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 Replies: 8 / Views: 2,552 |
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Valued Member
Canada
55 Posts |
I was going to post this as a response to this thread https://goccf.com/t/142566but I didn't want to hijack the thread or have it lost in a different discussion. First, Tights24 thanks for clearing posting in there and clearing up exactly what the rules are for the forums. I understand the idea behind attaching the post limit to selling here on the forums. I do have a bit of a question though that directly apply to me. I inherited a coin collection from my grandfather. I am probably up to about 50 posts asking for help from this wonderful community and putting up pictures of my coins. The big thing is though, I am not a coin collector. I can see why people would enjoy it and why they would get so much pleasure from it but I am not one of those people. My goal is to get these coins into the hands of people who will enjoy them as much as my grandfather did. I originally came here looking for information and trying to figure out what I had in my collection and the best way to go about organizing/categorizing them, but what I found instead is exactly the kind of people I want to have my coins. So after looking around a bit I see there is a 250 post minimum on selling on the forum. So here is my dilemma. I am not a coin collector so obviously my knowledge is well below virtually every person who posts here. I do try and post constructive comments in threads where I think I have something to add but without posting a "Hi and welcome to the forums" post to every new user it will take me another 2 years or so to get to 250 posts. And actually it might be worse than that because the posts I am putting up about my coins will eventually start to run dry. So is the 250 post limit really constructive to what you are trying to do? As I understand it you don't want to make these forums a dumping place for coins. But is the 250 post limit too high for non-coin people like me? Could it be switched to simply an age of your account? As I am an avid users of the internet and many forums I work really hard to not post frivolous or useless posts that are devoid of content so 250 posts is a lot of content in a field that I am lacking in knowledge. Is the post limit also intended to help protect the new users having their collection cherry picked by the more experienced members of the forums? I am not trying to challenge the existing rule but I am trying to bring to light some issues that may have not been apparent to the people who first enacted the rule. Please feel free to ask me any questions or explain why this rule is working exactly as intended. Thanks in advance for reading that wall of text. PS - This is NOT some sneaky, underhanded method of trying to have people contact me to sell my coins. I will ABSOLUTELY not sell any coin to any member who contacts me through this forum or outside of it if it goes against the rules. I just want the moderators to understand the difficult situation that I have and see if there is any way that the rules might be changed to better deal with people like me. *** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. *** |
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Valued Member
Canada
271 Posts |
I felt the same way when I was around 50 posts - now I'm at 243. Just keep visiting the homepage and posting on whatever interests you, and you'll be there in no time! :)
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Moderator
 United States
189502 Posts |
The post requirement serves the simple purpose of allowing us to get to know and trust you. Yes, it is that simple.
The requirement used to be set at 50 posts, but it was too easy for a scam artist to reach that goal without raising any eyebrows. We had more than a few good and honest members burned by this type of charlatan.
The 250 post limit was chosen because most grifters do not want to put that sort of effort into the con and those that do often get caught in a lie after so many posts. Is it perfect? No, but it is better than what we had before, which was numerous complaints of deals gone wrong.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
There are many, many other venues to sell coins. ebay , craiglist to name two. The policy is to protect not only members, but our beloved forum and the administrators, from the repercussions from allowing hit and run fraudsters from using our venue as a base for their misdealing. I regularly check ebay , Craigslist and many other sites for coins and collection. Believe me, if you sell quality coins at a fair price they WILL get into the hands of collectors who appriciate them. Edited by denco7
02/22/2013 5:18 pm
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
This would be a good time to explain why the rules are written the way they are.
What you have to understand is, there are plenty of trolls out there who will go to extraordinary lengths to ingratiate themselves with a community, for the express purpose of ripping the membership off. It should be obvious why we hold potential sellers to more stringent rules than buyers - the buyer requirement is simply because we want members who are willing to stick around and be part of the community, with or without commerce.
90 days for a seller is actually on the low side; it's been my experience (having moderated sales forums prior to CCF) that people will spend far longer preparing to do their dirty deeds. They can afford to be patient; they're doing it at a dozen forums at once. The post requirement is far more important in that regard. It's a pretty big commitment to offer 250 posts we'd consider "quality," and keep in mind we're watching and tracking people who come in and offer reams of one-liner posts. That's in some honest people's nature, but it's also how you'd do it if your intent was not honorable.
Two takeaways:
1) Job One here is to create and nurture long-term members. We don't want to be here just for commerce. We're a family, not just a forum, and we want people who will be with us for the long term.
2) The strictness of the rules affects honest people as well as dishonest ones. We get that, we've agonized about it, and what we've settled on is what we feel safest. It's an unintended corollary that some will suffer for it, and chewy_27 is in that group. It's inevitable that some will be in his position - receiving an inheritance that they want to do the right thing with, while not having that spark driving them to enjoy collecting. We get that. That's why we will so freely advise newer members as to appropriate venues for the disposition of coins.
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Valued Member
United States
362 Posts |
Quote:
So is the 250 post limit really constructive to what you are trying to do? Chewy_27, when I first started looking at this forum I also had the same thoughts. As I spent a little time answering queries and asking them also I came to the realization that the limits are there to vet those who are genuine and inhibit those who are less than scrupulous. By now you have seen for yourself some of the scammers on ebay, and most probably sought out a better or "more" ethical hobbyist website / forum. Now you have found such a site, and seeing as how most of us felt this way at some point, have imposed a series of limitations try to keep that from happening to us again. It all boils down to a lesser of two evils, vet or take your chances with your hard earned money like every other website. It's as simple as that! Time for the FatMan waddle dance - watch out it's gonna get ugly      |
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Valued Member
 Canada
55 Posts |
Thanks for all the great feedback folks. I hoped that I wouldn't offend/annoy anyone by asking about this and I am glad to see that is the way it landed. I now see that the "non-collector" point of view was taken into consideration when the post rule was made. I was just worried that maybe the group that created the rule was made up of serious collectors and my point of view might not have been brought up, but obviously it was. I think my biggest problem is that I am not a scammer, so I just don't think like one. Obviously the members of this forums have fallen victim to unscrupulous people and this larger post limit was brought in to help stop the problems. SsuperDdave said it best. Quote:
The strictness of the rules affects honest people as well as dishonest ones. We get that, we've agonized about it, and what we've settled on is what we feel safest I will keep plugging away on my posts and putting up pictures of my coins, asking questions until I can build up my post count. These coins have been with me for over 10 years now, it is not like I am in a massive rush to unload them. Thanks again for your feedback, it really is appreciated. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
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I will keep plugging away on my posts and putting up pictures of my coins, asking questions until I can build up my post count. These coins have been with me for over 10 years now, it is not like I am in a massive rush to unload them. That's a good plan--250 posts/90 days will go by quickly.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2135 Posts |
Chewy, I'm a keen numismatist (student of coins). I've been well known in the UK as a numismatist for over 40 years. I thought that it would take me 3 or 4 years to reach 250 posts and here I am at 510 ! I've learned a lot here, especially about US coins. And, I'm not yet ready to start selling ! |
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Replies: 8 / Views: 2,552 |
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Posted 02/22/2013 5:05 pm
