The first rule listed in Gear Swap is:
Items posted for sale here cannot be listed for sale elsewhere. We'll cheerfully remove such cross-posting information.
However, there are a lot of items posted that are being sold on Ebay, Hammockforums, Whiteblaze, etc. I tried to buy a few items from people on the forum and was told, "Sorry I just sold it on Ebay... or Whiteblaze", etc. When I point out the rules posted, I get responses like, "They don't enforce that rule anymore" or "That rule means you can't make multiple posts on the same item within Gear Swap" or, my favorite, "I don't care about what the rules are". Is it true that the rules aren't being enforced anymore, and if so, why do you still have them posted? Is that rule for multiple posts on one item within Gear Swap, and if so, then why do you say elsewhere?

Hi Michael

The rule we do rigorously enforce, and it is mainly enforced by people reporting the offending posting, is that you may not give the eBay (or whatever) URL in your posting on BPL.

Think about it:
* I can't go looking on eBay etc for every item posted for sale on the Gear Swap Forum.
* If we permit URLS to be posted, we would be swamped by spam postings.

Of course, if someone starts telling lots of people that they have already sold the item on eBay, they will get a bad rep here on BPL. Action may be taken if it gets very bad.

Also, if someone starts selling a lot of stuff on Gear Swap in a commercial manner, they will be *told* to move to Gear Deals. Gear Swap is for private individuals only.

Cheers
Roger Caffin
Online Community Monitor
Backpacking Light

Michael - I was confused about that rule, too, thinking it meant you couldn't post something for sale on BPL and on another site. I mean, that's what "Items posted for sale here cannot be listed for sale elsewhere" means to me.

I asked Roger about it, because I knew of something for sale on BPL that was posted on NWHikers, and he responded similarly to what he said here - no link references allowed. There's no way BPL can prevent someone from posting something for sale on other sites. It would be helpful if that rule were rewritten to state that more clearly.

If a rule cannot be enforced, then why have the rule stated then? If the rule is for urls being posted, then why doesn't the rule state this? It clearly says, "Items posted for sale here cannot be listed for sale elsewhere" This is completely different from what you said the rule was. It sounds like someone made this rule, then no one wanted or could follow through. What would it take to actually change the rule to state the "new" interpretation?