Thank you folks.
Yes, for sale posts, and, considering the whole history on this, this post is pretty oviously a thinly-veiled for sale post, are the unique privilege of the paid members here at bladeforums.com. That rule is not my making and it is not unique to the balisong forum either. Spark has specifically asked moderators not to allow members to circumvent that rule.
Furthermore, even paid members should confine for sale posts to the appropriate forum. Again, this is not unique to the balisong forum. This rule has two purposes. First, it collects all of the for sale posts in one place so that interested buyers don't have to hunt all over all of the forums for offerings. And, second, it keeps the vital information and discussion content of forums such as this from being drowned out by a flood of for sale posts.
Auctions are an interesting case. I've taken a simple stand that is based on the spirit of the intent of the rules on for sale posts and is also based on the simple fact that the vast majority of auction sites, eBay.com, bladeauction.com, amazon.com, etc., are well-known and also have good search engines. Anyone interested in buying a balisong at auction can check those sited, use those search engines, and find the knives for themselves without any unreasonable trouble.
I've asked that people not post "auction announcements" promoting their own auctions. That's a blatant misuse of the forum and also a waste of forum bandwidth since persons interested in buying a balisong at auction can find them for themselves quite easily.
I've also asked that people refrain from "auction spotting" posts. "Hey, there's a balisong for auction on ebay.com." Again, anyone interested in buying a balisong at auction can find them for themselves quite easily.
BUT, oh and this is a big but, I have permitted and indeed encouraged legitimate discussion of an ongoing auction that is unusual OR of general interest. Consider, for example, the current thread discussing the ongoing auction of a Benchmade 49-01. First of all, the person who opened the thread is not the seller. Second, this is an auction that I think most of us would agree is unusual and of great general interest.
Of course, the definition of "unusual" and the definition of "of general interest" is vauge and subject to debate. But, I'll simply appeal to common sense in this matter. An auction for the average $10 charming China cheapie is not unusual nor of great general interest. An auction of a Benchmade 49-01 is both.
