Pre Pay / Deposit / Slot Purchase

[Fort Henry Custom Knives]

Over the past year I've seen multiple threads by Disgruntled BF Members who have completely Prepaid or submitted Deposits or funds to other Forum Members that include;

- Makers who require a Deposit for any Order

- Makers / Machinists who create a product, take Orders and require Deposits on that product with only a prototype in hand

- Members selling a slot in a lineup of "upcoming" knives from a Maker

- Gold Members or Makers who require payment up front in order to accumulate funds to get a deep discounted price on bulk Materials

Due to the high amount of unsatisfied deals, some of which are reported only in a subforum, some of which appear in the GB&U and probably the most disturbing, those that go unreported - I think Spark should consider a new Policy for all BF Members that prohibits any BF Member of requiring or accepting PrePayments / Deposits, etc. on any order, product or material purchase.

I certainly understand that this has strictly been a personal decision by most who get involved in these deals, many like me have learned to never PrePay or put down a Deposit no matter how bad you want an item. But new Members or those Members with too trusting a nature are those that are taken advantage of, resulting in thier Payments held hostage for weeks or months and the sellers either (A) deliver or refunds only when they want or (B) never delivering at all.

Bottom line, if a BF Member doesn't have the completed knife, instrument or material for sale in hand and ready to deliver they should not accept funds.

 

[Blues]

It would be impractical for Spark and the forum moderators to involve themselves in every transaction that occurs via the website...and beyond that it would smack of "big brother".

Like any other area of commerce, folks have to exercise good judgment for themselves and remember the mantra of caveat emptor.

For those who do have a bad experience, the option is available to leave feedback and/or post the details in the appropriate section of the forums. (If they paid via paypal or credit card they have the option of disputing the charge through a formal process.) As long as the vendor of a knife or product is up front with the buyer about the availability of the product (whether it is current, future etc.) there should be no particular issue. Honesty and communication are key. Sometimes it is impractical or impossible for an item to be immediately available and would cause undue financial hardship (as in the instance of a special order or similar).

While we strive to maintain a high standard of ethics on the forums it is beyond our ken to police the personal transactions of our members.

Those who prey upon our members will find the exit soon enough.

 

[Fort Henry Custom Knives]

I guess I feel that by enabling these Members to conduct business the way that they do on BF it is assisting in some Members being taken advantage of in a way that could be easily prevented.

As for moderating, I think simply by stating that it is a new policy should be enough. That alone would prevent Members from posting threads to advertise in that type of manner.

 

[Blues]

We take out the trash as needed, Vince. I've done it myself and so have the other moderators. Sometimes it takes a bit longer than we might like (while we assemble the facts) but it does get done.

Making sweeping or blanket rules that may be impractical under various circumstances would force us to consider inevitable exceptions and make the administration of the site that much more difficult.

If folks are old enough to have credit cards and financial accounts they should be responsible enough to exercise sound financial judgment. In those (rare) instances where someone they deal with here is dishonest there are mechanisms in place (here and via the financial institutions) to deal with them.