GROUP PURCHASE FORUM RULES
(LAST MODIFIED 5/7/03)
There has been a tremendous amount of interest in creating a centralized area on F-150 Online to coordinate GROUP PURCHASE for our online community. While I agree this is a good idea, in order to coordinate a GROUP PURCHASE, you agree to abide by these rules. These rules will always be linked and/or posted under the GROUP PURCHASE forum for quick and easy reference. From this point forward, no GROUP PURCHASE may be coordinated on this site that do not conform to these rules.
1. No GROUP PURCHASE of products available for sale in the F-150 Online Digital Marketplace (online store) will be permitted. NO EXCEPTIONS.
2. If you represent a vendor, jobber, manufacturer, reseller or similar you may not coordinate a GROUP PURCHASE here. Free advertising and/or promotion of products in which you have a financial interest is not permitted on the F-150 Online Message Boards at any time. For more information on our advertising programs, please see
http://www.f150online.com/adinfo/index.html
3. If you do not represent a vendor, jobber, manufacturer or reseller and you wish to coordinate a GROUP PURCHASE and you intend to profit from it, you may not promote it here. Under this scenario you are acting as a reseller, not a facilitator, which misses the point of the GROUP PURCHASE. It is considered acceptable to receive one free product from a vendor for coordinating a GROUP PURCHASE. If more than one free product is available, please consider donating it to the site for use as promotional material.
4. Prior to coordinating a GROUP PURCHASE on these forums, as a courtesy I request that you please contact our own store(webmaster@f150online.com), who may be able to provide competitive (if not aggressive) pricing for a GROUP PURCHASE. If the purchase can be coordinated through the site (it was done for JBA Headers a while back), then the site itself can benefit, as well as its users (which would be more than fair in my opinion).
4a. (added 11/14/01) - If a Supporting Vendor carries the product that is the subject of a GROUP PURCHASE, that Supporting Vendor must be given the opportunity to provide pricing for any potential GROUP PURCHASE. If more than one Supporting Vendor carries the particular product, the Supporting Vendor with the most tenure as a Supporting Vendor must be contacted first, followed by the second, etc.
5. Before posting any active GROUP PURCHASE here it must first be brought the attention of the "webmaster" for approval. NO EXCEPTIONS. Providing you fit the proper criteria, it is very likely it will be approved. Any GROUP PURCHASE that is posted without the prior approval of F-150 Online will be promptly deleted.
6. For the protection of potential participants in a GROUP PURCHASE coordinated in these forums, you will be required to supply F-150 Online with your full name (not screen name), mailing address, telephone number and email address. Only valid ISP or work email addresses are acceptable. (i.e. no Hotmail or other "free" email accounts) This information will only be provided at the request of potential GROUP PURCHASE participants or complainants. NO EXCEPTIONS.
7. All GROUP PURCHASE discussions should primarily be "promoted" and remain in the GROUP PURCHASE Forum. In this way all users and visitors to F-150 Online can benefit from these discussions in a centralized and common location, regardless of the specific vehicle they own.
8. This site and/or Steve Eppinger (webmaster) will assume no liability or responsibility regarding the GROUP PURCHASE, unless it is directly coordinated by this site. This means that all transactions occur through the GROUP PURCHASE coordinator and the participants. F-150 Online will not get involved in resolving or moderating disputes, with the exception of interjecting where necessary if such activities "spill over" to the Forums.
9. Standard Forum Terms of Usage will apply to GROUP PURCHASE discussions and activities. If a GROUP PURCHASE coordinator is found to have perpetrated fraud or engaged in activity that is deemed to be a violation of the Terms of Usage of this site , including falsifying their identity or role in coordination of a GROUP PURCHASE, their posting rights will be immediately revoked. Any activity that is determined to be fraudulent or illegal will be immediately reported to the proper authorities.
10. BUYER BEWARE! Use common sense here. Before getting involved in a GROUP PURCHASE, be sure to ask a lot of questions. What is the return policy, if any? Who is the check being made payable to? Who can I contact if I have a problem? Who am I actually buying the product from? Do you have to pre-pay to be eligible? If you are at all uncomfortable with the GROUP PURCHASE coordinator, do not participate. That will be the easiest way to avoid a problem. We highly recommend that if your check is not being made payable to the vendor or you are not making the purchase directly from the vendor, STAY AWAY!
11. GP's posted here that do not follow these rules will be deleted. No questions asked.
12. These rules may be changed or modified at any time. What you are reading here comes as a result of my inability to fall asleep last night so I may have missed a few things...any feedback is welcome and appreciated!
Steve
(These rules are also available for viewing at
http://www.f150online.com/forums/gp_rules.html)
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