Nekonomicon - Bad Trades and Other Rants

nekonoko
Site Admin
Who joined Jan. 23, 2003, 2:31 a.m.
and authored 7591 notes

Wrote the following at Oct. 29, 2008, 3:56 p.m...

Over the past few months there have been a number of occasions where I’ve been asked to intervene in trades gone wrong between Nekochan members.

Please keep in mind that I currently provide Nekochan as an advertisement free service - this means I haven’t seen any revenue for running Nekochan since its inception several years ago. This is partially done because I myself am not a big fan of web advertising, and if I can do a small part to minimize it – hey, that’s great stuff!

But this monetary freedom also means there is very little tethering me to the site – if I begin to perceive that Nekochan has become more of a burden then a boon due to involvement in disputes, lawsuits or what have you, I can easily walk away from it. In fact, I’d save quite a few bucks every month which I could use to buy some neat toys.

In short, if you have a problem with a trade – please, don’t bother me about it. I like to think that most people here are trustworthy and reliable, but that’s really a statistical improbability. Caveat emptor.

Thanks.

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maxsleg
Old Salt
Who joined April 3, 2007, 11:56 p.m.
and authored 1375 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 13, 2008, 12:50 p.m...

Well said

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nekonoko
Site Admin
Who joined Jan. 23, 2003, 2:31 a.m.
and authored 7591 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 13, 2008, 1:01 p.m...

Well, I probably could have said it a little better - I was annoyed at the time

Basically I just wanted to get out there that I'm not the Nekochan trade ombudsman - what happens in a trade is your own business.

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porter
Old Salt
Who joined Nov. 1, 2006, 11:37 p.m.
and authored 2619 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 13, 2008, 1:16 p.m...

nekonoko wrote:

what happens in a trade is your own business.

Very laissez faire .

nekonoko
Site Admin
Who joined Jan. 23, 2003, 2:31 a.m.
and authored 7591 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 13, 2008, 1:38 p.m...

porter wrote:

Very laissez faire .

Either that, or remove the Bazaar section - but that would be very Draconian .

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VenomousPinecone
Moderator
Who joined June 20, 2005, 2:10 p.m.
and authored 1988 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 13, 2008, 8:58 p.m...

porter wrote:

Very laissez faire .

No individual here should be punished because of a few bad seeds with less than scrupulous practices. After all, didn't we lay aside the infantile notion of group punishment when we left public school?

Maybe a public outing of these cats would help set some matters straight, but that should be reserved for some blog unassociated with nekochan .

maxsleg
Old Salt
Who joined April 3, 2007, 11:56 p.m.
and authored 1375 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 14, 2008, 1:34 a.m...

The challenge is that is takes a lot off effort to get to the root of problems - to gather evidence and make a call - I (most) of the people on the board are adults and should be capable of doing their own due dilligence..

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The Keeper
Old Salt
Who joined Nov. 17, 2003, 10:23 p.m.
and authored 1535 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 23, 2008, 2:39 p.m...

I've had a couple sales to Nekochan members go wrong as well (one blew up the gear I sold him and wanted his money back, and the other took 6 months to finish paying), but I can't see what Neko could possibly do to affect the outcome.

Having been in your shoes, Neko, and having pulled the plug on an online community when it imploded, I hope things don't get that bad for you. (Although that was my wife's alternative parenting website, so with a bunch of hormonally-unstable women, it was doomed from the start...)

Keep up the good work! :-)

Chris

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maxsleg
Old Salt
Who joined April 3, 2007, 11:56 p.m.
and authored 1375 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 24, 2008, 1:47 a.m...

Quote:

a bunch of hormonally-unstable women

Now that sounds really scary!!!!!!!

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The Keeper
Old Salt
Who joined Nov. 17, 2003, 10:23 p.m.
and authored 1535 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 24, 2008, 9:14 a.m...

maxsleg wrote:

Quote:

a bunch of hormonally-unstable women

Now that sounds really scary!!!!!!!

Yeah, it was. There wasn't really a whole lot of intellectual discourse. About the only thing that really bound the community together was an "anti-mainstream" theme. Any time an online community's theme is "anti" anything, it's doomed. Get a bunch of pregnant/lactating women together to discuss parenting issues... That's a whammy on so many levels I don't know where to start...

Nekochan is a pleasant contrast. It's "pro-SGI" with objective, intellectual discussions that don't really have much opportunity to get emotional. Well, apart from the occasional heated debate in "everything else", anyway. But at least those don't happen very often.

Chris

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tillin9
Addict
Who joined March 31, 2007, 8:39 p.m.
and authored 585 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 24, 2008, 11:09 a.m...

Maybe a disclaimer might be in order? Something simple saying that Nekochan or its operators are not responsible for anything in the bazaar, and users should research potential buyers/ sellers before contemplating a transaction?

I seriously don't know why users would complain to Neko if their deal went south. I actually had a bad experience with someone on the forum which is documented in another thread. I knew it was my own fault for not investigating the user (niker) completely, since it seems I wasn't the only one here he shortchanged. It kind of really sucks, since I wasn't buying or selling anything with him, just offering to be a helpful US enthusiast to pick up local hardware and forward it to him in Slovakia at cost. I still have my $600 shipping bill (Octane2s and VBOBs are heavy) of which I was paid less than half. Not to mention the customs nonesense he put me through. I declared the items at the eBay purchase price, since custom fraud is a big thing and the USPS often will ask for receipts and proof of payment if they need to pay a claim, but of course he didn't want to pay the fees. Anyway... enough of my rant. The end result is a major reluctance to do something similar in the future. That said, the vast majority of my deals on the forum have been good and I hope one or two bad apples doesn't ruin it for everyone.

EDIT: Grammer.

tomo
Enthusiast
Who joined Jan. 18, 2008, 3:53 a.m.
and authored 222 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 24, 2008, 12:04 p.m...

This country (Slovakia) is nicely filled with hogs. Ofcourse not everyone is bad but before some time (not so long) it was impossible to offer something from internet becouse of sutch peoples like tillin9 said about...

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sybrfreq
Old Salt
Who joined Aug. 21, 2007, 10:12 p.m.
and authored 1647 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 24, 2008, 2:19 p.m...

tillin9 wrote:

Maybe a disclaimer might be in order? Something simple saying that Nekochan or its operators are not responsible for anything in the bazaar, and users should research potential buyers/ sellers before contemplating a transaction?

I seriously don't know why users would complain to Neko if their deal went south. I actually had a bad experience with someone on the forum which is documented in another thread. I knew it was my own fault for not investigating the user (niker) completely, since it seems I wasn't the only one here he shortchanged. It kind of really sucks, since I wasn't buying or selling anything with him, just offering to be a helpful US enthusiast to pick up local hardware and forward it to him in Slovakia at cost. I still have my $600 shipping bill (Octane2s and VBOBs are heavy) of which I was paid less than half. Not to mention the customs nonesense he put me through. I declared the items at the eBay purchase price, since custom fraud is a big thing and the USPS often will ask for receipts and proof of payment if they need to pay a claim, but of course he didn't want to pay the fees. Anyway... enough of my rant. The end result is a major reluctance to do something similar in the future. That said, the vast majority of my deals on the forum have been good and I hope one or two bad apples doesn't ruin it for everyone.

EDIT: Grammer.

It would take something unimaginable for me to buy or sell anything outside of the country. There's really no reason to, unless it's a reputable dealer like mapesdhs or the like, in which case I would be turned off by the shipping costs. For example, I got a MXI board for my octane from a dealer in michigan. Shipping was $5 and took a couple days. From Ian, the shipping was well over $40 (what the board was worth), and would have taken at least a week or so. Pick yer poison.

Also deals like that where you have to act as the middleman, for somebody you've had no prior dealings with, to ship something to someplace you've never heard of (and will never visit) really rub me the wrong way. Why didn't you wait until you had the payment in full before you shipped it?

Here's a nice rule: "If your deal goes south, we don't want to hear you bitch about it. Use common sense." And then some legalese about how it's nobody's fault but your own.

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The Keeper
Old Salt
Who joined Nov. 17, 2003, 10:23 p.m.
and authored 1535 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 24, 2008, 8:50 p.m...

sybrfreq wrote:

It would take something unimaginable for me to buy or sell anything outside of the country. There's really no reason to, unless it's a reputable dealer like mapesdhs or the like, in which case I would be turned off by the shipping costs.

Eh, I ship stuff all over the world, and I'm not a very big reseller. There are quite a few non-US Neko members here that have bought stuff from me. It's not that big a deal to ship internationally.

I've also bought a few dozen things from non-US sellers as well, but you have to take into consideration the total cost of the purchase.

Chris

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PymbleSoftware
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Who joined July 15, 2008, 5:48 p.m.
and authored 664 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 25, 2008, 1:22 a.m...

My Onyx2 arrived with 4 CPUs and 5Gb of RAM... It now has 24 CPUs and 37.5 Gb of RAM, I have got stuff from North Carolina, the midwest and rust belt states, California, Germany, the UK, NY, and probably another half a dozen places I forget right now. If I didn't buy stuff from other nekochanners, I would still have 4 CPUs and 5Gb of RAM.

Quote:

It would take something unimaginable for me to buy or sell anything outside of the country.

What turns up on ebay in Australia is miserable.

It is unfortunate that the "don't ship outside the USA" attitude exists, it deprives some geographically challenged people many opportunities.

RR

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sybrfreq
Old Salt
Who joined Aug. 21, 2007, 10:12 p.m.
and authored 1647 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 25, 2008, 6:55 a.m...

well, maybe I should have worded that a bit differently. I wouldn't receive something for somebody and forward it to slovakia without getting most of my cut first

I've sent a lot of stuff to canada to extended family, but cheap stuff where customs isn't a big deal. I've gone through hell with customs because of a cheap ($150) walkman. I also don't run a business or online storefront so don't really have anything that would be worth the shipping. That may (will) change but I have to wonder what tillin9 was thinking when he thought to spend $600 shipping an octane without receiving payment first. I'm sure his intentions were good.

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The Keeper
Old Salt
Who joined Nov. 17, 2003, 10:23 p.m.
and authored 1535 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 25, 2008, 9:04 a.m...

sybrfreq wrote:

I'm sure his intentions were good.

It's all about trust, perceived or otherwise. Folks are basically decent, but there are a few bad apples out there to remind you how cold and cruel life can be.

I used to trust people, but I've been burned so many times now that it's just a matter of course to be fully prepaid before shipping. I don't even think about requesting prepayment. To me it's part of the transaction process now, just as one of the steps is to pack the item and print a packing slip.

Chris

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VenomousPinecone
Moderator
Who joined June 20, 2005, 2:10 p.m.
and authored 1988 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 25, 2008, 2:15 p.m...

I have traded, sold to and purchased from a lot of nekochanners both domestic and international. Never have I been ripped off.

That stems from only trading or dealing with people who are in good standing with the community.

tillin9
Addict
Who joined March 31, 2007, 8:39 p.m.
and authored 585 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 25, 2008, 7:18 p.m...

sybrfreq wrote:

... I have to wonder what tillin9 was thinking when he thought to spend $600 shipping an octane without receiving payment first. I'm sure his intentions were good.

He paid me the first $300 up front. The idea was half now, half later. I was primarily trying to be a nice forum member. He had PMed and we went through a few rounds of talk before I agreed to anything. However, while I wasn't getting any money or parts for my time, I did get something out of it.

Part of the deal was I was going to test the system both on IRIX and linux. I wanted to see how linux would work on such a high-end system, it had the Octane2 tape, floppy, CD, DMediaPro, etc. I was able to report a linux SCSI floppy bug because of that. I got a scan of a DMediaPro video option from linux which I forwarded to someone who might be able to help start a driver. Also, had there been media or its IRIX install working, I would have been able to make a copy for myself.

D-EJ915
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Who joined July 30, 2007, 10:07 p.m.
and authored 698 notes

Wrote the following at Nov. 26, 2008, 3:55 p.m...

PymbleSoftware wrote:

It is unfortunate that the "don't ship outside the USA" attitude exists, it deprives some geographically challenged people many opportunities.

RR

I'll ship something outside the US for somebody I know on a forum, but not on ebay because troubleshooting a lost item is horrendous. For somebody I know on a forum that's not a big deal but for a random ebayer, ugh...

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Bad Trades and Other Rants - Page 1