Gentlemen,
As many of you know I am a moderator of the PGCA forums. In that I and Jeff Kuss work for our webmaster John Dunkle for which none of us receive any compensation.
Because I am a moderator I try to stay out of petty squabbles on these forums. If any of those squabbles get intense I swiftly and fairly moderate. Sometimes that is in the form or a private message (PM) to the violator(s). If someone has clearly broken a rule such as engaging in political debates or uses a racial slur then I give them an Infraction. I also DO NOT edit or close thread because I think they are a waste of electrons. At least and probably only one person is enjoying blogging on this forum...
I am often contacted to look at posts that may not be acceptable. For these I usually take action. I have however been contacted because someone posted something that someone else didn’t like. These situations often require communication with John and/or Jeff for a second opinion.
I close threads at the request of the originator. I will also close a thread if someone is getting disrespectful to another. I don’t do this without reading the entire thread to ascertain the entire context of the dispute.
I stated the above as background for the following;
Someone stated that the rules are not enforced evenly. I take deep exception to that statement. I treat as all, as do John and Jeff, equal with the exception of known troublemakers, i.e. repeat offenders. Those persons have used up their share of the grace afforded to all participants. Known troublemakers receive attention faster than persons who usually are respectful to others and follow the rules.
Toward the above, if an item is posted without a price I advise them usually with a PM. If the post isn’t revised within a day, I will make a “soft delete” on it. The post is still there but not visible. When the seller finally contacts me inquiring about their post I will undelete it.
If however one posts a list of Parker for sale at an event and those items are not priced then what is the harm? If they post a string of photos without prices then they need to post prices. Some persons will only sell a firearm face to face and won’t discuss prices on the Internet. In those situations if you are interested in their wares try sending a PM or calling them.
If someone is selling something and others pollute their thread with superfluous written garbage I will delete those posts at the request of the seller. Often however some chit-chat in a thread keeps it in the attention of potential buyers. If a For Sale thread allowed NO response then there would be no “To The Top”.
Concerning the use of PM’s only in a For Sale post; I require it when I post on this forum items for sale. If a potential buyer contacts me on the forum with questions I advise them to send me a PM. This keeps the tire kickers away and provides the means for a potential buyer and me to converse privately. Also, if one can’t follow simple directions then why would I do business with them? That would be asking for trouble…
I read the majority of the posts, especially those For Sale and Wanted to Buy. I see respondents asking questions which were answered in the original posts. Other times, a seller states to call them at the phone number listed for information, or to buy. People still post questions or offers to buy on the forum. Why? The seller stated to call them. If one doesn’t follow directions and misses out on a good buy to someone who followed the directions then who is at fault?
I think the PGCA forums work as they are. We moderators try to be fair with our duties. The members pretty much police the forums and those who come here wanting to bully others or act like snobs either change their ways or go away.
If one doesn't want feedback on a PGCA forum For Sale thread then STATE THE RULES for which you will sell your item(s), i.e. “I will only respond to PM or Phone Call”. A little feedback does however help sell an item.
If one desires no feedback on a For Sale thread then I recommend Guns International or Gun Broker. I have sold non-Parkers on Guns International for a $10 fee with good results. Otherwise sellers may list their items in the PARKER PAGES.
PS: The PGCA forum is perhaps the best gun forum on the Internet due to John Dunkle. John provides the servers, software, and special coding on which our forum is based. Those items are not cheap nor is John's time. When someone suggests that John could write new code to provide a new function I hope they realize that John would do that at his expense. A request such as that would best be sent to John privately for him to consider.
Everyone have a nice day
Mark
01-03-2014, 08:47 AM
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