A Humble Suggestion for the Staff Concerning the Rules

**turpin** · 16th March 10, 05:49 PM

I don't know if I'd be classified as a hobbyist, but that's how I think of my sporran-making. In three years I'm up to 168 sporrans, all in my spare time. It certainly doesn't pay the bills, it's low-volume, and mainly provides mad-money for kilts, games fees, and other related activities.

**Semiomniscient** · 16th March 10, 06:43 PM

So how does this apply to those who occasionally make an item and wishes to sell it in the "For Sale" forum of the X-Market?

For instance, I made a small child's ermine sporran for practice. I have no small child, and I don't want to keep it. Can I sell such a thing via the "for sale" forum? Or am I to be classified as a "hobbyist" because I made the item?

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 16th March 10, 07:34 PM

I think people are overthinking this. The way I understand it, the "For Sale" section is meant to be for people who have individual items they wish to sell. For example, if I wanted to sell one of my kilts, I'd list it in the "For Sale" section. Doesn't matter that the museum is also an advertiser here. If I want to sell off one of my personal kilts, I can list it.

And I'm pretty sure the "hobbyist" advertising level is simply meant as a low-cost advertising option for those who might like to advertise the fact that they have a product to sell, but don't make enough money at it that they can afford major advertising. I don't think anyone is attempting to put any limits on whether or how much actual profit is made. It's just the least expensive out of a variety of advertising levels offered.

I don't really see the need to read any more into any of it than this....

**ccga3359** · 16th March 10, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by turpin

I don't know if I'd be classified as a hobbyist, but that's how I think of my sporran-making. In three years I'm up to 168 sporrans, all in my spare time. It certainly doesn't pay the bills, it's low-volume, and mainly provides mad-money for kilts, games fees, and other related activities.

You are a Master. Send me a sporran so that I might critique it and try to prove myself wrong. McMurdo is a little sick and tired of me constantly pawing his sporran.

**The Kilted Reverend** · 16th March 10, 08:46 PM

Sounds to me like the administrators are trying to regulate everything. I see no distinction between a hobbiest and someone selling a personal item. Maybe the "rulers" need to lighten up.

Rev.

**pdcorlis** · 16th March 10, 09:17 PM

I'm with Matt - this ain't all that mind bending. Case in point - I used to make FlyPins, kilt pins fashioned to look like fly fishing flies. If I wanted to sell a bunch of them the hobbiest category would be best since I could never make enough money to warrant higher visibility advertising. If I wanted to sell a kilt I had purchased that no longer suited me - the For Sale would be the place. One vs many - my creations vs something from my closet.

**Zardoz** · 16th March 10, 09:20 PM

deleted

**Dixiecat** · 16th March 10, 09:37 PM

McMurdo is a little sick and tired of me constantly pawing his sporran

Way too much info. And the mental image, it's kinda frightening!

I don't think we're 'over-thinking' the issue. There's a rule, and it needs clarifying.

I'm kinda leaning towards, a hobbyist would be like a seller at a flea market, not the professional sellers, but the home crafter? Hmmm, maybe change the hobbyist category to Home Crafter instead?

**HarborSpringsPiper** · 16th March 10, 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by Dixiecat

Because of the way I deal with this, would this classify me as a 'hobbyist' or a business?

Hey Dixie, I think Matt already addressed this and Steve is the ultimate arbiter but sounds like hobbyist to me.

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 17th March 10, 04:09 AM

Originally Posted by The Kilted Reverend

Sounds to me like the administrators are trying to regulate everything. I see no distinction between a hobbiest and someone selling a personal item. Maybe the "rulers" need to lighten up.

Rev.

It's not that difficult to understand. The "For Sale" section, frankly, has nothing to do with the advertising available on the forum. Except for the fact that the "For Sale" section is not for advertising. It is for individuals listing products for sale.

So, for example, if I decide I need to clean out some space in my closet and want to sell two kilts, a jacket, and three sporrans, I could list those items individually on the for sale section, and hopefully a happy X Marker could take advantage of the deals before I had to list them on Ebay or something.

On the other hand, let's say I started making kilt pins. And every two days I listed another kilt pin I had made in the "For Sale" section. After a while it is going to become apparant that this is no longer the case of me selling the odd individual item, but rather I'm advertising for a new (albeit small) business venture.

And the problem with that is that there are folks who pay money for the privledge of advertising. And it's not really fair for someone to begin to advertise their product on the forum for free, when others pay good money for the privledge.

"But I'm just making a few kilt pins on my kitchen table! I only make $1.50 profit per pin! It's not like I'm a big business here, I'm just doing it for fun!" you might protest. How can you be expected to be a paid advertiser?

Well, in the past it might not have been feasable, but now that a new advertising level has been put in place -- "hobbyist" -- people have an very inexpensive option to join X Marks as an advertiser and enjoy all the privledges that come with that.

It seems to me that the guiding principle here is that the "For Sale" forum should not be taken advantage of by businesses (large or small) to advertise their products at no cost.

If anyone is interested, email Steve for the rates. He's actually made it a lot less expensive to be an advertiser than in the past.