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Old 22nd November 2009, 05:43 PM   #19
David
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 7,012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jussi M.
I have nothing to add except reinstating that in my opinion there can be no middle ground. - Commercial elements are either OK´d 100% or banned 100%. Anything in between is doomed to fail as drawing the line would be extremely difficult and lead to complications on what it is and what is not OK .
Jussi, commercial elements have always been banned from these forums, with the exception, of course, of the Swap Forum where commerce is permitted. It is plain and simple, cut and dry and has always been the way we work things here.
Like Alan, i am here to share knowledge and learn from others. What i know (or think i know) i am always willing to quite freely share. What i do not know i am always willing to listen to and learn. This is the mission, i believe, of this forum, to freely exchange thoughts and knowledge about keris and the culture of keris. I personally have no intention, desire or inclination to ever run an appraisal-for-hire aspect of this site and i seriously doubt that any other knowledgeable members will be interested in such a undertaking either. Besides all of the afore mentioned reasons why there is also the extremely practical one that you simply cannot give a truly accurate appraisal of a keris without examining the item firsthand. Photos are just not good enough to make definitive judgments of certain aspects of keris. If someone else wants to try to set up an internet site that provides this service then i say more power to them. I would personally take any assessment coming from such a site with one huge grain of salt.
I also must point out that the goal of this forum is not necessarily to fill the needs of the lowest common denominator of keris collectors in order to gain the largest membership possible. It is the free exchange of thoughts, ideas and knowledge of keris and keris culture between collectors of a like interest. It is to grow our understanding of the keris and the culture that supports it so that we might better grasp it's place in that society and in human history and to discuss what is happening in the world of crafting high-end art keris in present day. I do not see this as a place to appraise monetary value of keris, which in and of itself is both a tricky and highly subjective thing. So if you are a dealer whose sole purpose for being a member here is to present keris that are intended for sale then you are indeed in the wrong place. This does not mean that members who also sell keris are not welcome here. We have many who are regular, productive contributors who have never attempted to present keris for sale on this forum. And there are a few who have never even used the Swap Forum to sell an item other than to post a link to their sales site. They understand the purpose of this forum and show great respect for it and i think that in doing so they have also shown their high level of integrity and honesty as dealers, a very valuable commodity in my book. For some reason i trust a dealer more who isn't always trying to push their items on me like a sneaky used car salesman.
Rick has presented 3 additional guidelines to address this issue which i fully support. I would also add that if you do try to sell something in Swap after the 30 day waiting period that it should be clear that you can in no way, shape or form provide a link in your sales thread to the previous discussion on the forum. In other words, you cannot use the comments of other forum members to promote the sale of your keris unless you receive express permission from every single person who participated in that thread.
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