Please be General

[Jamie]

Folks
after being deleted and shut down last week...
i have not only been on the Pro Boards support forum a ton
but also read and re-read our contract.

Our contract states that we can NOT solicit donations directly in words, nor sell for personal monetary gain directly in posts.(no desriptions of goods , nor telling folks how wonderful what it is you sell is)..

You may mention..that you have a store if you like ..and say the link is in your banner. Let the members come to you.

This goes for everyone...

It is ok to have a link to your stores, as long as you're not selling fur, dangerous items, drugs, pornography etc
it is OK
to post every once in a while (maybe once a month)
Hey " if you want a great deal ..go to my link in my banner"
or like I did today....I told folks its the last day Im shipping
...you;d have to go to the links to find out what those products are..I didnt descibe them.

but no mentions of prices, exact prices, pictures of your products
this is not a store, this is not an extension of craigslist

this is a forum for educating,learning, sharing, enjoying chinchillas
and other animals.
according to our contract.

be attentive to this
I cant go through being shut down again
it took me 2 days ..48 hours to starighten all this out with pro boards.

Yes...not all forums are pro boards and in other places you will see
everyone on the board advertise their stores, their arts and crafts, their everything

we have to watch it..
especially right now

thanks all

Jamie

[jean]

i have a question, and it is just curiosity... i'm not trying to say this isn't far or etc. it is what it is.. but i'm just curious as to why they don't allow people to advertise. i just don't understand why they would care, as long as they are making their money.

like i said, i'm not asking so that we can all advertise, its really just an innocent question i always wondered about with pro-boards.

[Jamie]

Dec 19, 2010 13:56:37 GMT -5 jean said:

i have a question, and it is just curiosity... i'm not trying to say this isn't far or etc. it is what it is.. but i'm just curious as to why they don't allow people to advertise. i just don't understand why they would care, as long as they are making their money.

like i said, i'm not asking so that we can all advertise, its really just an innocent question i always wondered about with pro-boards.

Im a bit afraid to answer this question. You are aware that we were shut down...deleted in fact because I wrote in the board rules.. Jamie Glaser and Pro Boards does not allow meetings of ...etc
Their legal department DELETED us because I was "speaking for them" . It is illegal to do that according to the contract
you will notice there is now a link to their general TOS
(my contract has more than this)

your question is fair
basically they have millions of subscribers, with 10's of thousands of different kinds of forums
they dont want to monitor...or BE HELD RESPONSIBLE for private stores selling things
since we are in their space, (a space I pay for) it is THEIR board, their domain and they do not want any legal entanglements with say a customer that has a chinchilla who accidentally chokes on something that was eaten, bought from a "store" on their forum.

Furthermore ..this board is created by Google. Google is the richest corporation on the internet. They charge for advertising
and they dont want to give space for what turns out to be free advertising.

I will tell you just from a personal side ...
I would love to go on here and sell my albums, play samples, tell you why you should buy it, and make you feel both charitable when you buy... and guilty if you dont ,,,but then Luckys Place would become a billboard. Thats what they dont want.

This month I paid over 3100 dollars to advertise Dear Santa
I paid 1000 for 24,,,,1 minute shots on XM radio
and locally a ///little crud Salt Lake radio station on network
wanted 175 dollars for 1 minute
Critters (the magazine) wanted 12,000 dollars for a 1/8 inch ad in their mag, and CBS radio wanted 100,000 dollars for 1 minute (and I work for them...this was a special deal)

you see...Google doesnt want us to advertise cause they are a business
and they are aware , just as we are
that if we had 1,000 members...each with a business
each allowed to advertise
this Lucky;s Place would be a giant storefront
and not a forum helping, enjoying and learning about animals.

As I've said... you can mention your store (talking to all of you)
you can have a friend MENTION your store in (vendors we recommend) board here
but if it starts looking like some advertising ploy...
people will be notified
threads or posts will have to be deleted

so I am asking all of you to please be careful with ads
I dont have time to fight for, or with Proboards again.

now ..I hope this was a good answer to your question Jean

big hugs
Jamie

[narnibird]

Thanks for explaining that. I wondered why the change. I don't remember it being like that just 4 years ago.

What if we proposed a link exchange for our personal sites? Of course no one has to list my store (lol), but I'd prefer if my rescue were listed. I will list your store and your rescue, if you have a site that's about chins but doesn't fall under store or rescue, I'll list that as well. I mean, of course, it cannot be associated with people that do damage to chins, and I can't list stores that refuse to sell to me or any population of people for purposes of creating hardship to the chins. And that is a rule because if I can't buy from them, there is no way for me to determine quality or safety of product, how easy it is to work with the person, etc. But we don't have that problem here.

I prefer to be guaranteed that you have done the research and know that what you sell is chinchilla safe, but I am more than willing to post links, especially if it means our rescue site is posted in more places. Here's my guarantee: we do our research and we never stop researching. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that what we sell and what we do for chins is as safe as humanly possible. If I won't offer it to my pets, I won't offer it to yours. We exist for the chins, not for drama, and so we do avoid people that intentionally create drama, because it distracts people from the chins.

eta: to remove a paragraph

[jean]

Dec 19, 2010 16:17:11 GMT -5 Jamie said:

Dec 19, 2010 13:56:37 GMT -5 jean said:

i have a question, and it is just curiosity... i'm not trying to say this isn't far or etc. it is what it is.. but i'm just curious as to why they don't allow people to advertise. i just don't understand why they would care, as long as they are making their money.

like i said, i'm not asking so that we can all advertise, its really just an innocent question i always wondered about with pro-boards.

Im a bit afraid to answer this question. You are aware that we were shut down...deleted in fact because I wrote in the board rules.. Jamie Glaser and Pro Boards does not allow meetings of ...etc
Their legal department DELETED us because I was "speaking for them" . It is illegal to do that according to the contract
you will notice there is now a link to their general TOS
(my contract has more than this)

your question is fair
basically they have millions of subscribers, with 10's of thousands of different kinds of forums
they dont want to monitor...or BE HELD RESPONSIBLE for private stores selling things
since we are in their space, (a space I pay for) it is THEIR board, their domain and they do not want any legal entanglements with say a customer that has a chinchilla who accidentally chokes on something that was eaten, bought from a "store" on their forum.

now ..I hope this was a good answer to your question Jean

big hugs
Jamie

ahh, this makes complete sense.. i was just curious... thanks..

[Jamie]

PLEASE!!! can we stop worrying about products, selling,making money, advertising and all the rest. I'm sorry...
I will not take any chances losing this board.

we all have GOOGLE...you want something
please use GOOGLE to search for great stores.

lets let this google board have their way...we have no choice
I would like this board to stay on the air
and Ive said this like 20 different ways
my contract says NO SOLICITING, NO SELLING (not yelling folks)

I dont have the energy or desire to try and get around them
we have two places on this board to mention stuff
a vendor reccommend place
and after 25 posts ...you can mention your store ONCE
otherwise your banner can contain a link to a place that is yours (*providing as I said its doesnt pose a danger, or offense to our members, minors, religions, etc)

Please guys ...theres enough to talk about .,.in terms of our wonderful animals
that we dont have to scheme a way to get free advertising
on a board that doesnt allow it.

Guys I use BULK MAILING software, NEWSGROUPS, and all sorts of techniques I learned at CSUN when I took 2 internet marketing courses ..
If I can be of help
or if you would like me to post about some of these things
I would be glad to.

Thanks all and hugs
Jamie

[narnibird]

Jamie, I'm sorry. I misunderstood what you were saying. I thought you meant all posts about any kind of store at all had to be removed, which I thought was kind of sad because it's hard to know who you can trust any more. But also, I was just thinking about how we could still help each other by exchanging links, which lead me to remember the thread on the other forum I go to, which then lead me to making the offer to have posts there for people. But then when I talked to someone, I realized you weren't saying what I thought you were saying, so I'm sorry that I misunderstood. But I honestly was just trying to be helpful. Not to make money (because I really am not a capitalist, lol), but to offer support to people who might be able to use it. I know some people are banned from another big forum, and so they don't have the same opportunity to post an ad as others. That's all.

I agree, though, about constant advertising or posting. We've got chins to talk about! There is plenty there to cover the rest of time, I think.

[Kimberly]

I have a website I just want to show off (yes it does contain product) because I am proud of it but it is not a chinchilla related store. Would this be the right place to show it off? Or do our stores only have to be chinnie related? Want to make sure I follow all the rules and regulations and post in the right spot.

[new]

Mar 10, 2011 11:03:29 GMT -5 Kimberly said:

I have a website I just want to show off (yes it does contain product) because I am proud of it but it is not a chinchilla related store. Would this be the right place to show it off? Or do our stores only have to be chinnie related? Want to make sure I follow all the rules and regulations and post in the right spot.

You might want to PM Jamie about that, Kimberly.
As the owner, he is bound by ProBoards rules, so he should actually be the one to make that call.

I know that he has made an exception for non-profit, chinchilla supply websites, but I am not sure what his current stance is on personal business websites.

I know that it is OK to post links to for profit websites, that sell supplies, as a means of showing members where to buy stuff, but that is an entirely different thing.

Probably best to check with him.

new

[Kimberly]

That's why I asked before posting the link. Not trying to sell anything off it, just excited. LOL I figured he would get around to answering when he got time. I know all the rules are so sticky sometimes and I HATE breaking rules so I am always better safe than sorry. Which is why I ask SOOOOO many questions. I'll hang out and see what master Jaime says.

[Jamie]

Friends

I have been contacted by several of our rescues/stores etc
all wanting to know if its ok to mention new items, sales , specials for the holidays.

I would like everyone (as I do every month and every newsletter) to please buy from our member stores, and member rescues. Please donate when you can to our member rescues and Ive written over and over ,...they are always in need of cash donations as well as things like chew wood, blankets ..and supplies.

I will remind all of you that my contract here says no advertising, no prices, no mention of specific sales, no pictures of new products, no come-ons, no soliciting.

Please visit the member rescue and stores thread...follow the links TO THEIR WEBSITES to see specials for the holiday season as well as at other times. Specials, Sales, new items, will not , and can not be listed or mentioned here except in a very general sense.

I have worded this so many times and I still get inquiries about advertising here...

there is NO advertising for free here
and there are NO paid advertisements
there is no advertising,.,, plain and simple

I have done a member rescue and store thread so we can benefit and purchase from our great members. Please visit the thead.

if you are a member and have 25 posts you may contact the admin here and we will consider adding you to our member rescue and store list.

Thanks everyone

jamie