The FreeiPodGuide Forums

vulcan300 · Last edited by vulcan300 on Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:17 pm; edited 15 times in total

Guidelines or Rules of Thumb

General Warning

All trades are done at your own risk. FreeiPodGuide takes no responsibility for the actions of either party. We encourage trading among all users, but we highly suggest extreme caution at all times, and especially when trading with new users. When provided with sufficient evidence, we will take all available action to prevent/reduce the incidence of scamming in these forums.

New Users

If you are a new user (eg. TR is 0), we advise you to only trade with other members who have a Trade Record (TR) of 4 or more. You may trade with whomever you please, but only trades between members who have 4TR or higher, will be credited + 1TR point for each trade.

Please lurk for at least a little while to see how things are done. Vague posts are the worst, because they waste everyone's time. Please be concise but include every piece of relevant information you can, such as: sites you're willing to sign up for, site's you've already signed up for, how much you're charging/willing to pay, if you take Paypal, etc.

Trading Rules

a. We strongly recommend using the Trade Module for all aspects of trading (once you have an agreement). Remember to ALWAYS verify a trader's forum name by having them send you a PM before you engage in trading over another medium, such as AIM or MSN. You should also save AIM or MSN conversations somewhere such as the Notes area.

b. Unless otherwise agreed upon, the trade record found in every user's profile and in every user's post is the deciding factor if there is any question as to who should 'go first'. Whoever has the lower TR is expected to finish his side first. THIS IS A GUIDELINE. EACH TRADE MAY OR MAY NOT FOLLOW THIS RULE EXACTLY. YOU ARE FREE TO TRADE ON YOUR OWN TERMS, BUT YOU WILL ONLY RECEIVE A TRADE RECORD POINT IF YOU FOLLOW OUR RULES.

c. If you have tried to contact (PM, AIM/MSN and E-mail) a member that you're in a trade with but they have failed to respond to you for 14 days then you have the right to cancel your trade together. A cancelled trade is only such after these three conditions have been met:

~1.) You Have tried to contact the other member through either PM's, AIM/MSN or E-mail AT LEAST once every 7 days**
~2.) You have received no response at all for 14 days straight, and
~3.) You have PM'ed the other trader after 14 days and explained to them that you're cancelling your trade due to their lack of communication and will be looking elsewhere for your greens/money.

**You cannot contact someone (as an example) on day 13 and 14 and assume the trade to be cancelled after the 14th day. You must contact the other trader once within the first 7 days of a trade and again between days 8 and 14 of the trade.

You cannot assume that a trade is cancelled just because you haven't heard from the other trader after 14 days. If we find you to have cancelled a trade and not met the above conditions, you will be subject to your initial trade agreement and refusal to do so will result in Trade Module limitations, your TR being dropped to -1, accounts being placed on hold and banned from this forum.

We will find out if you try to deceive us in your trading partners lack of communication and the above punishments will also apply.

If your Trading Partner notifies you that they'll be away from the forum for a certain period of time, this time is not part of the "14 day, lack of communication" period.

Trade Record

a. After you have completed a trade with another user, use the Trade Module to "Request TR" so that both parties may receive a trade record point.

If both users have less than 4 TR...
You will not receive credit for your trade.

If at least one trader has 4 or more TR...
You will BOTH be credited, assuming that your trade is legitimate.

Sites not qualifying for TR...
Trades for sites such as TextPayMe, ThisStuffIsFree, DSLite, 50.Free4Me,and any other non CC sites will NOT be credited. You may still trade for them, but requesting TR for such will result in them being denied. If you continue to request TR for them, temp-bans will be enforced.

Posting

a. Do not hijack or thread-crap in other peoples' threads.

b. Do not create a new trading thread more than once per 3 days. Also, do not 'bump' your thread more than once per 24 hours (24 hours means 24 hours, not once per calender day). When the 3 days are up, you may choose to create a new thread, or bump an existing thread, but you cannot do both.

c. Avoid profanity, racial slurs, and other speech that is a detriment to the semi-professional nature of trading. If you want to play it fast and loose, head over to Off-Topic.

d. Post ONLY about trading here. All other posts should be placed in the appropriate forums. This especially applies to posts about suspected scammers, traders who have disappeared, and questions about trading, offers, or the rules.

e. If you are trading for someone else who is not a member of this forum, then you must state in your thread that this is the case. People deserve to know who they are trading with and where their money/greens are coming from and/or going to.

f. The selling of DIY site referrals is now strictly prohibited. If anyone is seen trying to buy refs, sell refs or promote this in any way, you will receive a 14 day temp-ban.

g. "Friendly Bumps" are prohibited. A friendly bump is when someone will post in a topic made by someone else (an online friend, someone they're trading with etc) just to get it to the top of the page. Anyone caught friendly bumping will receive a 14 day temp-ban

Banning

a. Posting referral links will result in a instant ban.

b. If you do not hold to your word, or you behave in any way that seems 'shady', you will be banned. There is no room for that here.

c. Thread-crapping will result in a 5 day temp-ban.

d. Being rude and/or antagonistic to anyone in any way will result in a 14 day temp-ban.

e. Violating any of the rules below on 2 or more occasions:

1. Posting a thread in violation of Forum Rules or the rules in this post.

2. Referencing reputation on another site. Since nobody here regulates what those sites do, we cannot take these numbers seriously. As such, do not post referencing them.

Admin · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 11:35 am Post subject:

I've clarified and expanded on the rules here. Hopefully they should be easier to understand, albeit a bit longer.

This thread is temporarily open for suggestions about these rules.

Feel free to post any suggestions, kudos, objections, or questions about them here.

johnjimjones · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:14 pm Post subject:

I know it isnt recommended, but what if both traders have the same TR and they happen to both be low (ie less than 2), who goes first? Are there any rules or guidelines that apply to this situation?

theysayjump · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 7:55 pm Post subject:

try and work it out between yourselves.....thats about all you can do. both go yellow 1st before you go green at least.

tonydanza92 · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 1:25 pm Post subject:

Any chance you can update this to take out the stuff about the nominating for TR. Also maybe add and say that karma is nothing to worry about when trading

I've had confused newbs ask me about both

-tonydanza

Admin · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 9:30 pm Post subject:

Done, tony. Sorry it took me so long. Should all be nice and clear now Smile

Blink182=Gone · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:56 pm Post subject:

lol, this brings back fond memories of our dear friend vulcan...

johnjimjones · Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 8:17 am Post subject:

I think there should be an addition including the requirement of mentioning that the site contains Offers of Doom as well as the person is doing the points system on a site (ie Trainn). Recently (and I'm not complaining/insulting this person, it was a mistake that was made) I was in a trade where I completed an offer on 3604free and when I asked him to do his end after I greened I was then notified that I needed to do another offer since the one I did was a Level B offer so it wasn't sufficient to "complete" the referal trade. I think all trading exceptions need to be clearly expressed when posting to trade.

RocLaFamilia · Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:48 pm Post subject:

For Creating a new thread/bumping....does it have to be after the 5th day or day 5?

theysayjump · Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 4:20 pm Post subject:

if you make a thread on the 7th, then you can make a new one on the 12th.

on the 5th day.

whatisntseen · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 1:29 pm Post subject:

5 days is a bit much, dont you think? 3 is more reasonable. I checked how far back 5 days was. Over 120 posts and most people dont even go beyond the first or second page of posts, nor do they use trhe search feature to check if anyone is doing a certain site or giving paypal for refs. All I'm saying is that it would make a little more sense to have the restriction of one post ever 3 days or a bump every 3 days so that your post doesnt get lost and people will still be able to get in new offers. If you can, can you please explain why 5 was chosen?

dudeextrem2000 · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:08 pm Post subject:

stagim · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:23 pm Post subject:

Question that I can't find in the rules, if you are trading with someone and have went green and are waiting on them but not getting any response from PM, what should the next steps be? I have waited about a week and no response from a few PM's so I think this person is flaking out of thier end of the deal.

Daggoth · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:27 pm Post subject:

Conctact a moderator- theysayjump

theysayjump · Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:56 pm Post subject:

Updated to include the new rules and changes.

synix · Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:20 am Post subject:

just wonderin about this part....

Whoever has the lower TR is expected to finish his side first. THIS IS A GUIDELINE. EACH TRADE MAY OR MAY NOT FOLLOW THIS RULE EXACTLY. YOU ARE FREE TO TRADE ON YOUR OWN TERMS, BUT YOU WILL ONLY RECEIVE A TRADE RECORD POINT IF YOU FOLLOW OUR RULES.
-------------------

the part that doesnt make sense is that it says 'you will only recieve a trade record point if you follow our rules' ...and the rule which is a guideline too(?) means that lower TR must go first..

so for example...if i have a TR of 5 and the other person has 10..and im offering $20 for a site but ive decided that ill only trade if the other person goes first regardless of his/her TR...so assuming this guy with a TR of 10 agrees to go first..and we both complete our end of the deal...can we request TR or we cant because we went against the rule that lower TR must go first...?

In other words...does this apply even if the higher TR goes first?

johnjimjones · Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:24 am Post subject:

hunger_s · Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:30 am Post subject:

um whats a DIY site.. is cash4free a DIY site?!

hunger_s · Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 8:47 pm Post subject:

yes dumbass it is....!

counhav · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:14 pm Post subject:

i still dont understand the diy....thought i did but i dont! is there some where to read on that? i am going to search.....

and....just wondering if u want the same thing going...instead of new topic u can just bump every 24 hours instead.....as it is much quicker correct??

counhav · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:53 am Post subject:

is anyone ever going to answer my question?? LOL

a n y b o d y h o m e???

counhav · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject:

and dont ever post here as it'll never be read ; ) lol

condra · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:24 pm Post subject:

annel · Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:57 pm Post subject:

Hehe, this thread is a good source to know who reads the rules Smile

ASharpEdge · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 1:03 pm Post subject:

yes funny who reads the rules....
everyone should read the rules even if you think you know them!
Maybe they have changed....
Happy Trading!

dreamwanderer · Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:45 am Post subject:

Hi,

I am a newbie not only to this site but to the whole trading process. Until yesterday I did not even know this was going on. It is quite fascinating and I am eager to get started.

Reading the Rules and all the other suggested files I have a few questions/suggestions.

First, in the Glossary section of the rules could you explain the terms, "flaming" "CC" "thread-crapping" and "bumping'? You have some strong rules regarding these but if we don't know what they are we can not avoid doing them. It would be really helpful.

Also, could you explain the difference between allowed trading sites and sites you have disallowed includeing DIY? This questions refer to the following two statements above.

"Trades for sites such as TextPayMe, ThisStuffIsFree, DSLite, 50.Free4Me,and any other non CC sites will NOT be credited."

and

"The selling of DIY site referrals is now strictly prohibited. If anyone is seen trying to buy refs, sell refs or promote this in any way, you will receive a 14 day temp-ban."

These clarifications would really help.

Sincerely,

dreamwanderer

myjennycdb · Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:55 am Post subject:

--Posting--

a. Do not hijack or thread-crap in other peoples' threads.

b. Do not create a new trading thread more than once per 3 days. Also, do not 'bump' your thread more than once per 24 hours (1 day). When the 3 days are up, you may choose to create a new thread, or bump an existing thread, but you cannot do both.

FiPG & TRADING DO'S AND DON'T'S

DON’T spam users with PM’s about trading unless they show some prior interest in trading.
DON’T expect users to green instantaneously, even if they do an offer marked as instant.
DON’T ask users to submit support tickets about non-credit issues, until they have waited the desired time as specified by the site they sign up for (freepay sites = 15 days).
DON’T expect users to do another offer for you unless they have waited the specified amount of time to ask for manual credit.
DON’T judge another user solely on their Karma. Although it can be a good indication of the way a user is regarded on the forums, usually it has no bearing on trading. It’s the TR that counts.
DON’T ask user/account-specific questions to sites representatives. Open a support ticket on the site in question for that.
DON’T post in someone else’s trading thread telling others that you can do the same site for less, etc. It’s called thread-jacking and will result in a temp-ban.
DON’T make useless posts in other peoples threads, especially trading threads.
DON’T flame or you will be banned.
DON’T make a scammer thread about someone unless you have exhausted every possible means of communication between you and the other member, have waited the required amount of time to get credit or for the other member to get credit, have contacted a Mod and STILL have not received a response from the other member and/or a green or paypal, depending on the details of your trade.
DON’T create a thread or BUMP an existing thread in the trading post, more than once every 5 days. This will result in a temp-ban.

SO WHICH IS IT NO BUMPING ONCE EVERY 5 DAYS OR ONCE EVERYDAY??

ricopet · Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:04 am Post subject:

You're allowed to bump your post once every 24 hours.

dmorris68 · Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:12 am Post subject:

Currently, it's 24 hours and has been for well over a year. The rules are adjusted occasionally and as we have rules published in multiple areas, sometimes they don't all get synchronized. Thanks for pointing it out, I'll see that those rules get updated.

BTW, just so I know I'm looking at the right list, can you confirm which post you got those rules from?