Marketplace Rules

Marketplace
1

As posted by Ed Zotti on 12/7/2010 (updated 3/25/2011):

Welcome to the Marketplace forum, where SDMB subscribers may promote commercial and other ventures they’re involved in. The following rules apply:

  1. Only subscribers can start threads. This includes Members, Charter Members, SDMB staff and members of the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board. Anyone (including guests) can post a reply. If you are the OP of a thread and wish to close the thread or edit a post because the item has been sold (or similar reason), please inform a forum moderator and we’ll be happy to accommodate you.

  2. Posts must be relevant to the OP. Don’t promote your product or service in a thread started by someone else.

  3. Marketplace is intended to provide you with a forum for promoting your own ventures. Don’t use it to promote somebody else’s business. For example, an affiliate page in which you merely provide links to other commercial sites for a commission is not in the spirit of what we’re trying to do here.

  4. The person starting the thread may post images that are relevant to the item or service being offered. You may only post pictures if you are the OP (that is, in your own threads). Please use this feature judiciously. We may review this policy later.

  5. Members may post links to their Marketplace threads in their signatures.

  6. The forum is subject to standard SDMB rules. The following additional rules apply:

  • No ads for things that are illegal in the U.S., ethically dubious, or, in our opinion, likely to cause the Straight Dope to come into disrepute. Examples: get-rich-quick schemes, quack cures, products offering impossible benefits.

  • No ads for drugs or medical treatments, legal or not.

  • No ads for adult services, pornography, or dating/matchmaking services.

  1. We reserve the right to remove any ad or to prohibit additional types of ads at any time.

  2. Please don’t “bump” your own thread more than once (i.e., post solely to move it to the top of the thread display list). We reserve the right to limit the number of Marketplace threads a member may start within a given period of time.

  3. To all SDMB users: This is a free service offered to members. We don’t vouch for advertisers or what they offer. PARTICIPATE AT YOUR OWN RISK. If a transaction leads to problems, we advise that you make this known privately to the other party in the first instance. Comments about transactions in the seller’s Marketplace thread are also permissible. Please keep complaints factual and refrain from personal attacks. We will not adjudicate disputes between members concerning Marketplace transactions; however, see below.

  4. To Marketplace advertisers: By advertising in Marketplace you agree to abide by the highest standards of business practices and ethics. If we have reason to think you engage in questionable business practices, we may revoke your right to participate in Marketplace or take other action.

  5. It is the user’s responsibility to familiarize themselves and comply with all laws regarding items whose use, sale or transfer is subject to legal restrictions in either the seller and buyer’s jurisdictions, including but not limited to weapons, fireworks and explosives, ‘adult novelties,’ live animals, raw meat, pornography, or liquor. No services or products whose sale is illegal in the U.S. may be advertised.

  6. This is an experiment and may be discontinued at any time.