Group buys and Woodwork Forums

In the past there has been much discussion about group buys. My position on group buys and that of the Administrators and Moderators is set out below.

What I would personally like to do is ban all group buys completely.

What I will do is this:
Any future group buy conducted on these forums will be done under very strict guidelines and only after permission is sought from the Administrators and approval has given.

After permission is granted a Group buy may be initiated on the forums via the Announcements Forum in one post, and only one post, calling for interest in a group purchase of a particular product and giving a contact email address for interested parties. The thread will be closed to posting as soon as it is seen by a moderator or administrator.

The buy will be an off forum activity and must in no way be linked to the forums. Any thread asking for interest in a buy which has not been approved will be deleted and the poster may have forum privileges severely curtailed and if it is a serial offender he/she may very well be banned

The forum PM system can not be used for any group buy. All correspondence must be done by email. Any group buy organiser caught using the forums PM system will have their PM privileges revoked and may be banned.

I realise a group buy can save a goodly amount of money for participants because of the power of buying in bulk. But it can also be detrimental to Australian Distributors, Importers and resellers especially if a product is purchased from their overseas manufacture or distributor. It also puts Woodwork Forums into a position of being liable by association and opens up an entirely unwanted can of worms for the Forums Administration Team.

Away from the forums I don't care what is done so long as it is not done in the name of Woodwork Forums or using the Forums name.

If you take part in a Group Buy organised by a forum member or someone else you do so at your own risk and should be aware of the following:

• Group buys have nothing what so ever to do with and are in no way associated with, Woodwork Forums, the Forums Owner, Administrators, or Moderators.
• Woodwork Forums the, Forums Owner, Administrators and Moderators do not and will not, accept responsibility for any problems, losses or other adversity associated with any Group Buy.
• The total responsibility for the buy rests solely with the organiser of the buy and no one else
• Participants entering a group buy do so at their own risk and should make themselves fully aware of any potential problems that may or may not be associated with the buy.
• Purchases made outside Australia may not be approved for use under Australian Standards
• Products purchased outside Australia may not be guaranteed
• Guarantees for products purchased outside of Australia will most likely, not be valid in Australia
• It is entirely possible that tools and equipment purchased outside of Australia may not be serviceable or may be refused service by Australian Agents
• Power tools purchased outside of Australia may need to be used with a voltage/power converter and may well, be under or over powered leading to problems and shortening their life expectancy.
• Purchases in bulk made outside of Australia may come under the scrutiny of the ATO
• Unapproved Advertisement(s)/Announcement(s) for a group buy on the forums will be deleted

The above is not aimed at anyone in particular but is an across the board blanket decision made after weeks of careful and lengthy consideration and consultation with the other Administrators, Moderators, a goodly number of forum members, the Taxation office, legal people, a number of importers, exporters, manufacturers, resellers and some of the Forum Sponsors.

I ask that all members try to understand this decision for what it is and think hard about the ramifications such group buys could have on The Forums, the Administration team, Australian importers/distributors/resellers and Forum sponsors, not to mention what would happen to those members taking part in a buy, if for some reason it all went pear shaped and fell over.

Cheers - Neil