Trade/Sell Rules.

[zookx]

Hello everyone.

Announcement


There are a couple of reasons for this, one is the current system of only being able to post when you've made 30 posts or more is working overall but it does seem to confuse new members and we also do get some new members flooding either the chatbox, because they don't understand where the 30 posts should go, or else the forums with posts of no real value in order to post things. Another is the constant monitoring of the 30 posts per member means the forum software is monitoring this and checking every time a member goes into that forum, in fact its changing members statuses so they can post, and I wonder if this is one of the problems with the forum lag some people are receiving.

Finally we've had a couple of requests form members who either want to offer things for sale or else promote their online shop. We've never put a policy in place for this kind of thing and as such the forum has just ticked along on it own.

We've had a discussion about what could work best and what is going to be fair across everyone's needs. We have come up with the following plan.

As of next Monday in order to offer an item for sale or trade on this forum be it in the Trade/Sell forum or if you have a link in your signature that links to a commercial site you will need to be a Forum Supporter

What is a Supporter?

A supporter is someone who helps towards the running costs of the website, the cost is currently $10/£6 a year (thats 50 pence a month or, if you will less than 2 pence a day.).

If you are planning to sell or trade items on the forum then you Have to be a supporter in order to do this - only Supporters can post new threads in the Trade/Sell forum and threads posted by not supporters of a For Sale nature will be deleted.

We may look at bringing in new areas of the site open to Supporters in the future and also hope that any monies raised by this change in the forum rules will both help to pay for the continued hosting of the site and also allow us to spend more time working on the site. Currently not only is the forum costing us money to host (Not that much) but we are also losing money (Quite a bit) every time we spend some time to update and administer the forum.

We hope you all continue to enjoy the website.

Payment

PayPal is the preferred payment option and can be made via the link below. Please do remember to enter your forum name.

Your forum username:

Once we have received your payment we will activate your Subscriber status on the next working day. If your account has not been upgraded and its neither a weekend or 48 hours have passed please send us a pm at Zookx and we will look into it.

---

We have added this information to the forum registration rules;

Selling items on these forums;

1). In order to sell items on these forums you must first be a supporter. Details can be found here. Selling on behalf of others is not allowed.

2). Items must NOT be advertised or offered for sale outside the Trade/Sell forum.
Supporter pricing. Supporter membership is $10 (£6 €7 AU$10)

[agi]

This sounds really fair to me.

Just one question: so often members offer charts for free. Do you think you can keep this option open? This is usually an act of kindness from the person, and more often than not it costs them money to post the items and they don't want anything in exchange.

[zookx]

Thanks, its something we've discussed a lot and I think this is a good all round solution.

Yes, someone sending free charts to other members is fine, thats not a problem. If no money is changing hands then its not an issue.

[Mabel Figworthy]

Yes, that seems like a fair solution. I have two questions, though -- where would the people offering free charts do so? Still in the Trade/Sell section? And if it is a case of swapping rather than selling (e.g. "I have a shade of fabric I won't use, would someone like it and send me an equivalent piece of fabric in white"), would that also come under the Supporter Rule?

Also, would it be possible, if people wanted to, to become a Supporter even if they didn't want to sell things but just wanted to support the forum?

[zookx]

Yes, that seems like a fair solution. I have two questions, though -- where would the people offering free charts do so? Still in the Trade/Sell section? And if it is a case of swapping rather than selling (e.g. "I have a shade of fabric I won't use, would someone like it and send me an equivalent piece of fabric in white"), would that also come under the Supporter Rule?

Also, would it be possible, if people wanted to, to become a Supporter even if they didn't want to sell things but just wanted to support the forum?

Re the second point YES, of course. Anyone can/will be able to support the forum. It was an idea we had before but it just made sense to add it now, and to drop in this other issue.

As I say we'd like to be able to add other features for suporters in the future. But we will see how it takes off for now.

Regards swaps and such, I would sugest the Exchange Section for such things maybe?

[zookx]

Hi, Yes we have set it up as a simple payment button, for simplicity's sake.

Its a yearly subscription. So if you became a subscriber today it would run untill 20th Jan 2012.

I'll hopefully get the time to write up a full faq later today but realisticly I think it may be a job for Monday.

There are subscription payments that can be set up in PayPal however once you've made a payment with one of these you are then signed up and payments are taken until you cancel the subscription. We didn't want to do that as its not that obvious within PayPal itself and we didn't want money being taken out of anyone's account in, a years time, that they hadn't wanted to give.

A big thank you for all those who have subscribed I've spoke to Alex and I know he's pleased too. As stated it gives us/me more time to devote to the forum, upgrades and fixes so we should be able to keep things ticking along for quite some time.

[harry045]

This sounds really fair to me.

Just one question: so often members offer charts for free. Do you think you can keep this option open? ???

[Rose]

Re: Forum update. Trade/Sell. New Rules.

[Hetty1989]

Hiya

How can you tell when your account has been upgraded?

Thanks
Heather

[Reta]

If you read the original post it was done in 2011 and all is explained

[Annie Than]

Hi, thank you for this announcement . Now I understand why I has been warned. This sounds fair and I am looking forward to being upgraded in the next working day .
Cheers!!!

[Danièle MAURICE]

I want to buy pattern or kit of Needles N' Hoops No 529, Noah's ark. is-it possible ? How ?
Good day
D. Maurice

[JackieC]

Thanks, its something we've discussed a lot and I think this is a good all round solution.

Yes, someone sending free charts to other members is fine, thats not a problem. If no money is changing hands then its not an issue.

I have a question about this - is it acceptable to offer to pay postage costs? That is after all for the postage alone (as long as it does cover the actual postage cost and no more) - no payment would be made for the articles.

[karen4bells]

Thanks, its something we've discussed a lot and I think this is a good all round solution.

Yes, someone sending free charts to other members is fine, thats not a problem. If no money is changing hands then its not an issue.

I have a question about this - is it acceptable to offer to pay postage costs? That is after all for the postage alone (as long as it does cover the actual postage cost and no more) - no payment would be made for the articles.

I think that would be acceptable---I've done exactly that in cases, or offered a trade of charts

[ecology665]

I have copies of patterns I have completed. I journally copy my pattern and expand it to 11x17. I would hate to throw them out. Can I trade/or give them away to someone on the site? Or should I leave it a lone because of copyright infringement laws?

[rcperryls]

You can trade or give away the original chart as long as you don't save a copy. If the chart is a pdf chart, you can not make a copy and give it away. It is a violation of the copyright laws to make copies other than ones which are your own working copy, enlarging them etc for your own use. It is a shame, and I have made enlarged copies at times also, but had to toss them when I was finished using them. But like I said, if you have an original chart that you don't plan on keeping, giving it away or trading with someone is a great way to share designs.

Carole

[ecology665]

Thank You Carole.

[AliciaJoh]

Thank you.

[westrnfan]

I am a subscriber but can not post to "Trade or Sell"????
Westrnfan

[Serinde]

I'm checking this out for you.