I give a big "boooo" to the drama on this board lately.
I can understand that it looks bad on the surface that I've said nice things about your sales threads on occasion, and then you've bid on mine. But you were also one of the first people I sold a laser to on these forums
And in terms of saying positive things about other people's auctions, it really sucks if it becomes necessary to forgo that in fear of looking unethical. I think I'd rather just not sell stuff on these boards if that becomes the case, but retain the ability to chime in freely where something pops into mind.
Like
here. Stevedezie is selling something that looks great, is similar to what I'm looking to sell here, and may appeal to some people MORE if they just want and individual laser. I commented there with some tips for how Steve could improve his listing and get better sale prospects. That doesn't *feel* like the wrong thing to have done, it feels like the right thing to have done. But I suppose if Steve came and bid on this auction, it would look like impropriety. (FTR, I don't think he has any intention to!) - but does that make sense?
Maybe the solution is that Auctions are just a bad idea? Because the reality is, this is a small community relative to eeekBay where the model works. I think it's inevitable that there would be cross-interest here. Given the nature of an auction, how the heck would that work without looking improper.
I'm sort of starting to give up on this community as far as drama, negativity, and jumping to bad intentions as a default assumption goes.
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At any rate, the auction goes on for now. I'm fine with adding the restriction that you can't place a bid if I've ever said something positive about one of your sales threads. I think that's silly. But perhaps it's necessary.