Still on the warpath

Donna,

I'm not the gatekeeper, but I'll give you my opinion. This group was chartered as a discussion group, as opposed to a commercial group. It isn't supposed to function like Antiques Roadshow, where someone signs on and says 'I've got this old whatchamadoodle that belonged to my Granny, what's it worth.' Evaluation is not done here. You might be able to start a discussion of whatchamadoodles, however, and find out more than you thought possible about their origin, construction, production and distribution.

The newsgroup also is not ebay, nor is it an ebay poster board. If

offering, you would get royally flamed.

Another problem is the occasional posting of photos to the group. Binary files are not allowed, due to a lot of reasons I won't bother to tell you. But you CAN post pictures to yourwebsite, or somebody elses, and then direct our attention there.

I'd also suggest that you check out a bottle newsgroup. It has been referenced before, and I bet somebody will post it again.

Here's the letter I send to people whose posts violate the 'No Commercials' rule. Check out the FAQ's. And you might also check out rec.antiques.marketplace, where commercials are allowed. You can also see there what unrestrained commercialism does to the information content of the group. ;<

Best regards,

Tom Bellhouse Brunssum, NL

You can find the answers to most of your questions by reading the FAQ at
http://lonestar.texas.net/~clough/rafaq.html

As far as selling some of your antiques, this isn't the place. This is a discussion group, and any kind of advertisement belongs in rec.antiques.marketplace.

This thread began because a number of the regulars here got fed up with people posting eBay teasers in this group in violation of the FAQ. While many, if not most, of the regular posters of this group sell on eBay, they understand that this is not the place to post eBay teasers. They distract from the discussion, and one inappropriate post draws dozens more from people who look at a group, don't read any of the messages, see an ad, and assume that if one person did it it must be okay. The groups that allow ads, either in their FAQ or implicitly by not complaining when inappropriate posts are made, have become a sea of advertisements with nothing else there of interest or value to anyone. I hope that has answered your question.

Richard Ward

Yes.

Yes, but not through selleing *here*.

Yes.

You're in the right place. Got any pics of your bottles? Find any Warner's?

Always a danger, but it rarely materialises. <g>

'Only the FAQs, ma'am...' They can be found at http://lonestar.texas.net/~clough/rafaq.html

You're welcome. I think too - not always though. =^)

The group that you want for bottles is rec.antiques.bottles- They're a bit like this group in temperament, (in fact, I've noticed a few RA'ers there over the past few months). They especially like to exchange digging stories. One suggestion: The regulars there really regret that their charter allows ads, so if you want to get along well there (or in any newsgroup) you should follow the suggestions in RA's FAQ and don't just jump in with e*ay auctions or 'what's it worth' posts, and keep the discussion to bottles.

Mike , After reading the last 3 letters about Ebay perhaps someone (not me) should post a letter here that we all could copy and send directly to the poster and after telling the rules request an apology to the ng. That way we ALL could forward to the 'lawbreaker' and fill his/her mail box instead of the ng. If we get an apology we've got a 50/50 chance of them returning for discussion and no FS ads. Even though I don't mind any discussion on any topic it is clear that some here feel it is a waste of time and energy. The letter has to spell it out eg. no initials, FS ng.etc. it takes a while to figure out some of those things when your new at this. Just simple words for the simple minded No for sale ads, discussion ONLY,and what ever else you/anyone else wishes to insist on . IMO ( . ) I'm still trying to figure this one out. <g> smile, right? Perhaps this will be a more effective avenue for the pent up anger since every one seems to feel that ebay will do nothing any way. Just a thought. Doris

Why isn't 11 pronounced onety one?

Sorry Mike, just to clear a point on the moderator/s ... the moderator is not some kind of divine being, the moderator is at ALL times answerable to the group members, voted in by the group and voted out by the group.

Meta-discussion within a moderated ng is an ****essential**** part of the ng, it allows for disagreement/s, to regards a moderator's decision or action, or when a poster has or has been deemed by another group member to have over-stepped the mark, or gone WAY WAY out of line, the moderator simply being the referee within that meta-discussion. Moderation will only work with proper meta-disscussion within the group. If one member feels a post is OT then he/she can take it to meta-discussion (within the group) to resolve the situation, if one member wishes to flame another member that also can be taken to a meta-discussion and the moderator can call a halt should the flame go too far or become too hot.

Meta-discussion is the AGM or the internal workings of that group.

And of course, ANY moderated ng can still be read by ANYONE just like any other ng, but if they wish to post or respond then it's just a matter of following the charter and reading the FAQs before submitting their post.

It sometimes seems I've been doing just that since I got here! ;~)))

So spell it backwards as I have or spell it phonetically (that ought to be entertaining). Rhiannon's solution of putting an asterisk in place of the 'a' won't work to circumvent most search engines since an asterisk is usually a wildcard.

Like it or not (and I know you don't), yabe is the biggest marketplace for antiques and collectibles. I couldn't ignore it even if I weren't buying and selling there.

Charleen eee bee ehh why?

Well how about ....

fvyire-cyngrq

... I know you don't like that, you suggest I spell that one backwards or ROT13th it? <

Not everything uses a space as a delimiter. And AltaVista ignores punctuation.

Noticed you didn't say anything about my contention that it's a marketplace that will be discussed, like it or not.