On 1/15/2011 11:24 AM, Ken Norton wrote:
> George, just chalk it up to the mid-winter blues. Don't let them bother you.
> I irritate many of them most of the time too.
I was just ignoring this thread. It seems to me to be a tempest in a teapot
that surfaces every once in a while. I've
never, as far as I can recall, joined the argument on either side. As I have so
far only sold photo gear here and as yet
not done so on the 'Bay, I've never had a conflict.
I think it's nice when listees offer stuff here first, and have bought or
traded for several items that way, as well as
selling that way. It's especially generous when folks here offer Oly stuff free
to good list homes. I've also done a
tiny bit of that, although I think it may have been off list only, in response
to desires expressed on or off list.
And yet, I find it hard to fault those who post about their 'Bay listings here.
Everybody has their own issues and
needs, which we may not know about. How is pointing out that they have stuff
some here might be interested in on the
'Bay worse than some of the opinions about off topic issues, often divisive
ones, at that, that are often expressed here.
This group is generally generous about that, generally only politely suggesting
that such threads should go offline or
die a quiet death. Why so much less generous on this subject? If you don't like
it, why not just ignore it? If you
really feel strongly about it, why not block posts from particular people or
those with "eBay" in the body?
Personally, George's original post didn't bother me, while the squabbling that
ensued did.
I wonder too about what this 'protocol' is about, underneath. Does the idea
that stuff should be offered here first
include an assumption that it should be offered for less than it will fetch on
the 'Bay? In today's market, it's often
quite difficult to know what our gear, especially the older stuff, is worth.
OK, so I offer something here, along with a price, another listee buys it, then
I watch a couple in poorer shape go for
twice the money elsewhere. Fine, I've only hurt myself. Maybe I'll even feel
good about my generosity. What about the
reverse, where one of you folks buys something here, only to discover you
seriously overpaid. What's that going to feel
like? How do you resolve it within yourself, with the seller and/or with the
list? Big potential for hard feelings, anyone?
I can see the logic of the rule back when there was a really active market in
OM gear and some pieces were very hard to
find. Sure, we all know about what the double-frammis goes for and how hard it
is to find one. Simple courtesy - and
friendship would mean I'd offer it first here.
As far as I can see, that's just not the case here and now. Do argument and
hurt feelings make sense over a rule of
etiquette that doesn't serve much any more make sense?
Anyways, I didn't find George's post offensive.
Moose
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