WTF I was just asking for help

[fishbulb]

No, I'm not saying that I was going to buy anything from you. I'm not interested in them. The 30 day rule doesn't protect anyone. A buyers research of the seller does.

Indeed. When I posted about a recommendation for a field camera, I got half a dozen PM's from people trying to sell me one, despite the 30 day rule.

My two cents:

To me, the 30-day rule for BUYERS should be repealed. It should be kept for SELLERS.

I could have bought a bunch of my stuff on this forum. But I didn't - I got it all on eBay because I couldn't buy anything here. Most people getting into large format will spend a large amount of the money up front (first camera and lens, plus film holders, etc.), and then slowly add to their kit over time. This forum is doing their sellers a huge disservice by blocking new members from purchasing.

[BrianShaw]

... If you are an honest, calm person you'll find a lot of helpful people here. If you barge in, then start cursing and criticizing everyone, well, you'll reap what you sow. Your option.

Reviewing the history, Garrett... the poor guy/gal was sideswiped by two of the forums anomalies: Batman and the Shark. I don't blame him/her for being dazed. And no matter how much one might understand the mods just decisions... if one just got sideswiped like he/she did it appears that those actions were aimed at him/her.

I'm willing to give a benefit of the doubt in this case but that's just me and nobody really cares what I do or say, so...

[Jody_S]

Indeed. When I posted about a recommendation for a field camera, I got half a dozen PM's from people trying to sell me one, despite the 30 day rule.

My two cents:

To me, the 30-day rule for BUYERS should be repealed. It should be kept for SELLERS.

I could have bought a bunch of my stuff on this forum. But I didn't - I got it all on eBay because I couldn't buy anything here. Most people getting into large format will spend a large amount of the money up front (first camera and lens, plus film holders, etc.), and then slowly add to their kit over time. This forum is doing their sellers a huge disservice by blocking new members from purchasing.

I agree.

[Jim Galli]

Late to the party as usual. Missed out on all the fun.

Prices on these lenses, you have a couple that are desirable, obviously, fluctuate like the stock market. They're all over the place.

You'll find similar lenses with absurd "asking" prices. The best help we have is the thread and websites that track sales of Soft Focus lenses to try to keep a meter of some sort on the 'pulse'.

But yours aren't 'soft focus' so no one's tracking them the same way.

No one can just throw out a dollar figure. What's the price of a barrel of crude this week? What will it be in 6 months? What was it a year ago? Things of value go up and go down.

Actually you'd have done much better 18 months ago. Prices have come down, it seems to me.

If you're going to sell them, you'll end up doing the same thing most folks do. Try to get a feel from similar things that have sold, overprice yours, wait, wait some more, realize you reached too high, eventually come to terms with some honest person that actually wants it and is willing to pay a fair price, and get together.

But asking people to put a price on them isn't fair to anybody. It's an impossible request on a whole bunch of levels.

BTW, there's nothing wrong with capitalism. If someone buys the 'lot' warts and all and then does professional level cleaning and problem solving and sells them one at a time for a 40% profit, that is just capitalism at work. It's a good system and people who pay for their hobby by doing that on the side are not "evil".

You can wade through my web pages if you want to see real pictures made with similar things. What you ought to do is get a big old wooden studio camera and enjoy your windfall. They can make images that the digi world can't touch.

[Old-N-Feeble]

Watch out for the old and feeble guys. They're cranky at times.

FWIW, my heart was in the write place. I shouldn't have posted openly. I'm sorry for that. Too, I didn't recognize when to shut up. I'm shutting up after this post.

I think this is a workable solution: If I was going to ask for information about an item I would start by writing, "This lens is not for sale so please don't ask." (don't forget the smiley face). Then I would proceed with my questions. That should prevent any problems. If I decide to sell later when all forum criteria are met then I could just change my mind.

[Corran]

To me, the 30-day rule for BUYERS should be repealed. It should be kept for SELLERS.

I could have bought a bunch of my stuff on this forum. But I didn't - I got it all on eBay because I couldn't buy anything here. Most people getting into large format will spend a large amount of the money up front (first camera and lens, plus film holders, etc.), and then slowly add to their kit over time. This forum is doing their sellers a huge disservice by blocking new members from purchasing.

Yes please!!
It's rare to sell anything on this forum nowadays because everyone already has their 90mm lens, or 210mm lens, etc. The new kids on the block with no gear get locked out (usually they don't even realize there's a buy/sell subforum) and get their starter kit on eBay for 30% more than we could sell it here.

In reality the B/S forum should just be a public forum that anyone can browse, and then email the seller. If the seller doesn't want to sell to a non-forum member or someone with no history, fine, put it in the fine print. No one forces them to sell. More market = better for everyone.

[Pete Watkins]

Yeah, I agree with fishbulb as well. It's been a great thread and I think that a lot of people have gained information from it. Jim really explained the situation to perfection. The advice has been good!
Pete.

[Ken Lee]

Dunno if that's configurable. It would be one thing if this were an eCommerce site where we could detect the buyer and seller and distinguish between the two - but this isn't.

[fishbulb]

Dunno if that's configurable. It would be one thing if this were an eCommerce site where we could detect the buyer and seller and distinguish between the two - but this isn't.

It is easy to configure with Vbulletin (this forum's software). Assuming that the 30-day wait is done via a user group, and then after 30 days the user is auto promoted out of that group, you would just have to change the permissions on the "For Sale" forum from this:

Public, unregistered:
- Can view: no
- Can post: no
New member (less than 30 days):
- Can view: no
- Can post: no
Full member (autopromoted after 30 days):
- Can view: yes
- Can post: yes

To this:

Public, unregistered:
- Can view: no
- Can post: no
New member (less than 30 days):
- Can view: yes
- Can post: no
Full member (autopromoted after 30 days):
- Can view: yes
- Can post: yes

This is a little simplified; the permissions for Vbulletin actually offer a lot more granularity: https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/..._cp_usergroups

That way, if a new person finds something that they want for sale, they can just send the seller a PM, and the seller can decide if they want to sell to that person or not.

[ghostcount]

...the poor guy/gal was sideswiped by two of the forums anomalies: Batman and the Shark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dghbyBaQyI