hi JOE, I am from Europe and may look at things a bit different than you, perhaps a bit stiffer, but if I would try to build up a business: a) I would not let a discussion with Norm escalate like that, but stay polite, especially if you, as you mention, plan to use CFP marketplace in the future, and b) I would certainly not publish that discussion including your own mildly 'adolescent' replies on the other forum. I believe that is far from good practice and I also can not believe it is good for business (I for sure am not attracted to sellers like that).
I think you have burnt your bridges as far as CPF goes. Publishing private communications is a no-no, and you will certainly be banned over there. Mind you, with CPF, money talks, so you never know.
Norm is the only moderator I added as a buddy or whatever it is, over on the CPF and that is because he has a lot more leway and less of an attitude that many of the others. Sorry to say, I agree with him closing the thread. A dealer is someone selling lights (or items) to make a profit. If that is what Norm has to work with then, there is no alternative but for him to act as he did. I UNDERSTAND that for you, the dealer subscription fees are rediculous but, that is what they charge because they can and maybe because they have to. (I don’t know.) In summary, you’re better off not selling anything in the cpfmaketplace.
Joe, that place is neither on freedom nor democracy. It’s run like a banana republic high on coca leaves!
I just don’t understand why CPF has 2 forums if that’s correct, one to talk about lights ect…and one to sell/buy on ?
But Joe just ignore that forum intill u get on your feet little better
id suggest to keep trying to peddle here, maybe some on ebay .remember ebay has listing fees, final sale fees, and paypal fees which can add up to 15%+ of the sale value. and dont forget to factor in what the package will actually cost to ship. i have burned myself many times on shipping costs because i would just say “well, $10 should cover shipping”…
maybe try to find some easy going forums like guns, survival/prepper, outdoor (camping, hiking…). to get a good business started i wouldnt just stick to the flashaholic customer base.
though dont forget about us either 
I think you just stepped on his toe by mentioning BLF :D
Thanks for all of the advice everyone. (Especially 18sixfifty for your lengthy response)
Posting our private discussion in public was a bad idea. I just wanted to hear a little insist as to whether or not he/I crossed the line. I feel that honesty and transparency goes a long ways.
I still see that it was a bad idea but as a business person I believe you need to show sympathy towards your customers/potential customers. A simple "I'm sorry, we can't offer you special privileges because our current dealers will get upset." sort of an answer would have ended the whole conversation and I would have been on my way. I guess I have just been exposed too a lot of good people in customers support to understand why he would say the things he did.
[quote=cat eyes] see , i told you he was the chosen one.... the one to lead us into and through all the other forums.... the one to unite all the forums and rule all the forums with a flashlight the size of the sun.... all hail joe !!!!!!!! [/quote]
...One Flashlight to rule them all
And in the Darkness Blind them.
Milton Bradley had it before Google even existed. I can’t be the only one here that remembers the Simon game!
KuoH
A while back around when I joined BLF I was considering selling my own brand of top quality 18650 cells (keeppower OEM). I had an order of 20 as a trial run to see how well they might sell, and listed them on CPFM as well as here without knowing there were automatic dealer fees. Of course my thread was closed, and unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to re-list them as a one off sale without paying $75 for a month’s dealer membership, in my position that wasn’t worthwhile so I just finished selling them on BLF and gave up on the idea.
I can understand why they enforce the policy, it just seems a bit unfair that it’s so rigid. If you only have a small inventory of 1 item then it isn’t worth paying the same dealer fee as a larger company selling many different items. I did offer to pay CPF something like 10% of any sales made through the site but they wouldn’t consider that either.
I agree completely. I was going to offer 10% too since that is just about what ebay fees are currently. (Which is just insane)