... Should be fair game to call the indescrepincy out. Is this not an online community that's here to help other people.
Or are we here to screw unknowledgeable buyers out of their money.
But it's not fair game. It's true this is a public online forum. But the "all opinions matter" and "freedom of speech" concepts on which the internet was built and found in many discussion groups do not really apply to the classified section.
We don't make the rules, but we are asked to follow them or go elsewhere. Establishing this upfront is fair and reasonable by those who influence/operate/fund this message board. There are pros and cons to these policies. Who's to say which ones outweigh the others?
This is a controlled selling environment. There is limited transparency. While sellers may advertise parts openly, they are encouraged to conduct business privately, where they are free to price gouge and swindle in relative peace and safety.
There are many here who are good and honest people. I suspect few are abusing this system to swindle. Because if it happens, buyers are free to post their experience in other parts of the board. So there is a checks and balances system of sorts.
It's not a big deal, you can take it or leave it. Calling someone out who may be claiming a part is NOS or OEM is not really an option in the classifieds section.
My biggest disappointment with how things are run here is selling history. I appreciate few things about epay, but one of them is using it to help establish the value of an item by reviewing closed auctions and selling prices.
It would be pretty nice if we could do that here, to know what was sold, and for how much. But... again, we don't have this transparency. Sellers are free to edit and remove content after a sale and keep their asking prices not so public once a sale is made.
