Etiquette

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When a person sends you a PM to inquirer about something, you reply to the PM and then you never hear back from the person again. Am I the only one that considers this rude?
 
When a person sends you a PM to inquirer about something, you reply to the PM and then you never hear back from the person again. Am I the only one that considers this rude?

+1 Sellers seem to forget there part of responsibility. Not replying not necessarily mean it is already sold. If I'm looking for something & send a PM to buy it & pass on other offers waiting to hear from the seller it is as damaging as the other way around.
 
I had a bad experience with one of our former members that has kind of turned me off of having buyers pick up at my house. A while back I was very graciously given a rock with two RBTAs on it and I offered the second one up for free. Someone from this board who has since left took me up on the offer and was supposed to be at my house by 9 to pick it up. To make a long story short, it got later and later and she kept calling to say she was on the way and please wait up. She finally got to my house at 1 am with her husband and 3 year old child. Yes, she was apologetic, but that was just wrong on so many levels. Now if somebody wants to buy something from me, I'll meet them somewhere at a pre-arranged time and place.
 
I feel the same way about no shows as everyone else....please don’t waste each others time.

On letting people into my home, I am proud of my tank and setup and love to show it off as well as get suggestions for improving it. I typically have no issues letting people into our place however I always make sure I have people come over during the time my husband will be around.
I had one bad experience with a guy that responded to a craigslisting I had posted selling my original setup. He was very pushy during our meeting asking for lots of Free frags of things I didn’t want to give away. When he would take no for an answer Dan had to kindly ask him to leave. This man then continued to call our house for the next several weeks saying that he wanted to come back over to buy this or that, or that his xenia died. This scared the bejesus out of me because he knew where we lived and this man clearly was not sain, or just lacked etiquette.

So from having that experience can see why some people like to meet outside of the home address, but this was only one bad experience out of the MANY exchanges I have been part of that were wonderful and knowledgeable experiences.
 
I have always invited reefers into my home, gave them the full tour and talked reef.

But....I'm starting to rethink this. So far, everyone has been cordial, but we have no way of knowing whose showing up? It's not like we can do background checks on reefers.

I have a 5 year little girl and wife. A reef/finacial transaction is not worth they're safety. Although, I fully agree with Joel. Let the buyer know what to expect, then they can make an educated decision if they want to do business.

Some additional issues:
Bring your own boxes and buckets! Most of us are not running businesses or selling at retail prices that cover such items.
Be on time!
Yes, you might have to take off your shoes! If she makes me do it, so do you.
Please do not step out of your car and walk up to my door with an open beer......unless you have one for me.
Yes, I do find my wife attractive, you don't need to verbally reinforce it!
If you ride a hog without a muffler, and it's after 10p at night, please coast the last mile into my driveway.

And finally..........

If you had a good experience, share with everyone else!
 
I know how it feels when people say they are coming to pick up items and never show.I was selling live rock a few weeks ago and a few people said they are coming but did not show. I held off on have people come over to buy rock for these people so they could have first choice. The first guy didn't show because he said he was having financial problems but I see him buying stuff from other people a few days later...financial problems lol. I had to pm him to find out what was going on.He was also a no show for someone else on RC I have seen. Another lady said 3 weekends in a row she was coming but never showed. On one of the days she setup with me to stop by she blew me off and bought rock from someone else and the complained that it had pests in it but hey they saved a few dollars lol. It's funny when you look at other selling threads and the person who blew you off went and bought from someone else the day they were planning on meeting up with you. Why do peolple lie?I love to sit around and wait for people for a few hours and they never show. I better stop before I get in trouble...
 
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I'm opposite of Lex. I like to meet people at a convenient location for both parties. I don't necessarily want to have people to come to the house if I have never met them before. Also, it's just easier for me since I travel a lot during the weekend. If they meet me, they want it enough to do so, which gives me a little more confidence it will go to a good home.


I also agree with Badazz.....a courtesy note is always expected to confirm if they intend to meet you or not. If I don't get one, I usually try not to deal with them again.

+1 it's easier to meet up with people sometimes. We all have different schedules. Plus I don't want some of the creeps on here in my house.
 
Perhaps part of the reason I feel safe letting people into my house is that I have a doberman and finnish spitz, and trust me, the finnish spitz looks like a live stuffed toy dog, but it would bite in a minute if need be.

I did have one person come to my house that I did not feel comfortable with (from craigslist to pick up some things my son was getting rid of), and my dobe spent the time by my side doing the low growl, the spitz spent her time walking around us on alert. Other than that, the dogs have always been calm when people have been over.

Jmalone - sometimes I think it depends on how far away someone lives from you also whether they are more likely to show up - then if someone offers something similar and they live closer they make the decision to buy from them. Kind of like the group buys, people prefer to get on the ones that are close to them.
 
I live in Wa, near the family that had 2 people from craigslist stop by to get something, and the people came in, then held the family at gunpoint while letting more people in to tie the family up. They robbed the house, pistol whipped the 14yr old son, then shot his dad in the head when he tried to stop them. This makes me only give my address to people I know.
BTW, his was the second family in the area they had done this to.
 
People need to be careful here. I recently saw a news story about a new trend in Chicago. People are placing ads on Craig's List for the sale of electronics, like a big screen television, at very low prices. When you arive at the location to pay for and pick up the telelvision, you are robed at gun point. Apparently, this is happening quite frequently because the news story described several different incidents involving different perpetrators which occured recently. I certainly could see this scam being modified in the reefing community to rob you in your own home or even worse. Something to definitely think about.
 
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I've only met really cool people from the forum. The three people that I have ever bought craigslist stuff from, all three happened to also be on the forum and at the swaps. As far as letting people in my house to see my tank, it doesn't bother me at all; I am proud of the tanks and I like tank chat. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt
 
I've only met good people on these forums. I've had quite a few weirdos from CL stop by for other things, but thats about it. I think when you're dealing with specialized forums for specific hobbies you just run across people with the same hobbies....

Between these forums and a few of the car ones I'm on, I've met some really good people......

Then there's Beefy.... :lmao:

I understand the electronics scam on CL, but I would really doubt someone would start a post selling scolys for cheap so they could rob someone. :lmao:
 
We haven't really had a problem having people come take a look at our tank when selling or trading corals. Heck we had everyone on one of the first bus tours here. (talk about a full house) Even Beefy was with them and behaved himself.

Usually when someone is comming to pick up "a" coral they end up leaving with more.

($$$ cha-ching $$$)

The only time i've ever felt fear was when the bus tour stopped by and Patty was pregnant and HUNGRY LOL
 
I guess the biggest thing I would have to worry about if someone came to our house with a gun would be that my son, who is home 90% of the time because of his phobias, sits next to the gun safe - knowing him he would come creeping up the stairs with either a hand gun or his sniper gun - then the possibility of him or I getting hurt would increase. Though, he has a great aim - he had wanted to be a sniper for the military when he was younger - to dissuade him my husband took him shooting when he was 7 and even then he had deadly accurate aim. Unfortunately he couldn't go to the military (like his brother) because of his phobias.
 
I have met a bunch of people off the fourm and all have been super nice. Like last weekend i went to nanonubey chads house bought a lights. Also went to edsbeaker to get some rock. Lond drives but worth it.
Have meet a few people and all where cool. Showed me there tanks and all talked reefs.

But now iam also a musician play in bands and what not. Now most of them i would not let them in my house or at my bands jam spot. I sell a lot of gear from time to time.
Also i like to call or text the day of when i leave to let the person know iam coming. So if something comes up they can tell me.
 
Maybe its my getting robbed phobia but I usually will not give out my address until the day of the pickup or at a time in which I know one of us will be home until the person is to show up. I also will ask the person to call before they are to head out so I can give them the exact address. I don't like the idea of someone having my address for several days before as most of us have typicall work hours.
 
I have only met great people on here. I understand nit letting someone in your home. It can be a scary experience. My wife and I are card carring members of the NRA. If you make her nervous she just goes to the safe and pulls out some protection. I think I will avoid anyone from craigs list sounds like most issues are from there. I live 120 miles from the Chicago area and sometimes I am late due to traffic but keep in communication. I also will sell to anyone who I do not speak to first on the phone.
 
This makes me only give my address to people I know.
This is what I mean! If I'm that doubtful about a person, why would I give them my address? I also do believe it is easier to get robbed from a cl ad for electronics than something fish related. I've seen many sellers misrepresent an item. Wouldn't that be robbery?
 
This is what I mean! If I'm that doubtful about a person, why would I give them my address? I also do believe it is easier to get robbed from a cl ad for electronics than something fish related. I've seen many sellers misrepresent an item. Wouldn't that be robbery?

Def easier to get hokey people off cl, but also a warning that there are creeps out there. Don't want to see anybody fall victim to this. The family of the guy that was killed is on the news every week with new developments, and the wife is a friend of my hairlady. Horrible stuff.
I've been a buyer on a misrepresented item, and it sure feels like robbery. I'd rather get robbed like that though, than held up at gunpoint in my home. But when you know someone, or have talked to them for some time and whatnot, it's easier to trust. But just a point of view from the other side of why somebody may not wanna have you come to their house. Sorry, don't wanna make this a downer.... :dance:
 
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