Hi Robert,
I think that the list etiquette as regards sales on the list can pretty
much be discovered by reading the archives of the last six months.
However, I'll do my best to enumerate my understanding of it (subject to
correction, of course)
First, the list has been misused in the past by those who are
essentially dealers. This is clearly considered taboo behavior. It is
also considered (generally) taboo to use the list to advertise items
which you are selling on eBay. I think the reasoning here is that if
you're listing it on eBay you are engaged in (what you hope will be) a
profitable activity.
You may sell directly to the list but not via auction. That is; you are
considered to be making a sale to "friends". You should *expect* a fair
price. However, in exchange for the ready access to a large list of
potentially ready buyers, you are expected to *offer* at a "fair" (and
fixed) price... ie; without haggling and without "profiting" at the
expense of your "friends".
A lot of this sort of trading in common items goes on here. But, when
it comes to something rare or very expensive the rules are different.
If you have a mint condition M-1 that's New-in-the-box, no one but no
one will be at all surprised to see you offer that precious jewel to
other than the highest possible bidder. Take it directly to eBay if you
want to sell it.
And this is where the eBay prohibition breaks down too. Most of us
already buy from eBay from time to time and don't need to be notified
here about what's for sale there. On the other hand, the sale of a mint
M-1 is a rare occurrence and many here might just like to see it... even
if they couldn't buy it; so notices of these rare events are welcome.
Now then, between the ubiquitous 50mm 1.8 and the mint M-1 is a big gray
area. Items as rare as or rarer than the 90mm f/2 seem to be accepted.
None of this stuff is as plainly written down as I've tried to make it
here but it's my general reading of the tenor of the list from my
observations of the past year or so. One nice thing about the list...
if I've mis-stated the situation someone will tell me pretty soon :)
Rober said:
One final coment from a "newbie" to the list. It seems that some list
members
advise an odd (in my humble opinion) policy re Ebay auctions. To wit,
that
it's all right for ME to mention YOUR Ebay auction on list, as in "I
just
spotted this great piece of Olympus equipment on Ebay in case anyone
might be
interested" and taboo for YOU to mention on the list that YOU "have this
real
nice Olympus item listed on Ebay in case anyone might have missed it
when you
first offered it to the list." I'm sure there must be some logic in this
distinction that I'm missing. It's my advanced age, I suppose. I sure
hope
it's not "old-timers disease" creeping up on me. <g>
Robert
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