Shopsmith Forums

I've noticed more than one posting on the forum(s) indicating Shopsmith items for sale - mostly indirectly by referencing a Craigslist ad or the like. I had thought that the forum rules frowned on this. What is the 'rule'? Has it been changed? Or just being ignored? Or ???

I think there's a difference between someone using this board to deal in Shopsmith parts, and pointing out a CL add of interest.

Speaking for myself, I see no harm and I will continue to direct attention to Shopsmith related items that I feel could be of interest to members until I'm instructed by management to stop.

It really does not matter whether or not I agree with Shopsmith's position on my using the forum for "marketing" purposes. Shopsmith says that using the forum for commercial purpose is inappropriate; therefore, I do not.

What that means to you is a function of your own conscience.

Several members routinely make remarks about items that they would like to part with. When they do that, if they are not trying to sell those items, all I can say is that when it shows up on the UPS truck in front of my house, I'll not turn "Brownie" away.

Commercial purpose is typically a repetitive activity.

Our sponsor has indeed been very tolerant.

There have been instances where 'commercial' enterprises have gotten very close to a line if indeed not over it.

There has been no public chastising of those folks.

So I assume as long as things remain as they are/have been, our sponsor does not consider references to CL or EB or personal 'comments' re selling/looking fer a threat nor contrary to their well being as a business.

That said, it would be to our advantage to keep things discrete by using the PM function.



I consider discussions re 'obsolete' parts quite acceptable(JMHO).

JPG - I'm totally in sync with your statements. Personally I don't care much and frankly don't intend on 'listing' anything myself. I look at CL every now and then but have found that:
#1: I have plenty of everything I need (and in fact have a backlog of stuff to install) so don't see a lot that is interesting

#2: Prices around here have gotten a bit wonky so little impulse on my part to get anything else.

Personally, i like the 'heads up' posts and am a little disappointed that there is not a for sale or trade section to the forum. For every interest that I have ever had, I like to go to an enthusiast forum to buy. I find that these folks keep their gear in much better condition than you average owner. Of course, I can also see the reasoning behind the desire to limit the 'part-out' folks from using the forum as a free selling tool.

I agree with you. We appreciate and usually take care of our equipment. When we come across intems or want to sell ours I think SS people would be better served. I understand SS wants to sell the new things and stay in business. S lot of SS stuff for sale in my area and they are going pretty low. Hope that is not a bad sign.
See what happens in here, and thanks for your thoughts.

I'm not trying to be offensive nor attack anyone but...

Personally I see people that try to sell on this forum as, well for the lack of a better word, as freeloaders. They are using something setup and paid for by others to their advantage.

Perhaps that is a bit harsh but it is the truth none the less.

I admire Shopsmith's restraint thus far and I hope people realize that nothing in life is free. Is is not right to assume it is okay to use someone's else's buck to benefit you. We must all pay for our seat.

While this sort of forum would be an obvious place for folks to buy/sell used SS stuff and I imagine a a reasonably large % of folks stumble upon this site hoping to do so, we obviously have to remember who is sponsoring the site. The reality is, it's not very difficult to create a forum such as this as long as you have dedicated server space (or pay to use space on a server). These forums are a pretty basic template (hence why they all look very similar) and it doesn't take an IT expert to set one up and run it...so, if one felt strongly enough about the need for a buy/sell section or other sections that would cross the line of what SS would find acceptable, one is always free to start their own forum. I'm not trying to be facetious here - I realize no one is likely to go this route (even thought it's not an overly challenging route) but just trying to make the point that we have to recognize who's 'house' we're in and we either accept the rules or build our own house with our own rules. While I totally appreciate SS creating and allowing this forum to exist (as well as tolerating the occasional bending of the rules), there is somewhat of an appeal to the notion of such a forum not encumbered by the presence of a sponsor...this is not a big deal to me but I imagine to some degree our discussion or how we word things etc. is altered because SS hosts this site, where perhaps we might be more open, honest etc. if we didn't have such oversight.

As far as the occasional mention of CL/E-Bay postings etc., I understand why this is a bending of rules and perhaps crossing a line (at least for non-obsolete items), but one side to consider on this is that the seller is going to sell this item regardless and more often than not I think the intent of posting a link here is to direct such items to true SS aficionados, in hopes the item will end up in the hands of someone who truly appreciates it and will restore or resurrect it. Examples would be items that are in rough shape and perhaps destined for the scrap yard...I would assume SS would rather see one of us end up with such items and restore them to their former glory, rather than see them junked or scrapped. Obviosuly other times some posts are more along the lines of "wow - a 520 in the New Jersey area in great shape for $750!!" - again I think the intent is to direct a SS junkie (who probably already owns 3+ machines) to a great deal...this may cross the line more substantially but in my mind this item will sell regardless and is more likely to prevent someone from buying a new machine from SS if it sells to some random person who may otherwise have bought one new than if someone here buys it, who propably owns multiple SS, including at least one that was bought new from SS. The bottom line for me personally is I don't feel the need to post a plethora of CL/E-Bay postings but rather the occasional item that I feel has some specific appeal to members here. I hope that if SS ever felt that lines were being crossed, they have some mechanism to let us know and to redefine the rules so we can behave accordingly. I certainly think anyone here would want to ruffle their feathers,