not sure if many people frequent the Announcement section (The views are paltry). That gives Dave much more than he would get from memberships and not drive away some people too. Everyone's happy ?

Make it a practice to have all new threads have SSF Affiliate links and have a small line which says buy to support the board. A lot of people on the boards do buy directly from SS, some for Reward Points and some for Exclusives. Would this be feasible DD ?

 

[MANDO]

I don't have an issue with any of this. Curious about the price of membership, but that will come. Couple things I hadn't seen asked though:

I assume the person actually selling the item has to be the one starting and maintaining the thread? Otherwise I can see an easily exploited loophole with guys starting threads "on behalf of someone else."

Additionally do people just offering repaint/mod services have to start threads in Custom Commerce or is that strictly for custom products? There's a few guys that already do this, but the majority just run it out of their custom threads and through PMs.

 

[marsattack]

Is this to save the forum in some way?
Does the forum cost money to run so it requires cash?
If everyone that sells requires to pay , could it be based on how much each pays ?
Or does it affect the ones that are constantly selling?
Maybe there could be a fee rather than membership for those selling rarely in here and based on what it costs naturally.
Mars

 

[Kuzeh]

Hey Dave,
what about pending projects that are currently in production?
Are those still subject to fees and all? Some people have already paid the custom project I am working on, just wondering.

 

[JefftheCollector]

This board has always been an "at your own risk" type of board. I never felt bad for mishaps because that's what you get if you choose to do business at your own risk. However, should Dave decide to charge for a "service" which I believe that's what he's doing that will change things entirely. Dave I think that's a big mistake. I would happily pay for a "premium" membership. You got it. I will support the boards. I really do think your strategy sucks though as intended. You are setting yourself up for more BS. If you are going to charge you need to provide a protected environment for people. If you aren't willing to do that you have no right to charge for that.

I personally don't mind paying a fee to support the board but there has to be more accountability.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Is this to save the forum in some way?
Does the forum cost money to run so it requires cash?
If everyone that sells requires to pay , could it be based on how much each pays ?
Or does it affect the ones that are constantly selling?
Maybe there could be a fee rather than membership for those selling rarely in here and based on what it costs naturally.
Mars

I'm reading between the lines here but, the fee for Commerce privileges is designed to weed out the less desirable elements of the Commerce section, the dead-beats and such.

The whole idea of "You need to be a member for X months and have X number of posts" doesn't seem to be working, so now people have to put their money where their mouth is.

 

[shocktrooper_au]

Fair enough, what's the fee going to be? And what's included

 

[EVILFACE]

:

I assume the person actually selling the item has to be the one starting and maintaining the thread? Otherwise I can see an easily exploited loophole with guys starting threads "on behalf of someone else."

That's a good question. I would think the maker of the custom item needs to be the one registered and handling the payment transactions. Or else all this will be exploited.

 

[Iggyrox]

I think having a Commerce section to administer will require more manpower and resources from Dave and thus the fees. If it will make purchases safer and less worrisome, then I'm all for it. Sellers might feel inclined to pass on the fees to customers but that's bidnezz.

I also like the idea of promoting the Affiliate Sales more. I've always meant to make my contribution through that channel but it's easy to forget and Search can be cumbersome.