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.

WebSlave said:

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.

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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 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.

TailsWithScales said:

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.

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A good rule of thumb to use is if you don't have any intention or interest in buying the animal being advertised, don't bother posting to the ad.
That being said however, there are times when some sort of comment may be warranted, but it's in the phrasing.
To use the example you gave above, if you posted something like "Are those sores on that monitor?" then that is a legitimate question and not bashing, regardless of your interest in the animal or lack thereof.
If you'd said something like "$400 for that diseased piece of freezer fodder? You're stupid if you think it's worth half that." then that moves into bashing because it's just inflammatory. Such posts are what we are trying to curtail because they inevitably lead to a bandwagon type reaction from other members.
You know when you're being civil or not. It's pretty easy to tell from the wording of the comment whether someone is posting with the interests of potential buyers in mind or they're just posting to take a shot at the seller.

polasian said:

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.

Click to expand...

polasian said:

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.

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Both posts very well stated.

Pointing out verifiable errors in the ad will be OK. Or if someone has a history on the BOI that people need to be aware of. If the identity of the person posting the ad is not really what is claimed in their profile needs to be drawn to the attention of interested viewers as well. Misidentifications of the animals or merchandise can be queried within the thread, as this is proper for a legitimate transaction to take place. But a PROFESSIONAL attitude is requested. If your opinion(s) appear to be unwelcome, don't belabor the point you are trying to make.

Opinions about pricing, personal issues, or anything that is not directly related to the animals, merchandise, or services being offered should be done via PM or just kept to yourself. Competitors posting competing ads within the threads of their competition will be dimly viewed as well. Please just start your own threads if you want to advertise on this site.

This is not a complete list, of course, as there will not be any absolute black and white to this kind of issue. The purpose of the classifieds section is to help buyers and sellers meet each other and come to a satisfactory conclusion with a LEGITIMATE transaction. Everything posted as a reply within a classified thread should be oriented in that direction. If it appears to a noninvolved third party that the pending transaction is NOT legitimate, then a suitable warning can be made within the thread, but in a PROFESSIONAL manner, please. Just make certain that all of YOUR ducks are in a row before making such an accusation, however, as an illegitimate claim could have YOU appearing to be the one attempting to disrupt a sale for malicious reasons.

polasian said:

It does happen...no one can control what anyone else feels like typing.

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On this site there is a way to control what anyone wants to post on your ads its called the classifieds control panel.

Click on lock ad then conduct all your inquiries via pm, e mail or phone. it eliminates all the unwanted words.

This is what it looks like.


Bump and Highlight! - Delete - Lock

Ed Clark said:

On this site there is a way to control what anyone wants to post on your ads its called the classifieds control panel.

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No, you can never control what anyone wants to post on your ad...you can only control whether or not they have the option to do so.

If every OP locked their ad then this thread wouldn't even exist. However it does exist because its addressing issues of posts within unlocked ads. Those posts are what I made reference to.

You are correct, there are functions on this site which allow the OP to prevent others from posting. However the goal is to stop things from escalating to the point where every OP would feel it necessary to lock their ad.

Ed Clark said:

On this site there is a way to control what anyone wants to post on your ads its called the classifieds control panel.

Click on lock ad then conduct all your inquiries via pm, e mail or phone. it eliminates all the unwanted words.

This is what it looks like.


Bump and Highlight! - Delete - Lock

Click to expand...

Yes, exactly. When I was setting up the options for the classifieds sections, there was a dilemma involved as to which way was the BEST way for everyone involved concerning allowing replies to those ads directly in the threads themselves. I believe I could have argued either side equally well, so there was no clear cut BEST way that I could see. And, of course, no matter which way I would have chosen, a significant portion of the participants would have complained about my decision. So my choice was to make that decision one that the poster of the classified thread has to make. THEY can choose whether or not to allow replies. THEY can choose how they want potential customers to interface with them here in the classifieds section. THEY are the ones who can be the target of any complaints about how THEY manage their own classified ads here.

That got me off the hook, I believe. Except for those who wish to complain about my giving people that ability.....

polasian said:

However the goal is to stop things from escalating to the point where every OP would feel it necessary to lock their ad.

Click to expand...

In a perfect world that could be attainable, its not a perfect world here on fauna. there is only so much that the mods have time to do. you cant control what anyone is going to post on any given day. what ticks someone off changes by the minute and their mood.

Ce La Vie.

"Lock" is my friend.

That's why you have the PM option, if I find someone made an error as far as genetics I'm going to PM them so I don't seem like an ass or trying to kill there ad, and you also must realize a lot of people know less of genetics or how actual combination morphs look like and just try to bash ads thinking they are know it alls, or possibly try to ruin an ad so it may sell cheaper or not even sell at all... A lot of people within our own community are assholes and do not respect other individuals or ads. At the end of the day it's a classified ad, not a debate forum.. You know how many sulas and selayars I've seen which were none other than typical mainlanders???? Instead of saying anything to ruin their ad, I leave it be and let the ignorant consumers buy the animal, because if someone is truley into retics as am I, they'd spot bullshit on first glance.. I see people blatantly lying and some of them are not so much lying, but believing a false truth... in example I'm not trying to call anyone out but there is a cateater for sale which I'm almost certain is a typical afrock, now the person selling it is full on knowing what it is as that is what was sold to him, so he is not so much lying as he believes it is the real deal, but in my eyes I know what that really is and instead of further bashing his ad, I leave it alone, as it's up to the consumer to buy the herp, no one is putting a gun to their head if they want it and see it thru pics and are happy then who cares... I'll market a normal tiger as an albino super, post pics of the tiger and sell it for the albino super price, now who's the idiot??? Me selling it, or you buying it??? I see no need in correcting ads, for that very reason, let people be sneaky and do as they please because at the end of the day it is up to our judgment to aquire the animal. Don't buy hets with out paperwork unless you know are absolutley sure where they are comming from, dont buy any locales without knowledge of locales and how they actually look as opposed to what you read in the ad, and don't bash peoples ads, try PMing and if they are full on lying and being scam artists multiple times over, I believe that is what the BOI is for.