**MULTIPLE** Sales Threads Issue

[sb56637]

Hi there,

You all probably know that I'm not a fan of creating more rules to solve problems. But the guidelines for affiliate linkers weren't very easy to find, and it's possible that some aren't even aware of their existence. So I slightly re-worded the guidelines for affiliate linkers (no major changes) and created a new post, which also now prominently appears in main BLF menu right below "Commercial Sellers". The guidelines for affiliate linkers now state the following:

Hello affiliate linkers.

BudgetLightForum has a long tradition of locating and sharing deals on flashlight products. To that end, some users work indirectly with the commercial vendors to negotiate special deals, which they offer to the BLF community via codes or affiliate links. Regardless of the method used, we will designate these users as "liaisons". Although liaisons are not strictly commercial sellers and therefore are not bound by the commercial seller rules, they do contribute significantly toward the interests of the commercial sellers. So please keep in mind the spirit of the rules for commercial sellers. Specifically, liaisons must adhere to the following guidelines:

• BLF users that regularly negotiate special deals on stock products that are offered via affiliate links or codes should place them in the
  BLF User Negotiated Deals category.
• I won't specify exactly how many threads can be created per-user in the "BLF User Negotiated Deals" category, but please do NOT abuse your privileges by unnecessarily creating many separate threads for your deals.
  
• Please keep in mind that your posts in this category will appear in the Recent Posts list, so please do NOT "spam" the Recent Posts with tactics to "bump" your thread or in any other way dominate the current activity. I'm sure that the liaisons will find a way to keep their currently active threads in this category to a minimum, possibly by re-using certain threads and editing the first and/or second posts.
• Please do NOT post your affiliate links or codes outside of the "BLF User Negotiated Deals" category.
• Please do NOT "drop hints" about your deals in other threads.
• Please carefully re-read these guidelines on avoiding "price wars".
• Competition between commercial sellers is good for BLF, but bickering and cutthroat competitiveness between BLF liaisons is damaging to the entire BLF community, so please avoid doing so at all cost.
• Please do NOT do anything that annoys other users, and be willing to make changes to accommodate others' preferences.

The services of commercial liaisons are appreciated by many BLF users. If you engage in such activity, please do your utmost to be an asset to the BLF community and promote a friendly and enjoyable community spirit.

Thanks! Have fun.

This is a pretty good framework, and it tends to work. Freeme already explained what happened and apologized for it, and he has shown a willingness to work with the BLF community and respect the rules, so I would consider his case handled for now. As for the other offenders, I simply prefer to moderate the situation on a case by case basis, and I always try to take into account your (collective) opinions on who is breaking the spirit of the above guidelines.

I was recently made aware of Fin17 re-posting all of his deals into a new thread for no reason. I sent him a warning PM that he will be banned if another violation occurs, and I will follow through on it.

I hope this helps. Thanks for bring up the topic.