LurkerDan

I'm wondering what the rule is regarding ebay links. I know what the rules say: "Posting of any form of advertising including: URL's with affiliate codes, referrer tags, tracking numbers or anything which actively promotes a site or company" and "Promoting links to and Ebay auction or other auction site (this is considered advertising)".

So, there's this thread: http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=241212 where the link was removed. But is it just a "no ebay links ever rule?". That's not how I read the rules, and I know I have seen plenty of ebay links in other threads. The line seems to me to have been whether the link is posted to discuss the auction, laugh at it, etc., or whether the link is posted to say "buy my stuff on ebay". Because that thread was pretty much a waste for me since I couldn't go look at the link... But if that's the rule, no biggie, just wondering.

I'm not trying to cause trouble, especially since I have never had reason to post an ebay link. Like I said, I'm just curious...

Thanks for listening.

benedict

At the risk of appearing pedantic, I would say that the best bet is just to read the very <A HREF="" target="_blank">Forum Rules</a> that you quoted:I don't see any exceptions written in.

Posting eBay links always advertises eBay, a commercial site, and <i>sometimes</i> it may advertise an auction with which one has a connection. I tend to delete links to <i>live</i> auctions when I see them. I appreciate the reasons for not deleting links to what are obviously "joke" auctions.

But you've read the rules so let's move on....<small> </small>.... It has been said before that not all posts are seen by moderators and different moderators will act in different ways. There is also the fact that some posters will aways try to push the envelope and <i>that</i> sometimes will inform moderator action....

A member can very cleverly dress up a post to make it something worthy of discussion while, coincidentally of course, promoting his or her own (or a friend's) auction. I would welcome your insight as to how one is to tell - without spending two hours on research each time - whether an eBay link represents a self-advert or not.

Aghama

By that logic, any link to a not for profit site should be banned, since it is in some way promoting it.

benedict

My logic or lack of it does not enter this: it is a <i>fact</i> that Geoff has framed the rules against eBay and auction site links in particular as well as advertising links generally.

If you see a post that is clearly against the forum rules then there is the option of reporting it. If it doesnt't bother you then you can ignore it. For the reasons that have been outlined many times before, anyone posting that not all posts are treated exactly the same is engaged in an <i>utter</i> waste of time. I am not saying that this has happened in this thread; just pointing out the futility.

Aghama

The fact is that the rules are vague as to what "promoting" denotes. When I read that line, I think that I am not allowed to post links to my own auctions. I believe this is how most people would interpret it. There is no logical distinction between posting a link to auction you're not affiliated and a link to a store you're not affiliated with. It's not as if eBay is a banned site, as it's prominently advertised at the top of the forum.

LurkerDan

Whoa, slow down there. Your post seems very testy, and I really did my best to try to just ask a question cause I was curious. Quoting a rule and telling me to read the rules, rules that I quoted in my previous post and wondered about, doesn't do much but say, in a nicer tone, "look idiot, didn't you read? Or did you just read and not understand?"

Regardless, the rule that specifically references ebay does NOT say what you claim it does, although your interpretation is certainly valid. It says "promoting", not "posting". That is why I said I did not find my answer explicitly in the rules, and that is why I posted my question. In fact, I explicitly quoted the rules precisely to avoid someone telling me to "read the rules". Oh well.

I understand that moderators each do things slightly differently. That's to be expected. However, when there is clearly a marked difference as to how the rules are being interpreted and applied, I don't see why I should not be allowed, indeed expected, to ask what the rules are. They are not clear, regardless of how you read them, and they are definitely NOT enforced even remotely the same. I would not have asked otherwise.

benedict

Yes, there is nothing wrong with asking questions although Geoff as suggested that moderators <i>not</i> be "taken to task"....

.... In the terms that you have now phrased it I am not sure how this <i>can</i> be answered "satisfactorily" without each and every moderator accounting for their respective stance on this particular issue.

Yes I quoted the two rules you mentioned <i>and explicitly said that I was doing so</i>. To me they seem to follow on from each other i.e. "anything which actively promotes another company [....] promoting links to an an eBay auction....".

We could get into a debate over what is "active" and what is "promoting" but it sems to me that wherever there is the slightest bit of (perceived or real) ambiguity in the rules sooner or later invariably someone starts to test them. And then this kind of discussion ensues. And people perhaps get testy....

BTW: you seem to have ignored my final paragraph which was the most important one in the post. It answers the questions as to why <b>I</b> act as I do. And it was my action that you used as an example so I think it was a reasonable question fo me to ask by way of demonstrating the quandary one is put in.

AndyCapps

As always, the enforcement of the rules are subject to their interpretation by the moderators.

I look at the word Promoting differently than the word Posting. If you're promoting a link, you're trying to sell me something. If you're posting a link to a silly auction item, you're trying to entertain me. If you're posting a link to an auction item in response to my thread looking for help finding a certain product, you're trying to help me(unless of course the auction is your's).

In Other, I believe most links to auctions are posted to either entertain, ask for help, or provide help. I will only remove a link if I feel that you are personally trying to sell something. That's based on my interpretation of the rule and the fact that Other covers a wide range of subjects. I will continue to interpret the rule in this way unless I am told that I am wrong(which I very well could be).

Music Talk is a forum that deals with a specific subject. When someone posts a link to an auction for a music CD, I can see how that would raise a red flag. I agree with benedict, you can never be 100% sure about a person's intentions when they post a link to a live auction.

LurkerDan

I was not trying to take you to task, and I apologize if that is how you interpreted my post. And the reason I didn't respond to your reasoning is that wasn't the thrust of my question. I was not, even in the slightest way, asking you why you did what you did. I was asking for what the rule is. Your reasoning is valid, (and I even edited my previous post to make clear that I felt that way, apparently while you were writing this response). Regardless, it is not applied that way by at least some other mods. (see, for example, http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=243987).

Maybe there just needs to be a mod pow-wow, or GK edict from above.

LurkerDan

Except, if someone had posted the thread that I noted in Other, you would have moved it to Muscic because it was about a CD, regardless of whether it was a "non-promotional" link (IYO), right? So, by posting in the "specific subject" forum, the poster was actually doing what he should, yet raising more red flags because of it?

Again, I don't mean to ruffle any feathers. It just seems like there is a pretty big interpretational difference here, that's all. Both are perfectly supportable interpretations of the rules, so maybe the Supreme Court should take over.

AndyCapps

Good point.

Maybe you're right. The ruling could be that Ebay links are not allowed, period.

In Before The "The fun has left the forum " Post.

LurkerDan

[LurkerDan shields himself from the blows of all those ebay-links-posters]I was just asking an innocent question![/LurkerDan shields himself from the blows of all those ebay-links-posters]