netsurfr... for real?

[TIM]

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=7906

that is cheap by the way.....

[Chip]

He is new to TC first of all which makes me a little nervous.

He is posting a lot of references to his "group buy." It may be a matter of semantics, but isn't a group buy when a bunch of people get together and decide what to buy and split to booty and cost pretty evenly?

Seeeeems to me, he made some power purchases, maybe even wholesale, has "inventory," and is selling, possibly at profit, or at least subsidizing his own pu habit, and now has sights on greens as well.

Or am I being cynical. Bottom line though, what if we had 5 members decide to do this by his example, then 10, then 20. Like TeaGuy, a precedent is being set. TBH, I have never checked to see what he is doing on B&B, but he is cranking this up more and more.

TeaGuy will not be posting nor PMing members in the future to "sell."

[TIM]

He is new to TC first of all which makes me a little nervous.

He is posting a lot of references to his "group buy." It may be a matter of semantics, but isn't a group buy when a bunch of people get together and decide what to buy and split to booty and cost pretty evenly?

Seeeeems to me, he made some power purchases, maybe even wholesale, has "inventory," and is selling, possibly at profit, or at least subsidizing his own pu habit, and now has sights on greens as well.

Or am I being cynical. Bottom line though, what if we had 5 members decide to do this by his example, then 10, then 20. Like TeaGuy, a precedent is being set. TBH, I have never checked to see what he is doing on B&B, but he is cranking this up more and more.

TeaGuy will not be posting nor PMing members in the future to "sell."

An on-line tea vendor with no overhead and free Ad./promo at work? ...... imo

[Chip]

Good point, Tim.

I have heard of "smooth transactions" as well, but vendors deliver smooth transactions all the time, this does not justify the practice here.

I guess it is obvious that I have a lot of concerns. TC is a spam free forum, not an e-commerce facilitator.

[Pentox]

This whole thing is sounding a bit fishy to me.

While it may be that the sampling part may be on the level, my thought is that it's what's behind that. Like it might be that he's got something worked out with his source, and is trying to get sales for the vendor.

[fencerdenoctum]

Weird. I suppose no one would want some of this genuine Song Pin real cheap then?

[TIM]

Weird. I suppose no one would want some of this genuine Song Pin real cheap then?

I can get you a really good deal on a vintage red label Fencer.... Just wire me the fee first, and will ship it over. How many would you like

[Salsero]

His prices seem to me about the same as what you would pay to buy cakes from Yunnan Sourcing and divide them up.

He is a veteran poster on the B&B forum (over 2,000 posts) so I would go easy.

The chatter named Thanks really thinks he is great and the boys from B&B don't seem to be complaining. Course Thanks is also the guy who tried to organize a group purchase of some 15 or so teapots from Jing. That effort, by the way, collapsed.

If I were running the show, I would explain the cultural issues on this forum, the comments people here have made about activities that look like selling tea through the forum (something even Adagio does not do!), and the precedents we have set (TeaGuy, Jim @ Pushop, spammers, the guy from Andao Tea) and ask him to keep his "group buy" activities in the Swap Forum. That strikes me as a compromise. It's really more than the swap forum was set up for, so you'd be giving him something, but it's also getting his incentive to other vendors out of the general forum.

It might also be a good idea to make it a joint note from Chip, Christine, and Ilya.

I'd hate to see 15 of him.

[hop_goblin]

I brought this up before! The dude is just Spamming!

[Salsero]

Dude, you are getting really close to being SPAM

LOL, I guess it's not a bad idea to tell him!

[Chip]

Dude, you are getting really close to being SPAM

LOL, I guess it's not a bad idea to tell him!

Close? The guy has "catalogs" on the forum and has stated he wants to expand his program to other TC forums. Nobody else is doing this.

I know Mary and I discussed this sort of thing and seemed to agree. TC is not an e-commerce site. Maintaining a huge inventory is not a group buy.

Is he PMing members in an unsolicited fashion?

[Pentox]

Yeah, there's something in this for him. If he's thinking of expanding and things like that, it's not for a love of the tea, especially since he's not even active on some of the other forums.

[Chip]

And even the TeaSwap, he has only been here a month, technically not long enough to TeaSwap, though we make exceptions.

Hello all,
I have made a group buy for folks in another forum and would like to make the tea available to you too. Here is what I have in oolong teas for 50 gram samples:

Big Red Robe Wu Yi Rock Tea Fujian Oolong $4.50
Premium Tie Guan Yin of Anxi Oolong Tea $7.70

I can provide in larger quantities as needed. Postage/handling costs are additional and are calculated individually based on your location and the quantity that you order.

Best regards,
Steve

Hmmmm....

I have held off on ordering any green tea until after the spring harvest. Post harvest, I will be doing a group buy for green, white, and a number of pu-erh teas from YSLLC. If you have some preferences and quantities desired, PM me and I will start tracking in a spreadsheet.

So, 1 oolong post and 2 green forum posts, and 2 ads.

Not to mention refering to items "in stock and available" which is vendor lingo and a shitload of "ads" in Pu-erh.

[Pentox]

Wow the language of his post makes me even more dubious of him.

"make the tea available to you too." and "50 gram samples" and "provide in larger quantities if needed" and "Postage/handling".

Personally I don't consider 50g a sample. And it totally sounds like he's either going to try to tack a bit on for Postage/handling, for his effort of course, or has a margin on it in general that makes me think he's basically running a mini store here.

[Chip]

7. Vendors may not place links or e-mail addresses on this forum leading to their businesses. This is not a place for free advertising (unless its through word-of mouth of members in good standing). In addition, members shall not actively sell or offer to obtain products via posts, PMs or any other contact with members. The exception being TeaSwap which Moderators may determine particular offers not within the spirit of this program.