Not for sale

[Grapevine]

A couple of days ago there was a post about asking for a price on an enclosed trailer and there were many responses. Imo this was a legitimate post and it got alot of good replies. Clearly the poster was trying to sell the trailer, whether or not he sells it on this site or in his own town makes no difference to me. Roughly 2 months ago I was asking for info on what to ask for a used Walker. I had no intention of selling it on Lawnsite (I had more than a few local guys looking at it) but was merely looking for an exchange of info, and was told that the post had to go to the Used marketplace forum so as to not be misconstrued as a classified. Has the policy changed, and if so what is it ?

[1MajorTom]

Grapevine,

Sorry I have not gotten back to you. I was going to e-mail you this response, but since you did post it on the forum, I don't want others to think I'm ducking the question.
I did notice your post yesterday on the other thread, and this is what I did.

I posted a question myself to the other moderator's asking their opinions. Here was my post to the other mods.

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Opinions - Should this thread be pulled?
Here is the thread in question.
http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=21878

Scroll down to the post that Grapevine made.
Here is his thread that he mentioned that was pulled.
http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=18832

With the thread in question, I thought TSG was asking because he was selling to his neighbor so I let it slide. I guess he should have just asked the worth of his trailer, but he does mention that he is willing to let someone else purchase it. Maybe his neighbor, maybe not?

So what do you all think?

We're a little late on this anyway, that thread already has 309 views but I was wondering about how to answer Grapevine.
************************************

Now with all that said, the way I understand the guidelines, we can ask how much an item is worth, but we can not mention that it is for sale. I believe the other thread slipped thru because it was made to seem that the item was already sold to the neighbor, and the poster was just looking for a price. Your thread was also looking for a price but it didn't seem like you had a definite buyer.

Either way you look at it, I goofed up. We don't want there to be any double standards here. Grapevine, I hope there aren't any hard feelings here. It was just an error.

Please everyone, feel free to ask if you must the worth of an item. But don't mention that it is for sale. It just causes problems because in the back of peoples minds they are left wondering if you are sneaking a for sale ad in for free. Thanks.

[jdjoe_97]

Well I do understand why you don't want everybody and thier brother on here saying that have this that and the other for sale. So in that respect I understand why you may feel it necessary to pull a post if the poster is explicitly "advertising" there items. But I think all the guys on here are good ones and this is a informational site. So I guess unless the guys say I have "yada yada" for sale and want "$$$$" for it then I see nothing wrong with allowing a post to stay and gather info for the guy who's thinking about selling something.

Example I have a trailer I was going to post on here to see what I should ask locally. But know I dont' know if I am "supposed" to be asking? Am I ? Just my 2 cents. Joe


Well Jodi Just read the BIG BLACK letters at the end of your post. So no clarification for me needed. Thanks and sorry for not reading the ENTIRE post. LOL. Joe

[awm]

my sympathies to the moderators on this. actually the value of tools and equipment is an important part of this buisiness,but then how do we prevent it from turning into a sales forum.
somebody got to make these decisions. im glad its not me.
later now
ps you ever be the umpire at a little league game. similar situation
but u can get your self tarred an feathered if you are not careful at the game. been their

[TLS]

I was here when advertising WAS allowed for free. I personally dont think it was getting out of control. I just think someone saw it as a place to make money. If I want to sell something lawn related I put it on E-bay and have got good results, however this forum has almost as much exposure for LCO related items. The Used equipment forum used to be a frequented area for me, but lately its just one piece of equipment a month or so, and its just not worth my time to take a regular look. <---Sad but true!

I think its time to think the rules over and possibly allow people to post in a designated area their links to E-bay and just the fact that they have something for sale. I dont think it would get out of hand.

I'd rather pay annually for Lawnsite membership (tax deductable) and have everything here be free!

[Lawn-Scapes]

C'mon Jodi.. tell grapevine the truth.. I'm special and he's not ;)

I thought TSG was asking because he was selling to his neighbor so I let it slide.
That's what I said I was doing in my post. Thanks for "letting it slide". It must be my honest face :angel:

I guess he should have just asked the worth of his trailer, but he does mention that he is willing to let someone else purchase it. Maybe his neighbor, maybe not?
What do you mean "maybe not?"? :D I know you are not questioning me but..... I was in no way trying to solicit anyone here.

I apologize if it was a borderline post. I did check the guidelines & I did ask whether I could post.

Grapevine... just having fun in the subject line...

[Groundcover Solutions]

I think its time to think the rules over and possibly allow people to post in a designated area their links to E-bay and just the fact that they have something for sale. I dont think it would get out of hand.

i totaly agree with you on this one! I used to look at the used stuff all the time and now there is nothing to look at!

[Randy Scott]

Posting something for sale can't be any bigger of a problem or nuisance than some of the moronic statements and/or questions asked by certain individuals here already. I'd rather weed through those than some of the stupid crap that comes from the same certain individuals. And we all know some of them. So when someone tells you to hit the back button when you don't like or approve of a certain thread, then you can do the same for a for sale item.

[1MajorTom]

Quote: Posting something for sale can't be any bigger of a problem or nuisance than some of the moronic statements and/or questions asked by certain individuals here already.


I agree with you Randy. The for sale posts are not a nuisance. The problem with for sale ads is this:

There is a used Equipment forum that any for sale or wanted ad should be placed. Chuck provides this forum to us for free. Shouldn't we in turn if we have something to sell, pay to advertise it here? Let's say this. Say you had a blower that you wanted to sell. You followed the guidelines and paid your fee to advertise your piece of equipment. 2 weeks later, I come along and openly and innocently mention that I have a blower for sale on one of the forums. Wouldn't you think, "Wow, I paid for my advertising, and Jodi is getting her advertising for free." It's only fair to the people that do pay for advertising that we try and watch that no for sale ads slip thru.

Hope this helps clarify a bit.

[Grapevine]

Jodi, thanks for the honesty and I can certainly understand that the lines can get blurred and decisions have to be made. I also think that for the guys who really do this for a living, we've got so much equipment and the need to upgrade and sell stuff is a big part of the game. If I want to find out what my truck is worth I can go Edmunds.com or NADA. com, but to find a decent price on a used Walker or an EXmark is virtually impossible. To share info with other pros on this subject, (at least for me) is invaluable.

[kutnkru]

I agree with Randy that this should not be any more aggrevating to weed thru a section like this than any of my own posts -LOL!!!

I also agree with GV that many of us do shop quite a bit throughout any given season for equipment upgrades. For me its mostly the smaller items, adding on another bp or hh blower, replacing a line trimmer, looking for that third pair of hedge shears, putting on another crew and dont want to start out with brand new items that they may damage off the bat.

The biggest problem that I have with the UEM is that at $36 for line adds if I have my items run thru the first 1/4 of the season thats $144. If Im trying to sell a blower for $350 thats almost HALF of what I want to make. :( The only way for me to profitably use Eds services would be if I had multiple items that totaled over $1k. That way it will have only cost me 10% to sell them.

Maybe there could be something worked out where for the smaller items it would cost us that same 10% to sell it in a forum for nick nack items. That way a $350 blower would cost $5 for the a month instead of $18. I do think that for larger pieces of equipment Eds site is extremely cheap. :)

Kris