Sadly, and Gladly, Bladeforums is an open forum. Anyone is allowed to purchase a Knifemaker/Dealer/Service Provider membership and sell here.
As a Bladeforums member and knifemaker, I detest people who try and hide who they are or what they sell. If someone in Lahore Pakistan or Lancaster PA wants to sell knives, whatever the source, whatever the quality, whatever the materials, that is fine. There is a place in the knife market for those knives, too. Just be up front about what it is.
As a moderator, I am fully aware of people on BF who are not what they claim to be. We have kit knife guys who sell as custom makers; people who buy Pakistan blades and sell them as 1095/15N20 quality damascus ( often claiming to have made the damascus by hand); members who have multiple registrations; and people who claim skills and projects they clearly have never done. Unfortunately, this is part of an open forum, and certainly part of the open social media and internet anonymity. It isn't BF's place to expose or control these people. I and other moderators send PM and email to many of these folks telling them to knock it off or advising them to post only what is true....but we can't make them do it unless they violate some of the rules. When necessary, we sometimes publicly confront the issue in the open forum. Sometimes they just go away when exposed. In the very worst cases, we assign points, or ban the faker. This may or may not solve the problem, as many who leave by request or in anger just come back with a new email, and a new membership.....just the way it is on the internet.
What can Bladeforums Members do when someone seems a real fake and/or parasite on Bladeforums?
Report every thread or post that is clearly egregious. Give exact reasoning related to the posts or poster. Give links to other places that prove the lie ( like BFAUS) Just saying "Pakistan knives are junk." won't help. Saying, "I see this same person has sold ten of those "First Knives" on this forum -XXX.abdc/link. If enough people complain, Spark and/or the super mods can deal with the situation by popular request.
Also, post in Tech Support as well as the other sub-forums where these issues are discussed. Say that the quality of BF is being compromised by these people and call them out with specific information. This isn't the place for a witch hunt, but it is the place for facts and figures. The truth will out the people who need exposing. If the offending member gets belligerent, argues offensively, or gets vulgar or threatening with the mods in off line discussions, or becomes a forum disruption, it can be dealt with permanently.
What you members can not do is post in any sales thread negative or non-buying comments. Ask a question, ask for better photos, ask specifics about the item being sold - but DON"T interrupt his sales thread with any other differences of opinion. Send him an email or PM with those discussions. If you disrupt a sales thread, YOU will be the one getting dinged or eve banned.
However, if someone posts in Shop Talk and makes these claims, you are free to call him out and ask pointed questions. Just keep it civil and decent.
