Classified Ads Rules

Welcome to the Classifieds forum! As a member in good standing, you are welcome to use our exclusive area for buying, selling and trading items with other members here in Classifieds. To make the transaction a pleasant experience for everyone, we have some guidelines to assist you.

• We ask that items listed for sale to be from your personal collection.
• We also ask that items purchased be for the buyer's own personal use, and not for resale.
• If you have a store or business, or have your items listed on eBay, Amazon or elsewhere, that's great! We have a Third Party area over in Marketplace which you can feature your listings in, and have the benefit of being "public" to the Internet for even greater exposure.
• Posting: members are limited to two new threads per rolling 24 hour period in each Classifieds section.
• Bumping: members may bump up to two of their own threads, once per 24 hour period, per Classifieds section. As a courtesy, please do not bump other users' listings. Only questions involving item description, edition, condition, shipping and price are allowed in For Sale threads. Additional "discussion" or comments may be removed without notice.
• Payment requirement: for both buyer and seller protection, we require that all payments be made through standard PayPal. Please note that gift/personal/friends-and-family payments are not permitted, nor are checks, money orders or alternate payment methods (Google Wallet, Venmo, etc.) which offer no purchase protection. Cash payment for in-person exchanges is acceptable, and up to the discretion of the buyer and seller upon inspection of the item(s) being sold.
• Pricing requirements: all items in For Sale listings must include pricing--auctions and "make an offer" listings are not suitable for our selling format. Likewise in Want To Buy threads, please indicate the maximum price you are willing to pay for your item.
• Image posting requirements: any and all image attachments and linked images may be only of the actual, physical item(s) in your possession being offered for sale or trade. All others will be removed.
• Give feedback: we urge all members to use our feedback system to record their positive or negative experiences. Do not, however, leave retaliatory feedback.
• Dissatisfaction: if you are dissatisfied with a seller, price or product, or the outcome of a transaction, please use either our system to leave feedback for the seller, or use our private messaging system. Do not post publicly.
• Dispute resolution: disputes over an improper description of items, shipping damage, and non-receipt of items should be handled through the payment agent (PayPal, etc.) or the shipping carrier, as appropriate, if buyer and seller cannot resolve disputes among themselves.
• Staff assistance: if you have a serious issue with a seller, our Classifieds staff can assist up to the point of helping to establish communication and/or providing additional contact information. Beyond that, staff cannot and will not become involved in handling resolutions to member disputes.
• Breaking an agreement to trade or purchase an item can lead to consequences such as negative feedback.
• Given the community spirit in Classifieds, we ask that items purchased here are for your personal use and not be flipped for a profit. Flipping is the purchasing and reselling of items for a profit. Doing so undermines the trust of, and takes advantage of, fellow forum members. We reserve the right to revoke access to Classifieds for members caught flipping items elsewhere.
• Continued abuse, numerous seller/buyer complaints, or circumvention or disregard of our posted guidelines will result in removal of a member's access from Classifieds.
• Finally, please use Classifieds at your own risk! The Steve Hoffman Forums will not be responsible for any transactions conducted here, nor can staff members intervene in resolving conflicts between buyers and sellers. All sale and trade agreements are a contract between the seller and buyer.

Acceptable items for listing are as follows:

• Music (LPs, CDs, SACD's, DVD-A's, etc.) that you have for sale or trade
• Audio, video, accessories, and test equipment (turntables, cables, amplifiers, DVD players, oscilloscopes, etc.)
• Tickets for upcoming events (should not be more than face value plus actual costs), vintage (expired) tickets and other music related memorabilia including video, brochures, advertisements and related publications (magazines, books, etc)
• Wanted lists
• Music or video-related memorabilia
• Musical instruments
• Video (BluRay, DVD, VHS, etc.)
• We allow other items that are somewhat related to our discussion topics (cameras, video games, computers used as HTPCs or digital editing stations, etc.).

Unacceptable items include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Downloadable content (including anything offered as a file)
• Vouchers for downloadable content, even if offered at no cost
• Bootlegged or pirated items, and grey market items of questionable origin
• Copied/dubbed tapes, CD-Rs, or anything on other consumer-recordable media
• General items not related to the main topics of our forum

The staff reserves the right to a final decision in what is deemed acceptable or unacceptable for listing in Classifieds.

Our Wanted To Buy / Trade section uses thread prefixes to help members select appropriate listings while browsing the area.

• FT = For Trade
• WTB = Want To Buy
• Pay It Fwd = Reserved for our Pay It Forward threads

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Classified Forums Vinyl and CD Grading

We will be using criteria based on the US Goldmine grading scale for Vinyl (not the UK/European version).

Please note that the Goldmine grading scale has audio quality descriptions for NM, VG and G, but not for VG+. Please also note there is a reference to a grade between NM and VG+ called VG++. For our purposes, we will be including the grade VG++ to fill the gap between NM and VG+, just has been done with CD grading. We have also added a brief audio quality description to VG++ and VG+. All visual grading assumes a bare 100W bulb is used. Sellers are encouraged to describe their items in more detail, including any audio issues, when possible. Sellers should also indicate whether items are either visually graded or play-graded.

Please note: in grading vinyl, "unexpected surface noise" is any noise (such as a pop, tic, crackle or groove wear) not normally present on a brand new, unplayed album.

Grading Guidelines:

Vinyl

• Mint (M): Sealed and/or unplayed.
• Near Mint (NM or M-): Near perfect record and cover. No visible flaws or defects (any manufacturing scuffs should be noted). No unexpected surface noise or other audible issues at normal listening volume.
• Very Good Plus Plus (VG++): Only a very small number of minor flaws present (ex. a couple of faint hairlines, a light scuff). No unexpected surface noise or other audible issues at normal listening volume. Cover shows no significant ring wear, nor seam splits.
• Very Good Plus (VG+): More slight signs of wear but still an excellent condition record that plays well. Any surface noise is very minimal and the record is still an enjoyable listen. No groove wear. Cover may show minor defects including very light ring wear.
• Very Good (VG): More obvious wear. Surface noise evident on playing, especially in soft passages, and during a song's intro and fade but never overpowers the music. Ring wear and other defects evident.
• Good (G): Worn. Significant surface noise throughout, scratches that produce noise, but will play through without skipping.
• Poor (P), or Fair (F): Worn out. Won't play through without skipping or repeating.

CD/DVD/SACD/BluRay

• Mint (M): Looks like the wrapper just came off. No marks of any kind anywhere on the complete package.
• Mint minus (M-): Very near perfect playing surface and artwork. When held at an angle under extreme lighting you can see perhaps 1 or 2 very light scratches or pin dots.
• Excellent (Exc.):CDs in this condition look used, but like they were taken good care of. Only a few very light scuffs can be seen when the disc is held at an angle to the light. The booklet and inserts are present and have only a few very minor flaws such as a slight bend or light fingerprints
• Very Good plus (VG+): No more than 10 very light to light scratches between 1/8" and 2". Artwork has case dents or a crease. Plays perfectly.
• Very Good (VG) : CDs in this condition are more for listening to than collecting. The disc is heavily scratched but can be played through without skipping. The booklet and inserts are present but heavily worn, and may include heavy fingerprints, bent corners, smudges, creases, case dimple marks, and writing.
• Poor (P): Heavily damaged, may not play through without skipping. Booklet and inserts may be missing, or also heavily damaged or torn.

If the buyer or seller have any questions with how a purchased item has been graded, they are encouraged to message each other privately before posting feedback in an attempt to reach a satisfactory agreement.

BUYING AND SELLING GUIDELINES

• For both buyer and seller protection, we require that all payments be made through standard PayPal, not using the "gift" or "friends" option. If the seller is concerned about added fees, then item pricing should be adjusted to account for all fees.
• Sellers are encouraged to use shipping methods which are trackable, and to use signature confirmation whenever possible. Parcels should also ship insured if there is sufficient value involved.
• Item pricing should be in line with commonly available pricing guides or trending prices as listed elsewhere. While sellers can list items for any price they see fit, there are fewer chances of making a sale if the pricing is too out of line with the general market.
• Sellers are also encouraged to charge fairly for shipping and supplies, primarily to cover their out-of-pocket costs. Grossly inflated shipping and handling fees will only discourage buyers.
• Buyers should practice due diligence when ordering items from Classifieds sellers, such as knowing the current market price of items they are purchasing, ensuring that the seller properly ships and insures the package, and providing the seller with a complete and proper shipping address.
• For international sales, buyer and seller should agree upon the currency used for the transaction. PayPal offers a feature where you may send or receive your money in other denominations, allowing you to do your own "exchange" of funds within your account, with nothing more than factoring in their exchange rate.