Yes a number of people, including myself, have commented on this practice only to be admonished or deleted by admins. One vendor in particular got all huffy and proclaimed its his right to do whatever he wants in "his" thread after he got flogged with multiple comments about this practice. I guess he must have cried real hard because I got a message from Rev basically saying don't say anything about vendors unless its in the vendor feedback forum. It's really not that much to ask for that if you post something for sale that it must have a price unless its an auction. In most states that's the law anyway that items offered for sale, by businesses, must be priced. That's the policy for members, paying or not, but vendors seem to be allowed to do whatever they want.
As this was already addressed by
@evolved above, I'll not say much. Bottom line is that for those vendors who choose not to post prices, there's a simple solution--don't buy from them. If you find a vendor giving different prices to different people for the same item, report it.
I made a positive comment (actually on 2 threads) about a vendor yesterday and it was deleted. Interestingly the policy goes something like you can add positive comments to a positive feedback thread (subject to review) but not to a negative one. And if the thread is negative you can't chime in with your experience whether positive or negative. That way when someone posts about a vendor issue, that no one is allowed to comment on, and the vendor does not respond the thread quickly fades away to the benefit of the vendor.
This is an interesting take on our policy. The fact is that positive comments about a positive transaction are generally allowed because nothing is in dispute--everyone is in agreement that the buyer/seller did a great job (so why force people to create multiple threads or restrict posting in those threads???). In a negative feedback thread, our hope is that the seller and buyer would work together to resolve their dispute. If other parties not involved in the transaction begin to "throw fuel on the fire," it only hurts the possibility of a resolution coming about. It has nothing to do with wanting the thread to "fade away," but rather everything to do with hoping resolution can occur. Furthermore, the accusation that this policy is in place for the benefit of vendors doesn't make sense since it's the same exact policy we have in place for disputes between members when no vendor/sponsor is involved.
OK then the board would seem to be by and for the vendors $$ so why would anyone want to be a "R2R supporter"? Every time I come close to doing so something else comes along that makes me change my mind. Its kind of like walking into a mall, to shop, and having them ask for $$ donations to help run the mall.
I'm not really sure what this statement means. Who is "the board"? Do you mean the moderators? If so, none of us are vendors, so to say the team is "by and for the vendors" makes no sense. Becoming an R2R supporter offers membership perks to anyone who wants to support the site with $25 / year. If you don't want them, that's fine, but there are plenty of great reasons to support R2R (as proven by the great many members who have chosen to do so). I'll add that if you see R2R as "a mall" then I think you've missed the point of what being a part of our community is about.
And BTW don't get me wrong there are some awesome vendors here many of which I have purchased from and will again.
I absolutely agree with this statement, and I would encourage members to do business with the sponsors/vendors you feel most comfortable with. I firmly believe that we have some excellent site sponsors that are absolutely trustworthy and worth doing business with. However, even beyond our sponsors, we are a community of saltwater enthusiasts who all share a love for this great hobby. I highly encourage you to enjoy the sponsor section, but also look beyond that to the great information being shared and great relationships formed in our community. There are lots of people definitely worth getting to know.
(although technically it probably doesn't apply here lol)
