ebay; why ...

House of ill repute. I know of them, and don't pretend not to, but clearly I have never been to one and would never think of it, ever. I swear.

I think 'the auction site' or other epithets serve a similar purpose, communicating one's own higher moral code, disapproval and promise that like a really good RFFer one would only buy from the classifieds and if not giving away one's camera to a fellow member (and is that not one of the many wonders of RFF) one would only sell in the classifieds here.

And on the subject of my name: it isn't Smith. I don't want people googling my real name and entering my private space and seeing my photographs and commenting and reading my posts and emailing me. I think it's great to use your real name here and for people like Chris it makes perfect sense. But I view this place like a club and it is my recreation and is completely divorced from my day job and I want all the benefits of this online wonder while eschewing as much as possible the www intrusion into my private space.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
.................... Most people online are cowards who hide behind their usernames, ................ .
Click to expand...

I have come to accept that some want to be anonymous on line. Personally, I assign much more significance to someone's opinion when they are willing to give their name and location. I tend to dismiss those who want to hide behind pseudonyms and undisclosed locations.

I would never send money to someone selling equipment who was not willing to have the world know who they were. That is f***ing stupid but I see it here all the time.

YMMV.
 
Sparrow--really--and truly--no one knows why.
It just is.
Sort of like--the answer to the universe is 42...
That's sorta all there is..
Have fun bidding...
Paul
 
I have to say that I really cannot fathom why people don't refer to that popular internet auction site by its name.

Strange, innit.
 
Bob Michaels said:
I have come to accept that some want to be anonymous on line. Personally, I assign much more significance to someone's opinion when they are willing to give their name and location.
Click to expand...

I don't see why using a plasuble name and putting the name of a real place in one's profile makes an opinion any more valid. That's nothing more than a form of appeal to authority.

If I said I was in London, and signed myself Mike Johnston, and then said that your assignation of increased credibility on the basis of your above-stated criteria was fallacious, would you accept that opinion as more valid than the one I expressed in my first paragraph?

Or does this entire post plummet into the depths of drivel because I use a pseudonym and can't remember if I put a location in my profile (I'll find out the latter when I hit the 'Submit Reply' button).

More to the point, how do you determine whether "London" and "Mike Johnston" are anything other than a complete pack of lies?
 
Nomad Z said:
I don't see why using a plasuble name and putting the name of a real place in one's profile makes an opinion any more valid. ................
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Nomad Z: that is just my opinion as I said in the original post. You may feel differently and that is OK.

I can say that my total life experience has taught me that being open with your name and other information gives you more credibility no matter what the situation.

I commonly photograph people in places that are non-mainstream. I find that proactively extending my hand, giving my name and where I am from plus saying why I am photographing, then immediately following up with a business card with name, address, phone, e-mail and website eases much initial tension.
 
Name and place make little difference to me on the trust front. I have bought from two RFF users. The number of posts and the subsequent PM exchanges reassured the seller and buyer more than any claim to location etc. Shipping to a street address is more convincing as to location than a claim to be in Melbourne, hopefully Florida, which is in the US, rather than Melbourne Australia which is scary, maybe even primitive and definitely not CONUS or the 'lower 48'. We foreigners can be sensitive you know. Hang on. I don't think I am foreign.
 
Bob Michaels said:
Nomad Z: that is just my opinion as I said in the original post. You may feel differently and that is OK.

I can say that my total life experience has taught me that being open with your name and other information gives you more credibility no matter what the situation.

I commonly photograph people in places that are non-mainstream. I find that proactively extending my hand, giving my name and where I am from plus saying why I am photographing, then immediately following up with a business card with name, address, phone, e-mail and website eases much initial tension.
Click to expand...

I've found that to be true too. I often work in rural small towns in Indiana where outsiders are not really welcome, and by telling people my name and telling them I am a fellow Hoosier, born and raised in Indiana, it opens them up (though being from Fort Wayne, the "big evil cesspool of sin and crime" to rural people in northeast Indiana does lower me a tiny bit in their eyes, lol).
 
My name is Michael York.. Try googling that and see what you find. Pretty easy to hide behind my real name, but I choose "roscoe" because he was my best friend and companion...my dog.

And I too have always wondered why it's been called "the big auction site" rather than just simply "Ebay". It's not like you're being hush hush around a little child.
 
Nomad Z said:
I don't see why using a plasuble name and putting the name of a real place in one's profile makes an opinion any more valid. That's nothing more than a form of appeal to authority.

If I said I was in London, and signed myself Mike Johnston, and then said that your assignation of increased credibility on the basis of your above-stated criteria was fallacious, would you accept that opinion as more valid than the one I expressed in my first paragraph?

Or does this entire post plummet into the depths of drivel because I use a pseudonym and can't remember if I put a location in my profile (I'll find out the latter when I hit the 'Submit Reply' button).

More to the point, how do you determine whether "London" and "Mike Johnston" are anything other than a complete pack of lies?
Click to expand...
This phrase is making my head spin.
 
Early in my use of the Internet (in 1995) I made the mistake of using my real name on a number of forums and soon was deluged with e-mails and calls (yes, I posted my telephone number, too) from angry women from Colorado and Texas who wanted my blood. I'm serious. And I wasn't the guy they were looking for.
 
Bob Michaels said:
I have come to accept that some want to be anonymous on line. Personally, I assign much more significance to someone's opinion when they are willing to give their name and location. I tend to dismiss those who want to hide behind pseudonyms and undisclosed locations.

I would never send money to someone selling equipment who was not willing to have the world know who they were. That is f***ing stupid but I see it here all the time.

YMMV.
Click to expand...
Thank you Bob. Could't agree more. I spent a half hour last night trying to formulate an eloquent response much along these lines, but failed magnimoniuosly.
 
Hi,

Some websites with forums won't let you mention ebay and if you type it it disappears from the post. Most of those sites run classified sections and charge you to sell and so I guess they don't like competition.

Another point is that a lot of people buy with one ID on ebay and sell with another. Usually the name of a shop when selling and some thing like Mary Anne when buying. I'd guess they've another name for selling the U/S stuff that they "can't test because they haven't got a battery", etc, etc.

And lastly they use a 3rd or 4th name to boast on forums that they found a xxxxx for pennies in the flea market and sold it for pounds on ebay.

'nuff said? (Or perhaps their mums have told them not to use that sort of forum; who knows... )

Regards, David

PS That reminds me, I must change that avatar before her mother recognises me. ;-)
 
Bob Michaels said:
Nomad Z: that is just my opinion as I said in the original post. You may feel differently and that is OK.

I can say that my total life experience has taught me that being open with your name and other information gives you more credibility no matter what the situation.

I commonly photograph people in places that are non-mainstream. I find that proactively extending my hand, giving my name and where I am from plus saying why I am photographing, then immediately following up with a business card with name, address, phone, e-mail and website eases much initial tension.
Click to expand...

I don't neccessarily disagree with that, but I believe we are talking about how we present ourselves online in places such as forums. In other words, via the written word. If I present a written argument or opinion, the meaning of the words that express that argument or opinion doesn't change if my account profile happens to have a location in it, or if my account name or signature contains a plausible-looking name.

If including a name and location somehow renders me a more honest person, then I don't see how that argument holds up in the case of someone who provides a location and 'real name' that are false. If I claim I'm Mike Johnston from London, how do you know whether that's true or not?
 
Bob Michaels said:
I have come to accept that some want to be anonymous on line. Personally, I assign much more significance to someone's opinion when they are willing to give their name and location. I tend to dismiss those who want to hide behind pseudonyms and undisclosed locations.

I would never send money to someone selling equipment who was not willing to have the world know who they were. That is f***ing stupid but I see it here all the time.

YMMV.
Click to expand...
Does anybody else appreciate the irony of this comment emanating from a member whose avatar is not of himself but is actually a third party (as previously disclosed by himself on other occasions)?

I guess we can extrapolate that using ones' real name as their member name, but someone else's image, should be considered acceptable practice at RFF. Presumably, however, all those members using an alias as a member name, albeit with an actual photograph of themselves as their avatar, remain condemned. Perhaps we should ask Steven to require copies of drivers licenses or passports on initial registration in order to confirm members' real identities. Or maybe, a letter from their mum. How silly. Are these the issues that really matter to RFF members?

I'm afraid I have lost a bit of respect for a few of our members who do ostensibly post under their real names, today.
Regards,
Brett Rogers (this is my real name if it matters)
 
Nomad Z said:
I don't neccessarily disagree with that, but I believe we are talking about how we present ourselves online in places such as forums. In other words, via the written word. If I present a written argument or opinion, the meaning of the words that express that argument or opinion doesn't change if my account profile happens to have a location in it, or if my account name or signature contains a plausible-looking name.

If including a name and location somehow renders me a more honest person, then I don't see how that argument holds up in the case of someone who provides a location and 'real name' that are false. If I claim I'm Mike Johnston from London, how do you know whether that's true or not?
Click to expand...

I reckon we would all know if you made a transaction in the classifieds?:p Anyway, back OT...why not ebay?

Surely there is an old timer (internet-speaking of course) that has this information available!
 
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