*** 10/1/2018 UPDATED Rules for Selling Corvettes & Parts ***
 

Selling Corvettes & their Parts...These are the rules which will govern the sale of items on the forum.

1. Commercial Sales
All Sales threads should be placed in a Sales section, i.e. Cars For Sale, Parts For Sale, unless posted by a Supporting Vendor. Supporting vendors pay for the considerable bandwidth charges on the Forum, making the site free for the rest of us. In exchange, they get the privilege of using the Forum to market and promote their goods and services in all of the generational sections and the General Corvette Topics sections.

Vendors are restricted to having just one sales thread on the first page of a two-day directory in the sections where they post. The exception is that they can have up to four threads on the first page of a two-day directory in the Vendor For Sale sections. Supporting dealers are not limited in the number of threads they can post in the Dealer Inventory section so long as those sales threads list a car in their inventory.

Site users are permitted to sell a maximum of two Corvettes on the Forum during a rolling 12-month period so long as the vehicles were acquired for personal use and not for resale. Exceeding that limit will be considered commercial sales and will require the seller to become a supporting dealer/vendor.

Only supporting vendors can post Group Purchase threads.

Site users sometimes list Corvettes for a friend or relative who is unable to market and sell the car for themselves for some legitimate reason.

We tried a revision to the rules to allow those listings to take place without the need to get prior approval from an administrator so long as the threads disclosed the circumstances of the nominee sale and stated the role they would play in resolving any post-sale disputes.

It hasn’t worked as it has created a proliferation of people offering Corvettes for sale for a friend or relative who declare they will take no responsibility in resolving post-sale disputes. That’s potentially harmful to site users, so we are reverting to some of the previous language.

Going forward, those listing cars or parts they do not personally own must make this clear in their sales thread, posting:

• The circumstances regarding why the owner is not listing the car
• The role the thread starter will play in the sale
• And agreeing to participate in trying to resolve any post-sale issues.

Threads failing to address those points will be removed by moderators.

Potential buyers should be aware of who the actual owner of the car or parts is and who would be responsible for potential disputes before proceeding with a purchase.

Those listing cars or parts they have no affiliation to, just for the interest of other Forum users, should specify "no affiliation" in the thread.

Non Supporting Vendors are not allowed to sell vehicles or parts on a consignment or paid basis.

All vehicles listed by a user, regardless of whether they own the vehicle, will count towards the "two in a rolling calendar year" rule unless they are "no affiliation" listings.

All vehicles listed for sale on the Forum, unless sold by a Supporting Vendor, must be titled by the current owner. No "title skipping" allowed.

Sometimes site users offer to sell parts of many generations or in a large volume that makes it impossible for administrators/moderators to reasonably determine they were originally obtained for personal use, rather than resale. In these situations, admins and mods will use their best judgment in determining whether the sales are considered commercial. The decision of the admins/mods is final.

2. eBay links to promote/aid a sale
For a long time, Corvetteforum has prohibited links to eBay auctions and other auction sites. The rule was implemented at the request of Forum users who said they didn’t want to have to compete with eBay buyers when a car was listed for sale here.

We have always allowed eBay links when they were used to point people toward an interesting or amusing sale.

The rule eBay links, however, has created a lot of confusion and misunderstanding on the part of site users and moderators, particularly since Google now buys space on the Forum and sometimes re-sells it to eBay.

So, for now, the rule prohibiting links to eBay and other auction sites will be rescinded and we’ll monitor the situation to see how it evolves.

There is a difference between selling something on Corvetteforum and auctioning things on eBay or another auction site. If you want to sell your car or parts on the Forum, post a detailed description, as always.

If you want to auction your car or parts on eBay, then post a link to the auction and people interested can get the details on that site. If you have a “buy it now” price on your eBay auction, you may post that with your eBay link.

We allow sales at Corvetteforum, but not auctions, so we want to avoid co-mingling the Forum sale and eBay auction of the same car or parts.

One note worth visiting: If you have a dispute involving an eBay auction, please use the eBay dispute process to address that issue, as Forum moderators are not in a position to intervene on your behalf.

You can post an unresolved dispute thread if you have a bad transaction on eBay, but the thread will serve only the purpose of alerting other Forum members to be cautious of the seller you had issues with on eBay.

3. Best Offers & Gauging Interest
The forum will permit "OBO" or "serious offers" in a sales or WTB thread where a price has been stipulated. Responses to WTB threads must include an asking price.

We will not permit posts or threads where no price is stated, and the seller asks for open offers. Neither is it acceptable to ask a ridiculously high price with a request for offers.

Low ball offers that are clearly ridiculous in nature, will be considered a violation of the forum rule pertaining to "Interference in a for sale," thread:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1118176

Members are not permitted to "gauge interest," in their item for sale thread. Such threads will create an ebay type auction, and that is unacceptable. Sellers must create their thread with an asking price included.

Only forum vendors are permitted to gauge interest in their products.

**NOTE** Supporting vendors sometimes offer prices that are below that recommended by manufacturers, so we allow them to post threads without a price and to ask people to contact them by phone or PM for the price. We extend the same courtesy to our supporting dealers, even though in most cases it is advantageous for them to post a price.

4. Purchasing an item for sale
This section continues to cause the most confusion among potential buyers, therefore, the forum will make this as simple as possible for the seller.

Posting an interest in a sale thread, or asking questions, does not subject the thread to being closed, nor, to the item being sold. An item will be consider sold, when the seller says it is, based on the simplicity of the sale.

The seller will determine who they want to sell their item/product to based on the expediency of payment, payment method, location, and overall ease of transaction. While some may feel that the first to commit to purchase in the thread would make it easy, it may not be for the seller. If another buyer lives nearby and can save the trouble of shipping, etc. the seller can move onto that buyer :yesnod: let's remember, it is his item/product for sale.

This will eliminate the confusion of "dibs," replies to a thread, PM's, e-mail and telephone promotions/discussions, which has caused nothing but confusion and frustration in the past.

When the seller's price is met, no higher offers can be accepted. If a seller negotiates a higher price with a member who did not win the item at his/her original asking price, the seller and offering member will subject their account to a permanent block.

5. Cross posting
If an item for sale can be used among multiple generations, for example a "kwiklift," system, sellers are permitted to create a primary sale thread, with a link in other sale sections leading to the primary sale thread.

As another example: C5 race tires listed in C5 parts for sale, can have another thread with a link posted in the Drag racing section.

6. No hijacking
Only replies related to the thread can be posted. If it is a for sale thread and you have the same item for sale, start your own thread.

7. Lack of profile information
Based on the fact that a sale on the forum is a private transaction between our members, the lack of profile information on the part of the seller, will no longer cause a thread to be closed. If a member feels comfortable dealing with another, that's all that matters.

The forum does not assume any responsibility for transactions conducted on the forum, and therefore will not act the role of mediator, negotiator, or enforcer of any sale.

These are private transactions, and the forum's role is that of a facilitator to help members sell and buy items from one another.

8. Interference in a For Sale thread
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1118176

If you don’t like the price or item being offered in for sale thread, take it to e-mail or PMs. Better still, just move on to a thread that is offering something you like the price on.

If you post a criticism of the price or the quality of the item being offered, you will be in violation of Forum rules and subject to sanctions.

If you post your own for sale items to the for sale thread started by someone else, you also are in violation of Forum rules. Start your own thread, rather than jumping into the thread of someone else.

If your contribution to a for sale thread does not advance the sale, you are in the way.

If you spot inappropriate posts to a for sale thread, please alert a moderator.

Recommendations to aid in your sale:

9. All items MUST include a price!
All Corvettes for sale or parts for sale MUST include a price requested. Otherwise, your thread will be deleted.

10. Pictures of your item(s) is highly encouraged
As the old saying goes: "a picture is worth a 1,000 words."

11. Shipping and handling charges
If possible, state how you will be shipping and how much you will charge. Most shipping companies will furnish an estimate based on dimensions of the box, the weight, origin and destination zip codes.

www.ups.com
www.usps.com
www.fedex.com
www.dhl.com

12. Be specific in your descriptions
Know your parts for sale before listing them in a thread. Your research and knowledge will help the buyer in making a decision to purchase.

13. Bumping threads
If you created a sale post and it has moved onto the second or third page of the section directory, you can simply "TTT" it rather than creating a new thread, but sale threads should not be bumped more than twice in any 24-hour period. Abuse of smilies or "TTT," in your thread, will result in it being closed or removed.

14. Parting out cars
Multiple part-outs are not allowed. To limit the abuse of Corvetteforum and its users from commercial parting-out by non-supporting vendors and unknown sellers, the following rules will apply:

• Only one Corvette during a rolling 12-month period can be parted out.
• The Corvette being parted out should be titled to the seller and have been disabled in an accident.
• Alternately, the Corvette being parted out must have been purchased by the seller to obtain major components needed for his own car.
• Other than supporting vendors, only established Corvetteforum users with more than 50 posts (at least half of them in the generational sections) or who have been registered on the site for more than 90 days are allowed to part out a Corvette. Parts being sold from the part-out must be listed and priced in the sales thread.

15. Items that sell
Sellers are asked to post in the thread that their item has sold, and to send a PM (private message) to a section Moderator so the thread can be closed.

16. Buyers (PayPal payments)
If available, use your credit card option for this will give you the best protection for recovering your money in a bad transaction. Also, buyers should avoid using the "gift," option as this may eliminate your possibility to recovering your funds in a dispute.

As always, do your research on the seller before making a purchase, and remember, the forum only acts as a facilitator to allow members to buy and sell items, and we have no authority in forcing reimbursement of funds if there is a problem with a transaction.

17. Sales of VIN tags and Trim Tags
While laws vary in different jurisdictions on these items, the Forum has chosen not to allow the sales of Corvette VIN tags or Trim tags. This includes both used original items (tags) and / or reproductions that are to be affixed to a Corvette for the purpose of representing original VINs, colors or options.