Turbo List Sales FAQ This file contains informaition and guidelines about selling and trading item on the turbo list (turbo-list@cpac.washington.edu). The first section of this file (List Guidelines) contains information about posting your offers to the list. These should be strickly adhered to. Also, this list is not for Commercial Business Ventures. If you want to post on a regular basis that your company exists, and what not, that is fine so long as your frequency does not exceed once per week. The latter part of this file contains hints about protecting yourself and having a successful sale, trade or purchase. These are not guidlines, per say, but more just general rules used by those people who have done a fair number of net-deals. 0. BASIC STUFF: There are 2 very simple things you should know before you agree to buy anything, and as simple as they sound, you should still give them soem consideration. 1. Know *what* you are buying. Of course the seller is going to hype things a bit, they're trying to sell them. But you should very cautious if someone is trying to sell you an SCD game that you've never heard of before for $25, telling you it's the best game of this type out there. If it is the best, then someone on the list is bound to know abou it, so feel free to ask. There are also such references as the PCE lists (from the fileserver), and the reviews files (also from the server). 2. Know what it is worth. This will very from person to person, and there is always going to be that "title out there that you will pay *anything* for." Again, the list population is a wonderful source on a game's worth (and I don't mean that in a monetary way) I. TURBO LIST GUIDELINES: 1. Limited commercial posts - please limit your commercial posts to once a week. 2. Non commercial posts shoudl be limited to once a week also. In other words, do not post something to the list today, and if you haven't found a perspective buyer by tomorrow DO NOT post the article again. According to the latest usenet polls, 90% of the people who are going to see your ad will see it in the first 24 hours. The same is generally true of mailing lists. People who are continually beseiged by your ad will more likely than not, become frustrated with you and not want to take advantage of future offers. 3. If you make an offer, stick to it. The last thing that people want to deal with is someone who keeps changing their mind. Once you've made a decision to sell (trade, buy, whatever) an item, and especially after you have a commitment from a potential buyer (trader, seller) do not reneg on your deal. II. GENERAL HINTS 1. Always get name address and phone number of the people you're dealing with (net access doesn't last forever). 2. Most deals work with money being sent first, then once received, the goods are sent. Some sellers will require either a Money order, or a waiting period for a personal check to clear. If you (as a seller) require either, be sure to mention this. If you fail to mention the MO part until after the deal has been reached, then you should be willing to cover the cost of the MO and also give the person a few extra days (for most of us, an MO is not as easily obtained as a personal check). 3. As a seller, you should clearly state what is included with the item. On this list, unless otherwise indicated, it is assumed that everything that you are selling is complete (ie, box and docs [not necessarily the outter carboard box], unless you specifically say so. Conversely, as a buyer, you should know what you are getting. 4. Some people prefer to do COD transactions, again, you need to be willing to cover the costs of this, even if you're the seller. Just a word of warning, COD is not as safe as some would have you believe. As a seller, the buyer may refuse the package, leaving you with a shipping/COD-charges bill. As a Buyer, there is no guarentee that what you pay for is actually in the package. It does go both ways, so caveat emptor. 5. Constanly communicate with the other person. Send e-mail when the check is sent. When it is received, when the game will be shipped, when the goods *are* shipped, and also when they arrive. A little communication can go a long way. 6. Be suspicious. Not to an extent of being annoying, but if you are being pressured for something, you may want to step back and re-evaluate the situation. Recall the old saying, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is." If all else fails, ask for references. Although not everyone keeps a record (I know that I don't), I know most who are legitimate will be able to provide names (off-site) or forums where you can contact people who have dealt with people before. 7. If are going to wait for a long period of time (note, long in this context is anything over a couple of days), do the other party the favor of letting them know that there is going to be a delay (I am waiting for other offers, I will let you know in 2 days, or somesuch). Likewise, if you have made an offer and need to retract, do so as soon as possible (Sorry, but since I have not heard from you in 3 days, I am retracting my offer since I have found another source. ..) 8. It doesn't hurt to ask for references, but be forewarned that you may not get the response that you are looking for. In general, people tend to remeber the bad better than the good. This doesn't necessarily mean that "no responses," is a good indicator, but in most cases will put you closer to the "good" side than the "bad." As a note to this, it also is not a bad idea to maintain a list of folks with whom you have done business with so that you can have a 'good' reference list for your own personal use. III. Help. The Post Office can be helpful in tracking down and prosecuting Mail Fraud cases. Contact your local postmaster, or write to: Chief Postal Insepctor Washington DC 20260-2100 There is also a Postal Crime Hotline 800-654-8896