• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

Just thinking out loud.

I don't have an issue with the B/S/T section. I've managed to score some nice smokes from there. The problem has been newer members like Phil said and all they do is sell after they make the 4 month mark. Others have gotten in over their heads and couldn't pay their bills. Others have lost their job. Long as every posted sale in the B/S/T section is open, honest and sincere, I don't have a problem. Its the sales that have a dishonest motive behind it that gets under my skin. Since I seldom visit the B/S/T section, I have lost track in who has made "excessive" sales lately. But I can imagine one of the members that help inspire this thread by Tony.
 
Buyer beware indeed! :thumbs:

An important side note for this discussion : If a company posts in the Retailer Forum of the B/S/T forum, that is NOT an endorsement of the authenticity of the products they sell.
 
I apologize for being the newbie who started this whole mess. Work had been going very well for quite a while, that I didn't see any reason not to stock up. Being over zealous was my problem :)

I could have hung onto my smokes for quite a while until work picked up again, but I wanted to avoid getting in the dog house with the Mrs. and show her that I am making sacrifices to make up for the shortcomings of my business at the moment. I never dreamed it would become an issue here, partly because I haven't been a member that long and don't yet know the finer points of this community, and partly because the smokes that I offered up were premium sticks. Quite a few were purchased right here on CP. Thanks to all for your well wishes. I've been working my rear end off to get some new clients, and it's been quite the adventure. I'm currently building an eBay store for a gentleman in Ohio, and love it. If I could do that and Web design for the rest of my life, I'd be a happy camper. I still do some eBay sales, but not nearly as much as before I lost that distributor. Good things can't last forever. Anyway, thank you all for being so gracious and not going postal on me, I apologize for abusing the BST. CP means a lot to me. I have met some outstanding characters here :D


John
 
You didn't start the mess, you just participated in the adventure.
 
One thing that was brought up that I thought was valid was "vouching" for another member. There is a handful of guys on here that I know I will personally vouch for, but that level of trust doesn't just happen because they've been on the board for 7 months or a year and they haven't had any bad trades or botched GBs. That comes from meeting with them several times, talking on the phone, meeting their family, and being part of their circle of friends over an extended period of time.

Too often these days I see folks handing out their trust and personal assurances like a cheap flyer in front of a supermarket, to anyone and everyone. You never know what a man will do when under pressure or faced with terrible odds, and here at CP we've seen "good BOTLs" who have been hailed by the collective community as trustworthy, only to snap under pressure with whatever life was throwing at them and do unethical things and mock whatever trust was given to them. Hell, we had a guy here who maintained the "how not to be an asshat" guide suddenly turn into one and start stealing back from CP.

My point isn't to be taken as "Trust no one," or anything extreme like that, just be wise about who's corner you decide to sit in when shit starts flying because you may be held accountable for your endorsement. Some folks buy their way into circles of trust, and then some folks do things the right way. That's all I'm saying. I'm no authority by any means, just something I thought I'd throw in the ring.
 
So basically you are saying that no matter what my reputation is you don't trust me because we've never met? I find that being careful in the extreme.
 
You are free to interpret it how you want Ray, that's not the point I was making. What Im saying is that I see too many folks declaring they'll vouch for someone they hardly know just because they've been on CP for a few months.

As far as not trusting you Ray, that's not the objective of my statement. Your trade history, your history on the board, the amount of established members who know you personally and a myriad of other things contribute to your trustworthiness. I've never met Swissy, yet I talk to him regularly, talked to his wife, she's talked to my wife, purchased things back and forth, and there's a history that's been built over a period of time. Im completely comfortable with Swissy and Id back him up. Same with a couple of guys on here that I've never met. Its not a completely hard and fast rule Ray, just part of something I was trying to express.
 
This is funny. Ray hadn't known me but a couple of months when he sent me a couple hundred dollars to make a purchase for him.

Doc.
 
I think people just need to use some sense and remember that the B/S/T forum isn't the focus of CP.

I also think that in most cases, if you feel like you need to vouch for someone, maybe they shouldn't be selling their stuff here.
 
souldog said:
One thing that was brought up that I thought was valid was "vouching" for another member. There is a handful of guys on here that I know I will personally vouch for, but that level of trust doesn't just happen because they've been on the board for 7 months or a year and they haven't had any bad trades or botched GBs. That comes from meeting with them several times, talking on the phone, meeting their family, and being part of their circle of friends over an extended period of time.

Too often these days I see folks handing out their trust and personal assurances like a cheap flyer in front of a supermarket, to anyone and everyone. You never know what a man will do when under pressure or faced with terrible odds, and here at CP we've seen "good BOTLs" who have been hailed by the collective community as trustworthy, only to snap under pressure with whatever life was throwing at them and do unethical things and mock whatever trust was given to them. Hell, we had a guy here who maintained the "how not to be an asshat" guide suddenly turn into one and start stealing back from CP.

My point isn't to be taken as "Trust no one," or anything extreme like that, just be wise about who's corner you decide to sit in when shit starts flying because you may be held accountable for your endorsement. Some folks buy their way into circles of trust, and then some folks do things the right way. That's all I'm saying. I'm no authority by any means, just something I thought I'd throw in the ring.
Click to expand...
 
Managed to screw up first attemped comment. I won't commet on Souldog's first paragraph regarding who we vouch for, however the next two, IMHO are sound advise not just for this forum as it applies to members and sales and trades.

I think it's essentially good advice in life. There are many, many people that I know and I'm friendly with however, when it comes to " vouching " for someone, I'm fairly circumspect.

Everybody's a good guy until the crap starts flying. Then we see what we will see.

Just my $0.02

Bill
 
Devil Doc said:
This is funny. Ray hadn't known me but a couple of months when he sent me a couple hundred dollars to make a purchase for him.

Doc.
Click to expand...
A jarhead has implicit trust in his corpsman! No questions asked :thumbs:
 
The mire of forum trading can stick-fast even the noblest boots. How one attones for their mistakes is the true test of character.

Still, we should refrain from telling the piglets not to roll in the mud. Sure it is messy sometimes, but still more fun than sitting alone in the dust.
 
Bsneed51 said:
Don't abuse it, and use common sense. Is that so hard?
Click to expand...

Common sense is not commonly found on the Internet, nor much in person, anymore.

Vouching for someone implies a much greater level of trust than buying from them or giving them a wad of your own money for a purchase. When you vouch for them, you're "cosigning" your credit or reputation as a CP member for the person's behavior.

There are many people I'd buy from. There are few I'd vouch for.
 
I happen to agree with most of what Anthony wrote. My major issue with the b/s/t forum is when someone post that they lost a job, had an emergency or something that requires them to have a fire sale then right after without much time having passed, I see them in a thread buying a box of cigars and then back to the I spent to much or I am out of work and need to let a few more things go. As a community we try to help each other out when times get tough, it makes it hard when times are tough and the community seems to be trying to help you out and you are seen buying more and more smokes after the fact.

I found myself in a similar situation a while ago. My fiancee and I had to move to her new job, we lost our butts in both our house and stock options we held and so much more. I didn't share all the info with the board only a few close friends that I made here. I had to sell off a large percentage of my cigars and wine collection that I had bought over the last 12 years and some of those cigars where sold here on CP. I was very great full for that opportunity and the generosity of the brothers here at CP. I am still bailing water out of our boat and in all honesty have not bought many cigars. There have been many I wished to try and even things that have been posted for sale here at CP. I had to learn self restraint, and realize how it would look to the community if I was posting ISO, or buying once that information had been made public not to mention how it would effect our financially recovery.

I feel that cp should never be treated as a swap meet. Sales do to change of taste, GB's, a passion to share hard to get cigars or great bargains are great; however,when they become constant fire sales or sales do to lack of self control and overspending then it seems as one is taking advantage of the spirit and generosity of the community.

As for vouching for someone, unless you've been here a long enough to truly know someone you shouldn't be doing it. Nothing wrong with saying I bought from AVB (yes I am picking on you Ray) and everything was great. Stating he's a stand up guy or a great dude, someone you can trust, might not be something I can vouch for. Until I have gotten to know him either through multiple interactions, transactions or personally read/witness events that would show his character I would not feel comfortable doing so. For me vouching for someone means I would be willing to make right a transaction that they fubar'd and knowing them well enough to know that this would never happen.


Just my long winded 2 cents.
 
souldog said:
You are free to interpret it how you want Ray, that's not the point I was making. What Im saying is that I see too many folks declaring they'll vouch for someone they hardly know just because they've been on CP for a few months.

As far as not trusting you Ray, that's not the objective of my statement. Your trade history, your history on the board, the amount of established members who know you personally and a myriad of other things contribute to your trustworthiness. I've never met Swissy, yet I talk to him regularly, talked to his wife, she's talked to my wife, purchased things back and forth, and there's a history that's been built over a period of time. Im completely comfortable with Swissy and Id back him up. Same with a couple of guys on here that I've never met. Its not a completely hard and fast rule Ray, just part of something I was trying to express.
Click to expand...

LOL. And holy shit. If ever my wife was on the phone with the wife of one of my cigar board buddies I'd never met... Jesus, that's sitcom material in my house. And that's nothing on you Jon, but you know that. :)
 
mmburtch said:
We joke about "Welcome to CP, go buy a cooler," but it does happen. There are and have been many here who got in over their heads trying to keep up with the Jones' and acquire the latest greatest overpriced rarity. Then, the fire sale. Newbies and those with self control issues, beware. There are people on this board that can afford to buy anything they want. If you can't, don't.
Click to expand...
It's the frequent I need to sell these cigars to make room for my soon to be delivered cigars sales that mystify me. It's rare that my tastes change enough to completely evolve away from a past cigar purchase and leave me wanting to unload any cigars remaining. The biggest incident(s) of that was when I was new to the hobby, my taste preferences were untested, and I was buying everything I thought was a good/cheap smoke or whatever Cigar Aficionado told me to buy :rolleyes:. I know my taste range now, and anything I haven't smoked yet, I plan to smoke someday - or, at the very least, I keep any cigars I never intend to smoke in my mooch section to give to friends and relatives who only want a free cigar to look Joe Cool while smoking it.

I've always thought the Welcome! Now go buy BIG! suggestion referenced in the above quote was a disservice to new enthusiasts. Many never make the cut and eventually fade away - and are stuck with an inventory they likely let go to waste after spending gobs of dough. Or they do stay in the hobby and are left holding onto inventory that possibly is similar to the Cigar Aficionado suggested crap I once held onto. My personal suggestion to new enthusiasts is to spend a loooooong time making regular visits to B&M's and buying only enough singles to keep a 25 count humidor filled up. Sample everything, figure out their taste range and make some friends with their local shop owners. Slow and steady.
 
badhangover said:
I've always thought the Welcome! Now go buy BIG! suggestion referenced in the above quote was a disservice to new enthusiasts. Many never make the cut and eventually fade away - and are stuck with an inventory they likely let go to waste after spending gobs of dough. Or they do stay in the hobby and are left holding onto inventory that possibly is similar to the Cigar Aficionado suggested crap I once held onto. My personal suggestion to new enthusiasts is to spend a loooooong time making regular visits to B&M's and buying only enough singles to keep a 25 count humidor filled up. Sample everything, figure out their taste range and make some friends with their local shop owners. Slow and steady.
Click to expand...


Instead of going home to smoke the cigars one just picked up, do it at the B&M shop. Start the local network out right. Learn all you can from the shop and its customers. You never know what you may find out and try it. Then realize you love a certain cigar that you may or may not have purchased. I spent as much time at the local B&M shop during my years at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln studying as I did at the school. LOL!!! I learned so much from hanging around the shop smoking the recent cigar I purchased. I learned a lot about Pipes as well. The wealth of information I had access to was amazing. Then many years later I joined CP and its been a fun ride since. But always take the time to hang out at your local cigar shop if you can smoke a cigar there and meet new folks. Never know what character you will run into next. Especially if you are new to the cigar world :thumbs:

That is one thing I missed about not having the CP Chat Room any more. I interacted with a lot of the membership this way. But I understand why Rod killed the chat room but I still miss being able to chat to such and such there like I did while I was in Russia back in 2008.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top