for sale forum

[jeffs55]

Has this subject been considered? A "for sale" forum. A forum which allows users of this site to buy or sell items related to the Tormek family of grinders. Users would assume any liability through the use of an or is that a; "an" sounds better, EULA.

[Rob]

What....and risk sales of new Tormek's....I don't think so :-)

[Ken S]

There is no requirement that members of this forum own a Tormek, either new or used. There is also no prohibition against members owning a competitor's product. I cannot imagine any manufacturer welcoming a swap meet for used products on his forum. There are online auctions where anyone can sell or purchase any time.

Ken

[jeffs55]

I cannot imagine any manufacturer welcoming a swap meet for used products on his forum. There are online auctions where anyone can sell or purchase any time.
Ken

Except for Festool these are not manufacturers sites but rather something like DIY sites, kind of like this one. After all, what is a Tormek  other than a "do it yourself" tool. The idea of a "for sale" forum on an existing site is not unprecedented.
http://www.birdforum.net/forum.php

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=1

http://www.festoolownersgroup.com/

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/

[Rob]

I moderate a general woodworking forum in the UK and we have a lively and active FS forum but you need to appreciate the different nature of the sponsorship behind these communities.

This forum is owned, funded and governed by Tormek themselves.  It has a very useful purpose which is to educate, promote and discuss all things Tormek and lets face it, to that end it does a sterling job.  It doesn't carry any advertisements (well apart from "Tormek Barbie & Ken" :-)) so no horrible banner's splashing all over the screen.  In return for that it's only good manners to avoid explicit named discussion about competitive brands....it would be being rude to our hosts essentially. But of course it also means one of the goals is to promote Tormek goods and it just isn't politically acceptable to cannibalise potential jig or grinder revenues with a wacking great "Tormek-Bay" right here. 

Personally I think that's entirely fair play.  Tormek have gone to the trouble of investing time, effort and money into operating this digital space and I think it's managed and moderated extremely well.  They get to set the rules because it's their barbeque.  Like Ken said, there's a million other online markets for doing just that.