One more time, please...Ebay policy?

Over on the Tinplate forum, the subject of ebay often comes up as a point of reference or information.  For example, someone will see something on ebay and then start a thread, asking if anyone has seen anything like this or knows anything about this kind of thing.  A lively and informative discussion usually follows, in which some of the really experienced and knowledgeable members will share some arcane Tinplate facts with the rest of us.

I would certainly object to using the forums to promote ebay, but it would seem a shame to outlaw any reference to it.   Like it or not, it is a fact of life for the majority of train collectors and operators. 

The "Great Engine House Buy" thread may seem to have been over the line as an ebay price alert promotion.  On the other hand, we do have to admit that it did act as a service to members, and one member decided to act on it and benefited from it...

Just my 1.5 cents.

As far as tinplate goes, you cannot go to your local hobby shop and find originals or parts etc. Some of this stuff is pretty rarefied. There are mentions of this sale or that hobby shop ...not on a non Ebay basis, so I cannot imagine a ebay thread was seen as promotional rather than informational.

Agreed. Those of us who spend much (most?) of our time on the Tinplate Forum seem to have things under control,  as it were,  when it comes to Ebay. As hojack mentions above, most of the references are in passing for informational purposes only, and hopefully don't rise to the level of the examples detailed in Allan's post.

They do not rise to that level.  There's a big difference there that probably is fairly unique to the collecting community as opposed to a focus on eBay buyers/sellers/policies/problems.

BTW, Allan, I certainly did not want to get Don (author of the engine house thread) in trouble.  I know he posted it with the best of intentions.  I know he would NEVER self-promote an auction of his own.  It was the nature of the thread that troubled me.  I think many of us think of the forum as a random conversation among town friends in the general store sitting around the potbellied stove, not often giving a lot of thought about what we're about to throw into the discussion.  So these no-no's pop up now and then.  We deserve a 'DiNozzo' when they do.

Thanks for clarifying.

KD