Trashing peoples animals in classifieds

I don't know if I've placed this thread correctly, but wow I'm far from impressed with what I've seen in the last week or so.

I'm not going to put names to this, but one that just about floored me was a person in the ball python classified section listed some absolutely stunning looking animals and listed one as a lesser mojave, and another as a giraffe ball python. I don't remember what morphs made the giraffe ball python, but it was one of the best quality animals I've seen on this site.

So within the first couple posts at least 5 people ( well known on this site ) started bashing these animals. I understand questioning genetics, but outright calling somebody a liar about the genetics of the animal when you have no investment in the animal should not be tolerated.

Anyway if I'm in the wrong for ranting on this thread I apologize, but I felt extremely bad for this guy. He put a lot of work into making these beautiful ball python morphs ( I've seen some absolute crap go for prices that dropped my jaw ) and gets bashed like that.

I moved this to the feedback forum as it is a more appropriate place for this discussion.

The moderators make an effort to police the classifieds along with the rest of the site, but because of the volume of posts in those areas we just can't take a look at them all.
However if you see that sort of destructive posting in an ad you can always use the report post function to alert the moderators to it. It's the triangle in the lower left corner of every post.

Sort of seems like a lot of trashing peoples ads are going on lately. Must have been the Christmas break for the kids... LoL

It does happen...no one can control what anyone else feels like typing. We can, however, control whether or not we react to it.

I noticed that many ads go down hill FAST because some gem posts something inflammatory...and the rest of the thread is comprised of people arguing for or against what was said. Just ignore it.

Sometimes thats hard to do, but the second that one clicks "submit" is the second that they become part of the problem. Even if their would-be post was well intentioned, full of wisdom and would eventually win them a Pulitzer...it has NO place being in a classified ad.

All we can do is report that inflammatory post, and move on.

We are trying to keep the inflammatory crap out of the classifieds area. Beware that if others jump into the crap, and we (the mods) need to clean up, then those others might get swept out, as well as the originator of the crap. The argument "well, he STARTED it", won't be a very effective defense.

Originally Posted by WebSlave

We are trying to keep the inflammatory crap out of the classifieds area. Beware that if others jump into the crap, and we (the mods) need to clean up, then those others might get swept out, as well as the originator of the crap. The argument "well, he STARTED it", won't be a very effective defense.

What can I say...great minds think alike . Actually, we are both Polish so that explains it. (DAND...no Polak one-liners please )

Yes, and again, it's difficult to stay out of it sometimes, yet if your post isn't dealing directly with the animal being sold then it has no place on the ad. I once noticed someone had posted something soooooo ridiculously immature...that I couldn't help myself and posted a rebuttal. However, about 2 minutes passed before I realized that I shouldn't have done that. I then went back and deleted my post. So yea, its best to stay out of it altogether...just report any instigators and move on. Allow the OP of the ad to focus on selling his/her animal.

Dustin, I looked up your posts and found that you never allowed yourself to get involved in any of those "ad wars." So please have faith in FC, the vast majority of people here are just like you and allow cooler heads to prevail.

Thanks. Yeah, I stayed out of it, but in a way I felt hurt for this guy. And anybody that looks at these animals will probably agree they were great looking bp's.

So thanks to the mods as well for informing me of the "Report Post" button. I will be sure to use that next time without abusing it of course.

I kind of have a dumb question about this.

What type of post is considered 'bashing'?

The reason I asked is because I, a few times may have done what would have been considered bashing a few classifieds on the monitor section. I personally didn't look at it that way as I was attempting to avoid the potential of someone being scammed.
One was an ad of a monitor that someone was asking $400 on and by the photo placed in the ad it appeared the animal had sores on it's body. After some 'questioning' to the OP with no reply the ad was deleted.

So what is considered bashing??
I do not intend to mean things that way but that doesn't mean it's not being taken that way.

I would assume part of it has to do with how you ask that question...

"Why are you selling a sick monitor?" as opposed to "What are those scars from?" The phrasing of that first question is an invitation to chaos. However, the second question is a legitimate inquiry.

I believe that "bashing" alone isn't the source of many of the issues which disrupt a classified ad. When people start debating certain things that should be discussed elsewhere, that's when a lot of the problems start. Again, people want to give their 0.02 and an ad is just not the appropriate place for that. If one isn't particularly fond of the OP, they should keep it to themselves...If one doesn't agree with selling venomoids, they should keep it to themselves, etc...

Of course if one notices an obvious discrepancy, they should absolutely take it upon themselves to point it out. If an ad is for an illegal animal, or if an ad reads like a typical Nigerian scam...that should be addressed. Policing ourselves is good, however only if its within reason. Just try to use good judgement when posting in an ad.

Realistically,

It is all probably in the verbage that you use. To me personally, if you are asking them a question in a reply, without accusation, then you are most likely NOT bashing their ad.