# Welcome to the Marketplace forum! **URL:** \ **Category:** Marketplace\ **Created:** [December 7, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313 "2010-12-07T19:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/21 "2010-12-08T03:01:23Z")
Okay. I know who Gary is, and you of course, so I’ll PM it to you two, but who’s Rico? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/22 "2010-12-08T03:32:31Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Okay. I know who Gary is, and you of course, so I’ll PM it to you two, but who’s Rico? Moderator **Rico** [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=207](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/23 "2010-12-08T05:36:20Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Okay. I know who Gary is, and you of course, so I’ll PM it to you two, but who’s Rico? \ The invisible moderator, that’s who. Also the tallest moderator, now that Giraffe’s gone. \ ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/24 "2010-12-08T06:35:05Z")
Is this forum for the promotion of ventures and storefronts only, or also for misc. household items people are looking to get rid of. Just my opinion of course, but I think the forum would be more fun and interesting as a place to check out Doper businesses and their products for sale rather than as a place to put individual household items up for sale, turning the forum into a virtual Craigslist where there are so many individual items clogging the pages of the forum that business ventures get lost. Perhaps a separate forum (\*Ow! Ouch! Stop it!) \*for individual items and this one for businesses? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/25 "2010-12-08T07:23:08Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > So it’s basically affiliate sales but I’m not sending people directly from here to someone else’s website. There’s a presentation and some functionality. What I could do is showcase particular items in Marketplace threads and send people to the appropriate page on my store. Of course they’d then be free to buy anything else that interested them while there. 😃 As I explained in the PM I just sent you, **davidm** , you really don’t have any products or services of your own on the site. It appears to be just ads and links for other people’s sites, so I’m going to have to say no on this one. Sorry about that. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Is this forum for the promotion of ventures and storefronts only, or also for misc. household items people are looking to get rid of. > > (snip) > > Perhaps a separate forum (\*Ow! Ouch! Stop it!) \*for individual items and this one for businesses? Howsabout if we give this a try with just one forum first :)? This is for _your_ products and services, whether it’s an old toaster you want to sell, or your own personal toaster megastore. > [@Rico](#): > > \ > > The invisible moderator, that’s who. > > Also the tallest moderator, now that Giraffe’s gone. > > \ Gee, and I used to be the invisible one 😉 And tallest? Are you taller than 6’5"? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/26 "2010-12-08T07:50:46Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:25, topic:563313”] Howsabout if we give this a try with just one forum first :)? This is for _your_ products and services, whether it’s an old toaster you want to sell, or your own personal toaster megastore. [/QUOTE] Fair enough. Thanks for the answer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/27 "2010-12-08T07:55:05Z")
6’ 7" - didn’t know you were that tall, Gary. We’ll form the TallMod Club ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/28 "2010-12-08T11:55:22Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I get data feeds from the merchants and show their products, prices, etc. on my website. You can browse and search the various merchants and products all on my website. When you see something that interests you, you click for more info and are then taken to the merchant’s website where you place the order with them. I then receive a commission for the sale. I do not mark up the prices. > > So it’s basically affiliate sales but I’m not sending people directly from here to someone else’s website. There’s a presentation and some functionality. What I could do is showcase particular items in Marketplace threads and send people to the appropriate page on my store. Of course they’d then be free to buy anything else that interested them while there. 😃 To amplify what Gary said: we had some discussion and I had to agree, what an affiliate site does basically is promote somebody else’s business, which is not what we’re trying to do here. Sorry - I’ll put a clarification in the rules. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/29 "2010-12-08T12:14:24Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:25, topic:563313”] As I explained in the PM I just sent you, **davidm** , you really don’t have any products or services of your own on the site. It appears to be just ads and links for other people’s sites, so I’m going to have to say no on this one. Sorry about that. [/QUOTE] I understand if you don’t want us promoting affiliate products, and if that’s the issue then that’s that, but just so there’s no misunderstanding, when you click on the merchant links on that first page, you don’t go directly to other’s sites you go to pages on my site showing merchandise. You can search and browse that merchandise all on my website. It’s only when you’re interested in a particular product that you end up on another site. Yes. there are also banners but they’re not the main focus. Any links I post here would not be to that opening page, they would be to pages of products. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/30 "2010-12-08T12:16:36Z")
Just saw Ed’s post. I guess that’s the final word then. No biggee, thanks for looking. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/31 "2010-12-08T16:25:50Z")
I’m definitely putting my money on Marketplace to win this year’s interforum basketball tourney. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313/32 "2010-12-08T19:14:54Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:16, topic:563313”] We’re not … enforcing end times… [/QUOTE] Good thing - I think the Archangel Gabriel has a monopoly on that function. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-marketplace-forum/563313.md?page=1)