Private sales...member comments.

Faz

Hello all,

I appreciate the fact that members are allowed to make comments on watches offered for sale on the private sales board. I, myself, like to give a thumbs up or point out irregularities that haven't been disclosed by the seller. I think it's fair to sellers and buyers.

With regards to irregularities, I will comment, as will most members only if said irregularity wasn't disclosed by the seller. I do however take some level of exception when a member comments on an irregularity disclosed by the seller. Any potential buyer might certainly be turned off by such comments "piled on" top of the seller's honest disclosure. For example, if a seller discloses a blemish on the dial and somebody chimes in with a "..too bad there's a blemish on the dial or else this would be a good buy...".

Thoughts? Am I being over sensitive?

Cheers,

Larry S

So mea culpa. Me and a few others lost ourselves Christmas Day and challenged a seller claim on the sales thread. We should not have done that. If you have a challenge, PM. If true seller fails to act, report to moderators. Nothing wrong IMO with complimentary posts as long as they don’t sound like shills. Also OK to open a new thread in the appropriate sub to discuss any concerns with the watch.

OHS

I know this thread has been done to death but I've been thinking about this question a lot recently and have to throw in my 5 pennies worth...

I must admit I just don't get it... We basically dissect and debate every watch anywhere its posted in the world whether it's for sale or not but if a watch is posted on the sales forum here it suddenly becomes immune from public discussion?

As a group of collectors who all want the best version of whichever watch we happen to be chasing at that time surely the first thing that should happen is an open debate?

I just don't see why we should need to start a second thread (and therefore double up on threads) to debate a watch. This second thread is in plain view of the seller and makes us look like we're getting at them somehow or are afraid to ask a direct question and also could be missed by a buyer who then buys a sub standard example at an inflated price.

Surely a proper open debate on the sales post is the decent thing to do and also allows the buyer to weigh up all views before deciding whether to buy or not. If the watch is good, fairly priced and as described then its no problem anyway.

I don't get why we're worried about offending the seller here? Especially as this isn't a sales site but a watch discussion forum. If there's an issue with your watch or its overpriced it should be pointed out openly and you have the chance to defend your decision to price it in such a way etc... Surely this enriches the sales section rather than ruins it?

I worry that whilst one member is sending a private message pointing out an issue another is agreeing to buy the watch but has missed an issue and how ever much you say 'do your own research' (which is a pretty selfish attitude) we've all done it..fixated on the hands being correct and missed another detail etc etc, it's easily done.

Are we here to aid each others collecting or each others selling?

As a group of collectors surely we should all be rallying around to help out those buying (which as watch junkies is most of us at one point or another) rather than staying silent when we have a doubt?

Ok, sales posts could get a tad busy but does this really matter more than calling out an issue? This 'positive comments only' rule is just weird.

The whole thing really confuses me tbh!

Larry S

I agree @OHS, but rules are rules. So in the case I referred to. One LT member took issue. Another member agreed. Seller asked why, provided more pics, and I provided the detail on why we had a problem with the sales post. Another LT member weighed in on his concern re: the new pics. It turned into yet another “what’s correct for the reference SN dial /hands?” discussion. At some point another LT member, not a mod, reminded us all of the rules. For posterity it should have had its own thread on the UG sub forum because it exposed another example of an issue we all knew about with color plates in the reference book.

Larry S

I actually think this is what the rules were meant protect against.

OHS

I know this thread has been done to death but I've been thinking about this question a lot recently and have to throw in my 5 pennies worth...

I must admit I just don't get it... We basically dissect and debate every watch anywhere its posted in the world whether it's for sale or not but if a watch is posted on the sales forum here it suddenly becomes immune from public discussion?

As a group of collectors who all want the best version of whichever watch we happen to be chasing at that time surely the first thing that should happen is an open debate?

I just don't see why we should need to start a second thread (and therefore double up on threads) to debate a watch. This second thread is in plain view of the seller and makes us look like we're getting at them somehow or are afraid to ask a direct question and also could be missed by a buyer who then buys a sub standard example at an inflated price.

Surely a proper open debate on the sales post is the decent thing to do and also allows the buyer to weigh up all views before deciding whether to buy or not. If the watch is good, fairly priced and as described then its no problem anyway.

I don't get why we're worried about offending the seller here? Especially as this isn't a sales site but a watch discussion forum. If there's an issue with your watch or its overpriced it should be pointed out openly and you have the chance to defend your decision to price it in such a way etc... Surely this enriches the sales section rather than ruins it?

I worry that whilst one member is sending a private message pointing out an issue another is agreeing to buy the watch but has missed an issue and how ever much you say 'do your own research' (which is a pretty selfish attitude) we've all done it..fixated on the hands being correct and missed another detail etc etc, it's easily done.

Are we here to aid each others collecting or each others selling?

As a group of collectors surely we should all be rallying around to help out those buying (which as watch junkies is most of us at one point or another) rather than staying silent when we have a doubt?

Ok, sales posts could get a tad busy but does this really matter more than calling out an issue? This 'positive comments only' rule is just weird.

The whole thing really confuses me tbh!

Lotus_Eater8815

Agreed. Its the spirit, concept, and general idea of what these forums is about that governs the construction and interpretation of the rules, not their literal application.

jsducote

Food for thought/Devil's advocate:
If the 200 post limitation is intended to protect the forum from unscrupulous sellers, wouldn't fair scrutiny from members do the same? @Walrus stated that he didn't leave any negative feedback on some undisclosed issues, but wouldn't that have benefited everyone, by enforcing a high standard of descriptions here? Shouldn't constructive criticism be both welcome and encouraged? I'm sure it varies from case to case (no pun intended) and from one sale to another, but maybe that just means more moderation is required.